Post by adm on Sept 1, 2009 21:17:47 GMT -6
Human
“DADDY!!!”
My children walk through the door and I smile at my wife as she brings them into the hotel room. I hug my two sons, and then kiss my wife. What a surprise, almost as much of a surprise as when they came in.
“Daddy, is that Lance Ryan?” Zach, my youngest asks.
“It looks like Daddy was in the middle of something, Andrew and Zach, maybe you should leave him alone for a moment.”
“No, Kendra, I’m fine, I swear.”
To be honest, I wouldn’t want anything more than privacy, but I haven’t had my children with us for so long, it’s a nice change of pace.
“Don’t you have pictures of Lance in your “special room” Daddy?”
“Yes, Andrew, I do have his pictures up in my weight room. For years I watched Lance, idolized him, and now I get to face him in the ring on Sunday. The Main Event of Collision, the last show before Battlegrounds. And no titles are on the line, only honor, only RESPECT.”
“Respect? He doesn’t sound too respectful.”
Zach was right, Lance was looking at the video I was watching, and no…it’s not your promo, Lance, it’s your Career Retrospective. And it’s getting JUST to the good parts.
“Indeed, he’s not had very good moments in recent memory, Zach and Andrew. Indeed he’s had some crises of conscience and has succumbed to his own ego. But he is still a “Legend” if you would even dare call it that. Because that was then…”
I press a button on the remote and now am looking at the promo you just did.
“This is now. A shell of his former self. So much so he ADMITS I was right when I said just that yesterday. So much of a shell that he did exactly as I said he would and “predicted victory.” After being destroyed by Joe while trying to beat Falcon. He thinks I’m just RUBBING my wins in his face…rubbing my record…but the truth is, I’m drawing COMPARISONS to his current “Legendary” run and my first year as a wrestler. You try to call yourself a LEGEND when the legend you were, Died. Whether you can bring him back on Sunday to beat me, or at least give me the best match of my career to date, has yet to be seen. For now…I’ll be prepared for both your past and present selves. I’ve been watching your old matches, watching the newer ones. And let’s be honest, both of you, in the ring, would be a great challenge for anyone.”
And that includes me, no matter what you THINK my ego is, it’s not as big as yours.
“So he’s a turtle?”
“Or maybe he’s a snail!”
“He’s neither.”
I have to try not to laugh, though Kendra is trying her best to keep her composure a few chuckles come through. The joy of children.
“No, he’s not an animal, just a MAN. A misguided man who, at his old age, has forgotten that his career amounts to wins, losses, legacy and the fact that at the end of the day he is STILL A MAN. Before he left, he was still a man. A man I was losing interest in, a man I no longer wanted to be like because he had rotted to the core of his being and lost all sense of who he was.”
“You just confuseded me.”
“Me too, Daddy.”
Kendra is laughing so hard she has to leave the room, and even down the hall I can hear her. Apparently what I am doing is hilarious to her, but to me, it’s dead serious. Lance has lost his sight, his vision, he has no real direction. He says he does, but I have yet to SEE the PROOF of his goal setting in his eyes.
“Look into my eyes, children, look and tell me what you see.”
“I see sparklies.”
“No…not that, tell me what you SEE.”
“Your pupils?”
“Sorry, children, you should be looking at PASSION! I have a fire and burning desire to wrestle. Winning is just a bonus for me. Winning is not NECESSARY for me. Winning never HAS been. I enjoy wrestling, just being in the ring and giving it my best shot. I didn’t get depressed when I lost to Adam, when I lost to Steve, or Angel. Because they gave me some of my toughest matches ever, they showed me flaws in my technique that I have since been working on. I’ve spent so much more time in the gym since losing to Adam, time sparring, time refining my moves.”
“You work really hard, Daddy.”
“It is really hard work, Zach, it truly is. But the thing about something you love, even though it’s a lot of work, is that the work is ALWAYS worth the rewards. In the end, you ALWAYS get rewarded. It may take years, but if you keep working, you keep striving, you keep going no matter what obstacles they put in your way, and you’ll eventually get your ultimate goal.”
You already got your rewards, Lance, where do you go now? Where can you go when you’ve done “everything”?
“But what about Lance, Daddy?”
“He’s bigger than you. Won’t you get hurt?”
“A little, my children, but nothing I can’t handle.”
I unbutton my shirt, and I show them the scars on my body from my Xtreme title reign, scars they have seen before.
“I can take the pain, Zach and Andrew. I can take as much pain as he could dish out. Without weapons being legal, everything I have now is far worse than what he’ll be giving me. You see, my goal has always been to be the best I can be. I was the best Xtreme Wrestler I could be when I was champion, and when I go into Road to the Gold, I will be the best Wrestler and my GOAL is to win and move onto becoming the World Champion like I failed to do at Fallout. And then, you’ll be able to look up to your daddy more than you do now. Daddy will be SOMEBODY, instead of a nobody.”
I hug my children, and my wife comes back into the room. One big HAPPY family, just like I always wanted us to be. When I step into the ring, I carry their hopes and dreams with my own. They give me strength, the ability to do superhuman things, Lance. I’m empowered by them. I will do my BEST on Sunday, Lance. No more, no less. I can lose, I can win, but either way, you’ll get one of your best matches in a very long time. I don’t make promises I can’t keep. I dream, I have GOALS, but I don’t make PROMISES like you do, ones I can’t keep. I don’t know I can beat you, not yet. And on Sunday, which will be more accurate, your ACTIONS or your WORDS? Because in the end, all we both are is HUMAN.