September 2015
We being our story in a banquet hall somewhere in Northern California. The hall is filled with several chairs set up surrounding a beat-up wrestling ring. The seats are only about seventy percent full, but the crowd is hot for the match that is currently going on in the ring. The local tag team of Murph and Mack are garnering lots of heat from the crowd as they work over former Sin City Wrestling wrestler “Big” Country” Wyatt Peterson; making quick tags and stomping the big man in their corner. After a few turns going in and out, Murph changes things up by running across the ring and coming back with a running drop kick that sends Wyatt flopping on the ground out of the corner. Murph pulls Wyatt into a seated position in the center of the ring and locks in a rear choke with Wyatt facing his partner on the other side of the ring, former SCW Heavyweight Champion, Rage. Rage is reaching out for the tag as Wyatt is fighting to get to him.
Rage: Come on, you stupid cowboy! Get your ass over here and tag me!
Wyatt stops reaching towards Rage and starts trying to get to his feet. Using his superior size and strength, Wyatt gets to one foot, and after another short struggle, gets to a vertical base. A couple of elbows to the midsection of Murph and Wyatt is free of the choke hold.
Rage: Now tag me!
Instead of making the tag to Rage, Wyatt runs into the ropes and comes off right into a dropkick from Murph. On the apron, Rage places his hands on his head in frustration. Murph makes the tag to Mack who comes in with a running elbow drop across Wyatt’s chest and makes a cover as the crowd counts along with the referee.
Crowd: 1!...2!...
Rage is halfway in the ring as Wyatt kicks out of the pin attempt. Rage returns to his place on the apron, mumbling something to himself as he grabs the tag rope. Mack takes a couple of steps back and motions to the crowd that he is going for his finisher. Wyatt slowly starts getting back to his feet. Once he is on all fours, Mack explodes out of the corner. Wyatt was ready for him though as he lifts Mack off of his feet and slams him back to the mat with a powerful spinebuster before collapsing back to the mat himself. Rage starts slapping on the top turnbuckle and extending his arm towards his fallen partner.
Rage: Come on, cowboy! This is our chance!
The referee starts the mandatory ten count with both men motionless on the mat.
Referee: ONE!
Still no movement by either man, but Rage is getting more agitated as he waits for the tag.
Referee: TWO!
Mack starts crawling towards his corner where Murph awaits the tag.
Referee: THREE!
Wyatt starts inching towards his corner.
Referee: FOUR!
Much to Rage’s dismay, Wyatt makes a slight adjustment and, instead of reaching for the tag, starts pulling himself up using the ropes.
Referee: FIVE!
Rage: What the hell are you doing?!?!
Wyatt pulls himself to his feet and motions to Rage that he’s okay before walking over to grab Mack’s leg to prevent the tag from being made. Mack makes one last attempt to reach Murph before hopping up with one leg and connects with an enziguri to Wyatt’s left temple that sends him crumpling to the mat. Mack makes the final leap to make the hot tag to Murph who immediately explodes into the ring, running to the opposite corner to knock Rage off the ring apron. He turns back towards a slowly rising Wyatt and grabs his ankle, tweaking it with a modified ankle lock that he calls the Murph Lock. Wyatt starts screaming in agony but refuses to tap out as he scrambles, trying to reach the ropes to break the hold. After a few moments, Mack joins his tag team partner and locks in a submission his is own, the Mack-lock Crossface. Being locked in from both ends with no relief in sight, Wyatt has no choice but to tap out.
DING! DING! DING!
Ring announcer: Your winners, and STILL TWF Tag Team Champions… MURPH AND MACK!!!
The crowd boos as Murph and Mack are handed their championship belts. The quickly leave the ring as Wyatt continues to writhe in pain in the ring. Rage slides into the ring and starts helping Wyatt back to his feet. Once Wyatt is back to his feet, Rage shocks everyone by leveling him with a brutal clothesline that, after a moment of stunned silence, brings the crowd to boos. Unfazed by the crowd, Rage climbs out of the ring and grabs a folding chair from ringside. He slides back in and just starts wailing on Wyatt with shot after shot to his shoulder and arm. Wyatt unsuccessfully tries to defend himself from the outrage of Rage’s rage until Rage appears to finally rage out. Rage collapses back into the corner and calls for a microphone which is handed to him.
Rage: You all can boo me all you want. This idiot cowboy screwed me out of the championship tonight and I will NOT let it happen again. I’ve thought this Raging Cowboys idea with idiotic from the start. I don’t know why I even agreed to it. Let me make one thing very clear: WE ARE DONE!
Wyatt is wobbly as he gets back to his feet, but is quickly dropped again with a final chair shot to the head by Rage. Rage drops the chair across Wyatt’s lifeless body and climbs out of the ring. He doesn’t even acknowledge the booing crowd as he disappears backstage. The referee is in the ring checking on Wyatt. After a moment, he throws up his arms in an “X” which prompts a pair of medics to come out of the back and make their way into the ring. They spend several minutes looking over Wyatt Peterson before finally putting him on a stretcher and wheeling him to the back. Wyatt gives the crowd a thumbs-up before disappearing through the curtains as the crowd applauds him. The scene fades.
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TWO MONTHS LATER
The scene opens in a doctor’s office in Dallas, Texas. It’s a fairly standard office. Plain white décor with a examination table and a stool. Sitting on the exam table is everyone’s favorite cowboy, “Big Country” Wyatt Peterson in a blue exam gown. After a few moments, there is a knock on the door.
Wyatt: C’mon in.
The door opens and an older man with white hair and glasses pops into the room with a large manila envelope. He doesn’t look like any doctor I’ve ever seen as he is wearing jeans, a button-up short sleeve Hawaiian shirt, and Birkenstocks, but the stethoscope hanging around his neck gives him away.
Wyatt: What’s up, Doc?
Doctor: Well, I’ve got your x-rays back.
The doctor walks over to an illuminated box of the wall and pulls the images from the manila folder. He clips one of the slides to the box to reveal a neck x-ray.
Doctor: Alright, Wyatt, do you see how the disks are all spaces perfectly apart? That means that all of the cartilage is healthy and everything is hunky dory.
Wyatt smiles.
Wyatt: That’s great, Doc!
Doctor: I’m not finished. That’s not your x-ray.
The doctor removes the x-ray and put another neck x-ray up. This one isn’t nearly as perfect as the other one.
Doctor: This is yours.
Wyatt’s smile fades.
Doctor: Do you see how the space between the C2 and C3 vertebrae is unevenly distributed. It comes to a bit of a wedge on the right side?
Wyatt nods in acknowledgment.
Doctor: We will need to do an MRI to be sure, but I believe this is the cause of the numbness in your right arm.
Wyatt: That’s great news. Ya found it, doc!
The doctor looks somber.
Doctor: It’s not exactly great news, Wyatt. It’s not even good news. If this is what I think it is, you may never be able to wrestle again.
Wyatt raises an eyebrow.
Wyatt: Whaddaya mean, Doc?
The doctor takes off his thin, wire rimmed glasses and rubs his eyes. He puts the glasses back onto his face and looks Wyatt in the face.
Doctor: If the MRI shows what I think it will show, one wrong move and you could end up paralyzed from the neck down. You wouldn’t even be able to wipe your own ass.
A vacant stare occupies Wyatt’s face as he stares off into the distance. After several moments of silence, the doctor pats Wyatt on the thigh.
Doctor: I know it’s a lot to take in. I’m going to go ahead and set you up with a referral for an MRI. I’d recommend you get that taken care of as soon as possible.
Wyatt nods absent-mindedly. The doctor gives him one more pat on the thigh before standing up and walking out of the room. Wyatt continues to just stare off into the distance. A single tear runs down his cheek as the scene fades.
The MRI results came back confirming what the doctor had thought. Wyatt was forced to make the difficult decision between his health and doing what he loved. The first few months were very difficult for Wyatt as his usual cheery demeanor and optimistic outlook was replaced by severe depression and hopelessness.
One day, he received a call from his mentor, the man who got him his big break in Sin City Wrestling, Tom Dudely. Tom told him that the doctors only know what can be proven as fact, but there are other factors to consider. Tom told Wyatt that there are unexplainable things that even baffle the doctors.
After talking to Tom, Wyatt felt revitalized. His optimistic outlook started to return. He spent the next three years in physical therapy. He felt that he was getting better. He was visiting his doctor every couple of months trying to get cleared to return to the ring. The doctors told him that his neck showed incredible improvement, but nobody had ever come back from such a severe injury to be able to compete in a physical sport. This didn’t deter Wyatt as he even went as far as getting booked on Climax Control 200 only to have to cancel last minute due to not getting cleared by the doctors in time. Tom Dudely, who had been by his side during this entire journey agreed to come out of retirement for one match just so Wyatt wouldn’t burn the bridge with the Sin City Wrestling brass.
Once Sin City Wrestling closed, Wyatt continued to work towards returning to the ring. As much as he wanted to be able to return to SCW, he decided that he just wanted to be able to feel the rush of performing for the live crowd at least once more. A couple of months later, Wyatt saw that Christian Underwood and Mark Ward were bringing back Sin City Wrestling and the Blast from the Past tournament. Wyatt immediately committed to the match via Twitter and he was paired with another former Tag Team champion in Alana Allure. Now, Wyatt just had to get over one last hurdle. He needed to get cleared by the doctors.
April 15th, 2018
The scene opens backstage at Sam’s Town in Las Vegas, Nevada. Tonight is the night that Sin City Wrestling returns to action where it all began. Looking all dapper in a dark blue tuxedo with a matching bowtie, “Stoner” Scott Oliver, SCW’s long time backstage interviewer is ready for action.
Stoner: Dudes and Dudettes, it feels great to be back in Sin City again. I’ve really missed this place. I’ve also really missed this man. Please put your hands together for SCW’s resident cowboy, “Big Country” Wyatt Peterson.
The camera pans out to show Wyatt Peterson standing a couple of feet away. His signature Stetson sitting upon his head. Wyatt’s smile is so sincere that you can’t help but smile at the sight of it.
Stoner: Wyatt, it’s good to see you back, buddy.
Wyatt and Stoner shake hands.
Wyatt: Oh boy! It feels good tah be back here. Ah never thought ah’d be able to come back.
Stoner laughs.
Stoner: I don’t think anyone thought SCW would be back. Especially so quickly. I heard that you’ve had a hell of a journey getting back here. Care to share?
Wyatt: Well, ah had one helluva scare. Ah was told that ah would never be able tah wrestle again. Ah had a neck inj’ry that the doc said ah’d be paralyzed from. Fer the last three years, ah’ve been tryin’ tah get back into the ring. It wasn’t until last week that ah was able tah get cleared to return tah action. The doc was speechless. He said he ain’t ever seen anyone recover from that inj’ry.
Stoner lets out an impressed whistle.
Stoner: It looks like all of the stars are aligning for you. What do you think of your match tonight in the first round of the Blast From the Past tournament?
Wyatt: Well, ah can’t say that ah ain’t excited. Ah’ve been outta the game so long that ah honestly don’ know who these people are. Ah mean, I remember Amy Marshall. That gal can git down in that there ring. Her pardner, Chris Crippler, ah ain’t ever heard of. Ah do know that he got one hell of a pardner an’ if he can hold his own, then they’ve got a helluva shot at winnin’ this thing. My pardner, Alana Allure was a tag team champ like me. Ah think that if we can use our tag team specialization, we have a bit of an edge. Either way, ah’m just happy we’re gonna git in the ring tonight an’ have one helluva match.
Stoner: Thanks Wyatt. I can’t wait to see what happens.
Wyatt: Thanks, bud.
The two men high five as the scene fades.
