Post by Adrien | Adam on Oct 31, 2017 2:32:51 GMT -5
Seventeen and strung out on confusion
Trapped inside a roll of disillusion
I found out what it takes to be a man
Well, mom and dad will never understand
Secrets collecting dust but never forget
Skeletons come to life in my closet
“HEEEEEELLLLOOOO, West Coast Genesis!! It is I, the weird uncle of our wonderful little company, the spiked hair managerial genius, the sarcastic middle-aged man who has brought you some of the greatest talents to ever grace a wrestling ring here and many other places…”
The camera opens up outside the apartment complex in San Diego that houses the West Coast Genesis wrestler who is sitting on the steps behind the man who was speaking to the camera. Adam Sanders was wearing a pair of jeans and a red jacket for the cooler than usual weather, especially since Adam was sitting in the shade of his residence. But while the twenty-three-year-old wrestler was sitting on the steps of the building, his forty-one-year-old manager is standing front and center in front of the camera. The first thing everyone notices Eddie Walker is wearing is always that confident smile his face bears almost every waking hour. The long sleeve #Believe shirt and jeans of his own were almost secondary.
Adam: “Is this introduction really all that necessary, Eddie?”
The soft-spoken Michigan native takes a deep breath as he speaks up to his manager. His brown eyes dart to his feet, his brown hair gently waving in the wind. Of course, the very stiff spike in the manager’s hair does not move with the breeze. It barely moves as he turns his head to address his client.
Eddie: “Hush you.”
Walker turns back to the camera, grinning from ear to ear.
Eddie: “My name is Eddie Walker. I represent the wonderfully talented wrestlers such as current NGW Young Lions Champion Coda, former NGW Five Lakes Champion the Jew Blazer, three-time World Heavyweight Champion. And my grand goal is to take the young man behind me and put him in the same conversation as all of the great wrestlers I manage. Maybe one day, his name will be mentioned with some names beyond just my client list.”
While Walker starts talking about how he wants to take Sanders to great heights, the University of California San Diego graduate reaches into his jacket pocket and takes out a small package of Oreo cookies and starts to open it. Walker hears the package opening and turns to see Sanders placing one in his mouth.
Eddie: “Seriously, Adam?! Come on, we’re filming! You can eat those after! And save some for me!”
Walker turns back to the camera once more as Sanders shoves the package back into his jacket pocket.
Eddie: “As it just so happens, my client here is scheduled to face off against three competitors in this wonderful company. These opponents being Izzy Roxx, C.J. Lorson, and Tasmin Richards. Quite a mixed bag of competition when you really dive into it. We have two young ladies who are actually still in their teens and both look like they could be part of an emo-punk band as a hobby. Which if either or both of you are, I do help run a recording studio on the side and can help you with that career as well.”
Adam is burying his face in his hands in embarrassment from that last comment from his manager.
Eddie: “Tasmin is the younger sister of NGW Champion Kayla Richards. Pretty much, she’s got a good pedigree for wrestling, especially when you remember Amber Richards isn’t a slouch either. She has the best winning percentage of all the competitors in this match. She actually picked up a victory against Adam here at this past Unscripted. But she couldn’t quite finish off the night by losing the man who lost to Adam on the last Hype. I know the transitive property isn’t exactly something that works all that well in wrestling, but it at least argues that my client has a better chance that most will probably give him. You faced him on Unscripted, where he is winless. This match is on Hype, where he is undefeated. He learns from his losses and mistakes. He will be a completely different fighter than the first time you faced off, Tasmin. I mean, four-person over the top battle royal is much different than singles matches, we can agree to that, right?”
Sanders nods his head in the background, almost convinced himself by the words of Eddie Walker, that the match is different and could have a different outcome than his previous match against Tasmin Richards.
Eddie: “C.J. Lorson is a bit of an outlier in this match. He just turned thirty-two a few days ago. Happy birthday, sir. But relevant information here, the young lady I will get to in a moment refers to herself as a human piñata. Well, Mr. Lorson does have the same amount of losses as her, but one less victory. But I’m looking at this thirty-two-year-old in a league that is mostly younger wrestlers learning the ropes so they can hone their skills to be ready for much bigger things, mostly moving into a career to take own the wrestlers in NGW. But I look at Lorson and wonder what is really the grand goal with him. How much upside does he really have at the age of thirty-two to progress into the next big star? For a frame of reference, my first client just turned thirty-one and is a three-time World Heavyweight Champion. He’s already there. Lorson...he seems a bit late to the race. And it’s not like he’s some sort of finished product either because, as I said before, he’s got five losses to two wins. He’s not blowing this younger competition away. If you’re having a hard time keeping pace with these younger, most of them under the age of twenty-five, then I’m not exactly sure what your ceiling is. Adam, Izzy, and Tasmin are going to get better with each passing match they compete in. Can we really say the same for you?”
This time, after Walker finishes speaking about one of the opponents specifically, Adam’s eyes are widened a little bit. Perhaps he felt the criticism directed at C.J. Lorson was a bit pointed and harsher than needed.
Eddie: “And finally, we have Miss Izzy Roxx. I’m guessing the proper name is Isabelle? Is that what Izzy is usually short for?”
Adam is shaking his head at Eddie in disapproval.
Eddie: “Okay, the talent is telling me to stick to Izzy. My apologies, Miss Roxx. I tend to deal with more regular names when you are mostly just a behind the scenes string puller rather than the person doing suplexes and clotheslines. It is what it is.”
Another head shake from Adam Sanders as he clearly wants Eddie to get to the point.
Eddie: “So you’ve been calling yourself the Human Piñata. A choke artist. Even compared yourself to the Pokémon...which one was it, Mr. Pokémon Master…?”
Adam: “Magikarp.”
Eddie: “Which one is that one again?”
The young wrestler rolls his eyes a bit as he pulls out his cell phone and walks up to Eddie Walker.
Adam: “This one, the red fish that only does splash. It’s referred to as one of the weakest ones in the games.”
Eddie: “Ah yes. I thought there was a thing about Bidoof, which is the generation four version of Ratatta, right?”
Adam: “No, we both like the Pokémon, Bidoof. Remember, Kenzie used to call me that before we broke up?”
Eddie: “I don’t need any kinky details about what kind of pet names you and your ex-girlfriend called each other! Just tell me what’s relevant to this damn video! Magikarp, right?”
Adam lets out an annoyed sigh before nodding his head.
Adam: “Yes, Magikarp. Splash. Continue.”
The awkward and shy Grand Rapids native returns to his seat on the steps of his apartment.
Eddie: “Choke artist, Human Piñata, Magikarp...right. You’ve been calling yourself these things lately on social media because you’ve been dissatisfied with your recent performance. Listen, you’re one of the youngest wrestlers I’ve ever encountered. You’re a lot further than everyone else your age...and that’s because every other seventeen-year-old is still stuck in high school and are hoping they can be taught by some high profile wrestler when they hit nineteen or twenty. Look at you! You’re already in a development wrestling company where you are on television and have the opportunity to win championships. Last show, you got a chance at the South Bay Championship. You’re going to counter that you didn’t actually stand a chance against Ruby. Because apparently the whole that any given fighter can win against any given opponent is a concept you don’t really subscribe to.
“Listen, Adam here seems to have some sort of soft spot for you, for some ungodly reason. Love of Pokémon, maybe...I’m not going to pretend like I understand, but I am nothing more than the employee in this whole little dynamic you see here. If he wants you to be his little friend, I’m going to do what I can to help him with that endeavor. And when you’re the friend of a client, I want good things for you.
“This little web of negativity that you’re throwing around is not ideal for someone who is still learning how to do the thing she’s doing...it stunts your growth and your progression. And your future, out of everyone in this match, is the biggest unknown. In ten years time, you could become the next Chris Marks or you could be a multiple time World Heavyweight Champion. Every decision you make, every ounce of effort you put into making yourself a better fighter, all of that culminates into what you can become. You will be what you make yourself. The only person who can change that is you, Izzy. Adam, here, thinks you have greatness in your future. I know you’re going to disagree with that sentiment, but if you keep wallowing in your own self-pity, you’re not going to develop into what you could possibly become. You lose a match, you don’t sit around and throw yourself a pity party. You find out why you lost that match, figure out what you could do differently to prevent that from happening again. You’re going to lose matches. When you’re as young and have the experience level you have, you’re probably going to lose more than win until you get some matches under your belt. It happens to literally ninety-nine percent of wrestlers. It’s normal. If you just had cupcake opponents who you could beat easily, are you really going to get better? No. You get better by facing people better than you. That’s not just wrestling, that’s anything involving skill. Including...sigh...Pokémon…”
Adam Sanders is visibly laughing at Eddie having to talk more about Pokémon than a man in his forties would prefer. To help further that portion of the speech, Adam stands up again, to speak directly to his friend. He can do the Pokémon metaphors a lot better than Eddie.
Adam: “It’s like when you’re raising a Pokémon in the games. You don’t raise its level by fighting stuff at level four or something like that. It’ll get you started, but you gotta fight stronger ones to get your level higher. You get more experience points from beating a level sixty Gengar than a level two Pidgey.”
Eddie: “Yeah, I’m going to pretend like I understood all of that and just give that a big stamp of approval. Izzy, you could have a bright future. Tasmin too. I’m not sold on Lorson, but I can admit I might be very wrong about him. But you know who I’m invested in making sure he has a bright future? Oreo eater over there. I’m going to do what it takes to take him to next level. On that note, I want you to understand that the winner of this battle royal will be Adam Sanders. I mentioned he’s undefeated on Hype, right?”
The camera fades as Adam Sanders face palms once more in the background. The last thing visible is Eddie still grinning into the camera. Last thing audible is one last sentence from Eddie Walker.
Eddie: “Alright, cough up the Oreos!”
Seventeen and coming clean for the first time
I finally figured out myself for the first time
I found out what it takes to be a man
Well, mom and dad will never understand
What's happening to me