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Steve_Justice · (07-22-2019)

London, England. July 21, 2019

Steve Justice once again walked the streets of the UK. Having cut his teeth touring England, Scotland and Ireland at the beginning of his career, this was a sort of homecoming for him. Although he loathed doing press conferences or any other sort of public appearance, Steve had managed to reach a compromise with XWF brass. He was going to hold a seminar on the fundamentals of Catch Wrestling for his friend Brian Reed’s small gym and do a signing and photo session afterwards. The gym ,London Fight Academy, was a store space converted into a gym with rubber wrestling mats and a series of speed bags and heavy bags in the rear of one large square room. Steve arrived and greeted Brian and the over 20 students who had signed up for the seminar.

Steve emerged from the locker room clad in a pair of black, mma style shorts and a grey and black rashguard. He started the class with a warmup routine consisting of stretches, pushups, and movement drills. After the warmup, he demonstrated a basic Kimura arm lock; straight ankle lock and had the students spar or “roll” against one another while he monitored their progress. Afterwards they all sat on the mats sweating and breathing heavily. Steve’s friend Brian acted as the moderator for a Q&A.

A young blonde in her 20s was the first to raise her hand with a question.

“What do the fundamentals of Catch Wrestling have to do with modern pro wrestling when everyone is doing high flying moves?”

Steve cleared his throat nervously, obviously uncomfortable doing these sorts of appearances.

“Well, it’s true that there’s a lot of people doing incredible acrobatic moves in wrestling these days. But I’d say that fundamental moves like the ones I’ve shown you are still important for a pro wrestler to know. I think of them like the nuts and bolts of a good match. They help you build a foundation that you can use to launch more high risk or damaging moves. I think since most people don’t know this style of wrestling much anymore, it also helps make me unique and sets me apart in the XWF. And being unique is something that you should always strive for in this business.”

A young, muscular and tattooed Londoner in a blue singlet raised his hand next

“Isn’t it a little strange that such a technical wrestler like you is going after the Xtreme Title?”

Steve’s mouth twisted as if he’d just bitten a lemon.

“Not really. The Xtreme Championship is a very important title and I’m grateful to have an opportunity to compete for it. If I can prove myself with it, then it unlocks further opportunities for me to challenge for the biggest prize: The Universal Title. And that’s something I’d very much like to have on my mantle.”

A young, teenaged boy shyly raises his hand.

“A-aren’t you worried about Tommy Wish?”

Steve smirked coyly.

“Tommy Wish can be dangerous. He might have some strange hobbies and might be rated R but that’s why we have these matches in the first place. I think that I can beat him and I’m sure he’s going to stoop to any level and use anything that isn’t bolted down to try and beat me. So next weekend, we’ll finally meet and we’ll see who’s really the better man. It’s the clash of two very different styles of wrestling so it’s going to be like an old Kung-Fu movie where we see which style is actually stronger: The Hardcore brawler or the Submission Magician.

After the Q&A Steve took a group photo with everyone; signed some XWF memorabilia and posed for personal pictures. It wasn’t his favourite job but he swallowed his objections and took it in stride. Eventually it was just him and his friend Brian left mopping the mats clean together. Brian was about 5’10, with short blonde hair and grey eyes. He was wearing a pair of blue and white MMA shorts and a blue tank top. He gave a chuckle as they worked.

“Doesn’t this take you back to our younger days as rookies?”

Steve chuckled grimly. They had both trained together to be wrestlers. Brian had some success in Europe but he had been sidelined due to injuries and had started teaching at the gym instead.

“Yeah, except our gym was a lot smaller and cold in the winter. And a sweatbox in the summer.”

“It’s good to see you again after all of these years. Hopefully you can drop by more often now that you’re on the road again.”

“I would really like that. Although this town has its share of skeletons in the closet for me.”

“Did you tell her that you were going to be in town?”

Steve stopped dead and shook his head.

“No. I can’t just drop back into her life like that. I’m sure that she’s built quite a successful life for herself that doesn’t include a guy who’s on the road beat up most of the time.”

“Oh I don’t know. I think she would like to see you after all this time.”

Brian dropped his mop and went over to grab his cell phone. He quickly fired off a text causing Steve’s phone to buzz.

“There. I’ve just sent you her new number. I suggest that you think strongly about giving her a call. At the very least you should try to bury the hatchet and make up for things you’ve done in the past. It will do you some good.”

Steve thought about it carefully.

“I don’t know. I’m busy with another promo shoot but I’ll think about calling her sometime through the week maybe.”

Brian gave him a playful punch in the arm and the two continued cleaning.

Later that day…

The London Imperial War Museum. A monument to the history of warfare throughout the history of the British Empire and the World. Steve had arranged for an XWF production crew to meet him at the museum in the World War II exhibit. He was wearing blue satin shorts with white trim; some green Converse high tops and a blue Leap of Faith shirt. The crew begin rolling as Steve is standing in front of a glass display case featuring black and white photos of the British in Europe and some antique uniforms and rifles.

“War, Tommy Wish. What do you think you know about war? I don’t think you truly know anything about it. I know you’ve fought hard to defend your title and you’ve even shed blood to defend that belt. But you’re not prepared for the Blitzkrieg I’m set to unleash on you at Leap of Faith. You see Tommy, nothing you’ve done up to this point is going to prepare you for what I’m going to do to you. I have been through actual wars in that ring, Tommy. Wars where I tasted my own blood; where my lungs were burning, choking for breath and all I wanted to do was lay down and die. But I didn’t. I reached deep down and willed my fists to throw one last punch. One last defiant act in the face of adversity. And that’s the extremes that we’ll be going to on July 28th, Tommy. I’m going to drag you out into the deep waters and drown you. And hey, this is a falls count anywhere match so I might just actually take you into the Atlantic Ocean.”

Steve clasps his hands together as if he’s begging.

“So Tommy, please, I am begging you: Please bring the best version of Tommy Wish to Leap of Faith. Bring me the Xtreme Champion who isn’t afraid of a little blood. Bring me the man who defeated Mastermind by stabbing him in the face with jagged splinters of wood. Because what I’ve seen so far is a scared, sniveling man who can’t seem to believe that he’s holding a title belt. Jesus, man, show some backbone! Because if you’re going to have any chance of beating me, you’re going to need to be as ruthless as you were that night. I promise you that you’re going to get no less than the same from me. I haven’t survived this long in this business by just going out and letting pure luck decide my fate, Tommy. I’m a meticulous planner and I always, always have a gameplan set up to follow, which is very bad news for you. You basically want to hang out and crank it to women’s footwear and feet? That’s fine. A little gross in my opinion but hey, you do you. Just don’t expect to walk out of Leap of Faith still holding onto that championship. I’ve found holes in your game even you don’t know about. Holes so big you can drive a truck through them. And I’m going to be ready to exploit all of your flaws come the Pay Per View.”

“Tommy Wish, Saturday is going to be your day of reckoning. Your luck has gotten you this far but if you can’t get the molasses out your ass then you’re going to be in for a long night of pain. I’m going to embarrass you in front of a live national audience. You’re going to be left looking like one of Jack the Ripper’s victims on the cobblestones of merry old London: a broken, bleeding shell of a man with nothing left to your name. You’re going to find out at Leap of Faith that I am the real deal in this business. I don’t do flips, I just throw fists, feet, elbows and knees. I don’t need any gimmicks because kicking people’s asses is my gimmick. July 28th you’re going to find out what kind of man I really am: My name is Steve Justice and Justice always prevails!”

The promo ends and the crew pack up and leave. Steve thanks everyone and heads out onto the London streets. Later that evening, Steve lays on the bed of his single motel room. It’s a pretty basically furnished room with a TV and a small desk with a phone on it. He stares at the phone number he received earlier that day and wonders if he should tempt fate. Ivy was an old flame of his from his rookie days in England. Their relationship ultimately fell out over Steve’s wrestling schedule and his being beat up all the time. He didn’t really blame her decision: it was hard to maintain a relationship with someone who wasn’t there the majority of the time.

As he stared at his phone, he replayed the end of the relationship over and over again in his head. Maybe this time things would be different. Maybe this time he could be different. He selected the number and hit dial.

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