Telling his wife and daughter that they were going to “Indiana” was the easy part. Trying to explain to the kid why he had challenged “Uncle Macky” to a fight was a whole different story. So, sitting in the kitchen of his Baltimore home with his daughter Adina, Ken Davison was trying to handle to barrage of questions that the five-year-old was throwing at him rapid fire. When she asked about her Mom and Ken fighting each other in the past, it was easy to explain that we weren’t friends yet. But this… this was something else.
“So why you gonna beat up Uncle Macky?” Adina says with a side eye that rivals that of her mother.
“Well,” Ken awkwardly chuckles, not expecting this to be the conversation he would be having this early in the morning.
“It is the only way I can win that championship.”“My dad fought Mac’s son Jimmy and they were best friends.” Chloe Hawkhurst says as she enters the kitchen, grabbing an orange and throwing it up in the and catching it.
“It’s just a thing you do when you’re a wrestler.”“Why you wanna do that?” Adina presses.
“It’s not that we want to beat each other up. We both want to be champions. It’s the same thing that Rogan and I are going to…”
Ken doesn’t get to finish as Adina’s eyes go wide.
“You’re gonna beat up Aunt Lucy’s boyfriend, too?” she ponders out loud.
“You know, squirt. For someone who’s grown up around this business, you sure don’t catch on.” Chloe quips, missing her orange and watching it bounce on the table where it comes to a halt in front of Adina.
“How do I explain this? No. I am not trying to beat up Mac or Rogan. I am trying to beat them. That means that I just want to pin them or submit them as painlessly as possible.”
“Like THAT is ever going to happen,” Chloe interrupts.
“You’re not helping. You know that?”“Yup.”“Mac and I, Rogan and I, we respect each other. Mac and I have faced each other more times than any other opponent I’ve ever had. We all understand we are in a physical line of work. We’re trying to beat each other, yes. But we aren’t trying to hurt each other. At least, not on purpose.”“Accidents happen, kiddo. But we love you anyway.”“Chloe!” Ken yells. Before he can even turn his head, that sassy little Mini-Kyra was already at it.
“Well, you was born by the highway cuz that’s where most accidents happen.”“Are you two serious?” Ken says as he slowly removes his eyes from behind his hand. “Anyway, can we finish our talk?”
“I’m heading out to the gym, Ken. I’ll be home around noon. That cool?”“Yeah, that’s fine. Besides, you’ve helped enough.”“Glad to be of service.” Chloe continues as she walks out the door, laughing at herself.
“SOOOOOOOO triggered!”Ken takes a second to turn around and grab his coffee cup, one that coincidentally reads “I WISH YOU WERE FLUENT IN SHUTTING THE FUCK UP.”
’Where was this two minutes ago?’ he thinks to himself as he turns back to Adina.
“OOOOOH! It says the orange word! I’mma gonna tell momma!”“Who do you think bought it for me?”Adina’s face drops. Thinking she was going to get Ken in trouble, this was a bit of a letdown for her.
“So, do you haveta beat up Uncle Macky and Rognar?”“Rogan, and in a manner of speaking, I do. It’s part of being a wrestler. It’s how your mother and I provide for you.”“And Chloe!” Adina chimes in.
“Yes, and Chloe. That’s how we’ve been able to take all these trips this summer. You know how we’re going to India tonight? That’s for work. But, back to the point. When you do something, what do you want to be?”
“A ballerina cage fighter!”“Okay,” Ken says dragging out the word as he tries to refocus.
“And wouldn’t you want to be the best ballerina cage fighter?”“Only the best in da world!!!”“So, in Sin City Wrestling, where Uncle Macky and I work, he’s the World Champion. What do you think that means?”“That he’s the best!” Adina blurts out enthusiastically.
“Exaclty. That he’d the best. So, if I want to show that I am the best, what do I have to do?”Adina looks at Ken and then drops her eyes to the floor.
“Oh. I get it,” she says flatly.
“Is that why you gotta beat up Aunt Lucy’s boyfriend?”“No. I’m doing that for fun.”“Really? That’s mean, Daddy. You're a big ol' stinky doo doo head.”“Remember when we took you to Wrestlestock and I won that match with all the flags?”
“Yeah! That was fun! You got to play dress up and got to slide around and the ice and... uh... oh, yeah. Hit dem with ladders. that was the bestest.”“Well, the winner of that match earned a shot at his championship. Let me tell you, kiddo, that’s going to be a tough one. You think I’m ready?”
“You beat a buncha different people. You can beat up one guy.”Ken takes a sip of his coffee.
“I hope so, kiddo. I certainly hope so.”
“Godly” Ken Davison sits in the bleachers of the nearly empty Sawai Mansingh Indoor Stadium watching as the ring is being assembled for Climax Control. He wears an almost cotton candy-colored soccer jersey with baby blue sleeves emblazoned with the Jaipur Pink Panthers logo over his right pectoral muscle. A few rows back, you can hear Ken’s daughter Adina squealing in the background as she is running through the rows as quickly as she possibly can followed in close pursuit by her mother. Somehow, Ken manages to tune the distraction out, looking out onto the field, focused on the task at hand.
“I cannot believe, at 44 years old, that I am sitting here in Jaipur, India for a wrestling show. The fact that my family and I are 12,109 kilometers, which comes out to roughly 7,525 miles, the fact that we are this far from home, seeing the world as I pursue a title that can truly be called a world championship, amazes me. What also amazes me is how far I have come professionally. Four years ago, I had been enjoying retirement. I was done. Out of the game. Then, I had my heart attack. I came back to prove to myself that I could still do this. I think I’ve done a Kendamned fine job of proving to myself, and everyone else, that I am still one of the best in the world.”
“Now, most of you know my story, so I will not rehash it for Alex Rush. Instead, I wanted to share another story, one that is admittedly not my own. It’s a story that many of the people here in India are familiar with. It is the story of V.Unbeatable.”
Ken stands up and walks down to the railing that separates the field from the seating area. He leans over the railing, arms folded in front of him to support his weight.
“Not many people, outside of fans of the television show “America’s Got Talent,” are familiar with V.Unbeatable. V.Unbeatable is an Indian dance troupe from Mumbai that began as simply “Unbeatable.” In 2012, two brothers from the slums of Mumbai, Vikas and Om Prakash, formed the dance troupe. A couple of years later, tragedy would strike. Vikas would sustain an injury in training that would eventually kill him. This is what led them to change their name… Vikas Unbeatable.”
“What makes this group unbeatable is their sheer and utter determination. They tried to get on various talent shows, getting rejected from all of them. Still, they did not give up. Eventually, the group expanded to over 30 members. They continued to audition and continued to get rejected. Still, they did not give up. Finally, they got their break. V.Unbeatable managed to get on the Indian dance show ’Dance Plus’ they came in fourth.”
Ken turns around to face the camera.
“In their next step, V.Unbeatable then made their way over to the United States. They auditioned for the aforementioned ’America’s Got Talent.’ going so far as the make the finals. They got the first round. In the second round, they got the Golden Buzzer, giving them a trip directly to the quarterfinals. They amazed the American audiences with their well-choreographed feats of organized chaos. You had men, women and children flying through the air in such a way that is was almost impossible to fathom. Despite all of this, just as they did on ’Dance Plus’ they came in fourth. Fortunately for them, this was not the end.”
“As a matter of fact, it was only the beginning. Another opportunity arose for the dance troupe, as just a few months later they would gain a chance at redemption. They auditioned for ’America's Got Talent Champions Season 2.’ Now I don't have the time to waste going through all of the details. what I will do is tell you that their journey through this season mirrored that of their first season. Long story short is that they repeated almost oh, he word here, almost step for step their journey from season 14. Where their path deviated is that this time the V Envy unbeatable good for victorious. the group, through all their adversity, through all of their setbacks, were able to improve. season 14 what's a season just like any other, we're whomever and whatever acts wanted to audition were able to. Champions was not like that. Champions were the best acts in the history of the Got Talent series from around the globe. Not America. Not India. The entire freakin’ globe.”Ken's wife Kyra can be heard in the background yelling “Listen here, you little have shit!” About six rows back you can see Adina running through the row of seats with her mother still in close pursuit. Ken turns back, momentarily distracted and can only shake his head. Taking a moment to compose himself he takes a deep breath in before focusing back on the camera.
“What I want you to understand, Alex, Is that being here in the country of India under these circumstances, is what made me think of their story. There are quite a few parallels between V.Unbeatable and myself. You need to understand where I come from. I know when everyone sees the man that I am now oh, they see a man who is happy. I got it all. got the wife. I've got the kid. I've got the house with the white picket fence. I'm living the American dream. That's who I am today. But I've never, could never, forget where I came from.”
“I became the man I am today I'm leaving home at the age of 12. When you live on the streets, you live off the scraps of others, you fight for every single Kendamned breath. You do whatever you asked of yourself just to survive one more day. You lie. You cheat. You steal. It's not something you do hoping to sell t-shirts. it's the reality of life in that situation. I grew up on the streets of Boston. That's where I cut my teeth. Although out here in the real world, that man no longer exists, he certainly does exist within the confines of the wrestling ring. The motivations may be different. I do things out of necessity I supposed to doing them out of aggression. What you need to understand, Alex Rush, is that inside of the squared circle I am still “Godly” Ken Davison. Same name. Theme game. Not a damned thing changed.”
Davison slams his hand down on the railing emphatically, his wedding band catching the metal with a loud ping that pierces the near silence throughout the empty stadium.
“Since you weren't there on the cruise, I'm not sure if you saw what I did to your former Sin City Underground colleague, Himatashii at Summer XXXtreme.I smashed him, trashed him, and left him laying. Everything I have seen thus far makes me believe that's Sin City Underground was a joke. Himatashii is a joke. You are a joke. Any and all of the Championships that were collected while part of the Underground are jokes because of men like you. Men like Mac Bane, men like myself, men and women like the rest of the Saviors, oh, we are the real deal. We have practically all of the gold in this company. We are at the point where we have to challenge each other because there is no one left. The members of Wolfslair like to puff out their chests and let out of howl every once in awhile, but they cannot compete with the Saviors. They claim to be wolves, Fenris even naming himself after one of the most famous wolves of legend, and yet, there is not even a single Alpha among them. What I’d like you to do now is look at me. Now look at yourself in the mirror. Now look back at me. One more time, look at yourself. Now turn and focus on “Godly” Ken Davison. This is what an alpha looks like. This is the last thing you see before a predator shows it’s fangs. This is your future.”
“I want to come down to the ring and I want to fucking kill you. Not in the literal sense, but when you go out there week after week, some us multiple times a week, you realize right quick it’s either you or them. If you’re not thinking that in your head, then what are you doing in that ring? If you’re not thinking that you’re going to go across and you’re going to kill this guy — and you’re going to annihilate this guy — what are you doing there? I am here to win. When I win, I put food on the table. Do you think I am going to allow you to walk in here and take food out of my daughter’s mouth? Not on your fucking life.”
The vein on the front of Davison’s begins pulsing, his blood pressure having risen considerably. Ken stops and puts his hand over his heart. Feeling how fast it is racing, Ken stops and takes a few deep breaths. After waiting a few seconds to make sure his ticker is slowly down, Ken continues.
“Like V.Unbeatable, I came from absolute shit. Like V.Unbeatable, I worked my up to be where I am today. Like V.Unbeatable I am a motherfucking champion and you are but one more step on my way to becoming a champion once again. Despite who you are and where you come from, I can and will do exactly what I need to put you down because when you’re God, you don’t have to break the rules. You make them!!!”Ken snaps his fingers loudly.
“Narrator!!!”Adina runs over from about two rows behind Ken, leapfrogs over the seats and lands with her tiny little 5 year old arms wrapped around his neck.
“Daddy was wanting to fight Uncle Macky… Wait why do you wanna fight Uncle Macky? Ohhhh… yeah. Daddy's next step towards winning the… Sin City World Championship? Yeah. So he beated that guy, Alex Rush. Oh, he's gonna go all the way to Indiana to beat that guy. And it's gonna be worth it. Right, Daddy?”
“That works, baby girl.” Ken says, smiling as his face is contorted by the same child atop his shoulders. The camera cuts out as Ken reaches back and gives her a squeeze.
