Disappointment - It gets to us all at some point and we all handle it very differently. Some sit and dwell on it, some fire back with huge shot, and fire in the belly. I was confident going in to Summer XXXTreme II, as was my opponent for this next week, Simon Jones. I guess we're both feeling this way, but now it's about how much we wanna bounce back.
My disappointment wasn't as bad as some think. Sure, I wanted to win, I wanted to be champion, I wanted people to look up to me. I wanted to repay the faith shown in me by Odette and the staff. I know Odette was more disappointed than I was. That gets to me more than anything. It was hard to swallow, when I had to look in her eyes, feeling like a failure, I think it took the shine off her win, because she was concerned about me, but because of her pushing me this far, I walked out with a whole new confidence in myself.
Kevin Carter was the better man on the night, and I have come to respect him for that. It was meant to be for him. He chased hard for a while and pushed himself and got the dream ending. I stepped away with a new confidence that makes me feel someday again, I can get hold of that title.
Now it's all about getting back on the horse and starting over again, taking on Simon Jones is a good place to start.
"Baby, you shouldn't be wrestling this week." My concerned future wife says to me, her Australian accent filling the air.
"I'm ok sweetheart." I tell Odette as I lean down, picking up a bag.
I turn around, lifting the bag in to the trunk of the 2013 red Bugatti Veyron. I slam the boot of the car down, but Odette looks at me firmly.
"Your knee isn't in great shape." She tells me firmly "Let me call one of the bosses and get this match moved."
I turn to Odette, placing my hands on Odette's shoulders. I look deep in to her beautiful eyes with a smile.
"I'm fine baby." I reassure my Aussie "Simon's a good guy, he's not gonna pick me to bits because of my knee. He's a guy that will wanna out wrestle me, not injure me further."
I kiss Odette on the forehead, looking at her again.
"Let's not worry too much." I tell Odette "We're gonna get to Aruba, hit the beach, relax."
Odette smiles, but quickly wipes the smile off her face.
"Still worried." She says
"You can look sexy in that new bikini baby." I tell Odette as I pull her closer.
Odette looks up at me, biting her lower lip.
"I see what you're doing here." Odette says with a smile. "It's not working."
"Yeah it is." I tell Odette
Odette pushes me away playfully.
"Come on you gorgeous Aussie" I tell Odette "We have a beach to be sitting on."
"I'm driving." Odette tells me, reaching in my pocket and taking out my keys, walking around me.
"Hey!" I call out as Odette moves to the drivers side.
"Aruba baby!" Odette says with a wink.
Aruba! Yes! I love the islands. Odette and I spent some time together in the Caribbean when we first got together, it really helped define us. I love the beaches...
Hadicurari Beach, Aruba. The midday sun burns down on many tourists, soaking up the heat as the summer slowly drifts away. In the distance, people are seen in the water, cooling their bodies down. The camera moves towards, a group on the beach.
I sit on a towel, my shirt off, looking around at the scene around me. To my left, Odette Ryder wears a white bikini, the sun shining down on her oiled body. In front of me, Despayre sits with Angel in front of him, the two building a sand castle. Synn, Shane, Fantasia and Rage sit nearby, Synn's eyes locked on Despayre's every move. Despayre happily continues to fill a bucket with sand, before tipping it over and letting the sand fall out in the shape of the bucket. I turn to Odette, my hand running across hers. A smile crosses her face, as my hand touches hers. Odette turns her head to smile at me.
Moments like this, a chance to think, a chance to relax. A chance to rebuild things and restructure the career a bit. Let's think, I've got a lot of confidence now, regardless of the loss. I've got a chance to lock horns with a big opponent this week, I could step up now and go and aim high and go for that gold again. I could do it, but the question is, do I really want to?
I look at Odette, lifting her hand and kissing it. Odette rolls over, her head rolling on to my shoulder. I run my fingers down her cheek, softly planting my lips on hers. I run my thumb down her cheek, slowly pulling away to look in my future wife's eyes.
This is what I want from my future, not too sure about the title, but why not have it all? This is the woman who drove me towards the title, and I will get it at some point for her.
"Thank you." I whisper.
Odette looks confused at my random words.
"For what?" Odette says, confusing in her Aussie tone.
"For driving me on to go for the heavyweight title." I whisper "Next time, I'll win it and won't let you down."
Odette lowers her eyebrows at me.
"You think you let me down?" Odette asks "You didn't let me down, you should have won that match, but you didn't let me down at all. You gave it everything and you will win it next time. You got the scars to prove that you gave it everything."
Odette squeezes my hand, then touches the top of my leg, before pointing to his knee.
"It's not that bad to be honest." I start "Just swollen."
Odette pokes my knee, forcing me to grit my teeth.
"Not that bad my Aussie ar..." Odette cuts herself off as she turns her head to look at Despayre.
"You're a bad liar." Odette says "I know you're hurting more than you let on."
I look at Odette, concern in her eyes.
"I promise you." I start "If I feel that my knee is bad by the time the match starts, I'll step away from it."
Odette puts her head on my chest, her hand on my neck. She keeps her body close as I drift back in to thoughts.
This is a bit of a chance now to get Odette what she really wants, seeing me with a championship belt again, not just any championship belt, the championship belt. It's a big step up that I can take and I know I can do it. I could make this one hell of a year. I could make the next twelve months the best twelve months, the best twelve months ever. Here's the plan from now on, we take on Simon Jones and we get past that hurdle. We do not take him lightly, we can not take him lightly. Then we move on and set our sights on the top gold, we get that, and this beautiful woman on my chest, will be my wife, all within a year. This is the year where I start stepping up the game, this is where my ambitions really start to show.
I know I have to work hard for it, but no one in this federation will work harder than I to claim what I truly deserve. No one will stop me from getting that gold and marrying this amazing woman. She deserves better with gold too. Teaming with Misty isn't what she deserves, she deserves a run at the top title instead of being stuck with someone who will always try and steal the limelight. Odette deserves to be at the top, taking care of every bombshell SCW has to offer. We both need to make the next twelve months something to remember. We both need that top gold to show SCW who they need to look up to.
"What are you thinking about?" Odette whispers
"Us baby." I whisper back. "The future, the wedding, the gold on us both."
Odette smiles at me, her eyes full of life.
"I mean the top gold on you." I say quietly.
Odette bites her lower lip, looking firmly at me.
"Incoming!" Despayre yells as a beach ball flies towards me.
I reach my hands up, catching the ball in both hands.
"Wanna see something cool Despy?" I ask.
"Is it ice cream?" He asks "Cause ice cream is so cool, it's cold."
I shake my head, holding the ball on one hand. I put my other hand to the side and concentrate on the ball. The ball floats off my flat hand, hovering in to the air, a few inches off my flat hand. I exhale as the ball slowly floats across to Despayre's hands. Despayre grips the ball on either side, his eyes on me.
"Show off" He casually says as he looks at Angel.
A smile crosses my face as Despayre looks at his furry friend.
"You're right." Despayre says "He would be good at volleyball and he won't have to leave his hotel room."
Odette smiles and looks at me.
"You know what baby." I start "We'll get everything we want from the future, but today, let's just enjoy this."
Odette lays across me, her hand running up and down my abs as the camera fades out.
So it's down to this, start at the bottom and build my way back up a little bit. Couldn't have asked for a better match to make a new mark on Sin City Wrestling, a match against the former heavyweight champion, a match against Simon Jones. Now I know some might see this as no problem, but the man has the fire in his belly because he has more of a point to prove than I do. This man has just lost his title belt, and now he steps right back in to action. Simon is hurting because he's lost that one thing that he possessed that gave him a status above all us other. He was Mo Farah, and the rest of us was watching him run away, but now he's back in the pack and looking at the leader. Simon was that leader, Simon has a lot to prove, but so do I....
I made a promise to take the title and lead SCW in to 2014 with the belt and I failed. I let down everyone who ever had faith in me, but I'm not gonna sit here and drown in self pity, I'm gonna stand up and fire myself back towards that top gold. I'm gonna fire myself back towards the top and I can do that by defeating the former champion himself. I will storm the beaches and prove that I should be back in line for Kevin Carter's title belt. I will step up and get to what I narrowly missed out on. Jordan took me out of that match, he took me off the ropes and took away my dream, but there is no Jordan in the ring this time. There is no distractions from every man and his dog, it's just us and I will prove that I could have defeated you one on one.
There may be no title around the waist of Simon Jones, but a one on one win will force the winner back to the top and in line for a shot at Kevin Carter's belt. I intend to take this opportunity with both hands. I intend to do what I did the first time around beating you, and putting myself in the window again, where people look at me and see I could step up and take the heavyweight title. I want people to notice me again, and I will get that by defeating you Simon Jones. I will make sure people sit up and take notice of me. I will stand proudly and show the world that Kevin Carter is just a bum who got lucky once. I will show you all that I should be in the ring with the belt tonight, instead of in a clash of two former champions.
We will make people open their eyes Simon when we step in to the ring, but please have no fear or doubts about how this one will end. I will be taking everything I have and stepping it up a little more just to walk out one step ahead. I will not back down and I will continue to push and push until I get back to the top. I will walk every line possible between genius and insanity, just to do things you've never seen before, just to put myself in everybody's mind's eye. I'm coming to play to get noticed, so Simon, are you ready? Are you set to go? I am, I'm ready, I'm set and I'm gonna make a show of this, but believe me, I will walk out of here with the win, and stepping up closer to the heavyweight title....
Believe that!
