Always Something
Jet City South - San Diego
3 September 2020
OFF-Camera
Both The Miracle and Coby Quik looked a little worse for wear as they walked through the door of their shared office overlooking the main floor of Jet City South. The launch of the gym had gone better than Kris had expected it to, but he wasn’t allowed to say that out loud. It helped that he and Coby had featured the gym on several SCW and SCU events to get their name recognition back. There was also the fact that it was a Jet City gym in the center of the city that had made them famous. Sure, the group had moved up the coast to Seattle years ago, but that didn’t change the support that they had in SoCal. It was the whole reason that Kris had come back in the first place. It was the only place other than SCW that legitimately felt like home. Kris was always the type to expect the worst not only of people, but situations. Before he was The Miracle, he was an accident and a nobody. The situation he currently found himself in was previously unheard of. For the first time in his life, he wasn’t battling any personal addictions. His gym was a success. He was on a winning streak that nobody saw coming after his match against Bill. He should be enjoying the fruits of his labor, but he wasn’t. He couldn’t. In recent days, he had trouble even sitting still. Every second that he wasn’t productive felt like time wasted. There was an uneasiness in the air around him that Coby was sick of trying to ignore. It was never a smart idea to press Kris on something he didn’t want to talk about, but even the fastest member of Jet City was growing tired of trying to keep up with his panicked pace.
Coby: What are you so damn nervous about all of a sudden?
Kris shrugs his shoulders, and keeps his eyes focused out the office window. He knew that there was no way Coby was going to believe him, but he hoped he was able to sell his lie well enough to cause his friend to drop the subject.
Kris: Nothing man. Just stressing about the gym. It’s not moving along as fast as it did in Seattle…. I expected things to go smoother.
The audible laugh from over his shoulder told Kris all he needed to know about whether or not Coby had bought his lie. Kris’ former student didn’t waste any time shredding his lie for the facade that it was.
Coby: Dude, look around! It’s a pandemic and classes are just about capped. We’ve beaten projections already. Having me in SCU and you in SCW has been the best thing we could have possibly done. People see the roll you are on and want to sign up because clearly you know what you’re doing...
That assertion was just as big of a lie as Kris’ had been, and gets the Grand Slam Champion to turn to his friend instead of focusing on the window.
Kris: Oh come on!
The smile on Coby’s face was enough to tell Kris that he had merely played into Coby’s hand. He wanted his attention, and now he had it.
Coby: Alright fine, it’s probably just name recognition. Everyone knows you’re an idiot. I was just trying to make you feel better but now you had to go and ruin that too. But, to be fair, Jet City South is not what you are actually worried about. So we both lied.
Kris knew that there was no getting Coby to drop it. Maybe it would be worthwhile to just get everything off of his chest anyways. Kris lets out a deep breath and falls into the chair behind his desk.
Kris: I guess it is this match with Wolfslair coming up.
Coby offers only a nonchalant shrug at first before pulling back his own chair behind the desk opposite Kris’.
Coby: You think you’re going to mess the whole thing up like you always do?
It was probably a step too far, but that was how Kris had to be dealt with. If you wanted him to give an inch, you had to reach for that mile first.
Kris: No!
It was a knee-jerk reaction to the words that were more true than Kris was willing to admit. Upon another second to think it over, Kris nodded, and his voice got much quieter and less certain sounding.
Kris: ...at least, not really.
Coby sits down in his chair, and puts his feet up on his desk. His favorite part about being part owner of the new gym.
Coby: Ah, so it's that you're finally going up against someone you feel is on your level and you're actually nervous about losing.
Kris: It's that obvious?
Coby: Honestly I knew before I asked. You tense up everytime you talk about Climax Control. You're even getting along with Mikah during training. You're working at this harder than normal. I figured it was related.
It made Kris feel stupid that he had been so transparent. He had thought he was keeping things together well enough. Then again, he should have known better than to think he could hide something from someone that had been on tour with him for years now.
Kris: It might be shitty to say, but everything has felt like a walk in the park until now. I haven't been this nervous since...
Coby knew where the thought was going, and decided to put it in a way that Kris wasn’t going to be able to tip-toe around for the next hour. He had gotten used to expediting these kinds of conversations so that Kris couldn’t waste too much of his time.
Coby: Choking in your match against Fenris a couple years ago?
Kris’ glare sharpened, and he opened his mouth to say something on reflex, but stopped himself. Instead, he shook his head softly and cut all but two words out of his thought.
Kris: Too far.
Kris always looked like a kicked puppy when someone was as mean to him as he was to most people. Coby had started to enjoy these kinds of moments, but knew better than to continue to kick his friend while he was down.
Coby: The most important thing that you're missing is that you should be nervous. You make it seem like it is a bad thing to be a little unsettled going into a match. You ever think that your blind confidence is actually the weird part? Like that's why you rub so many people the wrong way. Nobody should think so highly of themselves all the time. Maybe it will do you some good to be nervous for a change.
That wasn’t the way that Kris operated, and Coby knew it. There was no way that he could snap his fingers and just feel and react differently than normal. He was too entrenched into how his past had shaped him.
Kris: ...but last time...
Coby loses his cool in an attempt to get Kris to budge off of his self-deprecation.
Coby: No last time! Let that go. You were in a public fight during a sex scandal while battling injuries. You shouldn't have been in the match, but you're dumb. Just like when you beat Crimson for the title in the first place. You were lucky the first time. You got what you deserved when you lost to Fenris.
Suddenly, it felt like the conversation was not going to go the way Kris wanted it to, so he wanted to bail out of it.
Kris: This is not making me feel better….
He goes to get up from his chair, but Coby extends a hand out to him, gesturing for him to stop. He wasn’t going to let Kris keep taking the easy way out of things like this. At some point he was going to have to grow up.
Coby: Well, maybe it's something you need to hear. Just because you're nervous doesn't mean you're going to mess it up. It means you're human. Use it to your advantage.
Dumbfounded, Kris looks up and stops sulking.
Kris: How?
Coby: You've already been doing it. You and Mikah are more cohesive than ever. You have broken down every single aspect of all four members of Wolfslair for months preparing for this. Trust that you have put in the work to come out the other side with a win.
It helped ease some of Kris’ fears, but there was still the feeling that was lingering under the surface and digging at his core.
Kris: What if I'm not sure if we can pull this one off?
Coby had an answer for that too though. The things that Kris was feeling now for the first time had plagued Coby every time he signed a new contract or stepped into a ring with a new opponent. There was only one way to deal with it that had ever done him any good. The only way out is through.
Coby: Then be as honest about that as you are everything else in your life. You can't shrug off a sex tape and then worry yourself sick about a tag match. People will start to think you're crazy or something.
Kris felt like Coby was missing the point, and tried to redirect the conversation a little.
Kris: I can't go out there and do the same old 'Just Take The L' speech. It's not going to sound right this time. Nobody is going to believe that Mikah and I are going to walk all over Wolfslair like we have everyone else over the years.
Coby shrugs.
Coby: Then say that. What's so hard about that?
Kris didn’t even have to think over an answer, it just spilled out of him immediately.
Kris: It's not what people expect from me….
It was surprising to hear the words come out of Kris’ mouth given how he has treated every single one of his opponents, and most of his friends.
Coby: Since when do you care about what people expect from you? You're the villain, remember? You're supposed to be unpredictable. Go out there and give them something they haven't heard before.
At the very least, Coby had Kris actually listening to him for a change. He wasn’t going to miss the chance to be the mentor for once. All Kris had to do was ask.
Kris: ...and that is?
Coby laughs, and rocks backwards in his desk chair. He extends his arms up and laces his fingers together to cradle the back of his head with them. He wasn’t sure how his advice was going to work out for Kris, but it would be entertaining to watch either way.
Coby: Be humble.
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>I have never made a secret out of how much I like Wolfslair...
Kris is sitting inside the office of the Jet City South. The camera sits across the room from him, but he is not looking at it. His focus is on his hands in his lap. Most of his fingers are laced together, except his thumbs, which chase one another in circles.
They are every bit the draw that they say that they are.
They are the ones that brought life to a division that was otherwise dead in the water.
They turned championships that nobody cared about into the championships that lured me back to SCW.
They are so good that I tried to convince Alicia Lukas to tag with me against two of her own teammates because she was the best option around to beat them at the time.
I usually come out and take this time to tell whoever is going to be standing across from me at Climax Control that they aren’t as good as they think they are. I tell them that they aren’t going to have the dream career or the big win that they are hoping for. I let them know that there is no hope against me. People see it as boastful, but look at what I have done since coming back. One person has beaten me, and he has gotten his ass handed to him twice since. Mikah and I have never lost together as a team. I know exactly how good I am. I know exactly what Mikah is capable of, with or without my help. Usually when I size up an opponent I see how everything is going to play out. I know, without a doubt, that I am going to have my hand raised at the end of the night. That’s why I can say the things that I do to my opponents. I know… not think, but KNOW… that I am better than a majority of the people on this roster, and most of the people with the audacity to call themselves champions in this company.
However, none of that applies to Wolfslair.
From top to bottom, they are one of the most solid groups that I have ever seen in this business. Alicia Lukas has been a champion everywhere she has gone, and her dominance in SCW etched her name into the record books faster than just about anyone else that comes to mind.
Alex Jones went from Mixed Tag Team Champion to SCW World Heavyweight Champion basically at the snap of his fingers. He wanted a shot at Griffin. He got a shot at Griffin. He took the championship and made it look easy.
Austin James Mercer was the most dominant Internet Champion that SCW has ever seen, and I say that as someone that has held that championship. The guy held the championship for the majority of this year. Even if Teddy manages to hang onto it for the rest of the year, his reign won’t be as impressive.
Then there’s Johanna. She’s the one that I probably know the least about. The only thing I really know is that she came to SCW to break out in the mixed tag division and she did exactly that. Her goal was to dominate alongside her teammates in this division before pursuing championships in the greatest women’s division in the world. In one match since dropping the mixed tag team titles, she beat a legend and Hall of Famer in Roxi Johnson. I’d say she’s well on her way to scratching more goals off her list.
So you can see, when this match was announced, and I didn’t know which two members of the team I would be facing, it didn’t matter. All four of them are equally impressive on paper and in the ring. All four of them are dangerous. All four of them are more talented than the majority of the people that have ever walked through the SCW curtain.
...and before people think I’m just trying to flatter them, don’t be stupid. The things that I am saying are facts, plain and simple. There is no getting around them. There is no discrediting them. For once, there are people in this company that say what they want to whomever they want, because they can back it up in the ring night after night. It’s kind of easy to see why I would be a fan of theirs….
...but it’s also why I can’t stand here and tell all of you that I know that I am going to walk out of this match with a win. I understand that it’s not something that I can guarantee will happen unlike most of my matches since returning to the company. I mean, think about it. They had an advantage by forcing us to prepare for all four of them, and then they threw it out the window on social media because they didn’t need cheap tricks to win. Even better, instead of strategically figuring out who would be facing The Black Sheep this week, they flipped coins. They are so confident in their abilities that it truly didn’t matter to them which ones took part in the match, and deservedly so.
Austin James Mercer and Johanna Kreiger won the toss apparently. They are the duo that get to represent the group that brought both myself and Mikah to the division in the first place. We looked around the roster, and Wolfslair seemed to be the only decent challenge for us. We had hoped for a chance to be the ones to take their Mixed Tag Team Championships, but allowing Sass n Bash to take their shot solo backfired. I’m not going to lie. I expected Wolfslair to emerge from Summer XXXtreme unscathed. I had faith that I wasn’t going to miss my opportunity by allowing Bella and Malachi to once again fall short. I was wrong.
...but the group did let us know that it could happen. I mean, just look at the things Alex was saying before they lost the championships. It sounded like his eyes were already on the SCW World Heavyweight Championship. It really felt like Johanna was ready to make the solo jump to the Bombshell Division. I went into the week before the show with a feeling that an upset could happen, but it was already too late to cash in my opportunity and add The Black Sheep to the match.
Then Sass n Bash shocked the world and walked away with the championships. And I don’t say it that way to be insulting. It’s a fact. It was the upset of the year. The fans were dumbfounded. The two of them were surprised to be having their hands raised. Nobody thought it was going to happen. Why? They weren’t the better team. They had lost to Wolfslair before, and should have come up short once again. That’s what the betting people put all their money on. Imagine how disappointed I was to see Wolfslair toppled before I could get a chance to be the one to beat them.
Like I said, I am not sure that Mikah and I will walk out of this match with a win. Yet, when it came to Sass n Bash, we called our shot and went out to ruin their two week long celebration of a fluke. Mikah and I guaranteed we were going to mop the floor with the new champs, and we did. They might hold the championships, but they are not the measuring stick of this division. Though, I’m not sure that Wolfslair is anymore either, which is the real shame.
See, everything that I have said to this point is true. I respect the hell out of all four members of Wolfslair. They are as good as they say. None of that was bullshit. The problem is, I don’t think that their hearts are in it anymore. They phoned it in during Summer XXXtreme, and they lost. It didn’t seem to bother Alex or Johanna at the time either. They both took a step forward in their careers in the time since they lost the titles. It feels like the team has moved past the need to assert their dominance over the mixed tag division, and that sucks for me personally. The match I was looking forward to, and the match that we have been given aren’t the same. Not even close.
No matter what happens, it seems like Wolfslair is onto other things. Johanna isn’t going to turn her back on the Bombshell Division and come running back to the mixed tag scene after beating Roxi. She’s going to try and climb to the top of a new ladder. If you can’t see that, you’re blind. Alicia? It seems like the people behind the scenes are determined to keep her in the main events by any means necessary, and who could blame them? Does anyone think that she is going to turn down the opportunity to main event every show just to carry a mixed tag team championship? Alex Jones has the SCW World Heavyweight Championship already, so there is no doubt about what his future plans hold. The only wild card is Austin, and I don’t see him running into this division all on his own. He has already held the SCW World Heavyweight Championship. He was great as Internet Champion. Maybe he has his eye on the Roulette Division now that he finds himself short of a full-time partner.
So what purpose does this match serve to any of them? Why would they be so ambivalent about this match that they flipped a coin? The answer is simple. They aren’t going to back down from any challenge, because that’s not their style, but this doesn’t mean anything to them anymore. They aren’t dumb enough to underestimate me or Mikah. They aren’t going to parade themselves out to the ring and boast about how badly they are going to beat us. Winning this match would be a positive for them, but losing this match isn’t going to derail any of their future plans. For that matter, losing this match isn’t going to hurt myself or Mikah. Wolfslair doesn’t want the mixed tag team championships anymore, so it’s not like they will jump The Black Sheep in line. Not to mention, me and Mikah already dominated Sass n Bash a couple of shows ago, so our shot at their championships is all but guaranteed to happen in a few weeks.
My patience and staying out of the match at Summer XXXtreme cost me the challenge that Wolfslair vs The Black Sheep was supposed to be. It cut through the buildup of what this encounter could have been. It took a match that could have main evented any show, and been a contender for the best mixed tag team match of the year, and made it an afterthought on a random Climax Control headlined by Crystaltina Milltonzdunwhatever’s wife. It’s deflating to say the least, and disappointing if I’m honest.
I know that both Johanna and Austin are going to bring their best to this fight because that is just what they do. When they step in the ring, their minds are on winning. It doesn’t matter what they think about their opponents. It doesn’t matter what is on the line. They are going to attempt to dominate because they don’t know how to half ass anything, and they aren’t like these other champions that lose a title and then disappear afterwards. I’m not trying to say that they are going to throw the match against us just because they have other aspirations. I am saying that this match doesn’t mean a damn thing to them anymore, and Mikah and I have something that we need to prove against this team.
Wolfslair is going to be the team that everyone remembers from 2020. They have had the most impressive year of any team that has come through this company, Jet City and The Black Sheep included, and let’s not forget The Black Sheep held almost every championship simultaneously last time around. Still, we don’t measure up to the last year that Wolfslair has had. They have two different SCW World Heavyweight Champions in their group, Alicia was the Bombshell Champion, and they had the most impressive Mixed Tag Team Championship run in company history. The only way that The Black Sheep were going to take them down a notch was to take their championships away before they moved onto the next part of their career. We missed that chance, but were granted this consolation.
I’m confident in The Black Sheep. I know that I didn’t become a Grand Slam Champion by accident. I know that I haven’t been beaten since April for a reason. Mikah is the single greatest Bombshell in company history. She is a record setter. She is the measuring stick that people like Johanna join the Bombshell Division to be compared against. The Black Sheep are not the Trenton Tigers, or Team Eggplant. We aren’t a joke. We aren’t the lackluster Barnharts. We are the team that is picking up exactly where Wolfslair left off when they allowed Sass n Bash to walk away with the championships of this division.
Does it suck that Wolfslair made up their mind to move on before we got the chance to take them on while they were at the top? Absolutely. Is it going to be a whole lot less fun to take those championships from Sass n Bash? Probably. Are we still going to do it? Definitely. The Black Sheep came to this division with one goal: Get the championships and hold them until we get bored beating the rest of the teams on the roster.
Johanna is someone that has already done that. Even more impressive, she did that without the long history of success that most of her teammates came in with. Nobody would be dumb enough to try and say that Alex carried the team for them either. Johanna held her own alongside the man that currently holds the SCW World Heavyweight Championship. That’s impressive. How many teams can say they are that balanced?
Austin James Mercer was too busy winning the Internet Championship to get into the Mixed Tag Championship picture back in February. It’s funny to think that Austin, Johanna and Alex all won their titles on the same night, only to lose them on the same night six months later. It goes to show that anyone in their team could have carried the Mixed Tag Championships and they would have been just as successful. I mean, Austin was the one to end Fenris’ championship reign that many thought would be years long. Let’s not forget that I couldn’t get that done back before my hiatus from the company. My last match was losing my shot at Fenris’ belt. Austin stepped up and ended that reign while I was sitting on the couch at home.
I guess what I have been trying to say, is that this isn’t just some random match for The Black Sheep, or for Wolfslair. For Johanna, this is a chance to prove herself against the best bombshell in SCW history while she is trying to break into the division that Mikah has been the Queen of for the last six years. For Austin, he gets to step in the ring with a Grand Slam Champion, and the only undefeated team left in SCW. There might not be any championships on the line on Sunday night, but rest assured that this match is between the two best teams in this company. The only drawback, is that only one of the teams is actually interested in teaming right now.
While Austin and Johanna clearly have no problem working as partners, they aren’t motivated to function as a team. They have their own interests in this match. They want to prove themselves against two of the best singles competitors in SCW. The problem is, that isn’t the focus for Mikah and I anymore. We are a team first, and individuals second. Sure, we have taken the path of most resistance to get to this point, but it hasn’t slowed us down any. Since we brought The Black Sheep back, we have ironed out all the kinks. We have learned to put our egos aside and work with one another in the ring. We have learned to depend on each other while competing. We were dangerous as individuals. We were unstoppable as a semi-functional team. Now we are on our way to taking over the mantle of the greatest team in this company. That path is going to run us directly through a Wolfslair group who are more worried about their individual pursuits. If they weren’t so damn good, this match would be a no-brainer.
So I guess we all have to wait another few days…. I can’t promise what will happen at the end of this match. I can’t tell all of you what the outcome will be, because I don’t want to sound like I’m not giving the former champions the credit that they rightfully deserve. What I do know is that they have never faced a team like The Black Sheep before. There is no weakness to exploit in me and Mikah. There is no weakest link. We don’t have to carry one another because we made a career out of taking care of ourselves while everyone else was gunning for what we had.
I know that this is going to be a hell of a fight. I know that the Climax Control audience is going to be excited about the fact that they get to be in the building for this one instead of being stuck watching it from a couch. This is going to be the best mixed tag team match of the year, and it’s not even for a championship or part of the Blast from the Past tournament. Let that sink in.
This is everything that I have been waiting for since I came back to Sin City. I hope that Wolfslair is as ready for this as I am. I hope they are as prepared for this as Mikah and I are. If you can’t tell, we aren’t taking them lightly, and hopefully they aren’t making the mistake of thinking that The Black Sheep are some forgotten relics of the past like everyone else has.
Let’s tear the roof of Orleans Arena. Let’s make the mixed tag division the headline of the night. We might not be the main event, but we have the potential to steal the show away from people that simply can’t measure up to any of the four of us. Let’s prove that this match should have been a main event. At least that way, no matter what happens, it was worth it.
I look forward to my first real test since coming back.
Johanna… Austin… Good luck...
