The Things We Do. . .
Tonight for most people is nothing short of a normal night, but not for one man who is sat on a bench on the San Diego waterfront. He is sat in silence and holding something in his hands that we can’t quite make out due to the darkness. He gains the occasional odd look from passersby, like joggers or people on their way home after a long day in the office. The only thing we can make out is the man’s shoulder length blonde hair. That is until he turns his head in our direction to reveal a pair of piercing light blue eyes. His stare is scarily dead, void of emotion. They are the eyes of a battle hardened warrior who has seen and done some unspeakable acts in times past. We see a flash of pearl white teeth – perhaps veneers – as he smiles and extends his arm outwards and waves in our direction.

We approach with caution, not sure what to expect.

As we slowly approach the man raises the item he is holding in the air. We try to catch a glimpse but we fail to because as quickly as it comes into view, it then disappears back into the darkness beneath the bench. The man laughs and waves us on again, but when we get to within five feet or so of him he begins to speak, and then it becomes clear that this man is none other than XWF’s newest wrestler – Mike ‘The Lionheart’ Harrison.

|| Mike Harrison ||
“I have always been fascinated by the wrestling business. I remember growing up watching the greats grace the biggest stage of them all, and on one special occasion at Wembley, in London, England. That was the night that confirmed to me that I would become a professional wrestler when I grew up. When you think about it, that was a hell of a decision for a child to make, but it was also one that I accepted and lived EVERY single day until I first stepped between the ropes for my first ever match. It has been a long journey...”

A pause is met as he lights a cigarette and places it in his mouth and takes a long drag, savouring every moment of it. He removes it and holds it between his fingers, almost admiring it. Does he care that he is promoting smoking on the supposedly family friendly Warfare? No, not really because he does what he wants, when he wants. He takes another drag before continuing.

|| Mike Harrison ||
“It takes a lot of dedication and hard work to become a wrestler. When you first start off you don’t earn a lot of money. If you’re lucky you break even, but generally in those early days of your career you tend to be out of pocket more times than not. Imagine having to pay out sixty pounds, in order to earn fifty pounds for wrestling a match. To suffer those types of conditions, and to keep coming back, well, it breeds dedication. For at least a year I was out of pocket night after night, but that didn’t deter me, and nor did it make me waver in my aim to have my name up there in the lights on the grandest stage of them all. Not once did I waver. Not once did I hesitate. Not once did I back down. Not once did the thought of giving up cross my mind. It was simply not an option!”

Another pause and drag from the cigarette as he shuffles his position on the bench to try and get more comfy, but unfortunately the bench he has chosen is one of the many wooden benches that one finds around places like this – hard and uncomfortable, and putting one at risk for getting a splinter in the backside.

|| Mike Harrison ||
“You see, as time wore on I began to earn more money as my name became known around the British independent scene. Gone were the days when I lost money. Now I made money. Granted it wasn’t a lot. I’d maybe net twenty to fifty quid a night if I was lucky, and that was only if I didn’t go out drinking and partying with the boys from the show afterwards. Then I started netting a hundred quid, then a few hundred quid, and then more. As the years wore on I began to expand my horizons, and I have since gone on to wrestle around the world, gracing the stage in Europe, Japan, Mexico, Canada, and finally right here in the United States of America – wrestling’s grandest stage.”

Happy memories of his career to date flash through his mind, which bring a smile to Harrison’s usually stern looking features. Deep down he hopes that his career in XWF will join those many happy memories, and considering the stakes of his second match this week, that desire could become a reality if he walks away as the XWF X-Treme champion.

|| Mike Harrison ||
“When I first arrived here in the good ole’ U.S. of A, my dream had been partially accomplished. I had already had my name up in lights in Japan, but now I was heading to a big time promotion in America. I slowly but surely worked my way up the roster. I got my chances, and I took them. I got my name up in the lights. I became the guy that helped put bums on seats. I was the guy that people tuned in to watch on TV, and was the reason why people bought the pay per views. I was the guy people WANTED to see. It didn’t matter to them whether I was talking on the mic, or wrestling in the ring, I was the main attraction in America after TEN years of building myself brick by brick from the ground up, and then, after two years on top I called it a day on the anniversary of my first match twelve years earlier.

My career spanned twelve years from my first match as an eighteen year old boy, to my last match as a thirty year old man headlining the biggest show of them all. I got to call it a day after winning – yet again – on the grandest stage of them all. For a while I sat back and relaxed, enjoying my playboy lifestyle in Malibu, California. But I got bored after a few months, and since then I have wrestled charity matches, grudge matches, one night stands, and even had a lengthy run on the independent scene this year leading up to my debut here in XWF. But why am I giving you a history lesson on my career to date?”

At this point the smile falls right from Harrison’s face and is replaced by a vicious look. If looks could kill we would be dead right now, and even though it is a warm night, the temperature on the water front has suddenly fallen to extreme lows – a chilling atmosphere graces our scene, which is only heightened by his silence. A few minutes pass he decides to speak again.

|| Mike Harrison ||
“The answer to that question is to make an IMPORTANT point to Troy Turner...

Troy Turner, like Jason E Smith before him, has proven himself to be yet another misinformed and naive idiot. You see, Jason E Smith believed that I was a pretty boy that couldn’t get his hands dirty, and that had money at every stage of my life, and thus has bought every opportunity to date. In short, he was wrong for a variety of reasons. First, I have a past [and present] of getting my hands dirty. I prefer to beat people in the ring fair and square, but if I have to resort to unsavoury methods then I am quite happy to do that. Second, I have not had money at every stage of my life. By no means have I ever experienced poverty, but I came from a working class background, and my parents worked hard every single day to provide a good living for me and my sibling. Third, and finally, I have never bought any opportunity – I have EARNED every single opportunity.

Now ok, Troy has not said those things that Jason did, but Troy has proven himself to be equally unaware of who I am, and what I am about. He acts like he knows me. He talks like he knows me. But he doesn’t know me at all. Hell, I barely even know who he is!”

Harrison laughs in bemusement, and then mockingly strokes his beard with a thoughtful look on his face. A moment passes and the serious look returns to Harrison’s face as he continues.

|| Mike Harrison ||
“The main thing that struck me about you Troy, is that for some reason you love to spew verbal garbage about how ‘good’ you are. Now by no means is that surprising, because at some point every wrestler does that when he or she is new to a company, but in your case you have taken it to the nth degree and simply get on people’s nerves. You go around bad mouthing the tag team title contenders and champions. You go ground bad mouthing and offending established, premier wrestlers on the XWF roster. Now sure, you have your buddy watching your back in your so-called ‘extreme revolution’, but mate, you are making a lot of potential enemies and writing a lot of cheques that you simply won’t be able to cash. And you know what? That is without considering your match this week!

I get it, that you want to make a name for yourself. I get it, that you think the best way to do that is to mouth off and try to garner some attention. But ultimately all you are doing is making a fool of yourself because no one with any real status on this roster is going to bother about a man like you... You haven’t done anything yet to warrant such attention. And until you can go down to that ring and win matches every week, and perhaps wrap a belt around your waist – you won’t gain the attention you desire because loud mouthed cretins like you come and go on a weekly basis. Now you might be the exception to the norm, but somehow I doubt that you will be able to cash every cheque you have written to date, and especially the one you seem to be keen on cashing this week...”

He pauses for dramatic effect as he takes one last drag from his cigarette before stomping it out on the ground. We try to move closer but he holds his hand up to tell us to stop. Considering that this man has a known past for using violence against others, and is currently holding an unknown object, we decide to not push our luck in such a remote area that has become strangely void of people.

|| Mike Harrison ||
“Let’s throw Angelus out of the equation for the moment, and bring this down to me and you, and the bold statements you have made:

First, that I should own up to defeat before the match even begins.

Why would I or anyone on this roster do that? *shakes his head*

Seriously, mate, no way on earth would any self respecting wrestler admit defeat even if they were going up against three, four, or five other wrestlers in a handicap match. TRUE WRESTLERS, TRUE FIGHTERS, never give up. They keep fighting until they have no breath left inside their bodies. They keep going because they have PRIDE and PASSION, and a big HEART. If there is one thing I have in common with Angelus, it is that we will never give up, and we will fight you or anyone until the bitter end. We are fighters at heart, and nothing would give me, and I bet him as well, no greater pleasure than knocking the smug look off the face of some kid from an owner of a failed wrestling company!”

A gritty smirk emerges on his face, but quickly falls into a scowl.

|| Mike Harrison ||
“Next point:

That you are going to bring me down mentally and physically and break me.

*laughs*

Oh boy, you are in for a surprise at Warfare if you believe you can do that to me!”

We don’t need to see Harrison’s face to know that a smug, cocky smile has etched across his face; but for the purposes of this scene that is exactly what he is doing right now. He fiddles around with the object in his hands, almost taunting us.

|| Mike Harrison ||
“You see, Troy, I can compete with you on every level. If you want to go move for move in a technical contest, I can do that. If you want to go punch for punch in a fist fight, I can do that. If you want to go blow for blow using weapons, I can do that. I can be technical. I can be high flying. I can be a brawler. I can be a hardcore specialist. I can be WHATEVER it takes to BEAT YOU. The fact of the matter is, mate, that there is no line that I will not cross in order to beat you. You want to play with fire? Then prepare to get burnt!

That is something you need to take on board. You are not playing with some young, inexperienced wrestler. You are dealing with a wily ring veteran that has seen it all. I have faced men like you down the years. Men that come along and promise to break me, but no one ever has. I pride myself on never backing down, and on not giving an inch. At Warfare, I will be right in your face from the get go. I won’t give you a seconds rest. I will make sure that you are in for the night and fight of your life. I can assure you of that, Troy; and that is without considering that there is another party in this match that won’t give you an inch, and will not back down in Angelus. He is like me, and you have pushed him, offended him, threatened him, and done so many other things that you have made this personal for both your opponents. And while Angelus and I are on opposite sides, the one thing that you should realise is that it is not wise to piss off both opponents and make them want to break your neck. But alas I am dealing with a roided up cretin...”

Harrison lights up another cigarette and takes a long drag. We look at him with a shocked look that a wrestler would smoke, but somehow he notices our disapproving look and turns to look at us with those piercing blue eyes that make us back down like a scolded puppy.

|| Mike Harrison ||
“I know right now that you will be shaking your head vehemently in disagreement, Troy, but your first promo only helps prove my point that you don’t think before you speak. For instance, you mock me by saying that I have one little win and get a title shot. Yet have you realised the irony in that statement?

Just in case you don’t. You have one little win on your resume to. So by mocking me, you in turn mock yourself as well.

Another example is how I have Jason Smith to thank for my current position, and that if it wasn’t for him then you don’t know what I’d be doing. Like the previous example, the same can be said about you. If your opponent beat you, then they would have been in this title match and not you. You say you are always prepared, yet you clearly don’t think about what you are saying, and that, mate, is a lack of preparation!

You say I am not ready to face you and the hell you are going to bring, and that I am not extreme. I have a question for you, Troy – on what grounds do you base that statement on?”

He scoff at the very notion and takes a few more long drags before stomping out his second cigarette, or at least the second one that we have witnessed. Finally Harrison stands and turns to the camera and reveals that he is wielding a sledgehammer. He holds it in one hand and taps the hammer slowly on his free hand. The camera zooms in on his eyes and they reveal a side to Mike Harrison that shows how dangerous he is, and perhaps, unstable he can be. Now we wish he hadn’t called us here, in fear of what he might do.

|| Mike Harrison ||
“Say hello to my signature weapon...

I wonder if you are as confident now, Troy in your belief that I am not ready to face you. I wonder if it has crossed your mind exactly who you have decided to push. I bet when you first spoke about me, you thought that I was some guy out of his depth, well you are wrong. I have a history in extreme matches, in first blood matches, and in the many variations that the style brings forth. In short, mate, I am not afraid of getting my hands dirty. Oh no. In fact, I am more than happy to get my hands dirty!”

Harrison raises the sledgehammer and points it directly at the camera. Anyone watching will see the intent in his eyes, the malice they carry, and that willingness to hurt other people and savour it, because this is no act – this is his TRUE nature.

|| Mike Harrison ||
“This week, Troy, and for that matter, Angelus; you have to go up against a man that will do anything and everything to win. Will it bother me if I have to cheat to beat you? No. Will it bother me if I have to screw you over to win the championship belt? No. Why? Because I have set my sights on winning the XWF X-Treme title and wrapping it around my waist at the end of warfare this week, and when I set my sights on something I will not stop until I get it. If that means hurting you, I will. If that means breaking you, I will. If that means making you beg me for mercy, I will. Why? Because I do WHAT I WANT, WHEN I WANT. Basically, guys, you are in deep trouble this week and that realisation has not yet hit you – and that is especially in Troy’s case. I almost pity you...

But let me make this abundantly clear. Do not, I repeat, do not threaten me. If there is one thing you do not do, it is threaten me unless you are willing to see it through and do whatever it takes to kill me. Are you willing to take me out? Are you willing to smash me over the head with a sledgehammer? Are you willing to punt me in the skull? Are you two willing to go to any lengths to win?

I hope you both are, because I sure as hell am ready to do any of those things or more to bring home the X-Treme championship!”

The sledgehammer swings and smashes right into the camera with enough force to knock the cameraman flat on his back. The picture goes all fuzzy and all we can see is a barely distinguishable, distorted picture of Harrison’s face. But the audio picks up his final words clearly.

|| Mike Harrison ||
“Troy, you have pushed me... threatened me... and now you, and Angelus will pay the consequences...”

SMASH!

The final blow to the camera lands and we hear and see nothing more. But as this scene ends, Mike walks off whistling a merry tune whilst swinging the sledgehammer as he goes.