Post by Nighthawk on Sept 22, 2012 22:53:51 GMT -6
“The less effort, the faster and more powerful you will be.” Bruce Lee.
As Nighthawk puts his wrestling gear back in his gym bag, we see a new fire in his eyes. While he is competing on the preshow against Jabari Woodhead, it is clear that the Chicago native sees this as an opportunity.
Whether it is to prove that his glory-rich career is not over, or simply to have one more chance to do what he loves, the fact remains that the “Wrestling Machine” will take this moment and use it to its greatest advantage.
However, while he has a point to prove about the state of his own career, Nighthawk fully realizes that Jabari has something to prove as well. Despite his own respect for what Jabari Woodhead feels like he has to do, the “Man of 1000 Holds” is not about to let anyone trample over his moment.
Finally closing up his gear bag Nighthawk looks for his suitcase, only to see his wife Sin walk into the room with a tight smile on her face. While he has always loved being a professional wrestler his wife, as is the case with most family members, has not.
Perhaps it is that she sees him bruised and battered on an almost-weekly basis. Alternatively, maybe it is the knowledge that forces out of her control have threatened her life, the life of a woman who wants to live in anonymity as much as she can. Whatever those reasons for her doubt and concern might be, the fact is that they are real and her husband Tristan has grown accustomed to having to try to still them as much as he can.
(Author’s Note: This conversation took place in Spanish.)
Sin: “Why do you keep doing this, Tristan? Think of all you have already accomplished, all that you have done in your career as it is. Yet, every chance you get, you go back to this sport that has beaten you up unlike anything else that could. You’ve had your ribs broken, your back broken, your wrist ruined to the point that you can’t throw a punch anymore. Nothing about you continuing this career makes sense. Please, honey, if you ever cared about me please tell me why you feel like you have to do this again. Because make no mistake, Tristan, this isn't something that you have to do. This is something you want to do. You don’t need to do this. You have a college degree. You can be anything you want in life. However, you do this instead. And if you want me to support you, I think it’s only right that you honestly think of why it is that you do this and give me an answer.”
Nighthawk, his ice-blue eyes contemplative as he struggles to think of exactly the right way to answer the complicated question that has been laid in front of him: “The truth is that, as much as I might want to answer that question for you, I can’t. I cannot make up a lie that I know you would swallow, nor would I want to. However, I can try to offer an explanation. The truth of it is this. As long as I wake up in the morning and see a wrestler looking back at me, I have to keep going. I know what my body tells me, and sometimes it hurts just to get out of bed. And I hate to have you look at me and see that, to have to spend more of your day caring for me as though I was an invalid than loving me as your husband. Therefore, I make you this promise, and I hope you believe that I mean it. The moment that I can no longer look in the mirror and see a wrestler looking back at me, I am done. However, until then, I am going to keep going, because I have miles more left to prove before I sleep.”
Sin, thinking for a moment: “I trust you, honey. But understand: when you no longer see a wrestler in the mirror anymore, you have to tell me. Because if I know anything about you, my lovely husband, it’s that you’re stubborn as a mule. You’ll try and convince yourself that your hunger is still there, that it still burns as brightly as it ever did. You have to be honest with yourself, and know when it’s gone.”
Smiling the “Man of 1000 Holds” finishes packing up his gear bag and heads out.
The next morning…..
As Nighthawk packs his suitcase into the trunk of his chopped and stretched all-American muscle car the Chicago native turns around and is suddenly swarmed by an interviewer from the Chicago Sun-Times.
Smiling, as though he expected this and is going to do all he can to make this torturous experience move along as quickly and painlessly as he can, Nighthawk closes his trunk and sits down on the back end of his car.
Interviewer, wearing a garish suit not unlike the late Lacy J. Banks from this same paper, who served a treasured role as Nighthawk’s own personal chorus of criticism: “Nighthawk, as you know, people in Chicago feel a special kind of kinship towards you and your successes. Throughout the world, wherever you’ve gone, you’ve been successful. Some places more so than others, but in every place you have been, you have won championships. So how do you respond to those who question whether or not you have ‘it’ anymore, and if you can keep up with the high standards that you have set for yourself?”
Nighthawk: “The answer to this question is not as terribly complicated as you make it seem. But before I go any further, I want this to be clear: Even though Lacy J. Banks and I might have never gotten along, even if sometimes I wondered if all of his criticism of me was just an act to sell more papers, I miss someone pushing me in that way. I honestly miss someone telling me that what I was doing, what I had achieved, was not good enough. But to your question, because that honestly deserves an answer.
I know that I've been all over the world. I've wrestled most of my idols, and I've won more than my fair share of championships. The last 2 places I was in, I held championships. But it’s the competition that drives me, that fuels me. And NCW is where I can find new challenges. As hard as it is to start at the pre-show, I'm ok with it. Because that means I have to prove myself. So if you want to ask me if I can live up to the high standards that I set for myself, the standards of being the best? The answer to that question is simple: Yes I can. Now to the question of me having ‘it’, I never was sure what that entailed. But since I assume it means do I still have the fire in the belly to get up in the morning and train like today is my last day of not just wrestling, but living, I know the answer to that question is also yes. Now, if you have no more questions, I really do have to get going. I have a 23-hour car drive ahead of me.”
Interviewer, shocked: “You mean NCW didn’t give you a plane ticket?”
Nighthawk: “Truthfully, I didn’t ask for one. I'm not in the place to make demands to NCW. I have to prove I belong. And the best way that I can think of to do that is to not ask for anything that I have not yet earned. To show this company that I can earn their respect, I'm not going to act like a spoiled brat who thinks that you ask for things that you don’t deserve. So watch me on the webshow for Battle Grounds. I hope I can give the fans of NCW the respect they deserve, and my fans here at home a performance that they can be proud of.”
And with that, the “Man of 1000 Holds” closes the trunk and drives off.
The next afternoon…..
As Nighthawk pulls his car into a gas station in the middle of Pennsylvania, the “Wrestling Machine” sees the attendant pumping his gas and slowly closes his eyes. Clad in a black Fist of the North Star t-shirt, black leather pants with blue and silver piping up and down each one of his legs, and black mid-top work boots, the “Man of 1000 Holds” takes one deep cleansing breath and slowly opens his eyes.
Nighthawk: “By any objective measure, I have been at this for a while. One does not get the nom de plume of ‘Man of 1000 Holds’ without time and training, as well as being made to scream in abject agony as a man superior to you in every way teaches you a hold of pure sorcery the only way he knows how: by applying it over and over again, until you both understand its efficiency as well as its application.
So I am used to having to come to a new place and prove myself again, prove that the hype that comes with my arrival is not just empty hot air but rather true, and factual. And that desire, the hope that I can prove to the fans of NCW that I belong here, is what brings me to my opponent for this week.
Jabari Woodhead let me make something clear to you right away. I have been in the ring with bigger wrestlers my entire career. When you only weigh 185 pounds, this is a fact of life as inevitable as breathing air in the morning. But I know to handle them, because by extension, I will handle you. Every limb you have, I will stretch at and manipulate until your knees feel weakened and your arms go limp. I will hit you harder, and more, than you would expect from a guy like me. And, just so we’re clear, I will pin your shoulders to the mat or tap you out. This isn’t me making a threat I can’t back up, Jabari. This is me making a promise that I know, as sure as I know the sun will rise in the morning and set in the evening, I will be able to beat you. I can do that, and I will.
Goodnight Jabari. May sleep give you the courage to go on.”
As Nighthawk puts his wrestling gear back in his gym bag, we see a new fire in his eyes. While he is competing on the preshow against Jabari Woodhead, it is clear that the Chicago native sees this as an opportunity.
Whether it is to prove that his glory-rich career is not over, or simply to have one more chance to do what he loves, the fact remains that the “Wrestling Machine” will take this moment and use it to its greatest advantage.
However, while he has a point to prove about the state of his own career, Nighthawk fully realizes that Jabari has something to prove as well. Despite his own respect for what Jabari Woodhead feels like he has to do, the “Man of 1000 Holds” is not about to let anyone trample over his moment.
Finally closing up his gear bag Nighthawk looks for his suitcase, only to see his wife Sin walk into the room with a tight smile on her face. While he has always loved being a professional wrestler his wife, as is the case with most family members, has not.
Perhaps it is that she sees him bruised and battered on an almost-weekly basis. Alternatively, maybe it is the knowledge that forces out of her control have threatened her life, the life of a woman who wants to live in anonymity as much as she can. Whatever those reasons for her doubt and concern might be, the fact is that they are real and her husband Tristan has grown accustomed to having to try to still them as much as he can.
(Author’s Note: This conversation took place in Spanish.)
Sin: “Why do you keep doing this, Tristan? Think of all you have already accomplished, all that you have done in your career as it is. Yet, every chance you get, you go back to this sport that has beaten you up unlike anything else that could. You’ve had your ribs broken, your back broken, your wrist ruined to the point that you can’t throw a punch anymore. Nothing about you continuing this career makes sense. Please, honey, if you ever cared about me please tell me why you feel like you have to do this again. Because make no mistake, Tristan, this isn't something that you have to do. This is something you want to do. You don’t need to do this. You have a college degree. You can be anything you want in life. However, you do this instead. And if you want me to support you, I think it’s only right that you honestly think of why it is that you do this and give me an answer.”
Nighthawk, his ice-blue eyes contemplative as he struggles to think of exactly the right way to answer the complicated question that has been laid in front of him: “The truth is that, as much as I might want to answer that question for you, I can’t. I cannot make up a lie that I know you would swallow, nor would I want to. However, I can try to offer an explanation. The truth of it is this. As long as I wake up in the morning and see a wrestler looking back at me, I have to keep going. I know what my body tells me, and sometimes it hurts just to get out of bed. And I hate to have you look at me and see that, to have to spend more of your day caring for me as though I was an invalid than loving me as your husband. Therefore, I make you this promise, and I hope you believe that I mean it. The moment that I can no longer look in the mirror and see a wrestler looking back at me, I am done. However, until then, I am going to keep going, because I have miles more left to prove before I sleep.”
Sin, thinking for a moment: “I trust you, honey. But understand: when you no longer see a wrestler in the mirror anymore, you have to tell me. Because if I know anything about you, my lovely husband, it’s that you’re stubborn as a mule. You’ll try and convince yourself that your hunger is still there, that it still burns as brightly as it ever did. You have to be honest with yourself, and know when it’s gone.”
Smiling the “Man of 1000 Holds” finishes packing up his gear bag and heads out.
The next morning…..
As Nighthawk packs his suitcase into the trunk of his chopped and stretched all-American muscle car the Chicago native turns around and is suddenly swarmed by an interviewer from the Chicago Sun-Times.
Smiling, as though he expected this and is going to do all he can to make this torturous experience move along as quickly and painlessly as he can, Nighthawk closes his trunk and sits down on the back end of his car.
Interviewer, wearing a garish suit not unlike the late Lacy J. Banks from this same paper, who served a treasured role as Nighthawk’s own personal chorus of criticism: “Nighthawk, as you know, people in Chicago feel a special kind of kinship towards you and your successes. Throughout the world, wherever you’ve gone, you’ve been successful. Some places more so than others, but in every place you have been, you have won championships. So how do you respond to those who question whether or not you have ‘it’ anymore, and if you can keep up with the high standards that you have set for yourself?”
Nighthawk: “The answer to this question is not as terribly complicated as you make it seem. But before I go any further, I want this to be clear: Even though Lacy J. Banks and I might have never gotten along, even if sometimes I wondered if all of his criticism of me was just an act to sell more papers, I miss someone pushing me in that way. I honestly miss someone telling me that what I was doing, what I had achieved, was not good enough. But to your question, because that honestly deserves an answer.
I know that I've been all over the world. I've wrestled most of my idols, and I've won more than my fair share of championships. The last 2 places I was in, I held championships. But it’s the competition that drives me, that fuels me. And NCW is where I can find new challenges. As hard as it is to start at the pre-show, I'm ok with it. Because that means I have to prove myself. So if you want to ask me if I can live up to the high standards that I set for myself, the standards of being the best? The answer to that question is simple: Yes I can. Now to the question of me having ‘it’, I never was sure what that entailed. But since I assume it means do I still have the fire in the belly to get up in the morning and train like today is my last day of not just wrestling, but living, I know the answer to that question is also yes. Now, if you have no more questions, I really do have to get going. I have a 23-hour car drive ahead of me.”
Interviewer, shocked: “You mean NCW didn’t give you a plane ticket?”
Nighthawk: “Truthfully, I didn’t ask for one. I'm not in the place to make demands to NCW. I have to prove I belong. And the best way that I can think of to do that is to not ask for anything that I have not yet earned. To show this company that I can earn their respect, I'm not going to act like a spoiled brat who thinks that you ask for things that you don’t deserve. So watch me on the webshow for Battle Grounds. I hope I can give the fans of NCW the respect they deserve, and my fans here at home a performance that they can be proud of.”
And with that, the “Man of 1000 Holds” closes the trunk and drives off.
The next afternoon…..
As Nighthawk pulls his car into a gas station in the middle of Pennsylvania, the “Wrestling Machine” sees the attendant pumping his gas and slowly closes his eyes. Clad in a black Fist of the North Star t-shirt, black leather pants with blue and silver piping up and down each one of his legs, and black mid-top work boots, the “Man of 1000 Holds” takes one deep cleansing breath and slowly opens his eyes.
Nighthawk: “By any objective measure, I have been at this for a while. One does not get the nom de plume of ‘Man of 1000 Holds’ without time and training, as well as being made to scream in abject agony as a man superior to you in every way teaches you a hold of pure sorcery the only way he knows how: by applying it over and over again, until you both understand its efficiency as well as its application.
So I am used to having to come to a new place and prove myself again, prove that the hype that comes with my arrival is not just empty hot air but rather true, and factual. And that desire, the hope that I can prove to the fans of NCW that I belong here, is what brings me to my opponent for this week.
Jabari Woodhead let me make something clear to you right away. I have been in the ring with bigger wrestlers my entire career. When you only weigh 185 pounds, this is a fact of life as inevitable as breathing air in the morning. But I know to handle them, because by extension, I will handle you. Every limb you have, I will stretch at and manipulate until your knees feel weakened and your arms go limp. I will hit you harder, and more, than you would expect from a guy like me. And, just so we’re clear, I will pin your shoulders to the mat or tap you out. This isn’t me making a threat I can’t back up, Jabari. This is me making a promise that I know, as sure as I know the sun will rise in the morning and set in the evening, I will be able to beat you. I can do that, and I will.
Goodnight Jabari. May sleep give you the courage to go on.”
