Remember When
The coffee cup got placed on the table, his hard wood brown table sitting in the office of Wolfslair. Alex sighed and put his hands on either side of the cup, his head hanging down as he rolled it from side to side, his neck cracking and popping as he stretched the muscles. Other members of the gym filtered in, Aiden followed in behind Austin as the two had a laugh, Johanna was in the corner stretching out some of the younger trainees. Alexs’ sister Charlie worked one on one with Kallie Rezik.
Alex couldn’t help but smile. The business he had built, the gym where he could impart his knowledge on the next generation. Not that Alex was old. He had just turned 36, still in amazing shape, still in his prime. But the sun was starting to set. And Alex knew it. But this, this was his dream. His mind wandered back to the early days. Working with Elena DeDraca, working in England then back to America to teach his sister Charlie and their younger brother Dylan.
Dylan.
His heart sank. His biggest regret, his biggest failure. He saw the pain, he saw the frustration. But Alex was too wrapped up in his own shit to care. Too centered on himself to see Dylan's issues and problems. This is why he takes care of the trainees. Why they were his family. Alex looked up and stared out the small window watching them all. The current champions and stars of other companies. His backup in Sin City Wrestling. He kept smiling.
”Penny for your thoughts?” Sonya piped up, their son Dylan, sat on the floor playing with papers and crayons. She smiled and tilted her head sideways as she went over the finances. Alex just sighed and shrugged, shooting another smile at his wife. Sonya was in amazing shape, she could still get in the ring now if she wanted to. And before the pandemic. She did. Every few weeks Sonya would take an independent booking, get in there against a new star and enjoy herself.
But, her real value and job was in financial and legal matters. Alex loved Sonya with all his heart, they had the love of wrestling in common, but also had music and movies, common interests. She was the rock that kept him grounded and kind. ”Just assessing the situation…” Alex took a sip of his coffee, finishing it before throwing it into the wastebin next to his desk. Sonya moved around and looked out at everyone.
She smiled and put a hand on Alexs’ shoulder ”Time to rebuild them all?” He laughed and gave a small nod. Alex knew what she meant. Charlie was still a champion for Triumph, Aiden was one half of the Apex tag team champions. But, Austin, Johanna, Alicia and himself had all lost their matches, lost their titles and opportunities in SCW, It was a bitter pill to swallow.
”Kind of” His voice was low, his eyes moving around the room. His heart was full and heavy, but there was an anger there. Alex had not been the man he needed to be. Alex had not been the star he needed to be. ”I think it’s time to let the others go. Let them handle themselves. I can’t coddle them anymore. And I can’t hold myself back.” He laughed to himself, her hand moved down from his shoulder and arm to his hand, their wedding rings crossing over. Alex can’t help but smile again. Sonya kisses her husband on the cheek and nods slowly.
”Go get em tiger”
Dead mans hand
”We were so close”
Alex ground his teeth together. Obviously angry and disappointed. His arms folded over his chest as he looked up at the ceiling and back down again rolling his eyes around as he tried to think of a way to start this.
”When you have been at this as long as I have you tend to get used to a lot of things. You get used to the aches and pains you gather over the long weeks and months. You get used to being away from home, hotels, airports, cramped car rides. You get used to all of it.And if you’re lucky, you get used to the feeling of winning. Losing though, and especially losing titles, well that never feels normal. That never feels familiar. No matter how many times it’s happened and trust me on this…”
“I’ve lost a lot of championships.”
“Now, some people would look on the bright side of this and they would say “Hey Alex, you lost those titles but it also means you won them.”. And yeah, that’s true. You can always look at the positives in life but the dirty little secret is that you only really learn anything from the negatives. From the things that grate on your mind and make you feel like you learned something. I can learn more from a loss than a win and I have told my students that. I told Alicia that, I instilled that in her when I met her and it has taken her career to heights that so many others aspire to. And that is what I have done for so many….”
“But now, well now it’s time for me to take what I have learned, and move forward.”
He smirks and pushes to his feet from his sitting position on the floor.
” But before I can move forward to where I really need to be, I need to deal with the past. I need to reconcile myself with the fact that we lost the mixed tag team championships. I need to realise that losses not only happen but they also happen to people who nine times out of ten would not have beaten you. And as much as I like Malachi and Bella, and as much as I respect them, even though they have to admit that there was a hell of a lot of luck involved in that win. In fact I dare say there was more luck and skill. And, while part of me wants to avenge that loss and take back those championships, part of me does just want to move on. And that part of me has won out.”
“So, Bella Malachi enjoy those championships. I hope you do them proud just like we did. In setting the record for most offences, and coming close to setting the time record. But before I can really focus on where I want to be I have to also look at where I am now. And right now as all the promotional material, and as everyone will tell you, I’m at a strange crossroads in my career and my life.
“Alex Jones, nine time world champion, leader and owner of the gym and affection that has been dominant, but a man who has really stood on his own two feet in so long that some have started to wonder if I can. I’ve stood in the shadows and I’ve let the people that I hold dear, and I have trained, take the spotlight. And I’ve been fine with that, they’ve opened it, they deserved it, and they can stand on their own two feet and continue pushing their careers forward.”
“Meanwhile, I need to plant my feet, look my next opponent dead in the eye, and make them know, not just think, know that I was not only the better man on that night, but every night that we could ever possibly step in that ring.”
Alex's nostrils flare as he paces back and forth.
”And the man to feel that kind of disappointment, the man who will be stepping in the ring with me for my first singles match in months, is Stephen Callaway. A guy who has made it known that if he fails to win the sin city wrestling world title he is going to leave. And I get it, I get the feeling, I get that he wants something so bad that he’s willing to put his career in this company on the line. The only problem is while Callaway and I seem to be in a very similar position he doesn’t have the talent or the drive to be where he needs to be.”
“See, I willingly took a step back. I willingly let others step forward and be in the spotlight in front of me. Callaway has been scratching and clawing and trying to get himself into a position where he could challenge for the world title. And each turn each look down the corridor each match in the rain it’s just led him to the same disappointment time and time again. He is challenged for the roulette title, he challenged the unit title, and each time he’s been left holding nothing“
“He and I are even both trying to rebound off of losses. Am I worried about Callaway? Of course not. I’m not gonna take him lightly and let him get a cheap win over me because I was looking towards the future, but someone like him is never gonna beat someone like me. As hard as he tries, as much as he puts effort into every match and every single preparation. He still is not Alex Jones. He is the first step. The first step on the next road that I am gonna walk down. And it all begins with this climax control..”
