Post by darkdisciple on Jul 22, 2012 12:53:17 GMT -5
I awoke to the sound of an Air Raid siren.
Now, I don’t know if you have ever had this happen to you, but when you’re pulled out of deep sleep by a noise that was developed specifically to be heard miles away, IT CAN BE A LITTLE UNNERVING!!! In this particular case, it saw me thrashing about and falling out of bed. In hindsight that’d have been a laugh, Aiden Caine wins the North American championship due to my concussing myself after falling out of bed… fortunately, I didn’t concuss myself, instead, the bump was enough to snap me out of my reactionary state and realize it was just the alarm clock I had set the night before. Now, why this particular hotel had chosen to use air raid sirens for their alarm clocks was a question I myself may have pondered at this point, and I assure you that the question will be addressed at some point, just not here, because it has almost nothing to do with my match this Monday. Honestly, blaming a loss on my alarm clock would probably lose me some fans, and a good deal of my dignity, not to mention my job.
I like my job, so we’ll forget about the alarm clock. Instead, let’s focus on the match.
My daily routine hasn’t changed much in the past 10 years, back when I started wrestling in my 6th year of primary school, I’ve just started doing more of everything. I try to jog at least 5 kilometers every day, granted, this is my first time in Las Vegas, so getting lost was always an option. In fact, I did get lost, and I ended up hitting the 5k mark somewhere in the desert… in the middle of July. Which was brilliant on my part of course, I mean, there’s not many better ways to improve your stamina than a 10-K run in 36 degree weather… of course, then I decided I was fine for the rest of my workout, which may have been a mistake…
The gym I had found was a hole in the wall of a strip mall. It was on the second floor of a building, over a Chinese restaurant. Despite its location, it was surprisingly large. Not Gold’s Gym large, but they had enough to ensure you wouldn’t have to wait for something to open up. After a lot of lifting, body weight exercises, and some time on the punching bags, it was getting to be lunch time, so I headed into the yoga room to cool down.
Now, I know what you’re thinking, Yoga isn’t very manly right? Well, there is a story behind that. I started doing yoga at my amateur wrestling coaches order. When I made the jump to pro-wrestling, yoga was the first thing I wanted to drop, but my trainer, Craig, had said
Almost all wrestlers find something they’re good at, and then simply continue to improve that one skill to death. The great ones focus on their weakest skill instead. You’re a big guy… that means you’re slow and dumb, that’s what all of your opponents will think. So what do you think you need to be?
Quick and smart
Quick and smart, exactly. I already know you’re smart, keep studying the sport, and that won’t be a problem. Agility though, that’s hard to teach, it takes years of working on your flexibility, and practice on footwork. You might never be the fastest, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be quick on your feet for a guy your size. All it takes is that little edge of surprise, and you’ve got that much better a chance of getting the win. If you decide to ignore that, you’re going to lurch around the ring like every other big guy in the business. Don’t lurch! Lurching doesn’t get you fans, lurching doesn’t get you championships, lurching gets you government unemployment pay. People hate a lurcher. So don’t be one. Simple as that.
So that was why I did yoga, and sure enough, I hadn’t heard a single complaint of me lurching anywhere. Not even on the internet…
Sure enough, Craig was right. My opponents always had expected me to be a big, slow, dumb guy. Aiden Caine thought the same thing. It was obvious he felt that way, it disappointed me. Aiden was a smart guy, he knew what it took to succeed both in and out of the ring. Yet he was underestimating his opponent? I had hoped to have a legendary battle with him, one for the MPW record books if I dared to say. (Although given the place was two weeks old that wasn’t saying much) Now all I could do was hope he was trying to play some kind of mind game, maybe get under my skin with paper insults. I had seen that from some guys before, but they were usually assholes… Aiden wasn’t a major asshole, though as of late he had been getting a little close. I get it, we’re opponents, but we’re still professional competitors aren’t we? If he was relying on personal insults to gain an edge, he wasn’t going to be as strong as I thought, if he really was underestimating me, then he was in for a real surprise.
Either way, I couldn’t let my assumptions get in the way of preparing. I would treat this match the way I treat every match, like the most important match of my career, and putting everything I had into training for it. What an honor it would be, not just to be the first person to hold the North American Title, but the first person to even hold a belt in the MPW. I had been the last WWC World Heavyweight Champion, I had been the last NYCCW Tag Team Champion… It was time for me to be first in something.
After finishing my workout, I rushed a shower and headed for the Subway® down the road. Normally I’m not big on fast food. Subway is good though, discovering it was one of those hidden joys of being in a different country. Turkey subs… maybe I should set my goals higher, but hey, I’m a man of simple wants, besides, I like good food almost as much as I like a good fight. As I sat down with my sandwich, my phone buzzed. I sighed; I really needed to set the phone to not buzz every time I was mentioned in a tweet. It had been doing this all day, mainly because Aiden Caine couldn’t resist responding to everything I said. You’d think he’d have better things to do that sit on Twitter waiting for me to say anything so he could come up with a weak, logistical folly filled response then pat himself on the back for being so clever. Honestly he was starting to make me feel sorry for him. Some people just aren’t born with a sense of humor. I checked my phone and was surprised to see that it wasn’t a Twitter update that had caused my phone to go off. Instead, it was a phone call, from a number I didn’t recognize.
Now, I’m not a guy who’s huge on ignoring calls, I’ve even talked to telemarketers enough to have them apologize for calling me. In general I like people, and people like me. So, this call, even though it came during lunch, was one I answered. The voice on the other end was feminine, professional, and the kind of voice that tells you it’s a person who doesn’t have a lot of time to waste.
Mr. Kreisinger? This is the Las Vegas Mayor’s office.
Kried, please. Only my family calls me by my real name.
Very well Mr. Kried, I’m calling on behalf of the Mayor, Ms. Goodman. She’s trying to gather people who would be willing to participate in the Keep The Story Alive children’s reading programme. We need people the children look up to, who are willing to spend an hour reading to them. It would of course be some good publicity for your umm… professional wrestling company…
You want me?
Umm.. yes, apparently you are very popular among children, as well as being considered a good role model. Millenium Pro Wrestling is a popular attraction in Las Vegas, and you were the only member of the company that had enough recognition as well as the correct attitude for this event.
So, you want me to read to a bunch of kids?
Naturally, if you’re too busy, we’ll understand, you have a large… um… match? Coming up I believe? So if you’re unable to….
Oh, no I’ll do it, of course I’ll do it, I’m just a little surprised you’re asking me. When do I need to be there?
I heard a sigh of relief, and her voice softened significantly.
Oh… thank goodness, we’ve been having a tough time getting people to say yes. I’m very relieved. Please stop by the Las Vegas Public Library at 6 o’clock tomorrow afternoon, it really is wonderful of you to do this. I will see you there tomorrow, thank you once again.
I hung up the phone and paused for a moment. I had done charity work before; back in the European circuit it was considered a necessity just to give wrestling a good name. But this was the first time I had ever been asked to do something like this… Was I really that well known? I mean, I knew fame could come with being a wrestler, but I guess I never actually thought about it happening to me.
I had a twisted feeling in my stomach, nerves probably, I had gotten the same feeling before my first match. Everyone gets them, whether they admit to it or not, and some are better at hiding it than others. I didn’t want to screw this up. Knowing that there were going to be young fans of mine meant that I really, really didn’t want to do anything wrong. That’s just the kind of person I am, I only worry about screwing up when it would affect somebody else. If I screw up in the ring, it’s my fault and I have to fix it. If someone else gets in trouble because I screwed up? I can’t fix that, and that’s the worst feeling I’ve ever felt.
But I shake the nerves off. Because worrying about messing up only increases the chances you will mess up. I know what I can and can’t do, and reading to kids is firmly in the primary. I used to read Grimm’s to my little sister back home, this would be no different. The nervousness passed as I thought this. Besides, it was going to be fun. I get to hang out at the library all day. That was something I hadn’t gotten to do in as long as I could remember.
I smile, the nerves gone, and anticipation for tomorrow filling me with renewed energy. If I wasn’t going to get a workout in tomorrow… I’d have to work extra-hard today. I’d stop by the gym again, maybe do some spinning…
I take a bite out of my sandwich and continue to plan the rest of my day.
Now, I don’t know if you have ever had this happen to you, but when you’re pulled out of deep sleep by a noise that was developed specifically to be heard miles away, IT CAN BE A LITTLE UNNERVING!!! In this particular case, it saw me thrashing about and falling out of bed. In hindsight that’d have been a laugh, Aiden Caine wins the North American championship due to my concussing myself after falling out of bed… fortunately, I didn’t concuss myself, instead, the bump was enough to snap me out of my reactionary state and realize it was just the alarm clock I had set the night before. Now, why this particular hotel had chosen to use air raid sirens for their alarm clocks was a question I myself may have pondered at this point, and I assure you that the question will be addressed at some point, just not here, because it has almost nothing to do with my match this Monday. Honestly, blaming a loss on my alarm clock would probably lose me some fans, and a good deal of my dignity, not to mention my job.
I like my job, so we’ll forget about the alarm clock. Instead, let’s focus on the match.
My daily routine hasn’t changed much in the past 10 years, back when I started wrestling in my 6th year of primary school, I’ve just started doing more of everything. I try to jog at least 5 kilometers every day, granted, this is my first time in Las Vegas, so getting lost was always an option. In fact, I did get lost, and I ended up hitting the 5k mark somewhere in the desert… in the middle of July. Which was brilliant on my part of course, I mean, there’s not many better ways to improve your stamina than a 10-K run in 36 degree weather… of course, then I decided I was fine for the rest of my workout, which may have been a mistake…
The gym I had found was a hole in the wall of a strip mall. It was on the second floor of a building, over a Chinese restaurant. Despite its location, it was surprisingly large. Not Gold’s Gym large, but they had enough to ensure you wouldn’t have to wait for something to open up. After a lot of lifting, body weight exercises, and some time on the punching bags, it was getting to be lunch time, so I headed into the yoga room to cool down.
Now, I know what you’re thinking, Yoga isn’t very manly right? Well, there is a story behind that. I started doing yoga at my amateur wrestling coaches order. When I made the jump to pro-wrestling, yoga was the first thing I wanted to drop, but my trainer, Craig, had said
Almost all wrestlers find something they’re good at, and then simply continue to improve that one skill to death. The great ones focus on their weakest skill instead. You’re a big guy… that means you’re slow and dumb, that’s what all of your opponents will think. So what do you think you need to be?
Quick and smart
Quick and smart, exactly. I already know you’re smart, keep studying the sport, and that won’t be a problem. Agility though, that’s hard to teach, it takes years of working on your flexibility, and practice on footwork. You might never be the fastest, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be quick on your feet for a guy your size. All it takes is that little edge of surprise, and you’ve got that much better a chance of getting the win. If you decide to ignore that, you’re going to lurch around the ring like every other big guy in the business. Don’t lurch! Lurching doesn’t get you fans, lurching doesn’t get you championships, lurching gets you government unemployment pay. People hate a lurcher. So don’t be one. Simple as that.
So that was why I did yoga, and sure enough, I hadn’t heard a single complaint of me lurching anywhere. Not even on the internet…
Sure enough, Craig was right. My opponents always had expected me to be a big, slow, dumb guy. Aiden Caine thought the same thing. It was obvious he felt that way, it disappointed me. Aiden was a smart guy, he knew what it took to succeed both in and out of the ring. Yet he was underestimating his opponent? I had hoped to have a legendary battle with him, one for the MPW record books if I dared to say. (Although given the place was two weeks old that wasn’t saying much) Now all I could do was hope he was trying to play some kind of mind game, maybe get under my skin with paper insults. I had seen that from some guys before, but they were usually assholes… Aiden wasn’t a major asshole, though as of late he had been getting a little close. I get it, we’re opponents, but we’re still professional competitors aren’t we? If he was relying on personal insults to gain an edge, he wasn’t going to be as strong as I thought, if he really was underestimating me, then he was in for a real surprise.
Either way, I couldn’t let my assumptions get in the way of preparing. I would treat this match the way I treat every match, like the most important match of my career, and putting everything I had into training for it. What an honor it would be, not just to be the first person to hold the North American Title, but the first person to even hold a belt in the MPW. I had been the last WWC World Heavyweight Champion, I had been the last NYCCW Tag Team Champion… It was time for me to be first in something.
After finishing my workout, I rushed a shower and headed for the Subway® down the road. Normally I’m not big on fast food. Subway is good though, discovering it was one of those hidden joys of being in a different country. Turkey subs… maybe I should set my goals higher, but hey, I’m a man of simple wants, besides, I like good food almost as much as I like a good fight. As I sat down with my sandwich, my phone buzzed. I sighed; I really needed to set the phone to not buzz every time I was mentioned in a tweet. It had been doing this all day, mainly because Aiden Caine couldn’t resist responding to everything I said. You’d think he’d have better things to do that sit on Twitter waiting for me to say anything so he could come up with a weak, logistical folly filled response then pat himself on the back for being so clever. Honestly he was starting to make me feel sorry for him. Some people just aren’t born with a sense of humor. I checked my phone and was surprised to see that it wasn’t a Twitter update that had caused my phone to go off. Instead, it was a phone call, from a number I didn’t recognize.
Now, I’m not a guy who’s huge on ignoring calls, I’ve even talked to telemarketers enough to have them apologize for calling me. In general I like people, and people like me. So, this call, even though it came during lunch, was one I answered. The voice on the other end was feminine, professional, and the kind of voice that tells you it’s a person who doesn’t have a lot of time to waste.
Mr. Kreisinger? This is the Las Vegas Mayor’s office.
Kried, please. Only my family calls me by my real name.
Very well Mr. Kried, I’m calling on behalf of the Mayor, Ms. Goodman. She’s trying to gather people who would be willing to participate in the Keep The Story Alive children’s reading programme. We need people the children look up to, who are willing to spend an hour reading to them. It would of course be some good publicity for your umm… professional wrestling company…
You want me?
Umm.. yes, apparently you are very popular among children, as well as being considered a good role model. Millenium Pro Wrestling is a popular attraction in Las Vegas, and you were the only member of the company that had enough recognition as well as the correct attitude for this event.
So, you want me to read to a bunch of kids?
Naturally, if you’re too busy, we’ll understand, you have a large… um… match? Coming up I believe? So if you’re unable to….
Oh, no I’ll do it, of course I’ll do it, I’m just a little surprised you’re asking me. When do I need to be there?
I heard a sigh of relief, and her voice softened significantly.
Oh… thank goodness, we’ve been having a tough time getting people to say yes. I’m very relieved. Please stop by the Las Vegas Public Library at 6 o’clock tomorrow afternoon, it really is wonderful of you to do this. I will see you there tomorrow, thank you once again.
I hung up the phone and paused for a moment. I had done charity work before; back in the European circuit it was considered a necessity just to give wrestling a good name. But this was the first time I had ever been asked to do something like this… Was I really that well known? I mean, I knew fame could come with being a wrestler, but I guess I never actually thought about it happening to me.
I had a twisted feeling in my stomach, nerves probably, I had gotten the same feeling before my first match. Everyone gets them, whether they admit to it or not, and some are better at hiding it than others. I didn’t want to screw this up. Knowing that there were going to be young fans of mine meant that I really, really didn’t want to do anything wrong. That’s just the kind of person I am, I only worry about screwing up when it would affect somebody else. If I screw up in the ring, it’s my fault and I have to fix it. If someone else gets in trouble because I screwed up? I can’t fix that, and that’s the worst feeling I’ve ever felt.
But I shake the nerves off. Because worrying about messing up only increases the chances you will mess up. I know what I can and can’t do, and reading to kids is firmly in the primary. I used to read Grimm’s to my little sister back home, this would be no different. The nervousness passed as I thought this. Besides, it was going to be fun. I get to hang out at the library all day. That was something I hadn’t gotten to do in as long as I could remember.
I smile, the nerves gone, and anticipation for tomorrow filling me with renewed energy. If I wasn’t going to get a workout in tomorrow… I’d have to work extra-hard today. I’d stop by the gym again, maybe do some spinning…
I take a bite out of my sandwich and continue to plan the rest of my day.
