”Come on, get up, buddy.”
Ken Davison opens his eyes to see a TSA Agent looking down at him. On the floor of Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Davison was waiting for a flight to Los Angeles. He is dressed in a nice orange button down shirt and black dress pants.
”Is there a problem?”
”You can't sleep here. Now go find yourself somewhere to go.”
”I'll tell you what, Officer Bitchcakes. Tell Continental that when they cancel the red eye that they need to make accommodations for their passengers. Not all of us can afford hotels you know.”
The truth of the matter is, Ken Davison could more than afford to go to a hotel. Hell, he could have driven home. But the floor of the airport was just as comfortable to him. He hadn't had a good night's sleep in months. Originally, he was supposed to leave at 7:16 last night and his flight was delayed. Then, it was delayed a second time. The third time, it was canceled. Ken simply decided that he would wait at the airport and fix it in the morning. The TSA agent walks away, now ignoring Davison.
”Hey, homeboy, come back here. Can't I get one of those enhanced pat downs? I haven't had that kind of action in months!”
Ken gets up and grabs his suitcase and jacket off of the floor, wiping the dust off of them. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his cell phone. It's just after five in the morning. Davison groans audibly, trying to stretch out the muscle in his back. Davison makes his way over to the JetBlue terminal, surprised to see agents there already. He gets his travel issues sorted out and walks to the food court. Dunkin’ Donuts coffee and a Boston Cream Donut in hand, he parks it at the nearest table and pulls his cell phone out and sets it on the table. He goes to call his fiancee, but on the off chance Kyra is actually sleeping, he decides not to call her.
As if she can read his mind, Ken’s phone starts ringing
“Hey, mama…” Ken’s voice sounds tired and weary. “You sleep okay?”
Kyra couldn’t help but chuckle, albeit humorlessly. “I’ll give you one guess where I am right now.”
“I would guess either the couch or on the shitter.”
“Good guesses, but no. Adina took over our bed so I took hers. Got tired of getting my ass kicked.” She replied, stifling a yawn. “We really should look into getting her a new bed though. God damn this thing sucks.”
“Kicked?” Ken forces out through his stifled laughs. “Last week when you were on the couch I ended up with three of her toes in my mouth! Do you know where those things have been?”
“Other than in your mouth? I don’t even wanna know, but whatever it was… I’m sure it tasted horrible.” Kyra laughed. “She’s a menace and she needs to be stopped.”
“Remember that time she tried to make ramen in the microwave and didn’t add water? It tasted as bad as that smelled.” Ken smiles in spite of himself. “So, yeah… I’m guessing you saw I’m still here.”
Kyra doesn’t respond right away, but eventually she sighs. “Yeah.. I only checked to see if you made it over yonder.. But what’s going on? Everything okay?”
“Yeah. There were a couple of delays and then they canceled. I slept on the floor and just got the flight rebooked as early as possible. I’ve got a stop over in Las Vegas, so probably going to head over and see Mac. I need to get my head on straight.”
Letting out another sigh, Kyra sits up in the bed. “That’s not a bad idea.. But what’s wrong? Can I help?”
“Honesty, I’m just… I don’t know… lost, is maybe the word.
“I don’t like the sound of that.” Kyra replies, her voice quieting.
“I just feel like we scratched and clawed and fought to win the UGWC Co-op titles and now that we have, it’s like, what now? With the rotating door of cooperative champions, I’d like to try and hold onto these things for a while. But, the motivation is just… it’s like the adrenaline has worn off. You know?”
Kyra nods her head, even though she knows no one can see her. “No, no.. I get it. I completely understand, but I also know that the moment we go back and we see these fuckers doing the same shit we were doing to get to those belts… it’ll come back. And hell, it might even come back with a vengeance because we don’t wanna lose em as quickly as we got em.”
“I understand that. We’ve gone from the hunters to the prey. I’m not going to lie, Ragdoll and Cervantes AGAIN! At least the Piercing Media Empire will be a new challenge. What I really wanted was one more match against Incendium so we could see once and for all who the better team was. Then Gabe retired and that was the end of that.”
“I don’t know, hun. I feel like we could face them
and beat them a hundred times more and there’d still be a debate. But I guess we’re just gonna have to settle for agreeing to disagree on that particular topic.” She grins. “But we’re still here and regardless of what anyone says.. No one can deny that we’re the best team in the UGWC at the moment. I mean they’ll deny the shit out of it but fuck em.”
“So, where do we go? Do we just wait to see what the world throws at us or do we just start leaving a trail of bodies?”
“You know me.. I’m all for bodying these fuckers. And honestly, that seems to be the only thing they understand. But.. And I can’t believe I’m saying this…” She pulls in a deep breath. “..It doesn’t hurt to sit back and see what ends up coming our way either.”
“You know, you’re saying ‘fuck’ an awful lot today. Feeling a little spicy?” Ken laughs. He desperately wanted to be home with Kyra, but he was sitting alone, in an airport, by himself. At least the coffee was fresh. “You think we’ll be okay? Or you think we need to get slapped around a little bit to regain our edge?”
Silence settles between them while Kyra thinks about Ken’s question. She pulls one of Adina’s stuffed animals into her lap and stares at it - It was an adorably ugly little thing that Ken had bought for her. She smiles at the toy and clears her throat.
“You know, I think we’re perfect Ken. We’re in the business of getting slapped around, so that’s gonna happen regardless. As for our edge, we ain’t lost it. Not one bit. This isn’t gonna last forever but at least we get to say we were champions twice… together. Maybe I’m getting soft in my old age… I dunno, but I got you, and I got that little shithead that’s sleeping with my belt in our bed.. What more could I ask for?”
“I don’t know about you, but I could ask you to stop talking about old age. My body gives me enough reminders of that on the daily. One day, I will be too old for this.”
“I mean, you can ask.. But that doesn’t mean I’m gonna listen.” Kyra replies with an ornery smirk. “One day we’ll both be too old for this, but until then.. Let’s just keep doing what we’re doing.”
“Sounds like a plan. I just need to make sure you’re healthy enough that we can get in trouble for grabbing each other’s asses when we finally get to the old folks home.”
Kyra chuckles. “I don’t think you have anything to worry about. I always find a way to get into trouble.”
“Alright.I’ll be home in a couple of days. I promise.”
“Oh I know you will be, we both know you can’t leave me for too long. Just take care of yourself and let Mac finish kicking your ass back into shape. I love you.”
“I love you, too, mama.”
It was never easy to talk about Sin City with Kyra, even though Ken had been actively trying to recruit his beloved to the company since before he had even signed his own contract. With the kiddo at home, though, it was hard. He understood that. But the way he felt about those UGWC Cooperative Championships was exactly how he felt about the Sin City Internet Championship.There were parallels that even Stevie Wonder could see.
‘I lost to the ‘Cockney King’ then had a draw against Knox. This is not acceptable.’ Ken thinks to himself as he finishes his donut and grabs his coffee. ‘Well, asshole, I guess it’s time to get your head on right.
“Here I am, preparing for my match at Blaze of Glory, and I keep replaying Mark Ward’s words replaying in my head.”
Through the magic of audio engineering and clever editing, Hot Stuff’s voice plays.
“You, my friend, must have balls of steel, because no one in their right mind would do that, no one with any common sense would add Matt Knox to this one by choice. It's like the christians in the Colosseum raising their hands and saying there's not enough lions here, throw in another.”
Then, the key words echo over and over, each time getting louder.
“No one in their right mind”
“No one in their right mind”
“No one in their right mind”
“No one in their right mind”
“No one in their right mind”
“The problem here is that I am of my right mind. I know what I am capable of. Matt Knox knows what I am capable of. Jack Washington is about to find out what I am capable of. If you see other than a clear cut understanding of my actions, then you are either ignorant or you are not of your own right mind. The things I have seen… the things I have
done... you would have to kill me to try and stop me. Three years ago, I had a widowmaker heart attack. Yet, here I am, alive and kicking. God Himself could not defeat me. What makes the two of you think that you have any chance of doing so?”
“Regardless, I understand that the last month has been something of, I don't know, an awakening. Since I won the Sin City wrestling Internet championship I have become a hypocrite. I have become exactly what I accused Agostino Romano of being. I became complacent. I became comfortable. That is unacceptable.”
“Where is that fire I showed when I confronted Agostino? Where is that drive that I should have had when facing “The Cockney King”? Where was that fire when I sullied my hands with Matt Knox? The problem is, figuratively speaking, that I got fat and lazy. I had a match in another company, for a title I had been chasing since June of last year, I managed to win that title. Here, in Sin City Wrestling, I was given that opportunity for the Internet Championship, and I was happy to take that championship. I was on top of the world. Rightfully so, might I add. After all of the blood, sweat and tears, it was like. “Now what? Where do I go from here?”
“Having those goals gave me a sense of direction. It gave me power. It's the old adage about how it's not the kill but the thrill of the hunt. It's like a video game where you strive but you strive to get better and better until you can get to that next level. But this isn't a video game. There is always a next level. I lost sight of that and that's on me. My goal in this company is to become the SCW World Champion. I don't care that Mac bean currently holds that championship. The way the Saviors work is that we bring out the best in each other just as much as we enjoy smacking other people down. I don't care that Mac bean currently holds that championship. The way the savior's work is that we bring out the best in each other just as much as we enjoy smacking other people down.”
“When those objectives come on those goals, that I worked so long and hard for, that I bled for, We're no longer goals, but achievements but achievements, I lost sight of what I should be doing. I am a condemned champion.I am one of the faces of Sin City Wrestling by that fact alone. The issue is that I was happy to be the Sin City Wrestling Internet Champion. Let me say that again, the problem is that I was happy.”
Ken folds his hands in front of him and sighs deeply.
“You know, Agostino Romano was happy. But, Agostino Romano is a pure soul. Agostino Romano deserves to be happy. I was once young and innocent. I actually miss the days when that was enough. My advice to you, Romano? “Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold.”
“There's a science to why the chase is more enjoyable.I'm not going to bore you with all the details but the gist of it is that each step you take towards achieving that goal bowl gives you a little head of dopamine.I'm not going to bore you with all the details but the gist of it is that each step you take towards achieving that goal bowl gives you a little head of dopamine. It's like getting a little bit of a high every time you get a little bit closer. Sometimes, you don't even have to get closer to your goal. It's just the anticipation of it that makes you happy. This leads to people jumping from goal to goal to goal to goal to goal and an effort to chase that high. Shit, that's the entire reason why Matt Knox had his grubby little paws pause in so many different companies. He's not satisfied at home, obviously. He's not content to climb the ladder. What he wants is to have as many matches as he can to chase that high. He is nothing more than an adrenaline junkie. He needs his fix. At Blaze of Glory, he will not be getting that fix.”
“Don't get me wrong, That's actually not meant as an insult to Matt Knox. In this case, the man has cracked the code. By working here, there, and everywhere he doesn't have to worry about being let down. When I crush him at Blaze of Glory, he'll just go to another company and beat someone beneath his level. The problem with spreading yourself so thin is that you can't keep up that kind of pace forever. What our last match proved to me is that even on my worst day, he could not beat me.”
“It honestly took a close friend of mine to tell me to pull my head out of my ass for me to realize what my problem was. I set a short term goal and I didn't think beyond that moment. I have been doing this long enough that I know that the Internet championship is not the pinnacle. However, in my time as the Internet Champion my goal should be to go down in history as the best Internet champion this company has ever seen. My goal should be to put myself in the best position I can for my future opportunities. To do that, I have to defeat Matt Knox. I have to defeat Jack Washington. It is not enough to simply hold on to my championship.”
“I had to step back. I had to look at things through a different lens to realize that. What Jack Washington and Matt Knox need to realize is that is what makes me so dangerous. I have the presence of mind that Jack Washington does not. By his own words he made the mistake of trying to work with someone, in this case Krystal Wolfe, and it blew up in his face. Did he do anything differently? No. Same old story, same old song-and-dance.”
“However, that is not who I am as a person. Go ask Amber Ryan.The first time she and I met in the ring, she came out victorious. In fact, the second time we met in the ring, she came out victorious again. So I did what I needed to do. I looked at what I was doing and I recognized the things I needed to change. Obviously, since I've won the Sin City Internet Championship, I have not done that. Things needed to change. It won't be until we reach Blaze of Glory that those changes will be revealed.”
“Enough about myself, at least for the time being. At this point I need to shift the focus to my opposition.”
“Matt Knox, I would like to thank you for a couple of things. First, I'd like to thank you for proving me correct. You showed the entire world that you are exactly the person I said you were. You sat there and ran your mouth because you didn't lose. You ran your mouth and made it sound like you were better than me when you still have yet to prove it. That just shows who you are as a person. You weren't even content with the fact that you didn't win. You celebrated the fact that you didn't win. I suppose it was more a celebration of the fact that you didn't lose, but the point still remains.”
“The other thing I feel I should thank you for helping me to realize that I cannot be you. I couldn't walk into Blaze of Glory against Jack Washington and feel as though I deserve to be the champion if I did not definitively defeat you. What you did, Knox, is light a fire under my ass. I realized that if I can't beat you, what business do I have in the ring with Jack Washington?”
Davison smirks, knowing where this is going.
“The better question here is what business does he have being in the ring with me?”
Davison puts his hand over his heart and audibly gasps with so much fake shock that you would think he was an actress on a telenovela.
“Did he really really just say that? You're Kendamned right, I said it. I understand that he's a two time World Champion here. If we're being honest, I've never heard of Jack Washington. So, I did what anyone searching for the answers to life, the universe, and everything would do. I Googled him. Guess what! Google didn't seem to have heard of you, either. Let's see here…”
Ken reaches inside of his vestments and pulls out a cell phone.
“Jack Washington, American saxophone player, died in 1964. Karr girls basketball coach Jack Washington dies after sickness, February 2021. Longtime Trenton teacher, historian Jack Washington dies, April 2017. Literally the only thing I've gotten out of trying to find you is that anyone with your name is probably dead already. So, what do we know about you? Former World Champ. The internet doesn’t know who you are. Talked shit about the title you’re fighting for. Oh, and my favorite, blaming Krystal Wolfe for the fact that you couldn’t get out of the first round of Blast From the Past. Now, I’ve got this all figured out. You are whiny, selfish, cry and bitch when you don’t get your way. You are a five year old little girl. I know because I’ve got a little one at home.“
“So, what I would like to do now is come down to your level. As a parent, you are supposed to model your behavior in a way you would want your child to emulate. So, instead of me going through the same old rigamarole, why doesn’t wittle Jacky Wacky go back and watch this from the beginning. Pay special attention to the part where I don’t blame anyone but myself for my record lately. Maybe you should take a few notes on that.”
“Another pro-tip is that you should use appropriate responses. When you ran down Krystal, the way you use the word ‘bitch’ like it’s the only insult you know, when you called me “bum ass Ken” Ken puts his hands over his heart. “That hurt. I’m wounded. So wounded. Be that as it may, you show all the intellectual prowess of Matt Knox. I wouldn’t be especially proud of that.”
“What I’ve tried to do is help you to see things from another perspective. I want to face Jack Washington the man. I want to face Jack Washington who won the World Championship twice. I want to face a version of Jack Washington who is worthy and a man who feels that any title is beneath him doesn’t deserve to carry it. The one thing I will say is that at least Matt Knox would carry this belt with some Kendamned pride. You, Washington, are disgrace to this company and to this entire industry.”
“Maybe you remember when I showed up here, I didn’t come here to be Mac Bane’s buddy. Kendamn that shit’s been overused. When I came here, I said my goal was to rid Sin City Wrestling of all of the derelict souls, the smarmy vagrants, all of the overinflated egos. I didn’t come here to win championships, although I am proud to carry the Sin City Wrestling Internet Championship, that will not stand in the way of what I have to do.”
“I never thought I’d meet someone that annoys me more than Matt Knox. Holy hell. The fact is that I am a man who doesn’t settle. I am a man who has made a career of proving myself time and time again. The things I do, I do for the betterment of this company. You are two of the best, but you are not
THE best. The two of you are both problems, well, chuckleheads, I am the solution. I am the path you follow. I prove it each time I get in the ring, every time I speak to you, and every time I merely grace you with my presence. I want you to bring your best. I want you to bring all your vitriol, all your anger, and all your rage. I want to watch the life drain out of your eyes as you realize that I am everything I say I am and more. I can make matches. I can do whatever I want, or need, when I am in that ring because I am God and when you’re God, you don’t have to break the rules. You make them!”
