Post by Mark Mania on Aug 3, 2015 11:43:19 GMT -4
“You’re going to make a serious amount of money.” Jim Thompson, my lawyer, was breaking down the benefits of taking Mania Enterprises Public. He’s a real brilliant guy, I never give him enough credit for that.
“I already have a serious amount of money.”
“Maybe you don’t understand. You know how you take a limo to places now?” I shake my head in response. “Now you could take a helicopter.”
An involuntary smile crosses my face. It’s times like these that I need to keep myself relatively grounded. I take a deep breath and take in my surroundings. We’re in a 33rd floor office in the Seaport area of Boston. Looking out onto the ocean and Logan Airport. A plane is landing as I’m watching. I always hated landing at Logan when I was a kid. It looks like you’re going to land in the water until the very last second. I hated flying when I was young. I think it’s because I wasn’t in control of what was happening. I’ve always wanted to be in control of every situation.
That’s what made this past week at Deception so difficult. It’s a situation that I just can’t control. CJ Gates isn’t going to bow down to my money, he’s not going to kneel to my accomplishments. He doesn’t give a shit. He’s gone rouge. He’s a wildcard now. And now Gooch as well. A guy that used to always be so predictable. He was the comic relief. Always just on the edge of competing. But now, he’s suited up, he’s joined the dark side. And apparently has decided that he’s ‘always wanted’ to take me out.
Well I’m just fine with that. CJ and Gooch together is a formidable team, sure. But I’m not afraid of them. Just like I’m not afraid to fly. Because now I’m in control of the situation. If I want to take a helicopter everywhere, I’ll fly the damn thing myself.
“So what do you think, Mark? Should I start filing the paperwork?”
“Let’s do this.” A big smile stretches across my face as I stand up to shake Jim’s hand.
Taking the company public has been an idea in my family for decades. Between my cousin and myself we’ve taken this from a fake company in our backyard to one of the largest sports representation agencies in the country. I don’t plan on running the company forever. I don’t have any children to take over or any protégés. So I’m going to make a damn lot of money off of this deal, make sure that it’s in a position to continue doing great, then maybe I’ll step down as CEO. It’s a sad thing to think about. Mania Enterprises without Mark Mania involved. But that’s the way the world works. Sometimes you need to look into the future and read the tea leaves. Wayne Gretzky has a famous quote about why he was so successful, ‘I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it is.’ Those words have always stuck with me. I try to see ahead of me, see what’s coming next. For now, I’m CEO of Mania Enterprises and I’m going to make a shit ton of money. Down the road, there are bigger things out there for me.
“She’s fucking good.” My friend Bill is on his iPad watching Arkia Fisk fights from Phoenix Wrestling.
“Yeah, I’ve seen.” I sit back in my desk chair. Bill is on the other side of the desk in my office at Mania Headquarters.
“Shit man, you’ve got your work cut out for you.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“No, no, I mean, you’ll be fine. It’s just last week you went up against TJ who didn’t give you any trouble at all. Now you’re going up against a former World Champion, a hall-of-famer. Possibly the best wrestler to come out of PW.”
I look at him waiting for him to expand. I could be waiting there an eternity.
“So what are you trying to say?”
“Just, I don’t know, be careful?”
“I’ve been doing this for 16 years Bill. I wouldn’t worry too much about me.”
“Because you’ve been doing it so long is why I worry.”
“Oh come on. I’m still in my prime. Sure I haven’t wrestled in awhile before APW came back, but it’s not like I’m 40. I’m still young enough to be in my prime. Maybe I’m on the back nine of prime, but dammit I’m still there.”
“Alright, alright. Just make sure you take her seriously.”
“Bill, you just said it yourself. She’s a former World Champion, a Hall-of-Famer. Of course I take her seriously. But I’m also not impressed. I don’t give a damn what she is in Phoenix Wrestling. This is APW, and all she is so far is a strong wrestler who got beat to shit by CJ and Gooch.”
“Yeah, where the hell were you for that?”
“You know exactly where I was, Gooch had cheap-shotted me, I was in no position to be helping her out yet.”
“You think she might take that personally?”
“Why the hell should she? I don’t owe her anything. I only know her by name. I’m sure she’s a fine person, but I’ve got my own problems to deal with.”
“Looks like her problems and your problems are the same ones. CJ and Gooch.”
“They’re just running around like maniacs doing whatever they want. I don’t think they’ve singled out me or Fisk. I’m just taking the initiative to shut them down.”
“Well maybe she could help you out with that.”
“I’m not going to make my fight her fight.”
“Whatever you say, man.” Bill continues to watch the iPad. “Damn! That was a fucking sick move. Did you see that?” Bill turns the iPad towards me to show a move that Fisk had pulled off.
“Yeah, I saw it.”
“Arkia fucking Fisk. I’ll admit, before I found out that I’d be facing you, I didn’t know that much about you. I had heard the name of course. Within the industry you always hear names. Clearly I should’ve been listening a little harder when I heard people say your name.”
“In the past, I used to be heavily involved in the industry outside of whatever wrestling organization I was a part of. I liked the community and the familial feel to it. Being around other people who could understand your point of view. It was special. But I grew weary of it. As with any organization, it got bogged down in titles and egos. People worried too much about who was in charge and who was revered. It got old. I couldn’t keep up with the drama of it.”
“I’d still check in here and there, and I’d stumble across the name Arkia Fisk. I knew you were a main-eventer, I knew people respected you, but I just wasn’t involved enough to see what was going on in Phoenix Wrestling. I had my own thing. APW is a very special place to me. I like being here because it feels like nothing else matters while you’re here. There is no outside world, there’s nothing else.”
“So now you’ve joined this little world that we’re in. Granted you’re seeing a different APW than I had come to know. But very quickly it’s reestablishing itself as the greatest wrestling federation again. The longer you’re here, the more you’ll feel it.”
“I used to be the new guy to APW. Many years ago, I had come from a decorated background as World Champion of this and World Champion of that, Hall Of Famer here, Hall of Famer there. I came in, chip on my shoulder, ready to show the world just what a bad-ass Mark Mania really was.”
“It took a little while before I was really put in my place. I captured the Xtreme Title and thought that I was unstoppable. Once I joined the main-event scene, it was a different story. I was used to stomping on any competition that had come my way. APW is different. APW truly has the best of the best. A few matches against Level-One and Sally, and I knew that I wasn’t the best of the best anymore.”
“I wallowed in self-pity, I felt shitty about myself. It used to come so easy to me. The greats of APW smacked me right damn down. All I could do was pick up my bootstraps and try again. And I did. I fought Level-One and Sally over and over just having a hell of a time putting them away. Looking back on it, I realize that I didn’t take it seriously enough. I wanted to be the best but I didn’t want to put in the same amount of work. I wanted to glide by on my past accomplishments. APW wasn’t going to let that happen.”
“APW isn’t going to let that happen now either. It might not be the same people at the top, but the APW ideal remains strong in all of us. You’re nothing until you’re something in APW. One day I may respect the work you’ve done and the person that you are. But despite everything you’ve done in the past, that day is not today.”
“We will step into the ring together at the second ever Deception and we’ll see just exactly how good you’re going to be in APW. You fought well against Gates, before being jumped and bloodied. I’m not going to do that. I’m here to give you a fair fight. I’m here to go the distance and find out exactly who is the better of the two of us.”
“I have no ill-will towards you, I don’t dislike you. I just love wrestling. I’m going to get in that ring and give it everything I’ve got because that’s what APW deserves. You better be prepared to do the same thing because there’s no room in APW for people who do less than their best.”
“Al Pacino had his famous speech in ‘Any Given Sunday’ about fighting for every inch. I’ve always listened to that speech before every match to remind myself just what kind of dedication it takes to win. I don’t win every match, but I give it my all every match. If I can come out of a fight and say that I did my best, I’m content. I hate losing, losing is not why I’m here. I force myself to learn from every loss. If there’s a reason I lost to a competitor before, I won’t lose for that reason again. You have to take every second of every match and win that second. That’s what APW demands of you. APW demands your best week in and week out. And if you give your best, that’s the fucking difference between winning and losing.”
“I’m not here to lecture you Arkia. I know that you understand the business. You just don’t understand how much the business means to me. This has been my life for fifteen years. I’ve taken time off for injuries or for family issues, but I’ve always come back. I’ve always had a home in the ring. I may have a successful business that I’m running and getting ready to take public, but wrestling always comes first. Wrestling is what keeps me going. I started when I was just a kid. Professionally when I was 22. People think that I’ve gotten too old, or that I’m washed up. Or some think I’ve never had it at all. All the noise doesn’t bother me. I’m Mark fucking Mania. The ring is where I’m the most comfortable whether I’m 22 or 37. I’m Mark fucking Mania and I’ll go out there wipe the floor with whoever wants to get in my way.”
“I’m damn proud of what I’ve done, but you’re only as good as the last time people saw you. Last time people saw us, we were both knocked out because of Gates and Gooch. The next time they see us will be very different. The next time they see us we’ll both be at our best. If Gates and Gooch want to get in our way then, let them try. One at a time they may be able to take us, but while both of us are together, I’m willing to put aside our match to make them pay for a few minutes.”
“I’m not going to pretend to get emotional and talk about how this is my last run in APW as some members of the media have been saying. Because I don’t believe it is. Until I’m dead I won’t be done with this sport. I’ll be 80 years old, coming out with a walker and I’ll beat the shit out of somebody with it. I’m far from done, far from washed up. I’m Mark fucking Mania and I’m here to kick some ass.”
“I already have a serious amount of money.”
“Maybe you don’t understand. You know how you take a limo to places now?” I shake my head in response. “Now you could take a helicopter.”
An involuntary smile crosses my face. It’s times like these that I need to keep myself relatively grounded. I take a deep breath and take in my surroundings. We’re in a 33rd floor office in the Seaport area of Boston. Looking out onto the ocean and Logan Airport. A plane is landing as I’m watching. I always hated landing at Logan when I was a kid. It looks like you’re going to land in the water until the very last second. I hated flying when I was young. I think it’s because I wasn’t in control of what was happening. I’ve always wanted to be in control of every situation.
That’s what made this past week at Deception so difficult. It’s a situation that I just can’t control. CJ Gates isn’t going to bow down to my money, he’s not going to kneel to my accomplishments. He doesn’t give a shit. He’s gone rouge. He’s a wildcard now. And now Gooch as well. A guy that used to always be so predictable. He was the comic relief. Always just on the edge of competing. But now, he’s suited up, he’s joined the dark side. And apparently has decided that he’s ‘always wanted’ to take me out.
Well I’m just fine with that. CJ and Gooch together is a formidable team, sure. But I’m not afraid of them. Just like I’m not afraid to fly. Because now I’m in control of the situation. If I want to take a helicopter everywhere, I’ll fly the damn thing myself.
“So what do you think, Mark? Should I start filing the paperwork?”
“Let’s do this.” A big smile stretches across my face as I stand up to shake Jim’s hand.
Taking the company public has been an idea in my family for decades. Between my cousin and myself we’ve taken this from a fake company in our backyard to one of the largest sports representation agencies in the country. I don’t plan on running the company forever. I don’t have any children to take over or any protégés. So I’m going to make a damn lot of money off of this deal, make sure that it’s in a position to continue doing great, then maybe I’ll step down as CEO. It’s a sad thing to think about. Mania Enterprises without Mark Mania involved. But that’s the way the world works. Sometimes you need to look into the future and read the tea leaves. Wayne Gretzky has a famous quote about why he was so successful, ‘I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it is.’ Those words have always stuck with me. I try to see ahead of me, see what’s coming next. For now, I’m CEO of Mania Enterprises and I’m going to make a shit ton of money. Down the road, there are bigger things out there for me.
“She’s fucking good.” My friend Bill is on his iPad watching Arkia Fisk fights from Phoenix Wrestling.
“Yeah, I’ve seen.” I sit back in my desk chair. Bill is on the other side of the desk in my office at Mania Headquarters.
“Shit man, you’ve got your work cut out for you.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“No, no, I mean, you’ll be fine. It’s just last week you went up against TJ who didn’t give you any trouble at all. Now you’re going up against a former World Champion, a hall-of-famer. Possibly the best wrestler to come out of PW.”
I look at him waiting for him to expand. I could be waiting there an eternity.
“So what are you trying to say?”
“Just, I don’t know, be careful?”
“I’ve been doing this for 16 years Bill. I wouldn’t worry too much about me.”
“Because you’ve been doing it so long is why I worry.”
“Oh come on. I’m still in my prime. Sure I haven’t wrestled in awhile before APW came back, but it’s not like I’m 40. I’m still young enough to be in my prime. Maybe I’m on the back nine of prime, but dammit I’m still there.”
“Alright, alright. Just make sure you take her seriously.”
“Bill, you just said it yourself. She’s a former World Champion, a Hall-of-Famer. Of course I take her seriously. But I’m also not impressed. I don’t give a damn what she is in Phoenix Wrestling. This is APW, and all she is so far is a strong wrestler who got beat to shit by CJ and Gooch.”
“Yeah, where the hell were you for that?”
“You know exactly where I was, Gooch had cheap-shotted me, I was in no position to be helping her out yet.”
“You think she might take that personally?”
“Why the hell should she? I don’t owe her anything. I only know her by name. I’m sure she’s a fine person, but I’ve got my own problems to deal with.”
“Looks like her problems and your problems are the same ones. CJ and Gooch.”
“They’re just running around like maniacs doing whatever they want. I don’t think they’ve singled out me or Fisk. I’m just taking the initiative to shut them down.”
“Well maybe she could help you out with that.”
“I’m not going to make my fight her fight.”
“Whatever you say, man.” Bill continues to watch the iPad. “Damn! That was a fucking sick move. Did you see that?” Bill turns the iPad towards me to show a move that Fisk had pulled off.
“Yeah, I saw it.”
“Arkia fucking Fisk. I’ll admit, before I found out that I’d be facing you, I didn’t know that much about you. I had heard the name of course. Within the industry you always hear names. Clearly I should’ve been listening a little harder when I heard people say your name.”
“In the past, I used to be heavily involved in the industry outside of whatever wrestling organization I was a part of. I liked the community and the familial feel to it. Being around other people who could understand your point of view. It was special. But I grew weary of it. As with any organization, it got bogged down in titles and egos. People worried too much about who was in charge and who was revered. It got old. I couldn’t keep up with the drama of it.”
“I’d still check in here and there, and I’d stumble across the name Arkia Fisk. I knew you were a main-eventer, I knew people respected you, but I just wasn’t involved enough to see what was going on in Phoenix Wrestling. I had my own thing. APW is a very special place to me. I like being here because it feels like nothing else matters while you’re here. There is no outside world, there’s nothing else.”
“So now you’ve joined this little world that we’re in. Granted you’re seeing a different APW than I had come to know. But very quickly it’s reestablishing itself as the greatest wrestling federation again. The longer you’re here, the more you’ll feel it.”
“I used to be the new guy to APW. Many years ago, I had come from a decorated background as World Champion of this and World Champion of that, Hall Of Famer here, Hall of Famer there. I came in, chip on my shoulder, ready to show the world just what a bad-ass Mark Mania really was.”
“It took a little while before I was really put in my place. I captured the Xtreme Title and thought that I was unstoppable. Once I joined the main-event scene, it was a different story. I was used to stomping on any competition that had come my way. APW is different. APW truly has the best of the best. A few matches against Level-One and Sally, and I knew that I wasn’t the best of the best anymore.”
“I wallowed in self-pity, I felt shitty about myself. It used to come so easy to me. The greats of APW smacked me right damn down. All I could do was pick up my bootstraps and try again. And I did. I fought Level-One and Sally over and over just having a hell of a time putting them away. Looking back on it, I realize that I didn’t take it seriously enough. I wanted to be the best but I didn’t want to put in the same amount of work. I wanted to glide by on my past accomplishments. APW wasn’t going to let that happen.”
“APW isn’t going to let that happen now either. It might not be the same people at the top, but the APW ideal remains strong in all of us. You’re nothing until you’re something in APW. One day I may respect the work you’ve done and the person that you are. But despite everything you’ve done in the past, that day is not today.”
“We will step into the ring together at the second ever Deception and we’ll see just exactly how good you’re going to be in APW. You fought well against Gates, before being jumped and bloodied. I’m not going to do that. I’m here to give you a fair fight. I’m here to go the distance and find out exactly who is the better of the two of us.”
“I have no ill-will towards you, I don’t dislike you. I just love wrestling. I’m going to get in that ring and give it everything I’ve got because that’s what APW deserves. You better be prepared to do the same thing because there’s no room in APW for people who do less than their best.”
“Al Pacino had his famous speech in ‘Any Given Sunday’ about fighting for every inch. I’ve always listened to that speech before every match to remind myself just what kind of dedication it takes to win. I don’t win every match, but I give it my all every match. If I can come out of a fight and say that I did my best, I’m content. I hate losing, losing is not why I’m here. I force myself to learn from every loss. If there’s a reason I lost to a competitor before, I won’t lose for that reason again. You have to take every second of every match and win that second. That’s what APW demands of you. APW demands your best week in and week out. And if you give your best, that’s the fucking difference between winning and losing.”
“I’m not here to lecture you Arkia. I know that you understand the business. You just don’t understand how much the business means to me. This has been my life for fifteen years. I’ve taken time off for injuries or for family issues, but I’ve always come back. I’ve always had a home in the ring. I may have a successful business that I’m running and getting ready to take public, but wrestling always comes first. Wrestling is what keeps me going. I started when I was just a kid. Professionally when I was 22. People think that I’ve gotten too old, or that I’m washed up. Or some think I’ve never had it at all. All the noise doesn’t bother me. I’m Mark fucking Mania. The ring is where I’m the most comfortable whether I’m 22 or 37. I’m Mark fucking Mania and I’ll go out there wipe the floor with whoever wants to get in my way.”
“I’m damn proud of what I’ve done, but you’re only as good as the last time people saw you. Last time people saw us, we were both knocked out because of Gates and Gooch. The next time they see us will be very different. The next time they see us we’ll both be at our best. If Gates and Gooch want to get in our way then, let them try. One at a time they may be able to take us, but while both of us are together, I’m willing to put aside our match to make them pay for a few minutes.”
“I’m not going to pretend to get emotional and talk about how this is my last run in APW as some members of the media have been saying. Because I don’t believe it is. Until I’m dead I won’t be done with this sport. I’ll be 80 years old, coming out with a walker and I’ll beat the shit out of somebody with it. I’m far from done, far from washed up. I’m Mark fucking Mania and I’m here to kick some ass.”
