Route 3
Southern, WV
December 30th, 2022

It's 5 am and Mad Dog is driving down the backroads of Southern WV to his job at Alpha Coal. Hostess Powdered donuts, black coffee, and a Black & Mild are breakfast today, and almost every day. Mad Dog rubs his eyes, trying to wake up. To help pull himself from the double-shift-induced coma, Mad Dog turns the volume up on the radio, and the sweet sounds of Dolly Parton come through the speakers.


Coal mining is dark, dirty, and dangerous work. It's not for everyone, it's for the few brave souls who dare to descend into the bowels of the Earth to extract "black gold" to keep this great country of ours running. Even as miners face the risk of collapse, catching fire, or long-term health threats such as coal workers' pneumoconiosis, commonly known as black lung.

Mad Dog is a third-generation Coal Miner. He had seen his grandfather and father break their backs in the mine. Mad Dog had watched as his grandfather suffered and eventually died from black lung. Mad Dog had seen his father on the picket lines during strikes, he had seen the mines go bankrupt, and his father lose his pension. Mad Dog didn't want to be a coal miner but in this part of the state, it was the mines, Walmart, Dollar General, or Welfare.

Mad Dog began coughing a heavy and deep cough. He covers his mouth with his hand, and when finished coughing, he notices his palm is covered with a fresh, wet, black powder, straight from his lungs. Mad Dog stares at his hand with thoughts of his grandfather and father running through his head. Is this what he wanted out of life? He knew the answer was "no", so why not chase his dream of professional wrestling? Mad Dog had grown up around the sport, in his late teens and early twenties he had traveled the county and did a stint in Canada,  but since settling did he had become a "weekend warrior". Once Mad Dog had kids he became afraid to go all in and throw away his steady income, benefits, and 401k, after all, he has mouths to feed.

A blaring car horn snaps Mad Dog out of his daydream. He looks up and sees he has drifted into the other lane. Mad Dog whips his F-150 back into his lane, narrowly avoiding a collision. The passing vehicle continues to blow the horn and stops only to give Mad Dog the middle finger.

Mad Dog pulls off to the side of the road, his leg burning from the coffee that spilled onto his thigh from swerving the truck. "Dag on it", Mad Dog mumbles as he reaches into his glove box to grab some McDonald's napkins to dry off with. Then he sees it, a sign. In the glove box, buried behind the napkins is a flier from a previous event, “Crusher Charly Wright Memorial Cup '', which reads at the top. The annual memorial event for his grandfather, where the proceeds go to helping his grandmother pay for her assisted living home. Mad Dog drops the napkins and picks up the flier. He looks at the old photo of his grandfather in his prime, he had always looked up to him like he was a superhero. As a child, Mad Dog thought that Crusher had hung the moon.

"Just do it" Mark says out loud to no one but himself. Mad Dog grabs his phone, scrolls to a name, "Sunny Jim", and hits the green dial button.

Yeager Airport
Charleston, WV
January 12th, 2023

Mad Dog's knee bounces up and down. He has never flown before, and now that he is sitting at the gate for his first flight his nerves are really kicking in. The heel of his boots bounces off the floor, giving away his nervousness. Not only is he flying for the first time but his Wrangler Jeans are tucked into his boots, and his button-up shirt is tucked into his jeans, making him feel stuffy. Mad Dog normally keeps his clothes more casual and comfortable, but since this will be his first time in the big time he is trying to look professional, and make an impression. He even bought a new denim jacket to match his Wranglers and splurged on a new Bass Pro Shop hat.

Why can't we just drive?

Mark, it's a nine-hour drive, and with gas at over three dollars a gallon, it is not only faster but cheaper to fly than to drive.  Besides, you are in the big leagues now, the only reason we drove during the last loop was to hit those independent shots I already had booked. You are in XWF now, no more long drives like that, travel reimbursement is part of the deal.

Shoot Jim, I'm more nervous than a cat in a room full of rocking chairs.  I ain’t never flown before, didn’t even fly when I went to Jay-pan that one time.

How on Earth did you go to Japan and not fly?

We drove. Well the old lady drove, I was pretty lit, it was my birthday after all. Don't you remember? You were there.

Sunny pushes his wire-frame glasses up and pinches his nose.

Mark, that wasn't Japan, it was just a hibachi restaurant.

Huh, guess that explains why they looked at me funny when I asked them for a Ribera jacket.

Sunny looks bewildered for a moment and then shakes his head. Sunny can tell Mark is nervous and since he was fresh out of Valiums, he quickly thought of an idea to occupy Mark’s mind and channel his nervous energy.

How about we go ahead and talk about the match, get you a promo in, and let everyone know who you are and what you can do, that'll help take your mind off of it.

"Excuse me miss, can I get you to videotape the two of us?" Sunny asks a woman, as he leans over into her personal bubble, interrupting her Netflix streaming on her phone.

"Eww, gross. You creep" she replies, as she grabs her carry-on and moves away.

HAHAHA! I tell you what buddy, I'm gonna go get a drink while you find someone to hold that there phone for ya.

Now Mark, don't take too long or have too many. Our flight is in less than an hour.

Just worry about finding someone to hold ya camera, and not catching a  “me too” case. I’ll worry about my liver and the time.

Mad Dog heads for the small Airport bar, and Sunny just hopes he makes it back in time. Nearly a half-hour passes before Mad Dog returns, and while he is not drunk, he is certainly feeling good and full of liquid charisma. Sunny is pacing back and forth waiting on Mark, and when he sees him, he lets into him right away.

Where have you been? I tried texting and calling you... no answer.

Mad Dog shrugs, and gives the nonchalant answer, “Uh, my phone is on Airplane mode.”.

Sunny sighs.

Mark, you don't put it on airplane mode, until you are actually on the airplane, that is why it's called airplane mode. *sigh* Anyway, look, I found someone to record for us.

Mad Dog tips his hat back, and straightens out his shirt, getting himself presentable for television. "Here you go," Sunny says to some morbidly obese man in sweats, as Sunny hands him his phone.

Sunny and Mad Dog move in front of a wall that is painted with a backdrop of the city of Charleston, West Virginia, the state capital, and where the airport is located.


Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, and since it's twenty-twenty-three and I don't want to be canceled, they, them, those, that’s, and thots. My name is Sunny Jim, and I am the man who has managed more successful warriors than General Patton. The man you see standing here beside me is the Appalachian Animal, the Beast from Big Ugly, the Mountain Mad Man, he is the Mad Dog, Mark Wright. We are now officially employees of XWF.

My client has been looking forward to stepping into the ring and proving himself against the toughest opponent that XWF has to offer. I'd have preferred he starts off slow, getting an easy first opponent, a real tomato can like you know John Blade or  Xavier Lux, but XWF has decided to keep Mad Dog’s opponent a mystery. I don’t know if this is an intimidation tactic by the loverboy, or if it’s just a way to build suspense and boost some ratings. Well let me tell you right now, once the world gets a look at Mad Dog Mark Wright, the ratings will be like the divorce rate in the Velvet Rabbit when I take my shirt off, going through the roof.

“Ew gross” the woman who refused to film Sunny says from the background, but Sunny doesn’t let it phase him.

It doesn’t matter if this man of mystery is a returning legend, a hot new prospect, or a big name from another promotion, because the results are going to be the same no matter who it is. Whoever this unlucky competitor of conundrum is that steps into the ring across from Mad Dog is going to end up just like that lady over their insulting me after she leaves the bar later tonight. Lying on their back, wondering where they are, and why their butt hurts.

“HOW DARE YOU!?!” she screams walking off in a huff. Sunny gives a  cocky smile when a voice behind the camera is heard.

Ummm?

Not now, I’m on a roll.

You got a text, I don’t know if it stopped the camera or not.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!

Sunny storms over to the man and yanks the phone from his hands. “It’s still recording, you idiot,” Sunny says as he points the phone at Mad Dog. The obese man just shrugs his shoulders and walks away since Sunny had already paid him. Mad Dog shakes his head at the situation. but quickly snaps back to promo mode as he knows the camera is on him.  Mad Dog smiles and tips his hat, as his brew, and Sunny’s rant has him fired up.

Look, whoever this mystery wrapped inside an enigma is, well like that old Hobbit meme says, all right then, keep your secrets. Cause really all I need to know about ya is that you have a butt, so I got a place to shove my boot.  It doesn't matter what kind of background you have, what kind of life you live, what your plans are, where you've been, or who you are. All that really matters to me is that you are standing in my path to victory. That means you got yourself two options, get outta my way or get run over. I got a Dub to catch and a pay window to hit. I don't give two hoots about ya big reveal or ya mysterious origin story, I got mouths to feed and bills ta pay, and some international man oh mystery ain’t sopping that son.

I really don’t care who ya is, 'cause old Mad Dog knows who he is, and I know where I've been and what I've been through to get here. I know my plans for the future, and it's gold around my waist and dead presidents in my bank account. So, I may not know who ya ia, or where ya from, but I know where ya going, YOU GONNA GO MAD!!! AAAGGHH ROOF ROOF!!!

Mad Dog begins barking into the camera as the scene fades out.