Post by Pax Stormcrow on Jul 30, 2018 2:00:42 GMT
Pax was running down a mountain road, dressed in athletic gear to help against the cool mountain air of the Rockies. His body labored for breath between the length of his run, the speed of his progress, and the low pressure in the air. His jaw hung slack, the whole of his body dedicated to the run as his feet beat on the road in time with the music playing from a set of bluetooth headphones in his ear.
Running like this was soothing to him. Most of his training in high school was focused on short bursts of power. Your typical amateur wrestling bot was over quickly. In the pro’s it was a whole different story and fighting someone like Nighthawk, in a first to two falls match endurance would be what determined the success of the match. He had won the last two matches using that burst of power he could bring to the game up front. He surprised Nighthawk with how quickly he could come out of the gate. Nighthawk let himself get to used to the Pro game. Pax knows that he has a gas take on him but for a submission specialist wants to play the long game.
Thing is, you can’t bring the same tricks to the table against Nighthawk. Which is why Pax was doing his training in the backwoods of Idaho on top of a mountain. Their match at Lineage was going to be a long drawn out slug fest. Pax will try to get the first two wins early, but he knows that Nighthawk will be ready for him. So, he is running through practice matches, going for runs, doing Yoga and other things of that nature up on a mountain. Or several of them really but that was besides the point. Ya he was up here mostly on his own and it was boring when he wasn’t training. But he took this was a serious. It was a chance to prove who he was and what he was worth. To show he deserved the opportunities given to him. Because if he failed, he was going to flounder at the bottom of the card all over again. He couldn’t allow that to happen. He would not allow that to happen.
As he turned down a trail to continue his run he thought back on his IWF career for a moment. To call it disappointing would be a harsh but fair statement. He was not propelled to the top of the card like he was expecting or like his resume might suggest. He knew management saw something in them and kept giving him chances to prove himself. But if he let them slip through his fingers he was going to be relegated to the point of developmental talent and that was not something he could allow. Time to rewrite his story and show the world what he could do.
This was his opportunity and he was going to grab hold of it. He past a trail marker, which he knew was coming close to the end of his run. Then he would get a chance to have a cold soak and get some lunch before starting all over again. He turned his wrist, checking the heart rate monitor there before he started moving faster down the road. He bobbed his head along with the upbeat message of Supaman’s lyrics. He gasps for breath as he makes another turn. Once again his mind returned to the upcoming match.
The strain of so many high intensity matches was starting to show on Nighthawk. He was moving slower, his reactions lagged. It was all over him if you knew what to look for. Pax could admit the strain of completing at such an intense level week in and week out was tough on him too. But he was younger, his body still bounced back faster. Nighthawk didn’t have all those advantages. But he did have experience which was its own sort of equalizer. He had a plan though. Push the match as long as possible. He is more confident in his reserves over what Nighthawk has available at this time. This was his time to show what he could do, and he meant to make the best of it.
________________________
The scene opens once more with Pax sitting in a hotel room, a laptop webcam on and pointed at his face. He grins widely into the camera as he leans back in his seat.
“I got you again Nighthawk. Pulled another win out from under you and tied it up. Now we are taking the match to number 5 at Lineage and let’s be honest? That’s what everyone wanted it to be anyways. But really, how are you feeling?”
He leans closer to the camera curiously.
“You’ve been moving a lot slower each match we have. You put on a good front I know. But going into the matches with you, man I can tell. I can feel it. Your reactions are slower and your tank is coming up on empty a lot faster. You are favoring that arm of yours too man. You gotta be careful. At your age that can be serious.”
He scoffs and shakes his head.
“Age man. I have been hearing about that a lot. ‘Pax we respect you, but it’s not your time.’ ‘Stormcrow you are a great worker but maybe next year.’ It all comes down to the same thing. ‘Shut up kid, the grown ups are talking’. Same thing the Saints got thrown at them but people phrase it better for me cause I ‘fit in’ better.”
A look of frustration breaks on his face, shattering the positive look that he normally carried.
“That’s all we hear. Wait your turn. Go to the back of the line. You haven’t earned it yet. But last I checked, this business didn’t go off seniority. You would think the Saints taking everyone to task and winning the Tag cup would have shut everyone up about it but it’s the same song and dance you have given me every week Nighthawk. ‘I respect you but wait your turn.”
He crosses his arms over his chest as he stares daggers at the camera.
“Which isn’t that respectful. It’s condescending and patronizing. Come up with some other reasons why you think I don’t deserve it. Cause if it’s all you got, well man you need to come up with something better.
He shrugs at the camera with a sort of a half smile.
“But maybe cause it’s taken so long for you, you figure that’s the way it’s supposed to be. Maybe you also buy into the other things tossed around me. That I’m just a younger, bigger Nighthawk. Or like I am one of these other nameless guys who showed promise and disappeared. But here’s the thing that I know and everyone else will soon know.”
He grabs the laptop screen and pulls it closer, his face filling the view.
“I am Pax. Freaking. Stormcrow. There is NO ONE like me. I’m not some Tom, Dick, or Harry that makes a splash and then disappears never to be seen from again. I’m sure not like you Nighthawk. I don’t call myself a master cause a bunch of old guys said I was. I go out and prove how good I am in that ring. I am a warrior whose deeds are placed front and center to show who I am. I didn’t train for a few years in another country and decide I can call myself the American Samurai.”
He sits back and gives another smile as he lifts his shoulder in a shrug.
“Just cause it took you a couple years to be taken seriously doesn’t mean every person who comes through here with a technical background has to walk in your footsteps. I’m not you Nighthawk.”
He leans forward again.
“I’m better than you, and everyone is going to see it. I am going to prove once and for all that I’m not some cheap Nighthawk rip off. I got my own style. I can adapt in ways you can never dream of. So while you flounder at the mid card I’ll be going and beating Bob for the Strong Style belt. It’s not cutting line man, it’s earning my spot.”
He flashes two fingers to the camera.
“Peace Out.”
He slams the lid to the laptop closed.
Running like this was soothing to him. Most of his training in high school was focused on short bursts of power. Your typical amateur wrestling bot was over quickly. In the pro’s it was a whole different story and fighting someone like Nighthawk, in a first to two falls match endurance would be what determined the success of the match. He had won the last two matches using that burst of power he could bring to the game up front. He surprised Nighthawk with how quickly he could come out of the gate. Nighthawk let himself get to used to the Pro game. Pax knows that he has a gas take on him but for a submission specialist wants to play the long game.
Thing is, you can’t bring the same tricks to the table against Nighthawk. Which is why Pax was doing his training in the backwoods of Idaho on top of a mountain. Their match at Lineage was going to be a long drawn out slug fest. Pax will try to get the first two wins early, but he knows that Nighthawk will be ready for him. So, he is running through practice matches, going for runs, doing Yoga and other things of that nature up on a mountain. Or several of them really but that was besides the point. Ya he was up here mostly on his own and it was boring when he wasn’t training. But he took this was a serious. It was a chance to prove who he was and what he was worth. To show he deserved the opportunities given to him. Because if he failed, he was going to flounder at the bottom of the card all over again. He couldn’t allow that to happen. He would not allow that to happen.
As he turned down a trail to continue his run he thought back on his IWF career for a moment. To call it disappointing would be a harsh but fair statement. He was not propelled to the top of the card like he was expecting or like his resume might suggest. He knew management saw something in them and kept giving him chances to prove himself. But if he let them slip through his fingers he was going to be relegated to the point of developmental talent and that was not something he could allow. Time to rewrite his story and show the world what he could do.
This was his opportunity and he was going to grab hold of it. He past a trail marker, which he knew was coming close to the end of his run. Then he would get a chance to have a cold soak and get some lunch before starting all over again. He turned his wrist, checking the heart rate monitor there before he started moving faster down the road. He bobbed his head along with the upbeat message of Supaman’s lyrics. He gasps for breath as he makes another turn. Once again his mind returned to the upcoming match.
The strain of so many high intensity matches was starting to show on Nighthawk. He was moving slower, his reactions lagged. It was all over him if you knew what to look for. Pax could admit the strain of completing at such an intense level week in and week out was tough on him too. But he was younger, his body still bounced back faster. Nighthawk didn’t have all those advantages. But he did have experience which was its own sort of equalizer. He had a plan though. Push the match as long as possible. He is more confident in his reserves over what Nighthawk has available at this time. This was his time to show what he could do, and he meant to make the best of it.
________________________
The scene opens once more with Pax sitting in a hotel room, a laptop webcam on and pointed at his face. He grins widely into the camera as he leans back in his seat.
“I got you again Nighthawk. Pulled another win out from under you and tied it up. Now we are taking the match to number 5 at Lineage and let’s be honest? That’s what everyone wanted it to be anyways. But really, how are you feeling?”
He leans closer to the camera curiously.
“You’ve been moving a lot slower each match we have. You put on a good front I know. But going into the matches with you, man I can tell. I can feel it. Your reactions are slower and your tank is coming up on empty a lot faster. You are favoring that arm of yours too man. You gotta be careful. At your age that can be serious.”
He scoffs and shakes his head.
“Age man. I have been hearing about that a lot. ‘Pax we respect you, but it’s not your time.’ ‘Stormcrow you are a great worker but maybe next year.’ It all comes down to the same thing. ‘Shut up kid, the grown ups are talking’. Same thing the Saints got thrown at them but people phrase it better for me cause I ‘fit in’ better.”
A look of frustration breaks on his face, shattering the positive look that he normally carried.
“That’s all we hear. Wait your turn. Go to the back of the line. You haven’t earned it yet. But last I checked, this business didn’t go off seniority. You would think the Saints taking everyone to task and winning the Tag cup would have shut everyone up about it but it’s the same song and dance you have given me every week Nighthawk. ‘I respect you but wait your turn.”
He crosses his arms over his chest as he stares daggers at the camera.
“Which isn’t that respectful. It’s condescending and patronizing. Come up with some other reasons why you think I don’t deserve it. Cause if it’s all you got, well man you need to come up with something better.
He shrugs at the camera with a sort of a half smile.
“But maybe cause it’s taken so long for you, you figure that’s the way it’s supposed to be. Maybe you also buy into the other things tossed around me. That I’m just a younger, bigger Nighthawk. Or like I am one of these other nameless guys who showed promise and disappeared. But here’s the thing that I know and everyone else will soon know.”
He grabs the laptop screen and pulls it closer, his face filling the view.
“I am Pax. Freaking. Stormcrow. There is NO ONE like me. I’m not some Tom, Dick, or Harry that makes a splash and then disappears never to be seen from again. I’m sure not like you Nighthawk. I don’t call myself a master cause a bunch of old guys said I was. I go out and prove how good I am in that ring. I am a warrior whose deeds are placed front and center to show who I am. I didn’t train for a few years in another country and decide I can call myself the American Samurai.”
He sits back and gives another smile as he lifts his shoulder in a shrug.
“Just cause it took you a couple years to be taken seriously doesn’t mean every person who comes through here with a technical background has to walk in your footsteps. I’m not you Nighthawk.”
He leans forward again.
“I’m better than you, and everyone is going to see it. I am going to prove once and for all that I’m not some cheap Nighthawk rip off. I got my own style. I can adapt in ways you can never dream of. So while you flounder at the mid card I’ll be going and beating Bob for the Strong Style belt. It’s not cutting line man, it’s earning my spot.”
He flashes two fingers to the camera.
“Peace Out.”
He slams the lid to the laptop closed.
Well howdy there pardner.