The last time we saw Flynn Andrew Cole-Ericson, more commonly referred to by the masses as FACE, he was hoisting up one of the XWF's two Tag Team Championship belts. The result of a victory that he and his Brick Squad bro Carson Waters secured over then champions Scully and Maverick. It was at the time the biggest moment in Flynn's so far short lived XWF career. As great as that moment was for Flynn, Carson and the rest of Brick Squad it was just one of several moments during the month of April in which Brick Squad would show the roster of the XWF that not only were they not just a couple of stoners who stumbled into a wrestling ring but that they were a force to be taken seriously.
14 wins.
Now 15.
0 defeats.
Halfway through the month of May and still not a single defeat against Brick Squad's collective record.
That's not all.
The Tag Team Titles.
The Xtreme Title.
In a few days a 24/7 briefcase.
Brick Squad turned the XWF on it's head. And they did it the right way.
They didn't run around attacking people or interfering in matches like the Asylum.
They didn't buy titles like Defiance.
They didn't force members to join and then betray those same members like The Black Hand did.
Instead Brick Squad employed something that many in XWF circles would call revolutionary.
Are you ready for it?
Brick Squad made a conscious effort to be the good guys.
And they succeeded.
In fact they did so damn well that the XWF Award given out to the Superstar deemed to have done best in that month was given to not just one member of Brick Squad but to all 5 of them.
That's right.
Brick Squad made XWF history. You could even say they've changed the course of XWF history.
Superstar of the Month?
More like Squad of the Month.
And it's all because of the good guys.
Now here we are just 8 days away from the next XWF Pay Per View, Bad Medicine.
How fitting that at this event the XWF fans will get to see The Black Hand squaring off against Brick Squad in not just one but two title matches?
Bruce Blingsteen will be facing Black Hand leader Pest while Flynn and Carson will defend their titles in a rematch of sorts against Scully and Muddy Waters.
The stage is set.
But in the meantime...
Our scene opens to a beautiful blue sky with not a single cloud anywhere in sight. The temperature is a warm 85 degrees and the students of UCLA are outside taking advantage of the wonderful spring weather. One of those students is me, Flynn Andrew Cole-Ericson. XWF Champion, Green Party Vice Presidential Candidate and now one of the newest members of UCLA's student body. I casually walk down a paved path in the center of the quad taking it all in. There are students to my left playing volleyball, some throwing a frisbee, and even others just laying on the grass soaking up the sun's UV rays.
They say a tan is good for the soul and maybe it is. But I'd much prefer to live without the fear of having a doctor tell me that I've been diagnosed with skin cancer.
To my right there appears a group of students huddled around a middle aged man as he leads the group in a lively debate about the meaning of life.
Good luck trying to get that lesson to stick. Meaning of life? How about enjoy every second of everyday. No regrets. Seems pretty simple to me. And yet there is a whole class dedicated to the subject, it's called Philosophy 101. Talk about money down the drain.
Having just finished my morning class and with a solid two hour's before my next class I guess now is as good a time as any to get my high on.
I reach into my pocket and pull out a small joint. I place it in between my lips and with my left hand reach into my pocket, pull out a lighter and with my left thumb ignite it. A small orange and yellow flame escapes from the top of the small metal lighter and just as quickly engulfs the end of the joint lighting it almost instantaneously.
Puff.
Puff.
Exhale.
Calm.
Why anyone thinks that legalizing this wonderdrug is a bad idea is beyond me. Name one bad thing that ever happened because of this 100% natural substance?
The answer is nothing.
Weed is life.
Weed is love.
And yet in most states weed is illegal.
Meanwhile people die by the hundreds daily from alcohol and tobacco. Both legal.
Good show America.
This is why Carson and I are running for office. It's time for a change.
Real change.
Not the kind of change Obama promised and has failed to deliver on but real actual substantive change.
Waters -Cole-Ericson2016.
"Hey yo, you're that dude." A voice says from off in the not too far off distance. I look left, nothing. Then right and that's when I see a guy probably about a year or two older than me coming my way.
"I'm a dude. Not sure I'm that dude. Who do you think I am?" I respond to the guy as he closes the gap between him and I.
"You're that wrestler guy. Flynn something. I heard you were a student here but I thought it was bullshit."
"Well then yes I am that dude. Flynn Andrew Cole-Ericson's the name. But you can just call me Flynn. Way easier that way." I say to the man as I take another drag of my joint. After I exhale I take the joint out of my mouth and offer it the man standing before me.
"Thanks bro. I'm sharing a joint with a real life celebrity." The guy says as he takes the joint from my hand and places it between his lips.
Puff
Puff
Pass.
"I ain't no celebrity bro. I'm just a guy taking some classes, same as you."
"No way bro. You're the real deal. Look you even have a billboard and everything." The guy says as he points to a massive Brick Squad billboard that sits a few yards from campus.
Well would you look at that? Maybe this guy is onto something.
"What are you doing here man? Don't you have some big title match to prepare for?"
"You follow wrestling?"
"Here and there man. A buddy of mine is big into wrestling so I usually end up watching it when I'm chillin at his crib. He's a big Vinnie Lane fan. You know Vinnie?" The still unnamed man says as he shuffles through his bookbag.
"I know him in the sense that I know his name and he knows mine but I can't say we're friends or anything. He's a good dude though."
"Yes!!" The man says as he yanks a black sharpie out of his book bag and holds it out in front of me. "Would you mind giving me your autograph?"
My first autograph. Pretty sweet.
"You sure bro? Like I said, I'm just a guy taking some classes and sharing a joint with you."
"Definitely man. Can you make it out to Brent?"
"Sure thing bro. What do you want me to sign?"
"Oh shit, I didn't even think about that part. Let me see what else I got in here." Brent opens his bag up again and quickly starts riffling through it trying to find something, anything for me to sign. A few seconds pass and then he pulls out a textbook. He opens it up to the first page and then rips the page right out of the book and then hands it to me. "How about this?"
"Sure whatever you want man. Brent you said?"
"That's right man. Brent. Man my buddy is going to be so jealous."
I grab the black sharpie from Brent and scribble my name on page one of his book and then hand both the page and the sharpie back to him. Brent throws the sharpie back into his bookbag and then neatly places page one back inside his book and shuts it before placing it back into his bookbag.
"Thanks for your John Hancock."
"Sure thing bro. If your friend wants one let me know I'd be glad to sign something for him."
"Oh shit really? That be dope man. Let me give him a call right quick."
"Sure thing bro."
Brent pulls his cell phone out, swipes right, taps his screen a few times and the places the phone to his ear. I can hear it ring for a few seconds and then someone picks up on the other end.
"Bro you're never gonna believe who I ran into on campus." Brent says with a smile. "No bro not her. Want to guess again? No. Ok. Would you believe me if I said that I just shared a joint with that wrestler guy who just enrolled in classes here? Yeah that one. No shit bro. He even gave me an autograph. Said he was friends with that dude you like."
I didn't say that but whatever. No harm no foul.
"Yeah bro he even gave me an autograph. He even offered to get one for you too. You want one? Yeah man I'm sure he could do that. Alright man I'll see you later."
Brent ends the call and slips his phone back in his pocket.
"He said he'd love an autograph."
"Sounds good bro, who do I make it out to?"
"Actually man, he asked if you could get an autograph from your friend Vinnie Lane?"
"Well uhh...we aren't exactly friends, more like acquaintances but I'll definitely do my best to get that for your friend. If I do how I will get it to him?"
"You know where Holly Ridge is? In De Neve Plaza?"
"Yeah I think so."
"Cool. Me and my boy are in there. Room 214. You can just slip it under the door if neither of us are there."
"Alright bro, I'll do that." I say to Brent as I take another drag of the joint.
"Thanks man. Really great to meet you. See ya around campus man."
"Yeah bro, definitely."
Brent slips the bookbag over his shoulders and then makes a sharp turn and starts walking across the quad in the direction of the library. I take a few seconds and look around the area and that's when I hear the faint sounds of a young woman yelling. I keep looking around and that's when I spot a woman half hanging out of her dorm window, both arms outstretched towards a tree that is a few feet from her window. With my left thumb and index finger I put out the joint and then rest it on my left ear before taking off towards the woman hanging out of her window.
As I get closer the sounds of her screams get louder and louder until I can finally make out what it is she's yelling.
"Are you ok?" I yell up to the woman hanging out of her fourth story window.
She looks down at me, then back up at the tree and then back down to me again. "Yeah yeah I'm fine but my Brady, he's stuck up in that tree."
I follow her finger which is pointing at the tree and there about 20 feet from the window grasping on a somewhat thick branch is a small gray cat.
"Brady? Is that your cat?"
"Yes. He climbed up to the ledge and jumped onto the branch and now he's afraid to come back."
"Did you call campus security?"
"Yes but they said it wasn't their problem. Help me please!" She yells down to me frantically.
"I'm not really much of a tree climber."
"Please. He's so scared. What if he falls?"
"I think cat's land on their feet whenever they fall. Pretty sure I read that somewhere. Let me pull out my phone and check."
"There's no time for that. Please help him." She pleads.
Crapsnacks. I guess I have no choice.
I drop my books on the ground, grab a hold of the base of the tree and start my slow ascent. Thankfully there are a few thick branches that I can use to not only grab onto and pull myself up but also use to get my footing.
'It's ok Brady. You're going to be ok. This nice man is coming to help you."
I never understood people who talked to their pets. It's not like the pet can respond. Especially cats. They just stare at you like "What's your problem?"
I get about 3/4's of the way there and then without warning the cat suddenly shifts it's weight and slips off the branch that it had been perched on. With both of it's front claws the cat digs into the side of the branch, holding on for dear life.
"BRADY!!!" The crazy chick screams as the cat franticly tries to get all four paws wrapped around the branch.
I quickly pick up the pace but rather than trying to climb out onto the branch the cat was on I decide to try and approach the cat from below. I get almost all the way out to the cat and attempt to grab at it's stomach but the cat angrily swats me away with it's left paw.
This isn't is why I prefer dogs. You never hear about dogs getting stuck up in trees.
I reach out for the cat again and again it swats at my hand but this time the right claw also releases from the branch and the cat falls.
I lunge for the cat, catching it by the fur on it's back with my right hand. With my left hand I grab onto the branch and slowly try to pull myself up and as I do I hear the branch starting to crack.
"What do you want me to do?" I say to the girl who is still hanging out her window a few feet above me.
"Toss him up to me."
"Are you kidding me?"
"No. I'll catch him. I promise. I'd never drop him."
This chick is insane. I guess you have to be though to own a cat. Whatever. I don't want to be up here anymore than her precious Brady.
I swing my right arm back and forth trying to build up some momentum and on the third swing I release the cat, my arms momentum propelling the cat up towards the crazy chick. She reaches out and with both arms catches the cat and then quickly pulls him into her body securing him against her chest.
Oh shi....
The branch that I was hanging from snaps in two and then gravity does the rest. My body quickly descends towards the Earth hitting a few branches on the way down and then...
...Darkness.
The new FACE of the XWF
W-L-D
5-0 One Half of the XWF Tag Team Champions (4/22/15 - Present)