==========================================================
===========================================================
This Is My Story
Jet City South - SAN DIEGO
5 FEBRUARY 2022
OFF-Camera
I knew from the moment that my name got pulled out of the hat for Blast from the Past that I was going to start getting more attention around Jet City South. The problem was, that wasn't something I was interested in. I have seen countless people pay the price of being associated with this controlled chaos, and none of it seemed appealing. I am more the type to keep my head down, put the work in, and keep to myself. People only create distractions. Distractions keep you from your goals. Skipping out on goals is the shortest route to stagnation, and I can't stomach sitting still. Moving forward, and not looking back, has been the theme of my adult life and I am not changing that for these people no matter what. Once you start trading on your principles, you roll down the slippery slope to becoming a "never was" and that isn't going to be my story. It doesn't matter who is offended. Nobody has the right to my time or attention and I don't need any help I don't ask for. Somehow, I knew that wasn't going to be what the people around here want to hear though.
Coby: Hey, it’s Jaycee right…?
Shit kind of felt like it was on cue or something. He played his approach right though. If you're cornered on a leg press machine, and holding up twice your bodyweight, you don't really have anywhere to go. There is one way out and Coby is occupying that space. I am his conversational hostage, but it's not like I have to participate willingly.
Jaycee: Wow. I’m actually impressed. That’s four more words than you’ve ever spoken to me directly, and you actually know my name.
I bet he wasn't expecting that. He doesn't seem like the type to blow up about it either though. My only hope is to convince him that it's not worth his effort to try.
Coby: That can’t be true. I’m sure that we’ve talked before. I try to talk to all the students at Jet City.
I am not the type to forget a conversation, so I know I am right, but I get it. The guy is trying to build a friendly bridge no matter how troubled the waters are underneath, but that doesn't change history.
Jaycee: Yeah…. Not me. In classes? Sure. But that’s you talking to a group. Not that I take it personally. I don’t want to give you that idea at all. I’m not that petty. Also, I kind of like being on my own. It’s a win-win.
For some reason, me pushing back didn't ward him off at all. He actually looks emboldened to try harder.
Coby: You’ve been here for years. I know. I looked. You were here before Jason closed it down and moved everything up to Seattle. You were registered and showed up to classes all the way up there, and then when Kris opened this one you came back here. We have to have crossed paths before now.
The guy had done a little homework on me apparently. I imagine that is the kind of attention that his sociopath boss gets off on. I don't have any use for it. It makes him a fan. The first of many. None of which will ever deserve my focus during a workout. Time to take off the kid gloves.
Jaycee: It’s not at all weird that you use company records to stalk people you don’t know.
He still doesn't seemed dissuaded by my overt lack of interest in the conversation.
Coby: It’s only because I saw your name pop up in--
Time to take a shortcut.
Jaycee: Yeah. I figured. There were really only two reasons that you would be standing here right now after casually ignoring me for years. And again… not bitter about it. But the way I see it, either the Jet City Ghost sent you, or you saw that I entered Blast from the Past. Either way, I’m not really interested.
Some people need rejection spoonfed to them. They are among the group of people I dislike most in the world. As an adult you should be able to read "fuck off" plastered all over someone's body language. The people that needed it spelled out were spectacular at being a waste of my time. Blunt force is my only way out of this conversation.
Coby: What do you mean not interested?
Somehow I need to be more clear? Alright.
Jaycee: In your pitch... The reason that I didn’t bring up Jet City to Sin City, and the reason why I didn’t ask any of you to help get my foot in the door is that I don’t need it. Don’t take it personally, but I don’t exactly come here for the leadership and guidance. I come here to do my own thing, and get out. Every other gym I’ve ever been in was more hands-on. Just lots of trainers molding students into what they think is best. I don’t want that. I came here to be ignored. You have succeeded for a handful of years. Don’t falter now.
I drop the weight and sit up a little because clearly no real work will be getting done right now. This man was determined to go down swinging.
Coby: I wasn’t trying to come over and---
No backing out now Golden Boy. You want the truth, so I will give it to you straight. At the very least, it will save me another one of these conversations in the future.
Jaycee: Nah, but you were. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but it will happen eventually. Now that I am in the door, I am someone that can help get the name out. The problem with that is, there are names that I’d rather not be associated with, even if it will help me in some places.
Without even looking I point to the giant portrait of Ryans on the wall. It is difficult enough to get centered with that smirking idiot looking down at you. I didnt need to be associated with him any closer than that. Our last/first meeting was proof enough of that.
Coby: Well as I am sure you’ve noticed, he doesn’t take a real active role around here. I am trying to go in a new direction.
That is the first intelligent thing he has said all day.
Jaycee: ...and I fully support that, as long as that direction also leads away from me. I wasn’t exactly looking to have a board meeting right now, you know? Trying to focus on what I need to do to be ready for this match. You only get to make one first impression.
Of course, he rode Kris' coattails into Sin City, so he probably wouldn't know anything about trying to impress others based on your talent. For some it was enough just to know people, I guess.
Coby: Arguably there is no better first impression than winning a championship your first night on the job, and that is something that I did in Sin City. At the very least, I can give you advice. Let you know what you’re walking into….
I wonder if that version of the truth actually worked on people. It didn't fly with me.
Jaycee: Imma pass. For real though, it’s not you. It’s me.
To be honest, it was them, but that was not going to end my hostage crisis.
Coby: You know, for someone that would rather not be associated with Kris, you are nearly exactly as dismissive of others as he is.
Maybe we did have something in common after all.
Jaycee: That’s literally the only quality of his that I like. And since you are determined to do this, let’s…
He backs up when I move to stand up from the machine. It was a good move. At least he isn't bold enough to think he can physically bully me into accepting his help.
Jaycee: You didn’t win a championship on your first night, you got handed one. That guy…
This time just a head tilt that direction.
Jaycee: ...is basically everything that I don’t want to be in this business. Is he good? Sure. But it’s more luck than skill. That’s not my game. I’m not some wrecking ball that is going to stand in a ring and make fun of myself and others.
Hopefully some part of that computes for him. I don't think I can be more clear.
Coby: ...he is kind of an asshole.
Progress.
Jaycee: And so are you. All of you. How long have all of you enabled this asshat to do whatever he wants without any kind of repercussions? How many students has he ruined by not being able to actually teach anyone without it being some sick backhanded trick? And you want me to invite that into my life? Again, pass.
He is retreating now. I can read it all over him before he even opens his mouth.
Coby: I can’t say that I blame you for feeling that way. All I am saying is that there are others here that could legitimately help you work towards the goals you set for yourself. You want to earn your way through the ranks at SCW? Several people here have already done that. You could hear them out.
I could waste my time a lot of ways, but that doesn't sound like a particularly pleasant one.
Jaycee: Except, I’m not really interested in the things others have done, or the paths that they took to the top. I want to do it my way, and that doesn’t really involve anything other than the equipment you guys have in this building and the amount of air space I am given to do my thing. If that’s not on the table anymore, I can find another place to go. It’s not that big of a deal to me.
It is a bluff. I like this place. You cannot put a price on a comfort level. Hopefully the threat is enough to get him to back off though.
Coby: Don’t be ridiculous. I have asked around. People like you. You’re quiet, but you’re also the only person that nobody around here seems to hate. Plus, you’ve followed Jet City around. I would hate to lose you.
Flattery won't work either, and feels disingenuous.
Jaycee: That’s funny, a couple of days ago, you wouldn’t have noticed. I was just a face and a monthly fee. Today you know my name and care about my goals. Yet you can’t see how I would view that as you finally seeing someone worth capitalizing on.
Maybe spelling out my perspective could help him see it, but it looks more and more like my words are falling of deaf ears.
Coby: I am just offering help.
Broken record much?
Jaycee: I got all the help that I’m gonna need randomly drawn out of a hat. In the few minutes that I have spent talking to her, she’s already way easier to stomach than dealing with any of the baggage that this place carries.
it is almost like I led him to some other sales pitch though.
Coby: Two rookies leaping into a tournament isn’t as easy as this gym made it look at few years ago….
I wasn't going to dignify that with consideration.
Jaycee: Yeah, and remind me what Courtney Pierce has been up to lately…
It only took a second to scan the gym, find her, and point her out in all of her mediocrity.
Jaycee: Right… being here. The same place that I already am. I’m not exactly looking to be back at square one five years from now. Also, not the best pitch either. You never want to lean on someone that has flamed out so spectacularly.
I would say it to her face, and had in class before so I had no shame about it here.
Coby: Everyone’s path is a little different.
No shit. Let me make mine!
Jaycee: I couldn’t agree more. That is why I keep shooting down the pre-walked ones that you keep tossing at me. I don’t mind making my own path. Really. Focusing on the work is what I do best. Everything else is an unnecessary distraction.
He was a shining example of that right now.
Coby: Kind of a harsh way to look at life. Isolation isn’t good for anyone, let alone someone trying to accomplish something like winning Blast from the Past.
I doubt it.
Jaycee: Yeah well… Only time will tell. You might be right. That doesn’t mean that I am wrong. It just means that I’m not going to take your word for it. I’ve seen where that leads.
Can we not just agree to disagree?
Coby: Pride often comes before a fall.
It was almost too cheesy to believe it came out of his mouth. I laugh in his face without hesitation.
Jaycee: ...either that or you're tripping.
It was clear he wasn't going to stand down. My only play here was to flee and try to make up the time later. The more I spent here now, the more I was wasting. I didn't have any more to lose if I was going to clear the first round of Blast from the Past.
==========================================================
==========================================================
>Being the new guy isn’t exactly easy….
I mean we are battling the learning curve. Nobody in the crowd is going to cheer or boo some newcomer right off the bat. You have to earn that. You can’t earn that until people see what you are made of. That’s the problem with building up moments like this in your head though. You make it bigger than it is ever going to actually be. Is walking down to that six-sided ring for the first time going to be great? Of course. Is it going to be everything that my dreams have built it up to be? No, of course not. I am walking in as an unknown. Those movie scenes of the newbie underdog walking into a big fight to massive ovations aren’t real. Nobody that buys a ticket for this show knows what to expect from me in this ring. To be honest, I doubt anyone even expects me to impress.
That’s a lot to be floating around in a guy’s head when he’s trying to prepare for the first match of what he hopes to be a career in this company, and it doesn’t even take my competition into consideration.
Amy Santino has been in the Hall of Fame of this company for longer than I’ve known that this company existed. Just think about that. If there is something to be done in that ring, she’s done it. If there was something to win, she won it. Not even that, she was the first to ever do it. Think about that legacy. She comes and goes now, but her place is forever held in this company. Come to think of it, it kind of seems like she is a mainstay in this tournament as well. I can’t remember her winning it though…
Is it better to have a history of failure with a task, or no history at all?
I guess we will find out. I won’t actually be in the ring with her if I understand the rules of this thing right. Levana Cade will have to prove if she can stand toe-to-toe with one of the best in the history of this company. That’s a tall order for a newcomer in their first match, but the chick doesn’t seem to lack confidence. I don’t know much more about her than any of you, and am awaiting whatever promotional material that she puts out just as the rest of you are, but I have faith. I have to. We are bound together for as long as we can keep ourselves in this tournament. If that works out, who knows? Word is that there is a whole division dedicated to this style without a lot of competition.
...but I’d say that’s probably a longshot no matter how well this goes. Blast from the Past was the perfect opportunity for me to shoot my shot, but I’m not exactly looking forward to a future full of team-ups. The goal is to win this whole damn thing, and then run the steps to the very top of the mountain in a way that nobody has really been able to pull off in the past. Imagine the two of us rookies running through this tournament and then going on to claim the biggest prizes just a few short weeks after. Hypothetically we could go on to break records, set new standards, and raise a bar that a lot of people don’t think can be raised. I mean, that’s what we all sign up for the tournament hoping for, right? Those that don’t think that they have a real shot to get there shouldn’t have bothered signing up at all. I didn’t join this thing for the experience. I joined to win it all.
If I wasn’t willing to bet on myself, then I could have tried to get my foot in the door at any other time than now. I could have showed up on a regular show. I could have gone to Underground. I could have joined quietly, and built myself up for the type of spotlight this tournament shines on people, but I didn’t. I didn’t even consider it. Right around this time last year, I made the promise to myself that 2022 was going to be the year that I finally took my big step forward. I couldn’t do that without a big stage to step up onto. Blast from the Past is that stage. That time I was waiting for, is now. This is the moment that I have been manifesting on my whiteboard, and I am ready for everything that this challenge entails, because I have to be.
In this tournament, tomorrow isn’t guaranteed. If you go out and have an off night, you’re done. Even worse for someone like me, my spot isn’t exactly set in stone if I don’t impress early and often. It’s not like I am some homegrown talent that they are just showing off. It’s not like I have an established name here. I am an outsider that is just coming in to try and make my case. If I fail, I could end up back on the couch at home. I don’t have the job security of someone that has shown themselves to be a… what did they call it… “proven commodity”.
Matthew Know was right about one thing, three consecutive wins to start your tenure in a new company certainly is… something. Obviously the higher-ups have taken notice, as evidenced by the “proven commodity” line in the build-up for this match. So what if one of those wins came at the expense of someone who has never known what winning in this company feels like. So what if another one of those was a gimmicky Christmas-themed joke. The guy has proven that he can post a few cryptic words, show up, and beat all expectations put on him. Then again, he has also proven that what he really cares about is getting his hands on Mac Bane, and this tournament is just the first step on the path that gets him to that goal. Assuming of course that Knox goes all the way and Mac is able to hang onto his championship for long enough for that plan to come to fruition, it isn’t a bad one. Sometimes you can’t get the match you want unless you put the work in. For his last three matches, Knox has definitely put the work in, even if it wasn’t serious work or against capable opponents. I can’t take away from the wins that the guy has in this company, because I am sitting on zero.
...but maybe I’m not totally off base here. The guy talks a big game, but literally chased opposition to this company. He begs for the attention of Amber and Mac on a near weekly basis, all while talking about how big of a piece of shit he has been both professionally and otherwise in other companies. Sure, maybe he was successful, but he sounds like a headache. More importantly, he sounds like a guy with tunnel-vision. He is so hyper focused on the prize that may await at the end of this tournament and the people that he actually wants to get his hands on, that he is going to miss seeing the forest for the trees. He is so worried about the fight that could be months in front of him that he isn’t going to see the mauling coming for him this weekend. Knox’s focus has been split since he first arrived on the scene here, but the competition has been so lackluster that it hasn’t mattered. He’s spent more time pining over the fight he can’t have than he has paying attention to the ones that he does. That hasn’t bitten him in the ass yet, but come Climax Control it is going to. Big time.
...because that is what happens in this business when you lack focus. That is what happens when you aren’t using your energy for the fight in front of you, but preserving it for the one you might not ever get. Every moment of success in that ring might feel like one step closer to his ultimate goal, but keeping Mac at the forefront of his mind is only going to blind him to the person standing right in front of him. This week, across that six-sided ring, it is going to be me, and unfortunately, I have something to prove to every single person in attendance. I have thousands of people to impress in the stands, and an entire roster that I need to put on notice. Like I said, everyone only gets one chance to make a first impression, and I’m not going to fall flat for mine. Especially not to someone like Matthew Knox. He is everything that I’m not, which seems to be a trend in this company.
...but this is the way it has to be. This was the luck of the draw. None of the teams are perfectly balanced. None of these matches are going to look totally even on both sides. Somebody is going to be favored in every fight, and one team has to lose. On paper, Amy looks like a sure thing. In reality, if she is able to hold her own against a legend of this company, I should at least be able to hold off someone roughly in the same boat that I am. I can’t be the one to let this team down, especially when my partner is going to be faced with a much more difficult task.
Although, I could be wrong. This match could go any of a thousand different ways. There is a world where neither team comes out of this unscathed, and the fans of this company would be the first to say that stranger things have happened before. I think I heard that the guy that won it last year also lost it last year. I don’t exactly know how that works, but it just goes to show that anything that can happen almost certainly will happen in a tournament this big with this many eyes on it. The only thing that I can do is be ready for when I am tagged into this contest. I have to be ready to go whenever my number is called, and I wouldn’t have thrown my name into the mix if I didn’t think that I was ready to step up to that challenge. I am confident, but who wouldn’t be in my shoes?
I wish that I could say that two relative unknowns coming out of nowhere to win this tournament would be mind-blowing, but I have been assured that it has happened here before. Part of me was let down when I heard that. There would be nothing better than doing something that nobody thought was possible. However, the vast majority of me was empowered by the thought that this is actually attainable. It has been done before. Rookies have defied the odds, worked together, and steamrolled through all the people that the experts picked to make it to the end. There is no reason that Levana and I can’t be that team. We may not know each other, and for all I know we may not end up even being able to tolerate each other, but I get the distinct feeling that we can make this work in order to get to the end of this thing. We have a similar goal, and neither of us seem like the type to throw away an opportunity like this.
A lot of people would probably be turned off by having to open up the show, but I couldn’t be happier about it. I haven’t earned my way up the card yet, and when I get there I don’t want it to feel like anything was handed to me. I’m also not the most patient guy in the world, so showing up to Climax Control just to sit around for a couple hours stewing sounded like a nightmare. I get to show up, see the show get started, and then attempt to go out and set the bar so high that the first match of the night is the only one worth remembering tomorrow. Is that likely? Nah. Could it happen? Absolutely! And I don’t mind being the guy reaching for the things that people tell me are impossible. In fact, it only makes me want to reach that much further.
I’m the type of person that is going to thrive in this company if I’m underestimated, and I’m going to prove that to every set of eyes on this company starting Sunday.
I dare Amy Santino, Matthew Knox, and anyone else in this tournament to try and stop me.
