[Fenris]

Despina Montagas. Jim Londos. Spiros Arion. Greece was known for sending forth some of the most talented wrestlers from its lands. So one has to wonder why Greece was not better known for professional wrestling unto itself. After all, ancient Greeks practically invented the sport of wrestling. It was used as a means to train soldiers in hand-to-hand combat. It was a popular entry from the first Olympic games to the present day. So one has to wonder why seeing professional wrestling arrive on the shores of the Greek islands is such a rarity. Any nation steeped in such culture and history to the sport should be a mainstay, not a novelty. And yet, here we are…

Skala Kallonis Beach

There were a great many beaches throughout the island of Lesbos, this week’s stop for SCW’s “Going Home” edition of Climax Control. Hell! There were dozens upon dozens of beaches strewn about the entire COUNTRY. One beach - Petra Beach - was well known for having bars and restaurants all along its borders, much like the booths and entertainments at famous boardwalk amusement parks like Steel Pier and Belmont Amusement Park. That was one that Fenris had petitioned for the group he was a part of to visit - for all the obvious reasons, but he was quickly overruled and outvoted, much to his chagrin. As Aron had stated outright, this was a day for business before pleasure. And, in an act that Fenris practically saw as treasonous, Ben Jordan agreed with his younger sibling.

They had a match together in a matter of days, one that may not have involved a championship title but it was huge regardless due to the fact an in-ring legend would be visiting SCW and stepping inside of the ring as a ‘special attraction’ against them. And with Mac Bane as Chris Page’s partner, they were going to need to step it up. So, Ben called their mutual pal Max Burke to lend a bit of an assist with the promise of pitchers of Greek beer later. And Aron? He too had a role to play in this little venture.

“You have got to be fucking joking!” Fenris watched with his hands on his hips as he, Max Burke and Ben Jordan stood there on the beach in their wrestling gear of all things. Aron, in his own seldom used gear and bare chested as they were, used his bare toes in the sand to carefully and slowly draw the rectangle outline of a ring in the sand. Many of the beaches in Lesbos were popular with both tourists and locals alike, but that was why after a bit of research, Aron had led the group here, to Skala Kallonis. While still one of the more beautiful of the island’s beaches, it was also known for being perhaps among the quietest. Ever since the Superstars and Bombshells had first arrived for this tour, the action-starved communities followed the men and women of SCW everywhere they went to the point of stalking.

Hence why Aron had chosen this locale for what he had in mind. There were people here, and yes, some fans had followed them from their hotels to see what was going on, but it was still quieter than any other spot that Aron might have picked.

Aron looked up from where he stood just a couple of yards away from the waters and held his arms out, “K, they are still setting up the ring at the stadium! There are no wrestling schools here on the island to use and while there are gyms with boxing rings, you know as well as anyone else that those were not meant to be used to spar for a WRESTLING match! Have you got a better idea??”

“Yes!” Fenris all but bellowed hotly, Ben wincing from his right and using a pinky to dig at his deafened ear. “We forget this and hit the bars instead!”

“Seconded!” Max’s own hand shot up as if he were in class, waiting to be recognized by the teacher.

“Now don’t you start!” Ben scolded but with a laughing tone behind his voice. “I don’t see any harm in us having a bit of a spar here on the beach. It’s a lovely day out so we'll get some sun and fresh air while getting in a workout, all at the same time!”

“Thank you, Ben.” Aron nodded, grateful that someone in their little group was supportive of his idea. “Always the voice of reason.”

“Besides,” Ben added. “Ancient Greeks didn’t have a ring so why NOT go the authentic route?”

“You want authentic?” Fenris asked.

“That would be nice.” Ben admitted with a nod. “We are in Greece, after all. They have been doing this sport for thousands of years. They practically invented it!”

“Fine!” Fenris shrugged. “You want authentic, I’ll give you authentic!” And he slipped his thumbs into the elastic waistband of his wrestling shorts, readying to – but before he even made a move, Max clenched his eyes shut and fell back into the waters, struggling and calling aloud, “My eyes! My eyes!” Just as Ben slapped a restraining hand on Fenris’s wrist, preventing him from showing the world. Not that he would have, of course. While it was true public nudity was not altogether uncommon in Iceland, whereas Fenris and Aron were from Iceland, they were not IN it. Ben knew deep down Fenris wouldn’t have done it, yet he also knew the man could be unpredictable at the best of times so… better safe than sorry!

Both men bent over slightly at the waist, they met each other's eyes and Fenris asked, “I thought you said you wanted an authentic experience? Ancient Greeks wrestled naked!”

Ben reasoned (badly), “Yeah well, they also wrestled naked and oiled up! Where do we draw the line??”

Fenris just grinned wickedly and Ben closed his eyes and nodded, “Right. Dumb question.” He stood upright and grabbed Fenris by the arm, pulling him up along with him. “Just forget whatever ideas you have running around that twisted mind of yours.”

Allowing Ben to steer him over toward one of the outline’s corners to commence their public sparring session, Fenris rolled his eyes, “You never let me have any fun!”


Niki Studios Seafront

This hotel where Aron had booked accommodation for he and his brother was more of a traditional setting of Greek studio apartments rather than a luxurious hotel where many of the stars of SCW would find themselves staying. Fenris himself was never one to ‘over-indulge’ himself when it came to self gratification. His and Aron’s home in Las Vegas being perhaps one exception. It was simply how he was raised as a child, and it stuck throughout his adult life. Plus, as Aron knew privately, his older brother simply wanted a decent experience during their first venture to the Greek islands. He had little need for any excess that many others would use simply as an ego boost or to hype their own social status. The fact that the studios were built in an old world style and had an owner, Niki and her son, who oversaw everything and made guests feel welcome, it truly did have a breathtaking view of the sea right from the balcony of the hotel rooms. A fact that Aron knew his brother prized above all else.

Plus, it had the home feel touch that both brothers often missed when they spent the majority of the year away from their native Iceland.  The training session between the four men had been grueling but overall satisfying as Ben and Max agreed to simply return to the hotel of the brothers to freshen up and get changed before they all headed out to the city to explore and enjoy the nearby pubs and restaurants.

The door opened up to the room and right inside was the bed and desk, and a small sofa for added comfort. To the immediate left of the door was the bathroom. While Kristjan traditionally preferred white in his surroundings, the room’s overall color scheme was done in shades of browns and blues. Aron had the good manners to open the door and then step aside so that Kristjan and his guests, Ben and Max, could set foot inside first, only entering after.

Once Kristjan was inside, Ben playfully quipped, “Mine is bigger.” To which Aron entered, brushing between his friend and his brother, saying, “Just whip them out and let’s have a room measuring contest.” To which Ben smiled brightly at the saucy remark, unable to believe that Aron had it in him while Kristjan just rolled his eyes.

Aron then directed Max to the bathroom while Kristjan was set to shut the door when a soft rap on the other side gave him pause and caused heads to turn. Kristjan opened the door wide and there stood an older, diminutive Greek woman in her late years. Niki, owner and proprietor of the hotel. They knew simply because upon their arrival, she and her son welcomed them graciously and personally. An unusual thing but it is part of what made it so enjoyable for tourists the world over.

"Με συγχωρείς?" The older Greek woman spoke up. "To πακέτο σας κύριε?"

Aron stepped up and said, "She said she has a package delivery for you."

Ben looked at Aron with a quizzical expression and he said as more of a statement than a question, “You speak Greek now too?” Referencing the fact that the younger of the two Icelandic siblings was fluent in both English as well as Chinese.

“No.” Aron shook his head. “ I just took the time to learn a few basics before we came.” He looked past Ben and pointedly toward Kristjan, “Unlike SOME people.” To which Kristjan just huffed. He took the package and then turned to the old lady and gave her a polite nod, one would she returned in kind before waving goodbye. Kristjan shut the door behind her and proceeded to open the package, and once he looked inside at the contents he looked at Ben, "Seriously!?" He exclaimed, waving the package in hand. "Even here!?"

Aron took a step closer to see what the big deal was, and glancing inside at the box, he saw a large quantity of chapsticks. Aron snorted back a laugh, but choked it off at the look on his brother's face.

Ben shrugged with an innocent but impish grin on his face. "I thought with David visiting, you could use the extra protection." Ben glanced at Aron and said, "Or David could."

Aron chuckled as he took a seat on the sofa, while Ben walked across the hotel room toward Kristjan's stash of alcohol to fix himself something before their night out. Neither paying attention to the contemplative look on Kristjan's face before he opened up one of the chapsticks and begun to apply it.

Glass in hand, Ben walked back over and took a seat beside Aron. He asked the younger of the two, "So is my boy ready? He and the Mac gave each other hell, but he told me that he had no idea who Chris Page is."

Aron answered, "Devil's advocate but I didn't know who the man was either. I had to contact Gabriel back home and ask if he could send me any videos of the man."

Behind them, Kristjan started to say something but found himself unable. His eyes open slightly in alarm and he started grabbing at his mouth.

"Mph!"

"And did he?" Ben questioned and Aron nodded.

"Aron answered. "What he was able, yes. I've looked up more information on the web while I've had K watching what he could."

"That right?" Ben called back to Fenris over his shoulder, not seeing the man frantically pulling at his jaw and mouth. "Oy!" Ben called again but this time cast to look over his shoulder and frowned at what he was seeing. Aron noticed this and looked also.

"MPHHRRPH!" Kristjan mumbled through his clenched lips, arms flaying. "Mrgh!"

"What's that Lassie?" Ben asked, teasing his close friend. "Did little Timmy fall down the well again?"

Mac stepped out of the bathroom, still glistening from the hot shower and clothes still clinging to his body. Not even aging attention to the conversation around him, he still offers, "I always thought that dog was the one who pushed Timmy down the well in the first place...ow!"

He exclaimed when the box sailed across the hotel room and struck him in the back of the head! Max turned around and faced Fenris, rubbing the side of his head. "Hey!" He exclaimed.

"Mate!" Ben reprimanded him. "What is going on with you!?"

"MMPH!!" Kristjan (tried) to say heatedly as he then threw the chapstick in his hand at Ben, but Ben was swift enough to catch it in his hand. Kristjan motioned towards it and only then did Ben look at it and say, "Oh hey! This isn't chapstick, it's a glue stick."

Ben looked up at Kristjan motioning wildly and said, "Oh... Oh." He looked back down at the glue stick in his hand and then up at Kristjan and his eyes opened wide, "OH!"


“Tag team wrestling. Isn’t that just perfect?”

“This may come as something of a surprise to you, but I am the sort of man that does not do well with change. It’s become something of a running joke in my everyday life that I am a creature of habit. I have a routine from the time that I wake up to when I go to bed, and I do not like to stray, even a little. Don’t get me wrong. I have a social life alongside family and friends, but I am talking more about my professional life and my training alongside it. Like, for example, I could be out drinking with friends such as Ben Jordan and Max Burke and, for lack of a better term, we all get lit. But when 5am comes along, do I forgo my usual morning run, no matter what city I am in at the time? No. I might have the hangover from hell and want to turn my guts inside out, but I will not stop.”

“Ever.”

“It is simply who and how I am, and how I always have been. I do not stop or ease up because I have brought myself up to a certain standard that I intend to keep. I believe that my training and routine have made me who and what I am, and I will not see that crash and burn for a moment of weakness. Now you might ask what routines and comfort zones have to do with the situation I am in this week, but trust me when I say that there’s a method to my madness. There always is.”

“I am not what you might call a student of the sport but what I can tell you is that I have learned there have been many great tag teams in this business. Sinful Obsession. Team Hero. The Fallen. Reckless Elite. Just to name a few. But me? I am not one of them. Never have been, and as good as I believe myself to be, I can honestly say that I doubt I ever will be.”

“I guess you might say my reluctance towards tag team wrestling is because from the time I was fighting in amateur MMA circles to when I graduated to the professional ranks, right up to where I evolved and adapted to professional wrestling, I’ve had one person to rely on; myself. I have people around me who have always supported me and encouraged me, but I am the one who was stepping inside of the cage or the wrestling ring. I am the one who was putting my body on the line to be the best and beat the best. I’ve bled. I’ve broken a few bones in my time - mine as well as opponents. But my point is, I learned when it came to competing, I had to rely on myself inside of the ring. It does not work that way in tag team wrestling and that is perhaps why I have always held the division at arm’s length. I simply do not like putting my career and the likelihood of success on the shoulders of another. I do not like simply standing on the outside of the ring and watching, waiting for a tag so I can step into the ring and do what I know I do best. Rather than relying on just myself, I am relying on someone else and that is about as foreign a concept to me as pickles on pizza.”

“I am used to getting my way I suppose in most walks of life, but unfortunately, I have come to realize that not everything can go my way in this business. I can count on one hand the number of times that the higher ups have made me be involved in tag team matches, whether I wanted to or not. For them it was not a matter of what I wanted, but a matter of what the audience wanted. That is their revenue. That is where their decisions come into play. Fair point I suppose, I can not argue with that. Well, I can but it would serve me little purpose. The powers that be are in the business to make money and entertain the fans, and hopefully both goals go hand in hand. And if that goal coerces me into a field I am no expert in or takes me out of my comfort zone, so be it.”

“I can’t go and say that the few tag team partners I’ve had in the past have not been successful. Teaming alongside Courtney Pierce got me that first taste of success as the 2018 Blast From the Past Champions. I’ve also teamed with Ty West, and my own brother Aron. And now here I am, teaming with the one man - the only man - who has back to back wins over me and gave me the greatest challenges of my career … Ben Jordan.”

“To say I was not thrilled about being booked in a tag team match is probably the understatement of the century, but I could not be happier with who I was teamed with. Ben Jordan is probably my closest friend in this business. A man who I both respect and admire. Someone who has been there for me even during times I do not think I deserved to have anyone in my corner. A man I have confided to some of my worst, and has seen me through some of my best. He is one of the few who has held my confidence without judgment and that is not something that I look back on and take for granted. The world over knows the past he and I have shared. Even when what you might call professional jealousy over the World title reared its ugly head, it did not sever the bond that he and I shared. We did not fall into that trap that so many other so-called friendships in this business fall into. We fought. He won. We endured.”

“End of story.”

“I could not ask for a more reliable man to team with in this instance. Not just because I know I can put my full trust in him to watch my back, but because I know professionally Ben Jordan simply KNOWS tag team wrestling. The man is a former two-time World Tag Team Champion in SCW and held the ACW gold as well. We may not have ever teamed together before, but going into this match I know I couldn’t have been given a better or more reliable partner. It is why I have the most confidence that we will walk away the winners.”

“Not that our opponents will make things easy on us. Far from it! We are up against Mac Bane, the reigning World Heavyweight Champion. A man I defeated once before in the distant past, and a man who has risen to the occasion and held me at bay long enough to where I was unable to repeat history just a matter of days ago. I can not find fault with what happened at the end of our match, Bane. If you were going to go down, I imagine you thought you were going to take me down with you and in a sense, that is exactly what you did. No contest. Double count out. Call it whatever you want, but what I call it is unfinished business.”

“Mac, the first time we went at it, you told the world that earning my respect meant the world to you. Well you have that and you have never lost it. Even when we were professional rivals of sorts, you still offered to step up and watch my back when Aron and I were having our issues with the Good Shepherds. You were actually the only one that did. That is not something I have ever forgotten, but it will always be something that I appreciate. Still, you know me, Bane. The way you and I fought only days ago proved that we both know each other too well because neither of us were able to get the win, and you are now one of the few blemishes that I have on my record. And that - that bothers me, Mac. I may not like losing, but it is a fact in this sport that everyone loses. Loses in any and every sport. My record was not without marks in the loss column when I fought in EliteXL, and both Ben Jordan and Austin James Mercer proved to me that I was not above being beaten as a professional wrestler.”

“But there's a vast difference between losing a match and being unable to win one. Leaving one without a winner - at all. That bothers me more than you realize. Now most people would be satisfied with a result like that, especially when they were in the ring with the current World Champion. They might like to use logic and think to themselves ‘Well I may not have won, but at least I didn’t lose, either. Well … I am not most people. I do not like leaving questions unanswered, and the question I had in my mind going into that match was would I - could I - beat the World Champion and prove that I deserve to compete for the World Heavyweight title and become a two-time champion. I did not get an answer to that question, Mac, which brings us to this one. This match between us can only serve one purpose between us. To answer that question. To tell the world whether or not I should be in the ring with you, and with that pretty gold belt of yours being on the line. It is not the same, but I will take this as what you might call a consolation prize.”

“And Chris Page… when I first learned that Page would be standing in Mac’s corner last Sunday, my first reaction was ‘Who!?’ Then I wanted to know ‘Why?’! Then when Mac and I were unable to get a decisive win between us and Mark Ward and Christian Underwood told us we would be settling things in this tag team match, what I wanted to know was .. why? They are labeling this match as a ‘special attraction’ and I guess I am lost as to what is making it so special aside from the fact the World Champion is involved, as are Ben and myself. No knock on Page, but I simply do not know who the man is! That, I admit, is more on me than it is on him. Ben sure as hell knows who he is because he has been acting like a kid turned loose in a toy store! He has been going on without end about the chance to step inside of the ring with such a distinguished competitor as Chris Page whereas I felt like I was being left completely in the dark. My own fault I imagine for not being a so-called student of the game, but not being familiar with Chris Page puts me at a distinct disadvantage and I’ll tell you something… I do not like the way that feels. So I did the only thing I could think of doing, and I asked my brother, as my manager, to dig up whatever he could on Page so I wouldn’t be walking into this match and looking like a goddamn fool.”

“Got to hand it to you, Chris. I can see why Ben is looking forward to this match. You’ve been involved in this sport longer than most of us and have come away smelling like a rose, more often than not. A current Tag Team Champion in IIW? That puts you in a pretty good spot going into this match on Sunday, doesn’t it? You know the tag team side of the equation and what it takes to be successful in it. I sat back and watched some of your matches in Fight! Against men like Austin Ramsey and Brandon Moore and shit! You’ve got a damn near spotless record and I saw why. You do not last as long as you have in a sport like this without knowing what the hell you’re doing.

“By the time I was done watching footage from IIW and Fight!, I had seen enough. I knew what I would be in for soon, and it was not going to make things easy. Not on me, and if you’ve done your own homework, then you’d know that neither Ben nor I would be making things easy on you.

“But I am going to tell you another reason why I (think) I like you Page, and it has even less to do with what you can accomplish inside of the ring and more so what you do not do from the outside. Everyone, myself included, felt that I was going to have to keep my eyes on my back last Sunday when I faced Mac. Once again, I did not know you so I only had past experiences to rely on when someone I faced had someone in their corner. And that experience told me that the first chance you got, you were going to try and lend a hand to your friend to help him get a win over me. Except – you did nothing of the kind. You stood at Mac’s corner, quiet and contemplative. You called out encouragement and some advice when warranted, but that was as far as you went in getting involved. You did not attempt to distract me. You did not try to get physically involved when the official may have been distracted. You took the high road from the start of the match to the finish and for that? I am both grateful and humbled - which is not an easy thing to admit. You proved me wrong about yourself, and I can only thank you in one, simple way;”

“I am going to go into this match and fight you harder than I have fought any man I have been in the ring with! I am going to bring it to you like you deserve. This may be your guest appearance for Sin City Wrestling, but I am also going to see to it that it is your swan song. And I do not say that out of malice. I say it out of respect.