Post by Avery Miles III on Apr 29, 2018 12:31:34 GMT -5
Avery: Are we broken? Or are we just able-bodied enough to limp through life with valleys and peaks of emotion. Living through highs and lows, we seek out those moments of happiness and emotion. And we try to move away from each moment of sadness and despair, reaching out for some sort of savior in the black of night to pull us out of it.
Avery Miles III is sitting on the lowered tailgate of his truck. He is wearing jeans, a flannel shirt, and has a pair of work gloves on as he had been hauling a bunch of stuff in his truck from another farm over to his in an effort to get ready for the hot summer that lies ahead. Bits of hay are strewn in the bed of the truck as well as rope, twine, and some tie downs.
Avery: I have crawled my way out of the pits of depression and alcoholism. I am someone that deals with bipolar disorder and I am able to maintain it as long as I stay on my medication. It is not something I am proud of, but it is who I am. We are all broken to some extent, aren’t we? At the same time, I have soared heights that felt wonderful; like I would never come back down from them. One of those heights? Winning the Super Falcon Cup… and then the Rey de Reyes Championship.
He lowers his head, realizing how far that is away now.
Avery: I cannot live by memories of the past. I cannot rely on what I’ve done then to feel good about myself. This business is a “what have you done lately” and the answer to that question is nothing. Absolutely nothing. I have been middle of the road in New Generation Wrestling, and my last match in Guerreros of Lucha I did not walk away with the title. And yet… here we are again. The powers that be must have some sort of faith in me, offering a chance to fight Roxi again for the title that I once held. This is in addition to being named a GOL Hall of Famer; something that I am quite proud of.
He lets out a smile, but only for a short time. The usually calm and collected Avery Miles obviously had a chip on his shoulder, and it bothered the hell out of him. He was usually positive and outgoing, but something was different about his mentality right here and now.
Avery: We go through life building a library of memories; some we hide away in the sections of our mind to never be remembered again while others get the pristine shelves with easy access to them. We do not always get to choose where the memories are located, and one that sticks with me in my head is not walking away Rey de Reyes Champion last time. It bothers me. It bugs the fuck out of it.
Avery was not a man to use language so coarse in the realm of a video often, but it was apparent that something was more broken in him that anyone knew.
Avery: I was originally booked for the next show, but I had enough. I could not do it again. I just- I just wast not in a good place in my career. I’ve started to rebuild myself, and to improve. I’ve begun to enjoy wrestling again. To not put the pressure of wins and titles on me like I did. I was cracking under the pressure, and I had to get out. I had tried to overextend myself by appearing for other companies with decent results. I did fairly well, but it just seemed wrong. It seemed off. It was not me. It was not home. It was not NGW or GOL. It was… foreign.
Avery lifts his hand to a Chevrolet baseball hat on his head and lifts it off. He sets the hat down on the tailgate next to him, and runs his fingers through his hair to push it back.
Avery: I put myself in a bad place, and only have found my way recently. When Lucha approached me, I originally declined. But then I gave it more thought. And they insisted. It was never about the money either. Or the fame. And as much as I hate to admit, it was not for the fans either. This time? This is for me. To prove to myself that I can do it. To prove that the first time around was not a fluke. And to prove that I am build for the long haul. I promised myself to not be a flash in the pan; to be a wrestler that has one good year and coasts the rest of his career on what he accomplished years ago. Never. I could never be that. It is not who I am. And it is not who I ever will be. This is not about Roxi… this is not about anyone else. For me? This is about me. This is about proof. For me.
He nods slowly to himself.
Avery: I need to know that I have it in me. I need to know that I am what I say I am. Questioning just that does not mean that I don’t have what it takes. But speaking it and living it are two different things. And it is time I live it again.
* * * * *
FLASHBACK to 2016
Avery: Another one.
Bartender: You are cut off.
Avery: Fu---ck a-you! You are cut off.
Avery slurred his words. Life had gone off course for him. His highschool sweetheart and wife, Zoe, had been killed. The holidays were a hard time, and Avery had to go through it alone. He had his parents and some friends nearby, but he cut them out of his life. And they tried to give him some space; space that did more bad than good.
Bartender: You need a ride, man. You got someone that can pick you up?
Avery reaches into his pockets and pulls his keys out, dangling them.
Bartender: You shouldn’t drive.
Avery: You should mind… business.
He even completely dropped words from sentences with how much he had drunk. He drops the keys on the floor as he tries to lean down to pick them up.
Avery: Fine!
He points feet away from where the bartenders stands.
Bartender: I am over here.
Avery moves his arm.
Avery: I am outta this joint. I got beers at home, I’m… a drink!
Bartender: I can’t let you leave in this condition.
The bartender reaches for a phone to call for a taxi but Avery stumbles his way out of the bar. Avery clicks the remote to his truck to find where he had parked it as he stumbles his way. He almost trips and falls, but throws his arms up and regains his balance. The bartender heads out the door to try and stop him after calling for a taxi, but Avery already was inside of his truck. He starts it up as he backs out. Revving the engine, he takes off backwards, before putting it in gear and heading down the street. Weaving lane to lane, Avery turns the radio on and blasts some country music. It did not matter what the song was, Avery sung at the top of his lungs to it.
The last thing Avery remembered is driving by the old Johnson Farm on his way home to his house. The same house he shared with his wife. The same house he turned into a home, and felt more empty now than ever. He woke up in the morning pushed up against an old oak tree. The front end of his truck pushed back, hood and all. He crashed head first into the tree, His airbag deployed, as he had already blacked out. He somehow managed not to kill anyone, or himself. This was the beginning of his wake up call. This was not the man he was raised to be. Not the man Zoe married. And this was not the man that the fans new. Avery got out, hungover, and checked everything out. It was just his truck that was damaged. Nothing else. Miles called a tow truck to come and tow the old pickup back to his farm as he was a broken man, with a broken truck… but he would not let either of those things define him for the future.
* * * * *
♪We are the broken, hoping for a change of heart♪
♪We are the chosen, praying for a shooting star♪
♪And even if the sky comes crashing down, even if the world was ending now♪
♪We are the broken but, don't cry for me♪
Avery: In life we are born wide-eyed and optimistic. We learn everything we know; love and hate, pain and pleasure, good and evil. We form who we are because of the things we go through in life, and the memories that we make. We take bad situations and either learn from them, or allow them to break us. As humans, we feel emotion. We feel pain. We feel hurt. We are often bent, twisted, and contorted. The majority of us? We are broken in some way. The true stories in life, the ones that catch our attention and give us the hope that we can do better, is those broken individuals rising to new heights to do something better for themselves. A man down on his luck finding someone willing to give him the chance to make something of himself, and paying it forward. A family needing that little bit of extra help through a tough time, and coming together as a group to achieve their goals. A true underdog story, someone we can root for or get behind. It is not about pandering to the fans, or trying to give them a reason to like you. The fans will either like you or they will not. The question is, can you make them know that they can do something astounding too? Can you inspire them to reach for the stars? To jump as high as they can to truly achieve success? I am no more or no less broken then the next man, but I have chose to do better. To be a better person. I have risen above my demons and worked to be a better man. A good husband. And hopefully a decent father. We are all broken; but it is what we do with it that truly defines us.
* * * * *
Avery sat on the couch in his Dry Branch, Georgia home. His wife, Serenity Miles, walked down the stairs to see her husband looking off into the distance as the television was on some infomercial about a set of pots and pans that were some new science to not stick. He had the remote to the television inches in front of him on the table as he did not pay attention to it.
Serenity: Babe? You alright?
She starts walking over to him, looking at him. She could tell something seemed a bit off. She cocks her head to the side, as she goes to sit down. Once she is, she places her hands on her stomach over the babies. He snaps out of it.
Avery: Huh? Oh. Hey.
He reaches for the remote and turns the television off.
Avery: I just… just was thinking. Nothing major.
He smiles, playing it off.
Serenity: Babe… I know better than that. Come on tell me.
Serenity lightly nudges him, trying to get it out of him.
Avery: Just a lot on my mind. The title shot I earned for NGW, the babies are due in like a month and a half, and this whole thing with Guerreros of Lucha.
He sighs.
Avery: A hall of famer? That is amazing. But I am facing someone that I could not get the job done again. I have been there, before. Twice. Karin. And Dead Eye. I faced them over and over again, and never got over that hump. What makes this different? Why now?
He looks over to her honestly for an answer. Serenity thinks before she gives him his answer.
Serenity: Babe sometimes it takes facing someone over, and over before you finally get that win. Sometimes you can beat someone very easily. It is nothing bad about it, or anything different, or not different. I know though deep down you are ready for this. You can’t let the past, let the losses get to you, or stop you. You go in thinking about them, and you will lose again. You will have defeated yourself, not Roxi defeating you.
He nods. He knew that Serenity always had some insight, whether he naturally agreed with it or not. She had wrestled, and even helped to train young students. She was experienced. And offered her viewpoints.
Avery: Is it selfish of me to do this for me? To want this… to prove a point… to myself?
He looks at her honestly.
Serenity: No it’s not selfish. It is natural thing. In some ways, rather people admit it, or not, we all do this for ourselves. It’s just something that happens. You know you need to do this to prove a point to yourself, nobody can fault that in you.
With that, Avery nodded towards her. He knew that she was right. It was not often he wanted something for himself. He was a man that helped so many others. He was selfless in that. He tried to do the right thing. He tried to live his life by a code of honor. But this? This was the one thing he truly wanted for himself. Opportunity was in front of him, and he was going to reach for it. He was going to take it. It was for him. And he knew it.
* * * * *
Avery: Mexico City, Mexico. El Gran Anniversario 2018. The two year anniversary show of the company. A fitting place for this to take place.
Avery arrives to Mexico City International Airport as he had his carry-on bag in hand.
Avery: A chance for some redemption of mine. A chance to do what I could not do last time. A chance to beat Roxi Johnson and become a two-time Rey de Reyes Champion.
He heads off towards the luggage claim for his other bag.
Avery: This feels like a deja vu, but I won’t let it be. This second chance is my opportunity. It is my chance to prove that I can get the job done. And it is my chance to prove just why I am being inducted into the GOL Hall of Fame. This is not about Tiger Mask Red. This is not about Roxi Johnson. This is not about La Cucaracha or even Sawtooth Grin. This is about Avery Miles III. This is about me proving to myself that I can do it. This is about me getting the job done. There is not much about Roxi that I can say that I haven’t already. She pushed me to my limits last time. Getting the opportunity to face her once again, I am blessed for the opportunity. A few times in my career have I got the chance to avenge a major loss, and I was early on in my career. I could not see the chance for what it was, and I put my career and body on the line. With Roxi, I know that I need to think smart. I need to wrestle smart. I need to be, smart.
Avery grabs his bag off of the luggage track.
Avery: Good luck Roxi. I will be bringing everything that I have. I will not be walking away questioning myself or what I could have done better. I will be giving it everything I have. I will be faster. Stronger. Smarter. I will be better. And I will win the Rey de Reyes Championship. It is my destiny. It is what I have my mind set to. You have been an amazing champion, but everyone has to lose at some point. We all do. It is a natural order to things. And between you and me? I am the man to do it. Enjoy the time with the title that you have left, because soon, it will again be mine.
Avery walks off camera as the video fades to black.
