Post by Mark Mania on Nov 14, 2012 15:09:24 GMT -4
March 5, 1770
A man sits by himself on a bench on King Street. He has a pipe in his mouth and he lights in gingerly. In front of him are British officers, holding their ground to protect the colonial officials on King Street. The man has long straggly hair and is sitting with one leg crossed, leaning back against the bench.
A crowd has begun to form around the soldiers. As more join the crowd, the crowd gets more raucous. Profanities are being screamed from all directions. The British soldiers continue to hold their ground. Even more people join the crowd now and the man uncrosses his legs and leans forward. He takes another puff from his pipe and then throws it to the ground. As he starts to stand up he grabs a rock from the ground. He grips the rock in his hand, looks at it and throws it in the direction of the British soldiers.
One of the soldiers is hit and he grabs at his face, blood pouring out underneath his hand. The crowd screams in joy and then all begin to throw rocks at the officers. The British realize it has gotten out of control and the first officer opens fire. The others follow suit. Three men from the crowd drop instantly, half a dozen others fall to the ground. The crowd disperses quickly but not without retaliation. As the crowd his running away they continue to throw items at the British soldiers. The soldiers stand there as the Governor of Massachusetts confronts them.
As the Governor lays down his mandates and charges the soldiers with murder, the man who threw the first rock walks away, unharmed, smoking his pipe.
November 14, 2012
“This should be exciting as hell!” I say to Rosa as I’m running on my treadmill in my office.
“Just because he’s from Boston?” She answers, in her slightly Hispanic accent.
“I never get to face anyone from Boston anymore! I used to wrestle guys from around here all the time, hell it’s where I came up!”
“Yeah, but it’s not like you came up with Dionysus.”
“Ah, I didn’t have to come up with him to enjoy the fact he’s from Boston. That guy came up ages after I did. I can only imagine all the stories he heard of the Boston legends like myself.” I say this, huffing between each sentence.
“I wouldn’t rely on that Mr. Mania, you really haven’t been in the same crowd around Boston in many years.”
“Oh don’t give me that, he knows who I am!”
“I just don’t want you to be upset if he doesn’t.”
“He will.” I run harder on the treadmill.
“Can you believe these people?” I say, holding the poster for this week’s APW Overdrive.
“Well, you were the one who was excited about facing someone from Boston.”
“Yeah, I know that, but why are they calling it the Boston Massacre?”
“Uh, because you both are from Boston and they expect it to parallel the event from the American Revolution?”
I laugh, but quickly realize I have no idea if Rosa was born in this country or not. “The Boston Massacre was not some great victory for Boston, or even two groups from Boston fighting. It was British soldiers shooting down innocent bystanders for protesting their occupation of the city. And it wasn’t part of the Revolution, many say it was a precursor to it, but the actual Revolution didn’t start for a few more years.”
Rosa stares are me for a moment. “You’re one of those know-it-all assholes aren’t you?”
“No, but when something happens in your home town, you tend to have a pretty good working knowledge of it.” I say between laughs.
“Well not everyone is as well-versed in the Boston Massacre as you, I think it’s engaging. Makes people want to watch you and Dionysus go at it.”
“Oh trust me, I want to win this match and show that I’m the best wrestler from Boston in the APW, but being historically inaccurate, that’s not helping anyone.”
“No one gives a shit about historical accuracy, it’s a wrestling match, not a Jeopardy match.”
“Don’t you insult Jeopardy!”
“I wasn’t insulting Jeopardy you weirdo.”
“Remember when you used to only call me Mr. Mania?”
She stares at me again.
“I miss that.”
“You’re going to miss me if you keep it up.”
I roll my eyes at her and look back down at the poster.
“The Boston Massacre.” I shake my head.
“Let it go. Maybe someone will shoot a British soldier for you.”
“Other way around.”
“Whatever. ” Rosa turns away from me and walks out of my office.
“Any advice for preparation on this match?” I yell to her as she’s leaving.
“Don’t have Nick Watson as a partner.” She yells back as she closes the door behind her.
Pretty good advice. Last week I had been partnered up with Nick Watson to take on Delikado and Evan Envi, or as they’re now known, ‘Envikado’. What a stupid name? Unfortunately, Watson was less than helpful this past week and cost me the match. It might as well have been a handicap match because I was a man without a boat the whole match.
Now at least this week I’ll be back to one on one competition. I mentioned it last week that I have nothing against tag teams. I don’t mind if people want to team together to win a title or to enact vengeance on someone. I’ve been a part of a few successful tag teams in my life but more times than not, someone ends up letting the other person down.
It drives me crazy to be relying on someone else for anything. I’ve spent a lot of time in this life relying on myself. A lot of time looking myself in the mirror and realizing there is no one else in my corner. I don’t mean to make that sound lonely or self-serving or anything else, but it’s the truth. When you’re on your own you become tougher, when you’re on your own, you have no excuses.
Think about last week, I have a million excuses for why we lost, the main one being Nick Watson. If it was just me in that ring, who could I blame? I could only look in the mirror and blame myself. There is a lot of buzz about the tag titles in the APW right now because of this tournament that the new Meltdown GM has enacted. Again, I understand the importance of having tag team titles and a great tag team division, but frankly, I just don’t see it for myself.
I’ve been in three negotiations to be in tag teams since I’ve been with the APW. The first one was with John Green, former APW Heavyweight Champion. We fought together a few times with minor success and then we had to face each other a few times and everything blew up. John Green disappeared and the tag team was no more.
After that I had preliminary meetings with Pence Weatherlight to create ‘Mania Light’ sounded more like a beer brand than a tag team. But in this situation, it was me who dropped the ball. I had to leave the APW for personal reasons and then Pence won the Overdrive title. The end of that tag team.
Then, when this tag team tournament was first announced, Nick Watson approached me regarding teaming up. We considered it, but obviously he went in another direction. He showed me why I was glad about that last week. He proved me right that I shouldn’t waste my time trusting someone else to get my work done for me.
The APW is the premier wrestling federation in the United States, hell, in the world, and if I’m going to rely on others than I’m doing this place a disservice. I am proud to be a champion in the best federation in the world. I’ve taken responsibility for my own actions and I’ve succeeded all on my own. So I’m glad to finally get back to one on one competition and not have to concern myself with hoping that others will show up and help me win a match. I’ve shown I can beat Evan Envi and I’ve shown that I can beat Delikado, so I’m not going to worry about my loss last week, instead I’ll look forward to next week. And the Boston Massacre
“Oh Johnny boy, the pipes, the pipes are doing something or another. I never really knew that song, just the beginning of it, and frankly, it’s the first thing that came into my head when I started thinking about you. Wait, is it even Johnny in that song? Fuck, I have no idea. Either way, Mr. Dionysus, welcome back to the APW. It is my great honor to face you as you continue rehabbing that injury that Steve Stryker caused way back when some people knew who Steve Stryker was.”
“You haven’t turned too many heads since you’ve been back in the ring have you Johnny? You left as a champion but so much has happened since you lost that title. First it changed hands to Shadow, then immediately to Evan Envi, and now to Nick Watson. People are having a difficult time remembering who exactly John Dionysus is. And at this same time, I’ve risen back up through the APW ranks. I battled for weeks upon weeks, trying to find where I really belonged, and finally after a month of dealing with a rabid animal, I’ve returned as a champion.”
“Four months ago there might have been an argument that you were the best wrestler in the APW from Boston. It wouldn’t have been true, but the argument would’ve at least been there. Now, the week before Thanksgiving 2012, as you battle the same mediocrity I did earlier in the year and I sit upon the thrown as a champion the only argument is how much better am I than you?”
“I’d hate to say I leave you in my dust or anything like that, because I’ve never really heard anything bad about you and I’ve never really had any negative thoughts against you. I didn’t know you very well before you went out with an injury so I can’t make that much of a distinction. But I do know where we both sit today. Today I’m the champion and you’re the challenger. Today, I’m the one with the reputation and with the standing. You’re the one who is returning without much fanfare. Interesting how much can change in six months.”
“I don’t want to get ahead of myself here, because I feel like I’ve been a little mean so far. Listen Johnny, I don’t really have any issues with you. You seem like a good guy, you’re from Boston which I always respect. Hell, if I didn’t hate tag teams maybe we’d do something someday. You’re a plain and honest man and you respect this sport. That’s why I don’t mean to be disrespectful, I’m just trying to put into context everything that has happened the past six months.”
“I know it’s not your fault that you left the APW. I know the injury pushed you out and that you would’ve loved to be in the ring each and every day. I know how it is, when I was gone for my hiatus from APW, there wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t think about it. Some days were easier than others, but I always still felt this itch to get back into the ring.”
“I know it hasn’t been easy for you since you’ve come back. First there was that big battle royal that you just weren’t prepared for, then, last week, it looked like you were in good shape. You were partnering with one of the greatest talents in the history of the APW. You should’ve had it in the bag. But, this time around, maybe it was you who didn’t quite pull their weight. I mean, you had three future APW Hall of Famers in the ring, and you. I think everyone knew that someone wasn’t going to be able to pull their weight.”
“But either way, another tough loss for you. Trust me, I know how they go. I’ve probably had more losses than wins since I’ve been back, but what I finally held onto was winning when it mattered. I’ve been in three pay per views since I’ve been back in APW and I’m 2-1. That’s the big record I’m worried about. Everything else is just superfluous. I’m proud of my accomplishments each and every week. I was worried that maybe I didn’t still have these big matches in me, but I’m happy to say that I most definitely do.”
“I was glad to see that I’d be facing you this upcoming week. I hadn’t faced someone besides Evan Envi or Delikado since September, I wanted to see a fresh face, see how I match up with the rest of the APW. See how I match up with a former Champion. I mean, when it came to Steve Stryker, we went back and forth, but that was before I had being reinvigorated, before I was back in the zone. So, now that I’m here, I can’t wait to see what happens when we get in the ring.”
“It most likely won’t be any sort of ‘Boston Massacre’ but I think it’s going to be fun for us and more importantly fun for the fans. We respect this sport, respect this federation, and I think, have a general enough of a respect for each other. This respect isn’t going to go further than when we enter that ring though, Johnny. Once the bell rings and the cameras stop flashing, I’m out to win.”
“I’ve proven I can win the big matches, but now it’s time to begin a dominant streak for me. I want to start showing the APW fans and management that I can take on anyone, anytime. With a new General Manager in Johnny Rebel, I need to show him just what I’m capable. It’s going to start with you Johnny. I look forward to getting into the ring together and I look forward to walking out victorious.”
A man sits by himself on a bench on King Street. He has a pipe in his mouth and he lights in gingerly. In front of him are British officers, holding their ground to protect the colonial officials on King Street. The man has long straggly hair and is sitting with one leg crossed, leaning back against the bench.
A crowd has begun to form around the soldiers. As more join the crowd, the crowd gets more raucous. Profanities are being screamed from all directions. The British soldiers continue to hold their ground. Even more people join the crowd now and the man uncrosses his legs and leans forward. He takes another puff from his pipe and then throws it to the ground. As he starts to stand up he grabs a rock from the ground. He grips the rock in his hand, looks at it and throws it in the direction of the British soldiers.
One of the soldiers is hit and he grabs at his face, blood pouring out underneath his hand. The crowd screams in joy and then all begin to throw rocks at the officers. The British realize it has gotten out of control and the first officer opens fire. The others follow suit. Three men from the crowd drop instantly, half a dozen others fall to the ground. The crowd disperses quickly but not without retaliation. As the crowd his running away they continue to throw items at the British soldiers. The soldiers stand there as the Governor of Massachusetts confronts them.
As the Governor lays down his mandates and charges the soldiers with murder, the man who threw the first rock walks away, unharmed, smoking his pipe.
November 14, 2012
“This should be exciting as hell!” I say to Rosa as I’m running on my treadmill in my office.
“Just because he’s from Boston?” She answers, in her slightly Hispanic accent.
“I never get to face anyone from Boston anymore! I used to wrestle guys from around here all the time, hell it’s where I came up!”
“Yeah, but it’s not like you came up with Dionysus.”
“Ah, I didn’t have to come up with him to enjoy the fact he’s from Boston. That guy came up ages after I did. I can only imagine all the stories he heard of the Boston legends like myself.” I say this, huffing between each sentence.
“I wouldn’t rely on that Mr. Mania, you really haven’t been in the same crowd around Boston in many years.”
“Oh don’t give me that, he knows who I am!”
“I just don’t want you to be upset if he doesn’t.”
“He will.” I run harder on the treadmill.
APW Presents the Battle for Boston
Mark Mania vs. John Dionysus
Both men born and raised in Boston, MA. Both men have become Champions in the APW. John Dionysus a former Xtreme Champion, Mark Mania the current Overdrive Champion. Who will survive the Boston Massacre?
Mark Mania vs. John Dionysus
Both men born and raised in Boston, MA. Both men have become Champions in the APW. John Dionysus a former Xtreme Champion, Mark Mania the current Overdrive Champion. Who will survive the Boston Massacre?
“Can you believe these people?” I say, holding the poster for this week’s APW Overdrive.
“Well, you were the one who was excited about facing someone from Boston.”
“Yeah, I know that, but why are they calling it the Boston Massacre?”
“Uh, because you both are from Boston and they expect it to parallel the event from the American Revolution?”
I laugh, but quickly realize I have no idea if Rosa was born in this country or not. “The Boston Massacre was not some great victory for Boston, or even two groups from Boston fighting. It was British soldiers shooting down innocent bystanders for protesting their occupation of the city. And it wasn’t part of the Revolution, many say it was a precursor to it, but the actual Revolution didn’t start for a few more years.”
Rosa stares are me for a moment. “You’re one of those know-it-all assholes aren’t you?”
“No, but when something happens in your home town, you tend to have a pretty good working knowledge of it.” I say between laughs.
“Well not everyone is as well-versed in the Boston Massacre as you, I think it’s engaging. Makes people want to watch you and Dionysus go at it.”
“Oh trust me, I want to win this match and show that I’m the best wrestler from Boston in the APW, but being historically inaccurate, that’s not helping anyone.”
“No one gives a shit about historical accuracy, it’s a wrestling match, not a Jeopardy match.”
“Don’t you insult Jeopardy!”
“I wasn’t insulting Jeopardy you weirdo.”
“Remember when you used to only call me Mr. Mania?”
She stares at me again.
“I miss that.”
“You’re going to miss me if you keep it up.”
I roll my eyes at her and look back down at the poster.
“The Boston Massacre.” I shake my head.
“Let it go. Maybe someone will shoot a British soldier for you.”
“Other way around.”
“Whatever. ” Rosa turns away from me and walks out of my office.
“Any advice for preparation on this match?” I yell to her as she’s leaving.
“Don’t have Nick Watson as a partner.” She yells back as she closes the door behind her.
Pretty good advice. Last week I had been partnered up with Nick Watson to take on Delikado and Evan Envi, or as they’re now known, ‘Envikado’. What a stupid name? Unfortunately, Watson was less than helpful this past week and cost me the match. It might as well have been a handicap match because I was a man without a boat the whole match.
Now at least this week I’ll be back to one on one competition. I mentioned it last week that I have nothing against tag teams. I don’t mind if people want to team together to win a title or to enact vengeance on someone. I’ve been a part of a few successful tag teams in my life but more times than not, someone ends up letting the other person down.
It drives me crazy to be relying on someone else for anything. I’ve spent a lot of time in this life relying on myself. A lot of time looking myself in the mirror and realizing there is no one else in my corner. I don’t mean to make that sound lonely or self-serving or anything else, but it’s the truth. When you’re on your own you become tougher, when you’re on your own, you have no excuses.
Think about last week, I have a million excuses for why we lost, the main one being Nick Watson. If it was just me in that ring, who could I blame? I could only look in the mirror and blame myself. There is a lot of buzz about the tag titles in the APW right now because of this tournament that the new Meltdown GM has enacted. Again, I understand the importance of having tag team titles and a great tag team division, but frankly, I just don’t see it for myself.
I’ve been in three negotiations to be in tag teams since I’ve been with the APW. The first one was with John Green, former APW Heavyweight Champion. We fought together a few times with minor success and then we had to face each other a few times and everything blew up. John Green disappeared and the tag team was no more.
After that I had preliminary meetings with Pence Weatherlight to create ‘Mania Light’ sounded more like a beer brand than a tag team. But in this situation, it was me who dropped the ball. I had to leave the APW for personal reasons and then Pence won the Overdrive title. The end of that tag team.
Then, when this tag team tournament was first announced, Nick Watson approached me regarding teaming up. We considered it, but obviously he went in another direction. He showed me why I was glad about that last week. He proved me right that I shouldn’t waste my time trusting someone else to get my work done for me.
The APW is the premier wrestling federation in the United States, hell, in the world, and if I’m going to rely on others than I’m doing this place a disservice. I am proud to be a champion in the best federation in the world. I’ve taken responsibility for my own actions and I’ve succeeded all on my own. So I’m glad to finally get back to one on one competition and not have to concern myself with hoping that others will show up and help me win a match. I’ve shown I can beat Evan Envi and I’ve shown that I can beat Delikado, so I’m not going to worry about my loss last week, instead I’ll look forward to next week. And the Boston Massacre
“Oh Johnny boy, the pipes, the pipes are doing something or another. I never really knew that song, just the beginning of it, and frankly, it’s the first thing that came into my head when I started thinking about you. Wait, is it even Johnny in that song? Fuck, I have no idea. Either way, Mr. Dionysus, welcome back to the APW. It is my great honor to face you as you continue rehabbing that injury that Steve Stryker caused way back when some people knew who Steve Stryker was.”
“You haven’t turned too many heads since you’ve been back in the ring have you Johnny? You left as a champion but so much has happened since you lost that title. First it changed hands to Shadow, then immediately to Evan Envi, and now to Nick Watson. People are having a difficult time remembering who exactly John Dionysus is. And at this same time, I’ve risen back up through the APW ranks. I battled for weeks upon weeks, trying to find where I really belonged, and finally after a month of dealing with a rabid animal, I’ve returned as a champion.”
“Four months ago there might have been an argument that you were the best wrestler in the APW from Boston. It wouldn’t have been true, but the argument would’ve at least been there. Now, the week before Thanksgiving 2012, as you battle the same mediocrity I did earlier in the year and I sit upon the thrown as a champion the only argument is how much better am I than you?”
“I’d hate to say I leave you in my dust or anything like that, because I’ve never really heard anything bad about you and I’ve never really had any negative thoughts against you. I didn’t know you very well before you went out with an injury so I can’t make that much of a distinction. But I do know where we both sit today. Today I’m the champion and you’re the challenger. Today, I’m the one with the reputation and with the standing. You’re the one who is returning without much fanfare. Interesting how much can change in six months.”
“I don’t want to get ahead of myself here, because I feel like I’ve been a little mean so far. Listen Johnny, I don’t really have any issues with you. You seem like a good guy, you’re from Boston which I always respect. Hell, if I didn’t hate tag teams maybe we’d do something someday. You’re a plain and honest man and you respect this sport. That’s why I don’t mean to be disrespectful, I’m just trying to put into context everything that has happened the past six months.”
“I know it’s not your fault that you left the APW. I know the injury pushed you out and that you would’ve loved to be in the ring each and every day. I know how it is, when I was gone for my hiatus from APW, there wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t think about it. Some days were easier than others, but I always still felt this itch to get back into the ring.”
“I know it hasn’t been easy for you since you’ve come back. First there was that big battle royal that you just weren’t prepared for, then, last week, it looked like you were in good shape. You were partnering with one of the greatest talents in the history of the APW. You should’ve had it in the bag. But, this time around, maybe it was you who didn’t quite pull their weight. I mean, you had three future APW Hall of Famers in the ring, and you. I think everyone knew that someone wasn’t going to be able to pull their weight.”
“But either way, another tough loss for you. Trust me, I know how they go. I’ve probably had more losses than wins since I’ve been back, but what I finally held onto was winning when it mattered. I’ve been in three pay per views since I’ve been back in APW and I’m 2-1. That’s the big record I’m worried about. Everything else is just superfluous. I’m proud of my accomplishments each and every week. I was worried that maybe I didn’t still have these big matches in me, but I’m happy to say that I most definitely do.”
“I was glad to see that I’d be facing you this upcoming week. I hadn’t faced someone besides Evan Envi or Delikado since September, I wanted to see a fresh face, see how I match up with the rest of the APW. See how I match up with a former Champion. I mean, when it came to Steve Stryker, we went back and forth, but that was before I had being reinvigorated, before I was back in the zone. So, now that I’m here, I can’t wait to see what happens when we get in the ring.”
“It most likely won’t be any sort of ‘Boston Massacre’ but I think it’s going to be fun for us and more importantly fun for the fans. We respect this sport, respect this federation, and I think, have a general enough of a respect for each other. This respect isn’t going to go further than when we enter that ring though, Johnny. Once the bell rings and the cameras stop flashing, I’m out to win.”
“I’ve proven I can win the big matches, but now it’s time to begin a dominant streak for me. I want to start showing the APW fans and management that I can take on anyone, anytime. With a new General Manager in Johnny Rebel, I need to show him just what I’m capable. It’s going to start with you Johnny. I look forward to getting into the ring together and I look forward to walking out victorious.”
