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Scene One: A Letter to My Beloved
“Good morning my love,
“I hope you are doing well on this fine day. I know you miss mommy; her trip to Florida was a bit unexpected. But, I know your big sister is taking good care of you, and I hope you are having fun.
“Ha, forgive me. I know this whole journal thing is crazy; hel…heck, you can’t even read yet. But, I feel compelled to write it down anyway. You probably didn’t know this, but your grandpa kept a journal…similar to this one. Your gramps was killed, murdered at a young age; you’ll understand what that means later. His journal was the only thing that truly made me feel close to your grandpa.
“I don’t foresee or expect anything to happen to me. But, I wanted to write these entries down for you…you know, just in case.
“Ok?
“Anyway, I wanted to tell you something. You know you are my road dog. You’ve been traveling with me ever since you were born. So, you’ve probably been wondering why I’ve been headed out the house early in the morning and leaving you behind. No my love, I haven’t forsaken or forgotten about you.
“Your pops is just…well…maybe I should start at the beginning. Think that might help?
“Meka, you’ll realize this when you’re older...but, your pops is kind of famous. When I was younger, it was my dream to become a professional wrestler. It’s ok, can laugh a bit if you want to. But, it was something that I truly wanted to do. So my dear, I worked hard; I worked my butt off to achieve my dream. It was tough, but eventually, I did become a wrestler.
“Your dad was great in the ring. At first people didn’t like me. I couldn’t imagine why haha. But, after seeing what I could do in the ring, people started to respect me. That respect, along with winning bunch of big matches, opens up opportunities.
“And my love, remember this—you’ve got to make the most of the opportunities that you are given.
“I know I certainly did. Your pops started winning title belts; he started to become a household name. At one point in time, I couldn’t even walk throughout New York without being stopped and asked for an autograph or something.
“I was able to travel all over the world. And, I was able to make a bunch of money. I know my love, money isn’t everything. But, it sure helps to have it around you know.
“Baby, your dad became a Legend. That means I was greater than the great; I was better than the best!
“Ha, by now, you might be wondering why daddy quit wrestling. Well—I did it for you dear.
“I love wrestling with all of my heart; it will always be in my heart. But, three special women were able to rise above that love—your mommy, your sister, and you.
“Meks, wrestling isn’t the best profession for a family man. If you are a successful wrestler, then that means you are always going to be on the road; you are always going to be in and out of the country. If I were wrestling full time, then I’d never get to see you; I’d hardly have the time to bond with you…
“Our relationship would be like that relationship between your grandpa and I—and I swore I’d never let that happen.
“Daddy wants to be there for you; daddy wants to be prime shape so he can watch you grow up big and strong!
“Le Sigh.
“But over the past couple of months or so, your pops has been conflicted. I now have the opportunity to go and train students. The world of professional wrestling is filled with so much scum; but, I’ve got a chance to make sure that some good, young kids have a chance to follow their dreams as well.
“That’s where I’ve been in the morning times my dear.
“But lately I’ve… I’ve been getting the urge, the ‘itch’ if you will. Even when you are older, you may not understand, but I’ll try to explain it to you. Wrestling is almost like a drug—it hooks you in right away, and then it’s painful to quit. Sometimes when a wrestler steps away from the ring for a bit, he or she gets the ‘itch.’
“It’s almost like the sweet song of a Siren, attempting you until you are drawn back in.
“I’ll be honest Meks; I’ve been feeling the ‘itch’ for a while now. You and I have been watching your Uncle Riley’s matches for a long time now. He’s quite amazing isn’t he? You’ve seen him live; you know he puts on great matches. But sometimes when you and I watch those matches, I envision myself in that ring. I imagine myself dealing out all that punishment…
“I imagine my hand raised in victory.
“And you know what dear; helping train people has only intensified that ‘itch.’
“I know what you are thinking dear. ‘You’re old dad, you can’t get back in there.’ As much as I hate to admit it, I am old. 35 is decrepit in wrestling-years, and your pops will be 46 this year. But honestly Meks; I’ve still got it in the ring.
“I know I do!
“You’d probably think my students would be running circles around me—but, I keep up with them. I’ve got a bit of ring rust, but I can still go.
“Meka I…I want to get back in the ring. I want to have another match.
“I’m not delusion dear; I understand where I’m at in my life. I don’t want to make a ‘last run,’ or anything foolish like that. And, if I never get another title shoot…well, I think I can live with that.
“But you know what I can’t live with dear? I can’t live with depriving my fans of a couple more five-star matches. I can’t say I’d be nothing without my fans, because that’s just not true. But, I can say I’d be less great without them.
“And, this might be selfish, I know, but I can’t live with sitting on the sidelines when I KNOW I’ve still got the skills and the talent.
“I know I gave up wrestling for you my dear. And, I know that I’m being one percent selfish; I know.
“But I’ve got to step back into that ring baby.
“I…I hope you can forgive me.
“And, I hope that you can support me. I’d love nothing more than for you and your sister to be at ringside when I return.
“That would mean the world to me.
“I love you Meka. Whatever happens, no matter how much craziness I put you through—just know that I love you, alright?”
—End of Entry
Scene Two: All in the Mind
“Alright Pops,” said Mia. She adjusted the weight on the leg-press machine and put in the pen in, so that the weight would stay in place.
“That’s 600 pounds. You think them knees can take it?”
Flex laughed.
“600 is light dear. Back in the day I used get to about 1000.”
Mia gave him the side-eye.
“I’m young compared to you, but I wasn’t born yesterday.”
Flex leaned back and adjusted himself.
“I kid, I kid. But, my legit max used to be somewhere around 800 pounds.”
Flex put his hands on the grips and then pushed off with his legs.
“One…
“Two…
Three…”
Flex finished his set of ten with relative ease. He got off the machine and Mia took his place.
“I’m going to start you at 200 aite?”
“Cool,” Mia said. “Pops, can I ask you something?”
“Of course,” said Flex as he adjusted the weight machine for his daughter.
“Why are we doing this?”
“So we don’t get fat,” said Flex with a laugh. “Duh.”
Mia sighed.
“I’ll be more specific. Why do you feel the need to get back into the ring? I mean...I’ve had the chance to talk many of your friends. Kelly, Joey, Matt—they all have said the same thing about you. The said you were one of the best. You won world titles, regular singles titles, tag team titles. You’ve been successful in multiple ladder and cages matches. You’ve won three or four tournaments. And you are in two Hall of Fames.
“What’s left for you to do? Anything you do now would just be padding stats.”
Flex ran his fingers through his hair. Her logic was 100 percent correct.
“It’s…it’s hard to explain dear.”
Mia looked around the gym before she shook her head.
“There are only four other people in this gym right now; we’ve got nothing but time.”
Mia hops off the machine. The two of them walked to some nearby benches. After taking seat, Mia turned to Flex.
“Spill it Pops? What’s going on?”
Flex sighed.
“Mia, honestly, it’s not about accomplishments anymore. I mean, you’re right; there’s not much more for me to accomplish. At this point, being an 11-time champion is no different than being a 30-time champion.
“I guess it’s a pride thing.”
Mia shook her head and laughed.
“You men.”
“Yup, we are stubborn,” Flex said with a laugh.
“So, it’s about pride. What do you intend to prove by going back to PWP?”
Flex shrugged his shoulders.
“It’s been months since I had a match Mia. Wrestling, it’s…it’s in my blood you know. I spent some many years training to get better, and traveling the world to work. I spent so much time trying to become the best.
“And, I…”
Before he could finish his statement, Mia put her arms around her dad; she could tell that is was going to get emotional and worked up. She gave him a big hug.
“It’s ok, you don’t have to say it. I think I understand now.
“Is Mya ok with this?”
“She gave me permission. I wouldn’t be doing it otherwise.”
“And so, is this going to be a one-time, special appearance kind of deal? Or, do you plan on getting back into it more regularly?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. At this point in time, this is just a one-off match.”
“I just want you to be safe pops. I know wrestling is what you do; and I know that you are good at it. But, no that you’re older, you gotta be more careful; and you’ve got to pick your spots.”
Flex nodded his head.
“You’re absolutely right.” He smiled a bit. “For a person who has never wrestled, you seem well versed in the Business,” Flex said with a laughed.
“Oh, I picked up a thing or two by listening to my pops.”
The two laughed for a few moments.
“Sooo, this PWP match, it’s a good ‘spot’ so to speak?”
“It is,” Flex said. “Alpha Dog was the King of PWSR when I got there; and when I jumped ships to PWSi he was still on the top of the mountain. The two of us rarely interacted, but I’d like to think we would have had a killer match.
“It may be a few years later now, but I think there will still be a lot of interest in the match. I’m better than I was back in those days, that’s for damn sure. And Alpha Dog? Well, he was a warrior; I’d highly doubt that he let himself go.”
Mia nodded her head; she then let out a smile.
“Ok. Well, if you think that this is a good match for you to take, then I support you.”
Mia got up off the bench.
“Let’s get back to work; gotta’ make sure you are in prime fighting condition.“
Flex smiles.
“This is why I love ya’.”
Scene Three: Back At It
Lackluster…
If any word could describe the last few matches that I had, then it would be “lackluster.” It’s been a long while, so let’s run down the list shall we?
My last match in Insurgency was against Tim Patrick. I don’t mean to take shots or be disrespectful, but Tim wasn’t a great wrestler. Could he have an ok match every once in a while? Sure; every dog has his day. But, was he a world-class athlete?
Hell no!
There is a reason why Tim only had a small bit of true success, and only within the confine of Insurgency―that is because he wouldn't have been able to make it anywhere else. And, he knew that; that s why I always had so many failed comebacks in that company.
He wouldn’t have been able to cut it in another promotion.
I face Tim a number of times during my Insurgency run, and I always had his number. And yet, all the star aligned for him in that last match, and he was able to defeat me.
I shouldn’t have lost that match; I should have been able to handle him with ease…
Then there was PWP 5; the Gold Rush if you will. At the time it was the biggest event that the company had put on. That night the first champion would be crowned. Of course, yours truly had to jump into the tournament that was being held; it would have been foolish not to.
That night I put on a showcase. In my first-round match I murdered a kid named Robert Saints. Ha, I must have broken his spirit because the wrestling world hasn’t heard from him since that night.
In the quarter finals I faced Frankie Emerson in a “match,” if you want to call it that. Essentially, I kneed him in the face and got the pin. Not much more to say about match, or that scrub.
That lead up to the semi-finals match with TJ Codair. Now, TJ is decent in the ring. He’s not as consistent as he could be, but he’s definitely got some talent, that’s for sure. He and I had a good 20-minute match; but of course, ya’ boy came out the winner. And that meant only one more match...
The Finals.
Just as I had been dominating, so had Jame Shark. And it was in that Finals that the two of us would meet. It was one Hell of a match to say the least; a lot different than the encounter we had months prior in Insurgency. We beat the shit out of each other that night. Ha, I remember having to pull out moves that most people had never seen me use before…
But, it didn’t matter in the end did it?
In the, it was me laying in a very unfamiliar position―on my back, looking up at the arena ceiling. I fought my heart out that night. But, I’m not going to make fucking excuses...I lost that match…
My last match to date was against Darren Maddox at PWP 6. I’m not going to take anything any from Darren, because he’s got skills. But again, that was another match that I should have won. Darren is good, but he’s no 11-time champion; he’s no Flex Johnson.
I should have won that match!
Hmm, yeah, “lackluster” is very fitting in regard to those series of matches.
…
Now, it would be a bit inaccurate to say that those loses ate away at me. Honestly, I did my best to block them out of my mind; I did my best to forget about them. It was fairly easy. After those matches I found out that I had a long, lost daughter; she and I reconnected. And then, my baby Meka was born. A couple months later Mia moved in with me and my wife. So, needless to say, there wasn’t a lot of time for my mind to wander back to wrestling.
But, then, I made a grave mistake; it’s one that retired wrestlers know all too well. I was doing good; I was living life―but then I got too close. I opened up a wrestling school.
Ha, at first, I was just the owner of the school; I hired some of my friends to train, and I would just oversee. But then, I started helping my students out with their promos. And then, my buddy Ava, from Insurgency, she asked me to help her train; so I stepped back into the ring.
Foolish right?
I thought maybe that I’d feel some type of ring-rust; but that didn’t happen. I’d stepped right in there; and, it was almost as if I had never left. I got into that ring with those young students, and I got match their speed; I could match their intensity.
It was then that I made up my mind to have another match. No, not “one last run;” no delusions of grandeur.
Just one more match.
And I knew if I was going to step back into the ring, it wasn’t going to be for Insurgency; it wasn’t going to be for Inferno. It wasn’t going to be for one of these fly-by-night promos.
I knew it was going to be for Pro Wrestling Project.
…
Alpha Dog...my my, you are a sight for sore eyes aren’t you. Now, don’t take this the wrong way holmes, but I honestly didn’t know you were still alive. Wrestling is crazy, because you can still be as relevant, if not more relevant, after you retire. I haven’t wrestled in months, but if you ask the Internet Community, they will let you know that I’m one of the best to step in the ring. And, they will also tell you what I’ve been up to.
But you holmes? Well, no one has seen you; no one has heard of you.
Why is that sir?
It seems like when PWSR folded and died, you died right along side it sir. Now don’t get me wrong man, I understand it all. I understand giving your everything to a company. I understand building a company from the ground up; and I understand putting that company on your back and taking it to new heights.
But, if all it took to drive Alpha Dog from professional wrestling is for one promotion to close, then, you’re not exactly the man I thought you were sir.
You’re not as strong as I thought you were; you not as tough as I thought you were.
Hmm...and yet, now you have decided to come out of hiding; now you have decided that you are man enough to get back into that squared circle. Ha, I guess you should be commended for coming back to your senses kid. But there is just one little, itty bitty problem…
Alpha Dog, there won’t be any grand celebration for your return. You won’t come out and shock the world with your skills. It’s very unfortunate for you. Because you see, your entire presence is going to be eclipsed by the fact that the best damned wrestler on this planet is also making his return.
And his return...well, it’s just going to be a little bit more, shall we say, triumphant than yours kid.
…
Let me ask you something holmes; because I really am curious. Just what exactly have you been doing over these few years.
You see, I can tell everyone what I’ve been doing. I opened up a public relation firm in L.A.; my wife runs that. I run a VERY successful wrestling school in L.A. as well.
Now, I’m not going to go through my dad to day, cause that’s boring, and you don’t want to hear that. But the fact of the matter is, consciously or subconsciously, I’ve been preparing for this match for the past year. Even with a wife and two daughters, I still work out almost everyday. And since I’ve opened up my school, I’m in the ring constantly. I’ve got friends literally everywhere, so I watch wrestling from all over the world.
And as you can probably tell by now, I’m still an ace on the mic.
I’m ready Alpha Dog; I’m always ready to step in that ring.
But...what about you man?
Have you been training? Have you been watching tape?
I’d like to think that you are in shape. I’d like to think that you still have the ability to step into that ring and have another classic match. But the truth of the matter is I just don’t know; no one knows…
Except for you.
That’s why I directed this question to you. Are you truly ready to get back into the ring, against me no less? I don’t have a personal problem, or agenda against you holmes. But you see, I know my skills man. I’ve certainly improved since the last time you seen one of my matches; that would have had to have been some years ago. And many would argue that I’ve improved since my last match in PWP.
It’s crazy how just working through the basics with students will further enhance your own skills.
Long story short man―this is MY match to win holmes. And it’s not going to be like those three “lackluster” matches. This time, it’s going to be me with my hand raised. It’s a shame that it’s going to come at your expense...but hey, that’s the Business right?
…
You know, back in those few months that I was apart of PWSR, there was some talk about a match between the two of us. It was something that that hardcore fans wanted to see for whatever reason. I don’t have to tell you this Alpha Dog, but we both know that it’s rare to have two black superstars under one company; perhaps the fans just wanted to see the Black Juggernauts square off against one another.
But, that match never happened did it?
That match didn’t happen for a number of reasons. First off, there were like 98 people on the PWSR brand; I could have worked there for years and the staff might have never pulled the trigger on our match.
Secondly, I wasn’t in that brand very long. After maybe three matches PWSi opened up and offered me an opportunity that I had to take; it would have been foolish not to. I don’t know if I ever shared this one camera, but my contract back in PWSi was ridiculous. They offered me between $150,000 and $200,000 just to jump ships; and they offered me a spot in that initial title tournament.
Like I said; I couldn't’ pass that opportunity up.
But, for whatever reason, NOW is the time for that match kid.
Sure, it’s a few years overdue. And sure, the two of us are a few years older. But, it’s a match that Josh Duncan wants to see; and, it’s still a match that the fans want to see. So, I’m going to go out there and give those fans what they want.
I’m going to give those PWP fans the triumphant return of their Living Legend that they’ve all have been seeking and searching for!
…
Lackluster…
That word may define my last few matches, but it damn sure doesn’t define my career.
You can ask any wrestling fan and they will tell you that Flex Johnson had one of the best success stories in the history of professional wrestling. A Black kid raised in Harlem with his family. His dad wasn’t there, not because he left, but because he was always working. But, he was able to forge a bond with his dad through wrestling. He knew that one day he was going to become a wrestler. No, not just “a wrestler,” but one of the best wrestlers in the world!
But, Life did it’s best to stand in the kids way. Life made that kid watch his neighbour get gunned down in a botched drive-by shooting. Life took that kid’s father away from him at the age of 18. Life tried to tell that young man that he was worthless, that he was scum; Life tried to snatch that dream from his hands!
But Life’s drives was as strong as the kid’s determination!
He fought through all the all the adversity; and he ignored all the doubters and naysayers. That kid grew up, and he became a good wrestler. He further matured, and then he became great.
But, that still wasn't enough for him…
So he continued to fight and struggle to become better. He continued to perfect his craft; he continued to strive for the best…
Until he eventually became the best―the best wrestler in the world.
I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but fuck Dusty Rhodes; Flex Johnson is the definition of the American fucking Dream!
And I’m not going to let my life long dream, my legacy, be tarnish by a couple of terrible matches.
In one swift match, I’m going to right all of those wrongs.
Well, maybe the match won’t be so swift. Because, rest assured, I’m going to soak up and enjoy every moment in that ring.
Alpha Dog, I’m going to pick you apart; that much is certain. But, it’s not because I dislike you; it’s not because I hate you. But, it’s because I’ve got something to prove. You see, I’ve got to prove to you that I’m better than you; I’ve got to prove to those fans out there, that I’m better than you.
And I’ve got to prove to myself that I’m still the Champion I used to be.
You and the rest of the world knows that Flex Johnson doesn’t make idle threats; I don’t lie. So when I tell you that I’m going to defeat you...well, it’s almost a fact.
It will be great to see you again. But honestly, you are going to wish that your ass stayed in retirement and hiding.
Peace holmes.
END
