Post by Chris Madison on Mar 7, 2014 21:00:53 GMT -4
Wednesday March 5th, 2014
Canton, Ohio
The cold winters air had a way of cutting through a man, making even his bones ache while being covered in layers of fat and skin. Perhaps it's that aching freeze that jolted me out of my comatose state. I woke up in a dingy motel which made more money on hourly rates than by the night. The heaping pile of flesh that laid motionless in the bed next to me was still passed out from all of the boozing done the night before. Her name slipped my mind, probably wasn't important anyway. The heat must have kicked off sometime through night. I scooted to the edge of the bed, shivering like a crackhead itching for a fix while watching my steamy breath with every labored exhale.
"Where the fuck am I", I ambiguously questioned while my teeth chattered, sounding more like a baby's rattle. I jumped to my feet and started to search around the room for any clues to my location.
Inside one of the nightstands drawers there was a pamphlet for the pro football hall of fame. "Fucking Canton Ohio", I mumbled, puzzled by my own drunken choice to lay my head down in a town that's only contribution to society is being the host for the NFL's most prestigious building.
The pro football hall of fame is one the most recognizable professional sports hall of fame buildings. Inside the hallowed halls legends are forever enshrined with bronze sculptures of their heads to be forever remembered for their great accomplishments. Kind of ironic I have found myself awakening from another one of my drunken stupors in Canton with a tag team match against Kurt Noble looming. My life has been a mess since APW closed it's doors. Always migrating from one company to another, never satisfied with the way management handled things. I was spiraling out of control the last few months and it's taken me to the cesspit of America, Ohio...
She started to stir around tangled in the sheets. I had been making too much noise and this two dollar whore was about to awaken with false thoughts of grandeur. Like I was some kind of knight in shiny armor, here to rescue her from the buckeye state. I frantically shoved the pamphlet for the NFL Hall of Fame back in the drawer and foolishly slammed it shut. I grimaced as the loud banging of the back of the drawer against the back of the nightstand startled the young girl and woke her up.
"Hey", she croaked while extending her arms with a stretch and smiling at me.
Her name was still slipping my mind and I stuttered on my words, "uh...uh...hey".
She could read me like a book despite her barely legal appearance. Yet for some reason it seemed more routine than it should. "Ashley", she playfully reminded me while giggling. Her agenda quickly turned to looking for all of her articles of clothing. While scouring stained berber carpet. "It's okay Chris...it was stupid. It would have never worked anyway."
I had no idea what she was talking about. Her words were a riddle to me and the look on my face reflected it. "What wouldn't have worked", I asked, intrigued by what kind of promises I could have made this poor innocent girl while fueled by whiskey and beer.
"You're not the first person to promise to help me escape this hell hole. I get it, I'm just a dumb nineteen year old kid." While filling me in on my empty promises she had found her bra and panties. I turned around while she slipped her undergarments back on. Her preacher's daughter look portrayed her younger than the nineteen year old girl she claimed to be and I felt like a dirty old man. "Please..." She laughed at me as focused the decrepit wallpaper that was starting to peel off the sheetrock underneath. "You didn't have a problem looking last night..."
I nearly jumped out of my skin as she surprisingly caressed the back of my neck with her fingernails. "Yeah but it's no secret I was a little boozed up last night." Feels like I've been using those words as a crutch since November. But truth be told, I've never felt so disgusted with myself in my whole career and I was killing myself night after night.
"Don't sweat it..." She strolled around the room collecting the rest of her things, eventually sitting on the foot of the bed putting on piece by piece. "I should get going before they start freaking out about where I am."
"They", I repeated.
"Come on Chris. Don't be so naive." She nearly laughed me out of the motel room. A nineteen year old girl, living on her own, not attending college. I don't know why it took so long to put the puzzle pieces together. Any moment now her pimp and whatever muscle he decides to scrounge up is going to be looking for her and any profits she made for the night.
"How much", I questioned while reaching for my denim pants which laid on the floor. The most likely of locations for my wallet.
She rose from the bed and placed her hand on top of mine as my jeans dangled in the air. "It wasn't like that Chris. I do what I do because I have no one to lean on. But last night, for the first time in a couple of years, I actually felt like a normal girl. It was nice for a change. Usually I'm looked at like a piece of meat. They can call it an escort service but it is what it is. Usually I'm paid to be a piece of candy hanging on the arm of some rich socialite. Last night I got to be me..." She took her hand from mine and made her way to one of the nightstands which had her purse positioned on top of it. "I should probably get going before Sebastian comes looking for me."
"Really?" My eyebrows raised with intrigue. "Should I be worried?"
She looked me over knowing what I did as a profession. Normally if she was asked this question it would be a definitive yes. For me, there was a bit of hesitation. "You may fair better than most but sweetie, he'll break you in half", she warned while strutting towards the rooms door.
I became giddy like a child on Christmas Eve. I've always enjoyed a good fight, more so in recent days as I tried to fill that void that APW's closure has left me with. "I'm tempted to keep you here until he shows up!" I rubbed the palms of my hands together which mocked the sound of sandpaper scratching against a rough piece of lumber.
Her hand was on the door knob. She was just about to walkout. Yet something inside of her stopped her and made her take her hand off the door knob. It was as if I prodded her into telling me all about him. She began to inform me of Sebastian, "Chris he's not someone you want to pick a fight with. Sebastian Kolzig is built like a tank. He's about six six and three hundred fifteen pounds of pure muscle. And his temper is much larger than his size." She had me sucked in. My curiosity had gotten the best of me as I ogled on like teenager with a large pair of breasts in his face. "He used to be a professional fighter. Never made it big but has fought in about every bar that has ever held a boxing or mixed martial arts fight. The guy is a monster and he's used as muscle for the crew that runs most of the shit in this area."
"That name sounds so familiar...how'd he get caught up in this world", I questioned while trying to figure out where I recognized that name from.
"Honestly...I don't know. I think the brothers who control this area have something on him. They have their hands in everything around here: girls, gambling, and drugs. But he's not the type to dabble in any of those...", she graciously informed. She went back to the door and placed her hand on the knob. She turned her head back over her shoulder and suggested, "if you're ever in Canton again, look me up" before pulling the door open.
What was on the other side of that door caught the two of us off guard. Sensation Kolzig. No matter how much she tried to verbally paint a portrait of the behemoth she didn't do him justice. He stood outside and the doorframe obstructed the view of his entire upper body. He hand were like cinderblocks dangling in the air just below his waist. He was covered in tattoos and his bald head, Crystal blue eyes combination made him the perfect poster boy for a white power/skin head movement. His girth alone was intimidating and made it nearly impossible to walk normally through doorways. He side stepped into the room and quickly locked his eyes onto his target...me.
In that moment when he first saw me standing in the corner of the room it clicked. I had seen him fight when I spent some of my career in Japan. But before I could open my mouth he charged at me like a bull. He was way to big to just flip aside. He scooped me up and drove me back into the wall, leaving an imprint in the sheetrock. He released me and threw a right hand. I managed to duck as his fist found it's way clean through the wall. While he tried to pry his hand free I swiftly kneed him in the ribs, but that only fueled him. He grabbed me with both of his massive hands around my throat and slammed me to the floor without releasing his grasp. He was choking the life out of me and I had no way of powering out.
Ashley ran over and smacked him in the head with her purse while shouting, "let go of him Sebastian. You're going to kill him!" Nothing she could do would have any effect on him. Her purse felt more like an annoying gnat buzzing around his head.
He took one of palms off my throat and pointed towards Ashley. "Back up Ashley! You're in enough trouble...", he warned ferociously.
That brief moment of a slip up was all of a window of opportunity that I needed. I locked onto his arm that pinned me to the ground and quickly swung my legs up around his back and neck. The triangle choke he found himself locked in was sealed air tight when I folded my right foot behind my left knee. I pulled down on the back of his head and let the submission do the rest of the work. His bald head quickly turned purple thanks to lack of circulation. I released the hold before I killed the man and he rolled around the dingy carpet gasping for air.
"So you're Sebastian..." I muttered while panting from the scuffle that just ensued. He bewilderedly watched me as I pushed myself to my feet. "I'm Chris Madison, and I could use a guy like you..."
_________________________________
"Here it is...Action Packed Wrestling's final hour has quickly approached."
"Now a days companies generally don't stick around long enough to gain the notoriety that APW has. Promotions pop up and disappear quicker than the blink of an eye. APW seemed to know the winning formula. Through the years they've had a dedicated staff who has always put the fans best interest at the helm of the priority list. The tenth edition of Rasslemania looms, the seventh under the APW banner, and I couldn't feel more honored to have a place on the card for this historical event..."
"But like the old saying goes, all good things must come to an end..."
"Much like all the great empires throughout history, APW has fallen and will be nothing but a nostalgic memory of the good ole days."
"And of course all the greats from years past have wheeled their ways out of their retirement homes for such an event...which brings me to my opponents for this grand event, Kurt Noble and Delikado!"
"There's no denying that your combined accomplishments over the years easily trump my only accolade in APW. I wouldn't waste my breath on such a fruitless argument. And trust me, I know that going into this match, Tommy and I...we're huge underdogs. But everyone seems to vastly overlook the fact that to this very day, we're still grinding out a career in the wrestling world...not sitting back at some country club with our feet up, reminiscing over a time when we were actually relevant!"
"Week after week we're still lacing up our boots and stepping inside of a wrestling ring. When was the last time you two actually did anything worth noting? Back in November of 2012 when Kurt had his little spat with Chris Hart and you vacated the tag team championship? That was a year and a half ago, and since then your pitiful careers were nauseously dragged out!"
"For me APW will always hold a special place in my heart. It was the light at the end of the tunnel. After spending six years overseas in Japan I thought I'd never compete in a ring on american soil again. APW provided that home that seemed so far out of reach. Since it's closure I have been living a nomadic wrestling nightmare, show to show, promotion to promotion...always seeking a place to root up and finish what blessed time I have left in this sport. Even though there's no shiny title being dangled as reward for the winner, I refuse to lose this match!"
"I know, I shouldn't hold my breath. But you see there is a prize in this match that is worth fighting for...and that's you Kurt"
"This is supposed to be your night. A former APW Overdrive Champion, former APW Tag Team Champion, and most importantly a former APW Undisputed Champion! A résumé that surely fits your hall of fame induction! I'm sure the APW faithful and locker room alike are drooling, anticipating your final victory inside an APW ring. But that's it...all that hope and desire for you to make this night more memorable with one final win...that's what I strive for, my grand prize. Ruining what's supposed to be your storybook ending..."
"Pinning a hall of famer in what's probably his last match during his induction weekend is the goal! That's how I leave an impression on this company that's everlasting. That's all I've thought about doing...beating guys like Terry Marvin, CJ Gates, Level One. Unfortunately time has ripped most of those goals from my reach. But I can still make Kurt Noble reap what he sows on a night that's supposed to be about celebrating his career! That's the dream!"
"I'm getting antsy just thinking about the sea of all those pouting faces that will fill the arena when Kurt Noble's and Delikado's triumphant return to an APW ring is halted by the consistent path of destruction that the Black Hand leaves in it's wake."
"Oh and don't think that you get a pass Delikado...your departure coincided with my arrival in APW. Before I found my way to Overdrive the rest of your boys that you guys called the League was in the midst of a pretty nasty war with my partner, Tommy Knox. Somehow you slithered your way around a confrontation that you knew would ultimately lead to your demise. None of the rest of them were able to ward him off! Not Havok, not Gooch, and not Evan Envi!"
"The League stood for everything that made us sick about professional wrestling. Nothing like a group of megalomaniacs whose own delusions spiraled them out of control! Now I may have missed a good portion of the battle between Tommy and the League, but at Rasslemania ten I'll be standing side by side with him...brothers...yearning for that grand stage to further the message of the Black Hand!"
"There are no white knights in the world of professional wrestling. By nature we are selfish beasts who will quickly put ourselves above anyone else. This façade that you and the league only masked how ugly you guys truly were! Well that ends... Whatever doubts the fans have will be cleared up. The wool will be pulled from their eyes and for once they will be enlightened about just how filthy and self-absorbed the League really was!"
"March thirtieth twenty fourteen...the absolute final APW show...Live from Toronto, Ontario, Canada...Kurt Noble and Delikado crash and burn proving this pathetic comeback campaign to be nothing more than a bad publicity stunt!"
"Buckle up boys because this ride only has one ending..."
"The Black Hand wins...always rising to the occasion. There's no stopping us. The Black Hand is a juggernaut that will fight for the cause until the worlds end!"
"Run while you still can boys...that retired country club life is going to be hard to live while hooked on life support!"
