Post by Chris Williams on Jul 25, 2014 15:57:59 GMT -6
I’ve gotta get a solid workout under my belt. Nothing against CityGym KC, but last night just didn’t cut it. The trainers there seemed like decent enough guys, but I want more than that. I NEED more than that. Since I moved to Kansas City, I’ve tried keeping my distance from the Emerald Academy. Don’t get me wrong, I have absolutely nothing against Drew Stevenson or the Academy at all… I just try to keep some separation between my work life and my personal life. What I do inside the ropes, inside the Repertory Theater in front of a few thousand screaming diehards - I do that for the fans. I put on the best show I can when I am performing, as I hear their chants. But the prep work? That’s all on me. I don’t need to be surrounded by Missouri State Wrestling’s finest to get a reminder of what is at stake. I prefer the solitude. I don’t need to be watched by anyone I could be sharing a ring with at an upcoming show. My three opponents have been scouting me non-stop, I’m sure, just as I’ve done to them. They don’t need to analyze my workout and watch as I push myself to a new high, or worse… struggle through a bad day with a weight I normally can handle. To know that Ian Windemear, Matt Ward, or Bradyn Saint are eye-hawking me throughout my workout, staring as I nurse my rehabilitated forearm, always afraid that it’ll give out again. To hell with that. I made a promise to myself upon moving to Kansas City that I would stay away from MSW outside of the Repertory Theatre, that I would find a gym that suited my needs.
The problem with that, however, is when not a single gym in the city is worth a damn. At least, any gym NOT named the Emerald Academy. So it looks like I don’t have a choice anymore. My personal life and work life probably won’t get separated from here on out.
Chris Williams jogs up the steps toward the expansive Emerald Academy, with his black and yellow MSW gym back slung over his shoulder. For a gym that only has around 40-50 members, it is absolutely massive. A breathtaking causeway lined with foliage leads to the glass double-door entrance. Chris Williams pulls open the door and enters. The floor of the lobby is spotless, a white marble tile leading to a rich dark walnut desk. The receptionist greets Chris immediately upon his entrance. Chris smiles and sets his gym bag down, taking a look around the beautiful room as she begins speaking.
Receptionist:
Hello Mr. Williams. Welcome to the Emerald Academy!
Williams is surprised at the greeting, especially being that he has never visited the Academy before.
Chris Williams:
Uhh, thanks? I’m not sure how we’ve met before….
Receptionist:
Oh my apologies, Mr. Stevenson had said you would be stopping by shortly! I am here to get you started, as I am told this is your first time here at the Emerald Academy, correct?
Chris Williams:
Yes, I’ve been trying to bounce around town, looking for a halfway decent gym. So far, I’ve come up empty.
Receptionist:
Well, I assure you, there is nothing simply “halfway decent” about the Emerald Academy. Mr. Stevenson has spared no expense to ensure that his roster is excellently taken care of. We have top-of-the-line facilities, including the latest state-of-the-art weight equipment to meet any of your workout needs. The trainer’s rooms are pristine, with no less than 20 separate individual coaches on site at any time. Each has been fully certified by the Kansas State Athletic Commission, and are fully prepared to assist you in any way.
Jesus Christ, Stevenson… How the HELL do you have that much money to sink into this place? This lady is really going nuts on the sales pitch, doing pretty damn well too. Eh, I should probably just get her to point me along to the locker room.
Chris Williams:
That sounds great. I’ll be taking a look around for myself, if that’s alright? Just need to know which way to the men’s locker room?
The overly-helpful receptionist points Chris down a hallway, then smiles and sits back down behind the desk. Chris Williams picks up his bag and heads down the hallway, getting ready for what sounds like the workout of a lifetime….
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30 minutes later
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??
HEY! PUT THAT PHONE AWAY!
Williams looks up, as he knows the shouting was directed at him. In the middle of answering a text message from an old friend back home, a massive gargantuan of a man begins heading in Williams’ direction. Williams has never been seen as a “small guy” by any means, as most wrestlers dwarf your average Joe. But this dude was so damn big, he could probably just shout you to the ground.
Jesus, this guy has got muscles I didn’t even know existed! What’s his problem though?
Trainer:
Dude, don’t you see the sign? It’s a new rule here in the Emerald Academy, but no cell phones are allowed. I’m gonna need you to put it away, buddy.
Whoa. No you did NOT. I’m not your buddy, guy.
Chris Williams:
Sorry dude, was just answering a text between sets. It was a guy fro-
Trainer:
Don’t care who it was. If it was Mr. Stevenson, he would have called the receptionist to get a message to you. Anybody else can wait. You planning on bringing your phone with you to the ring? No? Then get rid of it while you’re here, pal.
There you go again, asshole…
Chris Williams:
Well, I still need it to listen to music…
Trainer:
We have music coming through the sound system throughout the gym. Again, you planning on wearing headphones in the middle of the match? Matt Ward would whip your ass up and down the ring if you started pulling crap like that!
Chris Williams:
Alright dude, you listen up, and you listen up good. I don’t care who you are, but I don’t need to be bitched at in the middle of my workout. I was in between a freaking set, I wasn’t sitting on any equipment wasting anyone’s time. I was taking a damn break. And no, I don’t plan on wearing headphones to the ring, because as I walk out to that ring, to my sanctuary, I hear music. MY music. It keeps me focused, and gives me the best workout that I can get. I don’t care what school you went to, or how much you can bench. Unless I need a sparring dummy, leave me the hell alone. Until I end up tweeting about working out more than actually working out, how about you go and yell at someone who will listen?
And really, threatening me with Matt Ward? Are you kidding? Like you don’t believe I am prepared to stand toe-to-toe with that crazy asshole? Size has never stopped me from coming out the victor, and it won’t on Thursday. Take now for instance. You’ve clearly put yourself through years of habitual steroid abuse, probably have pricked a needle into every pore of your skin by the looks of it. And now, with a little smidgeon of power, you are suddenly the authority on cell phone use? Not only that, but clearly overcompensating with that just peachy attitude of yours. Ha, practically a spitting image of Matt Ward. Powerful brute? Check. Massive anger issues probably stemming from years of mommy issues? Check. Abnormally small testicles and only half a brain? Well, I think we both know the answer to that. Now get the FUCK out of my face.
Over the past few years, Williams’ fuse has shortened. He is always cool as a cucumber when he is alone, always out-thinking, outmaneuvering his opponents’ best laid plans. However, in actual confrontation, he has begun to grow impatient with anyone that he doesn’t see eye to eye with him. And this attitude has a tendency to lead to moments just like this one. At this point, any man that Chris Williams stands toe-to-toe with has two simple choices. Fight, or flight. A simple reaction, a simple choice, but it’s often a choice that the mind doesn’t even make. The mind simply follows the body, the nervous system’s reaction to confrontation.
So what will it be big fella? Swing or walk away… What will it be?
Without another word, the Hulk-sized trainer simply shakes his head and walks away. The trainer is heard muttering to himself as he walks across the gym floor, something to the extent of “Stevenson will hear about this, asshole”. Williams smirks behind the trainer’s back, then walks over to one of the three separate rings inside the Emerald Academy. His mind switches gears to his match, thinking about each of his opponents this Thursday at Back to Basics. Williams walks along the outside of the ring, studying it. Dragging his hands across the mat’s surface, Williams begins to listen to that voice in his head, his ever-active conscious conscience. In a moment of self-doubt, Williams
Heh, so I went a little overboard on the trainer…. He’s probably right, I’ll pay for that one in the long run. Mostly I’m just annoyed that the Emerald Academy was everything that everyone talked it up to be. I really don’t have much of a choice now, looks like I’ll be seeing the entire roster nearly every day. Not sure who heard me go off on Matt Ward, either. God knows if someone in his posse heard me and goes straight to Ward with what they heard. They may believe I’m not worried about him just based on what I spouted off, but I know that he’s going to be a problem. He’s always talking about the Academy, nonstop. Doesn’t seem like he’s left the gym in a goddamn month. It doesn’t matter what I tell people, how I answer interview questions, I know my true answers. Gotta sell myself to the people, so they can believe in Chris Williams, so they can chant my name. I’ll say what I need to so that they’ll believe in me at Back to Basics. But Ward hasn’t bothered with that. He’s cut straight to the point, cut right into me, and moved on. I admire that. He’s not a guy that over thinks things. Ward plays to his strengths. Literally, the guy is the size of an ox. That can, and most likely WILL, be a problem.
Chris stops at the corner of the ring, still outside. He slaps his hand on the cold steel ring post, still thinking.
So what do I do about that? I get only three rope breaks, but I have three opponents? I have to imagine I’ll go through those pretty damn quickly. Then if Ward comes in as a bull in a china shop? Get out of his way? How? Over the top rope? Disqualified. Try to just deck him in the face and knock him out? Disqualified. End up outside of the ring, avoiding the mayhem? For a whole 20 seconds, then… disqualified. I have no goddamn clue how to handle Matt Ward.
And it’s not just Matt Ward I have to deal with. I have THREE different opponents, and I’ve only got fifteen minutes to get a pinfall or submission. Even if Matt Ward gets himself DQ’d by doing something even crazier than usual, then what? Bradyn Saint is quicker, more athletic, and more agile than I am, especially now. Not to mention he doesn’t have 12 years being on the receiving end of ass-beatings under his belt. The guy has more self-confidence than I ever did, even in my prime. There’s something to be said for that amount of confidence. It’s always been said that in order to do something, the first step is believing you can do it yourself. Saint has that in spades, and that’s not something that you can just take from a man in one match, in one altercation. I don’t know what he has up his sleeve, but I know he’s going in to Back to Basics with a plan. Fifteen minutes, how do I put a stop to whatever he’s planning and still get the win? He’s had backup in the past, will he do it again? There’s nothing in the Pure 15 division written about interference…. Will he be charged a rope break? DQ’d? Or does the referee just let it slide? I’ve got no clue what to do with that. We’re all in the deep end, still learning how to swim in the Pure 15 division. I just hope that the four of us keep this match to its true intent - a pure wrestling match. No bullshit, no circumventing the rules, just wrestling.
Williams slaps the ringpost again, then grabs the bottom rope and slides his hand along it, before moving onto the last man in the championship match.
But if I want to be the first man to kiss that trophy, the first Missouri State Wrestling competitor to truly call himself the Pure Champion, I’ll also have to beat Ian Windemear. A man who seems to have turned the other cheek to his old ways. Windemear used to be a complete ass, a member of a stable with Leo Banks, another complete tool. But in the past month, he’s left Banks behind and moved on. Banks hasn’t really been heard of too much since Ian left him in the dust, and here Windemear is in the inaugural championship match. I know he’s learned from these last two matches, especially to have the experience against Saint in the ring. He’s just as dangerous as the rest, if not more so because of these last few shows. He will be gunning for that trophy, because he’s got everything to prove. He wants everyone to know that he can do this for himself, that he is “the man” in MSW.
Three opponents. Fifteen minutes. One trophy.
How the fuck do I pull this off?
I don’t have much of a choice. I have to. I NEED to.
Because it’s the next step to getting back to Daniel Smart.
Williams looks around, grinning. It took him over a week to figure out why he wants to win so badly, but he just remembered his motivation. No longer worried about whether or not he’s being watched, Williams is focused. He knows the reason he came back to wrestling. He knows the reason he is still here. And he knows exactly how many steps he has to climb to get back to Daniel Smart. Williams may not speak of it anymore in MSW interviews, he may not mention it aloud to anyone he’s with. But he won’t forgive him for what he’s done.
And he will NEVER forget.
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FADE OUT
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