The Boy Who Tried Too Hard - vs. Justin York.

“Fire is the test of gold; adversity, of strong men.” - Martha Graham




{Company Man Studios - Tampa FL - “By way of introduction”}

I do enjoy being in a proper television studio, the lights appeal to me on a very deep level. The promo and mic work was among my favorite things about this business. Not my favorite but among them. My favorite thing was busting someone in the mouth that has a very high opinion of themselves. So here I stood under the television lighting, getting ready to introduce myself to a young man from IIW. Wearing jeans, a white button-down shirt, with my customary black skull cap and boots on. I had a couple of index cards with notes that I had made about the kid. I flipped through them, satisfied that I had what I needed, I put the index cards back in my left breast pocket.

Justin York, of IIW fame, or lack thereof. The most notable thing that I could find about you is that you faced Chris on your home turf and still laid a giant turd in the ring. I will give you credit though, you’re confident, although probably more than you should be.

I smirk at the camera and bring my hands in front of me, clasping them I continue to address my opponent.

I’ll be honest kid, drawing me as your debut opponent is like getting the death sentence for stealing candy at a Walmart. You don’t lack the ability what you lack is the focus to become an elite player in this game.

I continue down the obvious path, talking about his shortcomings.

You are not focused, and you better get that way when you face me. I know you are not focused because you spent more time talking about CPPE in your promo against Chris than you did about him.

I pause to allow that little factoid to sink in for the young man.

You should have waited to talk shit about me and Peter until this debut. Let me provide you with a little perspective about “Chronic” Chris Page Enterprise. I lot of people have been shooting their mouths off about us being a stable. Thing is, some of us don’t even like each other, why would we do that?

I start ticking the items off on my hands as I talk about them.

Money?

No, we all have plenty of that.

Fame?

The vast majority of us are multi-time world champions.

Glory?

Don’t make me laugh, got that in spades.

Now the itemization is complete, I smile as I continue.

Page is one hell of an Agent. Chris provides us with opportunities all over the world. For some, it’s something they would not have had the chance to do without his help. Everyone wins.

The smile remains as I talk about the special guest referee. Not that I would admit it to Peter but I did have a fondness for people who love spilling blood.

With Peter as the referee, you don’t have to worry about any kind of bias towards me, at least not in my favor. “The Mechanic” is a very fair-minded dude. If anything he’s probably hoping I don’t win this match, because, like many, he’s a believer in momentum.

A nod of respect for Peter as I continue.

Mr. Vaughn is also a good human, he won’t play that game. Have a little faith, absorb that loss to Chris and the one coming to you courtesy of me. You really shouldn’t take any of this personally, kid, I don’t care enough about you for it to be personal.

I continue to smile as I explain things that should be obvious but maybe he doesn’t get it yet.

You’re a young gun, going against a guy that has more time on company shitters than you have in this business. I’m going to wreck you because that’s what I do. I don’t take people lightly, nor do I sell them short.

Taking a less amused stance and tone, there are a few things that should be pointed out.

I know you have a skillset, and I’m aware of your propensity for high-risk maneuvers. You’re hoping that your speed and agility will make a difference. I’m not saying it won’t, but if you fuck up, you’re going to crash and burn.

I slam my left fist into the palm of my right hand for emphasis.

When that happens, I’m going to pick your body apart, limb by limb.

With my left fist still in my right hand, I twist my knuckles, creating a grinding sound.

I’ll stretch you until you’re crying for your mama. I’m not big on allowing people to walk away from matches with me. I brutalize my opponents and if they decide to try and play games with me, kid, it just never ends well for them.

I wink at the camera as I get ready to end the first set.

It never ends well because when it comes to playing games, I only play for blood. Things you should keep in mind when facing anyone here in XWF. Again, these are not threats, they’re simply facts. I guess in a way, it’s my way of giving you a warm welcome to XWF. I don’t think you’ll like the environment much, but we hope you enjoy your stay.

To Be Continued…

Fade

*******

{Hell’s Gate Dojo - Grand Junction - Colorado - “Blood, Sweat, tears and Taco’s”}

After continuous sessions with Kim Pain and then Rene, I was left beaten and bloody. These were the kind of workouts I needed right now. It was a balancing act to integrate joint manipulation and my brawling style into my skill set in order to take better advantage of both. I had been training with my deceased wife’s aunt in Chicago recently. Learning the techniques behind Krav Maga and using them in a real combat situation was vastly different. I was initially taught when I was nineteen as a part of forward operations training while in service to the Navy. We were typically the first ones into any hostile area to build fortifications. That training saved my life more than once. This last session with Renee was to see how it would flow when put together. The first indications of success came early on in our second round of sparring. He lunged at me trying to get a clothesline in early and I put him on the mat with a drop toe hold, followed by an ankle lock. He tapped pretty quickly.

I knelt next to him as he and I both were winded, “What do you think?” I asked him in a concerned tone. “I’m fine dude, but that was pretty amazing. I didn’t expect that.” I nodded, looking at Kim, and she nodded her approval as well. “Hey Kim, how are we on time? Don’t want to be late for baby sisters celebration.” She looked at her watch, “Better start getting cooled down and cleaned up. You have about ninety minutes.” I nodded and stood, extending a hand to help Rene up. He grunted as he came up, walking gingerly, “That standing ankle lock with your height and leverage. That could be a devastating thing.” I nodded slapping him on the shoulder. “You know, I really wish I had started down this path years ago. It might have…” I allowed my voice to trail off in mid-sentence. He shook his head, “No, can’t be thinking like that, Chief, what happened, happened. Let’s stay in the present.” I smiled, knowing he was right. “Agreed.”

A short time later

We had all arrived at Kat’s place up on the mountain. Many of the people I knew and respected were there. A few I didn’t like but that was okay. I didn’t have to talk with them, so it was good as far as I was concerned. Jas Cache had gotten quite the spread together for Kat to celebrate her recent title win in Sin City. The roulette title was a hybrid hard-core title. When I walked in, I could tell that she was one happy lady. So many of her friends were here to celebrate her. She didn’t really deal with attention or compliments well but she looked to be having a good time. That made me smile as I walked into the living room. When she spotted me, she jumped up, and even though I knew the tackle hug was coming and I braced for it. We still teetered on the edge of falling down as she wrapped her legs around my waist. I laughed and hugged her back and then set her back on the floor. “Congrats,” I said as she beamed at me. “Thanks, you okay?” I nodded, “Yeah, I’m good.” We moved from there to the taco bar and I made a plate. I don’t agree with Matt Knox very often but the thought of a dessert taco really didn’t sit well with me. I don’t know, it almost seemed sacrilegious but when I caught her glare, I reached over and grabbed one for my plate.

“Thank you, don’t be an ass about the dessert taco’s”, she said quietly so as not to upset the conductor of this whole thing. “He means well, and I won’t go out of my way to insult the man about this.” I sat down in the corner of the room so I could stretch out these long legs of mine and be out of the center of attention. Kat was a great hostess and a dear friend. The Game Changers and Larry Tact had found that out most recently. I’ve always been a family-first kind of person. That was a double-edged sword to be sure. At times it caused me more problems than I can count, but in the end, it was always worth it. I had not mentioned the Larry Tact payback to Kat, since it went down. She appeared to have something on her mind. “How did that feel,” she asked me. I looked at her with arched eyebrows, “Context is important, Sis” I said in a nonchalant way. Since I was sitting down, she didn’t need the step stool and gibsmacked me. “Ow! What was that for?” She laughed, “For being an ass, that’s what.” “How did it feel to beat the hell out of him?” I looked up at her, “It was fucking delightful. He deserved that shit and a lot more. I hope you get the chance to teach him the error of his ways soon.” She nodded, “There’s a rumor about that.”

Fade

{The Bane Home - Las Vegas NV - “Agony”}



I was less than forty-eight hours removed from the loss of the Sin City World title to Matt Knox, that one was going to sting for a while. He had told me that he hated that it had come to that. I guarantee he didn’t hate it as much as I did. I was getting ready to go to the airport, so I was dressed so that I presented a professional image when representing the various companies I was currently under contract with. “Well, what do you think?” I said as my wife, Amber studied my form. She smirked, “You clean up pretty well.” I bowed slightly, “Thank you, my love.” She waved it off with her usual sarcastic manner. “No charge.” I smirked in return, “Alright, I’m headed to the airport.” She gave me a quick hug and kiss as I headed for the door. She knew as well as I did, the type of mindset I had currently. It wasn’t healthy for me or for my upcoming opponent. I heard her say as I walked to the door, “Don’t kill him, Mac.” I laughed gruffly as I responded, “No promises.”

I stepped outside expecting an uber but instead, I find a grinning Chris Page. “You’re flying private today amigo.” I laughed, nodding my head, “I appreciate that, is this because of the last time I was in the airport?” He laughed a little, “Well, as your agent and your friend, I feel like I should at least try to keep you out of trouble.” Nodding again, “That’s fair.” I threw my bag into the backseat of his rental. I then spit the gum out and ripped the nicotine patch off my forearm. “Bad week to try and quit smoking,” I said as I sat in the front seat on the passenger side. He climbed into the driver's seat, and we were off. “How are you doing mentally after that title match,” he asked me in a sincere tone. I thought about that for a moment. “I’m good, in that match, he was simply better, it was really close and obviously it could have gone either way.” I shrugged, “More importantly, to me, it allowed me to get a measure of revenge.” I paused for a moment, “Not the result I wanted or thought I deserved, but a little bit. I know he and I will fight again sometime down the road.”

“Shrewd, my friend, glad you are not taking that loss personally.” Again I shrugged, “Been doing this far too long to throw a pity party over a lost title.” The car slowed somewhat as we neared the exit for the airport. Chris obviously knew the layout well as he followed the path that he knew for his private jet. We entered the FBO parking area, once we checked in, we were escorted to the private terminals. Going through TSA we are rather painless and incident-free. From there we made our way onto the tarmac where his jet was fueled and ready to go. We boarded without ceremony and took our seats. Cocktails were provided and we set back to talk some more.

“So, Justin York,” I began, “he gave you more trouble than I expected from him.” Chris shrugged, “All I can say is don’t sleep on him in the ring, his promos though.” I laughed, “I was about to say…” That would be the only real intel Chris would provide as the Jet taxied down the runway and then took off.

Fade.

{Company Man Studios - Tampa FL - “By way of introduction Part 2”}

Continued….

I continue to stand under the hot lights of the production set, to continue my education of a new guy. After watching his promos against Page, it was pretty glaring to me the lack of experience this boy has.

How long you stay here is yet to be seen. The one thing, to me that stands out about you, Justin. The thing that touches me is your ability to oversell yourself. You’re green as hell and you proved that in the way you talk to your peers. The way you disrespect those who came before you. It’s really a shame you don’t have the chops to back it up yet. You’ll get there, but not against people like me. There are many who have tried to make their reputation off a match with me and others like me. What they received is exactly what they earned.

I tilt my head to the right and in a snarling voice, I begin.

What they earned was a lesson. An expensive and painful lesson. Men like me, tend to take rookies under their wing and teach them the ropes. Maybe you’re not a rookie though, perhaps I misjudged you. If that’s the case, I’ll teach you exactly the kind of lesson you need to learn. See, in my experience, the best teacher is excruciating pain. I do not suffer fools, York, and you are definitely that. You try too hard is the other thing I noticed about you. You’re not relevant in the industry yet. You do love to bark at passing cars don’t ya? You’ve got a long way to go and a lot of cars to bark at before you become respected and relevant in this business.

I move my head back to a neutral position and sneer at the camera.

So, we’ve established that you try too hard to convince others that you are relevant. You try too hard to act like a tough guy. You talk like you’re seven feet tall, that’s cool and all if you can back that up. You can’t though, you’re the same size now that my oldest son was when he was twelve. You’re not a monster kid, your just another spot monkey in a business full of them. When you cut your promo against me, I expect you to be focused, instead of talking about all the people in our match that don’t matter. See, that’ll just piss me off if you do that. For god’s sake, stay away from the generic “bad guy” shit.

I shake my head at the lack of creativity of these boys coming out of wrestling school these days. Then I realized I had made a mistake as I checked my notes again.
There it is, I completely forgot, you had been the TWF Television Champion. That’s cool, never heard of that company, but I’m sure it was a good place to work, right? You’re proud of that reign, however long it was. I’m sure you’ll regale us with the story about how you overcame the odds to win that title. At least you can say you’ve accomplished something in this business before the age of thirty. Bravo!

I give him a slow golf clap while smiling at the camera.

To show you how seriously outclassed you are, I won my first title at the age of twenty-four. I am sure that when you looked for information about me, you thought that I was just some big joker that can only fight and that’s it. Not a totally untrue observation, that is what I love to do is punch people in the mouth. There is more to me than that. First thing I tell everyone that I am about to step into the ring with. You would do well to remember this. While you’re out there trying to win a match, I’m out there to win a fight. What that means to you is this, every move I execute on you is done with extreme velocity and torque. Everything I do is done with malice and yes, I’m trying to end the match with every strike and wrestling move. I’m trying to hurt you, not because someone told me to. I’m trying to hurt you because you decided to step into my territory, invading my space for no other reason than to chase clout and be embraced by the greatness. Instead, what you’ll find is that you don’t deserve to breathe the same air as me. When the man counts three you’ll finally understand your place in the pecking order.