Do we have a problem?
You can feel pressure in the air. The difference and change. Austin could feel it the moment he walked into the gym. Things seemed, off. He looked over at Alicia who gave him a small nod, she was focused and hard at work as always. Things were normal there. He moved around to the side dropping his bag before getting ready to work out. But he could feel eyes on him. Watching every movement. This was strange. He tried to ignore it moving across the room, he loved passed the grappling mats, around the practise rings to the weight room. The large glass door closing behind him as he stretched and warmed up. Jack Washington was on his mind, the Sin city world title. It weighed on him. Even though Austin would never show it. He had to stay strong. Quiet.
Stoic.
He finished stretching, pulling his earbuds from his pocket and pressing play on his phone. The starting riff of “Kingslayer” by Bring me the horizon blasted through his ears. He started his workout, straining as he moved and lifted weights that most people wouldn’t be able to budge. He growled, his teeth ground together. His muscles pulsed and tended as the blood pumped through his veins. He took a long breath in. He added more weight to the bar. He moved ready to pick it up before seeing a foot come down on the middle of the bar. His eyes trailed up finding Alex with a smirk looking down. Austin stood up and pulled the earbuds out. He was breathing heavy, covered in sweat. Alex moved around and sat down balancing his elbows on his knees.
”You’re focused. That’s good. You’ll need to be.” Alex let out a small laugh under his breath. His eyes trailed down as his hands moved up through his long black hair. It hit Austin, what this was all about. The title. But before he could say anything Alex shook his head and looked him right in the eye. ”You know I never wanted you here right? At Wolfslair.” Austin knew. He knew it from day one. In fact everyone knew. But why was Alex bringing this up now? What was the point? Austin just listened, didn’t interrupt, didn’t get offended.
He probably should.
”Your stepmother, my wife, they both pleaded. I was hesitant. But, I was wrong.” Alex laughed to himself and gave a small shrug, Austin folded his arms over his chest continuing to listen. ”You had the potential. And now you’re the number one. You’ve proved that raising back up to world title contendership so fast.” He chuckled looking uneasy. Austin took a sharp breath in.
What did Alex mean with all this? Was he jealous? Was he getting ready to turn on him? ”Do we have a problem here Alex?” The air became even thicker with tension. Alex and Austin came face-to-face, Austins arms on folding and stretching straight down on either side of him. Alex tilted his head and his eyes narrowed.
There were a few moments. Attacked by, probably feeling a lot longer than it actually was. Alex slowly smiled and shook his head backing off with a laugh. ”Of course not. I’m just trying to…” he travelled off, becoming visually uncomfortable with where the conversation was going. Austin raised an eyebrow giving Alex some space. After a few moments Alex took a long deep breath in and back out again. ”I’m just trying to say I’m proud of you kid. I am. And if my time as “the guy” is done...I’m glad you took the torch.”
Austin sighed, he shook his head and reached out putting his hand on Alex’s shoulder. Alex gave him a small green as Austin shook his head and laughed to himself. Relief washing over him as he realised Alex really is a good friend. ”You are still one of the best in the world Alex, some people might not realise it, some people might think that I’m better than you. But I know damn well that if you and I were ever to go one on one the result is definitely not set in stone.“ and in his heart that is what Austin believed, Alex had been a Mintor to him, had achieved more than Austin had in his career. Alex had achieved more than most people had in their career. The fact that people didn’t recognise that made Austin just as mad as it did Alex.
Alex smiled and gave him not to his friend. He moved around and lean back against the wall with his arms folded over his chest, his mood changing. This was the most serious Alex. ” Austin, there’s something you need to know about Jack. Before you face him, I need to be honest.“ he swallowed hard, Austin raised an eyebrow unsure of what Alex was about to tell him or how he felt. ”As good as you are…..Jack can beat you….and we...not just you...need to overcome that. I’ll be with you, every step of the way.” they smiled at each other, they took each other‘s hand and gave a quick brohug. Alex looking over at the weights ”Breaks over big man. Get to work.”
Strange bedfellows
He let out a growl under his breath. Austin James Mercer was an intimidating man. Anyone who met him knew this. A mixture of height and weight with toned muscle structure, Austin walked into a room and most people would either be intimidated by him or fascinated. But right now his arms were folded over his chest he was closed off, his eyes burnt and you could see that he was frustrated.
”And I thought it was weird teaming with Candy.”
Austin let out a huge sigh and groan rolling his eyes and muttering under his breath.
”So, here’s the situation. I have to face the current world champion, my opponent for the biggest show of the year, in a tag team match. And his partner is my stablemate, friend and one of the best professional wrestlers on the planet and a dominating force in SCW. And my partner, isn’t. And to top it all off I’m going into this match coming of a loss. So before I start to talk about my partner, my opponents, the match itself and what it could lead to. Let me just enlighten all of you people to something that happens in professional wrestling. See, sometimes you lose. And the reason for that loss can be many different things. You can get into your own head, your opponent can get into your head, they can just be better than you on the night, they can cheat, you can be caught cheating, there are many different ways you can lose in this business.”
“But to lose to that...to be robbed of a match is the worst feeling. See, most people will just smile and point out the other person had to cheat or use an advantage to win. But me? I would rather lose clean to someone who on the night was simply better than lose due to someone cheating….”
“I know, weird right?”
“That is just how I am. And Kedron can feel good about his win, his wife can make excuses and I can try and refocus on the fact I have a world title match at the biggest show of the year. In fact, everyone in this match has that on the horizon.”
Austin smiles and shakes his head before continuing. He reaches back and ties his hair up and out if his face.
”Alicia has her first defence coming up with her third reign. And considering both Johanna and Alex lost titles in their first defences that is a lot of pressure for her. But the problem with training with someone like Alicia, and being close to her, I know what she can and can’t handle. She’s the type of person who thrives under pressure and coming into a match like this where she’s being forced to tag with someone who she really does not like, against a team where she knows what I bring to the table and is facing her challenger for the championship? This is what she thrives in. These are the kind of moments that Alicia is beautiful. She’s just built differently and so many others. She and I are very alike in the way with you this business and what we should and shouldn’t do, we also have you being a champion very much the same and the responsibilities that you have. She wants to make that championship mean even more, she wants to make it the crown jewel of this company.”
“ Alicia is a predatory animal, constantly on the hunt for something bigger and better. She plays with her prey, she circles around and the second there is a small show of weakness, she attacks. And that is a huge problem for the woman who I’m teaming up with this week.“
Austin closes his eyes and takes a long drawn out breath trying to send to himself before he continues talking about this match.
”Keira Fisher-Johnson. It’s a name that should be familiar to everyone who has watched anything from this company in the last few years. She is a talent. No one can take that away from her. But throughout her career she has been in other people's shadows. And it hasn’t just been in her professional life, the first time she was here she was in the shadow of women like Mikah and Crystal. The second time it’s been Alicia and Evie. But both of those times, and in her personal life as well as her professional she has been in the shadow of her own wife. Roxi Johnson.”
“Now I have to stand next to her, and face two of the best in this company and indeed business with Mrs Johnson as my tag team partner. I have to have faith that she can get in the ring and handle Alicia. And that’s a problem. I know I can get in the ring and go one on one with Jack, but I do not have any faith that she can handle Alicia Lukas. Alicia is a step above, Alicia is in a completely different league. She’s in a different league then even Keira’s wife.”
“That might seem cruel to say, but to be honest I’m saying these things because they need to be said and she needs to hear them.“
“Keira works damn hard. She has earned everything that she has gotten, from championship matches to preferential treatment on the card to everything she has in her life. She’s earned it. No one can take that away from her and no one should even try. She is even a lovely woman, I’ve never had a problem with her. She’s a cut above people like Violet Amelia Holt, Bea Barnhart and Jessie Salco…”
“Rest in peace Jessie…”
“But just because you are better than the painfully average members of the roster does not mean you can stand up to the elite members. The women who win championships and make it look easy, who set records, to dominate others. You need to be a special type of person to do that. And I just don’t think she has it in her. Certainly not while she is too busy with whatever this sin character is. So Keira, I’m going to give you some advice because I want to win this match and I also want Alicia to actually have a challenge, get your head straight. Get your head straight before you get into this match with me against Alicia and Jack and get your head straight before your goddamn title match. Because the way you are right now you have no chance of becoming the bombshells champion and no chance of helping me with this tag match”
He shakes his head, he hated giving tough love. But it was very similar to the trainees at the gym, sometimes they need to be verbally bitch slapped into place
”Bow, onto the sin city wrestling world champion, Jack Washington. And I know what you’re thinking Jack I’m probably exactly like Alex right? At least that’s what many people would have you believe. But I’m really not. Alex is set in his ways, he comes from a generation of people he thought it was better to use petty insults then to actually look at their opponents and try and find weaknesses in their armour. I’m not gonna sit here and make stupid steroid jokes, besides the fact that both you and I work very hard on our strength and conditioning, and it kind of shows, but I also don’t believe in using cheap tactics like that to get onto someone’s skin. see, I can’t sit here and say whether or not I hate or like you Jack because I simply don’t know you well enough. You and I have had very little interaction in or out of the ring, we barely know each other, all we know about each other as what we have seen in the past. And it would not be a good idea for me to give away all of my ideas about you and what I believe about you right now. In fact it would be against my better judgement. Since we have our match coming up at high-stakes.“
“But, what I will say about you is it's clear you are an amazingly talented person. You're athletic, you’re strong, you’re sure of yourself and you know how to prove it. You took Ben Jordan to his limits, you beat Alex and took that world championship and while other people might roll their eyes, including Alex himself, I’m no fool. You don’t just roll up and beat a ten time world champion and it be a fluke. You don’t just become a champion one day because you feel like it, this entire time you’ve been learning. Learning from your wins and learning from your losses. You’re a student of the game and that I can respect, I don’t care about your attitude, I don’t care what you’ve gone through in your life, all I see in front of me is a fellow professional wrestler, and someone who has a championship that I want and I’m coming for. But before we get to high-stakes you and I have to get in the ring and have a mix tag match. Do you have one of the best partners you could ever hope for despite the fact that she hates your guts and doesn’t trust you, I have a flawed yet exceptionally talented young woman as my partner. This will be interesting Jack, your move..”
