Be Kind, rewind
Everyone has an origin story.
Every hero, every villain, every single person in the professional wrestling world has a moment in their lives where the interest in wrestling went from a passing fancy to being something more. The moment when the hobby became a profession and a life. Most of the time you can play paint by numbers, a kid grows up watching his favourite professional wrestlers on television. These huge larger than life characters beating the hell out of each other for the enjoyment of the masses. And then that impressionable child grows up wanting to do it and the second they have a chance they step through those doors and become their dream.
But not everyone gets to live that dream. Not everyone gets to realise it and step forward. In fact it is only a very small percentage of people who get to go any further than just thinking about it. And most have a story of deciding that this is what they wanted to do with their lives, going to wrestling school or, waiting until they got a college degree before focusing their lives on their dream.
But this isn’t that kind of story. Aidan Reynolds had all the hallmarks of a regular professional wrestling origin story. He did sit and watch every Saturday morning as these larger than life. Human beings would yell at each other threaten each other and in the end beat the hell out of each other. He was in thrilled by what they did, he loved everything about it. But, as he grew up through his teenage years and he hit puberty, he started going to the gym. He worked out. He started to come into his own as a physical force.
Naturally athletic. Over 6 feet tall, a frame that allowed muscle to build on top of it easily. Physically he had everything that most people would look for. But at 16 years old Aiden was ready to tell his parents what he wants to do with the rest of his life. Coming home from school throwing his report card on the table. It was full of straight A’s he sat down. His mother smiling as she looked at it. ”Great work….you’ll be applying for universities in no time…”
Aiden, a very young Aidan sat down. His hands clasping together as he leaned on the kitchen table. He wasn’t as muscular as he is now, his face wasn’t as rugged. He still had that boyish looking in his eye with wavy shoulder length light brown hair ”Mum…..can we talk about the whole university thing?”
His mother raised her eyebrow and put a sandwich in front of him. As well as a glass of milk because why don’t we look at this as the wholesome family scene that it is? She sat down tilting her head and sighing ”What is it? Do you not want to go to university? Is there a trade that you want to learn? Because we can always get you sent up with some kind of apprenticeship. Your father will be pleased.” she smiled trying to hide her disappointment
His mother wanted him to go to university to get some sort of degree to push himself into medicine or maybe even law. But his father wanted him to learn a trade, something with his hands. Aiden wanted to do neither ”No…mum it’s not that simple. I want to become a professional wrestler. And to do that after I graduate high school, I’m going to need to go to another school. The closest one is in Brisbane. I’ve already looked into it and I know how much it will cost me and I know what kind of job I can get support myself.”
Silence filled the kitchen. His mother blinked a few times trying to process information that Aidan had just revealed to her. He could see it in her eyes, the thought process. He could see that she was struggling with it and that she had no idea what to say. His mother was usually a very understanding person, someone who would go out of her way to make sure that her family was happy and healthy and that they could do whatever they wanted to. But then it happened. She laughed. A full belted laugh as she shook her head. She held her ribs and leaned back in the chair, unable to breathe because she was laughing so hard.
”Glad I can make you laugh but I want to know what you think”
The loft is subsided. She took a few deep breaths calming herself down as she realised this wasn’t a joke and that her son was serious. ”You….want to do this?”
Aiden nods taking a deep breath and sitting back trying to relax himself. ”Yeah. Look, I’ve been watching it for years and it honestly is something that I want to learn how to do what I want to do. I think I could be great at it. I have a bit of flare entertainment. I’m physically fit. I think I could make a career out of this and I want to do it. I could see the world.”
”No” it was a short and concise answer. And this time there was no laughter, his mother clearly realising that Aidan was serious and she was determined right now to stop this. ”Aiden, I want you to be happy. Your father will want you to be happy. But this decision, this profession that you feel like you want to do is nothing but a romanticized lie. It’s something that barely anyone can make a real living out of you are going to be struggling for years and you may not ever be what you want to be.”
Aiden swallowed hard and turned getting up from the table ”So that’s it? I have to give up the dream of what I want to do with my life or because you’ve said no?” he laughed to himself, shaking his head. Leaned against the kitchen counter he folded his arms over his chest. ”You aren’t really telling me anything that I don’t already know. I’m not stupid. I know that this is going to be hard and it’s going to take a hell of a lot on my part. But everything in life is ready for the taking if you’re good enough to do it. If you’re determined enough to do it. And you and Dad, you raised me to go after anything that I wanted. And now that I figured out what I wanna do with my life suddenly it’s a problem?”
He looked at his mother, waiting for her to say anything else. But she was frozen in place shaking her head, realising that he wasn’t going to back down. ”Alright, how about this? You focus on your schoolwork, after you graduate because you’ll have high enough marks if you keep going how I know you can then you take a year off. You go and you learn what you want to. You do that professional wrestling thing. And if after a year you realise it’s not for you we start applying for universities and you can go as a late year acceptance?”
Aiden took a deep breath nodding slowly before stepping forward and sitting back at the table. ”Deal” he picked up his sandwich taking a bite before at his mother. It was an understanding in an uneasy decision. But Aidan was convinced that his mother would live up to her end of the bargain and also talk to his father about it. She always kept her word and he hoped that this time would be no different.
Why do I do this?
Aiden was nervous. Something that wasn’t foreign to the Australian Wolf but it was definitely something that he never admitted to himself. Nerves were something that would happen before he would step through that curtain. Before he would perform in front of people and before he was ready to beat up another human being to try and get a paycheck. button nerves before cutting a promo? They’ve never been this bad before.
”I feel like I’ve been in this position before. Getting ready to challenge someone for a championship knowing how good they are. And I want to be very clear on this, I know sometimes when I sit here and I’m ready to cut a promo I might have a friend of mine with me. Sometimes my wife will be with me. they will interject things and point out when I’m just being facetious or an idiot but sometimes like this I feel like the situation calls for Me to be a little more serious.”
“I went into that triple threat match knowing that on one side I had Eddie Lyons a man who I had gone to war with. I beat him, he beat me. We respect each other. On the other side there was LJ Kasey. And while he and I aren’t exactly what you would call best friends it’s not like I hate the kid. In fact I kind of understand him. See, while my brother is not involved in the professional wrestling business I do have someone in my life who is like a brother who I have always been in the shadow of. He’s my tagteam partner and he’s my best friend but if you look at our careers as singles wrestlers he has honestly gone above and beyond what I have. And LJ is living in his own brother shadow.”
“Going into that match I knew that the three of us all had something to prove. Eddie wanted to get that roulette championship back so he could be on the same level as his cousin, LJ wanted to get through to that match to prove that he was better than his brother or at least on his level. And Me? Well, I’m still struggling to prove that I belong here. right now I’ve been about 5050. I win some big matches I lose some others. And there are some people in this company who are happy with being in that position.”
“Bill barnhart, Justin smith, Felix Hernandez. All of these are names of people in this company who are happy with being in the position that they are in. They turn up they do they job they get their money and they go home. If they lose, it’s almost like it doesn’t matter to them, they don’t feel it. They don’t care about it. All they want is to just come out in front of a Camera wrestler match get paid and go home. The problem is that isn’t me. Sometimes I wish that could be me. Sometimes I wish I didn’t care as much as I do.”
Aiden closed his eyes shaking his head as his hands class together.
”But, I do care. I care about my career, I care about people looking at me and knowing that I’m constantly trying to improve and be best. I want people to know that I put the effort in and I’m not just someone who is here to collect money and go home. I want to make this place better as well as get better myself and I can’t do that if I keep failing. I can’t do that if I just become complacent being a 5050 name n the card.”
“So winning that triple threat match meant the world to me. Because I beat someone who I respect I think should be going for the world championship and I beat a hungry up and coming kid who has a chip on his shoulder and everything to prove. And both Eddie and LJ are going to be fine. They both have the talent and drive to keep going in this company and in this business. but I was the one who walked away the winner and I’m the one who gets to challenge Alexandra Raven for the Roulette championship. And I get to do it at the biggest show of the year. High stakes.”
“This show is the biggest of the year. Everything comes full circle and people get to show the world what they are capable of, because the eyes of the wrestling world are on this company even more than they usually are when we approach the huge year end event.”
“It’s my chance to step up and put my head above the pack. Right now there are a few big names who everyone knows and then there is a large chunk of us in the middle. I’m so sick of being a face that is lost in the crowd. The only thing that has really set me apart from everyone else is my sense of humour. Normally I don’t take things as seriously as others, not the wrestling business, not myself, nothing. I do that deliberately to stand out but at the same time I know that I need to get better. I need to let the skills that I have and what I do in that ring. Speak for themselves instead of just making jokes and making everyone laugh. So the last few months that’s what I’ve done and it’s paid off.”
“I lost match after match and now? I’ve surged up and come back and I’m on the cusp of getting back that championship.”
He chuckles and folds his arms over his chest
”And hey all I have to do to claim that roulette championship again is beat one of the most dangerous men in this company. Alexandra Raven. No pressure at all right? I mean, I faced Alexandra before. He and I’ve been in the ring in multi man matches as well as one on one matches and I’m not gonna sit here and say that, I know for a fact I can beat him. Because I don’t. I don’t know if I can beat Alexandra Raven. No one ever really can. Especially now.”
“See, Alex has changed. He used to be someone who might talk in riddles and circles but when he was in the ring he would be all about winning. All about showing he was the best. But ever since he started his loose alliance with the likes of Kevin Carter and J2H we have seen a different side of him. Maybe I’m just naive and that side of him was always there but he’s gone from someone who I respected and admired as a competitor to someone who has gone out of his way to destroy people…”
“Look, I don’t like Michael Harris… but dropping a guy on his head and trying to break his spine and then gloating about it isn’t exactly going to ingratiate you to most people”
“But hey he probably had it coming right? But what about Me Alex? If you and I get that ring and I’m standing in your way and I’m standing in front of you do you have it in you to try and break my neck or break my back? Man, I’m just in this to prove that I’m one of the best. I’m in this to provide for my family. I have a wife, I have a son, they rely on me to be able to do this. So when I look at someone like you who is gloating about hurting someone else so bad regardless of if they deserved it or not? I kind of take offense.”
Aiden shakes his head and sighs heavily
”I am not the kind of guy who goes after people to hurt them, to me this is all about competition, and High stakes….the biggest show of the year….it is about me proving myself, hat I am better than Alexander Raven, that I am better than so many people believed me to be….and I ain’t backing down…”
