Post by James Gilmore on Mar 8, 2019 14:57:45 GMT
Spike Kane, Jake Conway, Andrew Jacobsen.
Renee Pleasant and Bertie Verona.
Whether you love ‘em or hate ‘em dudes and dudettes, speak any one of them names and I promise ya, they’ll give ya the most common denominator ya can possibly. These five names punched their ticket to the IWF’s biggest stage by winnin’ a contest that’s just as brutal as it is thrillin’ to watch...the Roulette. Welcome to High Stakes boys and girls, where we--the superstars of the Imperial Wrestlin’ Federation--will do battle to separate the contenders from the pretenders.
It so happens...that this year’s edition falls on my birthday!
Yet I don’t want March 24, 2019 to be about me…’cuz I want this day to be about those who’ve HELPED me get to where I’m at now.
I realize that I sound kinda bland there, but honestly...competin’ in the Roulette is a thrill unto itself. Competin’ in the Roulette on my 37th birthday, now THAT’S gotta be worth somethin’, right!?! I said it once already, but it bears repeatin’...I vowed to make 2019 one of the most memorable years of my life. I vowed to continue hangin’ and bangin’ with the likes of Rob Diamond, a man who’s done nothin’ except give me a mindset that I probably would have never had two years ago:
The mindset...of a Champion.
After everything that’s gone down in the past two years, from Andrew Jacobsen breakin’ title records to Spike’s untimely demise, I’ve come to oe basic truth, perhaps...the greatest truth there is. Bein’ a Champion in this gig should be about more than simply bein’ the best. It should be about bein’ a shinin’ example for other people so that, one day, they can march their butts into a ring and carry on that tradition!
That IS the idea, right?!
The sad truth is...all I’ve seen is people lightin’ other people on fire--or flat-out KILLING ‘em--for their own sick and twisted pleasure. I’ve seen people end other people’s careers just ‘cuz they wanted to be king so badly but had to sell their souls in order to gain that power! I’ve seen so-called “families” of zealots build an entire cult that does nothin’ else except subjugate and destroy those in their path. As a result...IWF is in one helluva pickle...
...and lemme say to you now, dudes and dudettes, that I--no, WE--cannot stand for that crap no more!
This match ain’t simply gonna be about fightin’ tyranny or oppression. Nahhh...this is gonna be IWF fightin’ the evildoers for our very existence! We’re gonna be fightin’ for the very right to have fun, and to grown and flourish not just as an athletic entertainer...but as a livin’, breathin’ human bein’!
That, right there, is what this gig is truly all about!
To me, that's what "for love of the game" truly represents!
Should I win the Roulette?! Should I be the last dude outta the thirty?! I don’t want my birthday--Sunday, March 24th--to be known as a day of celebratin’ the fact that I’m gettin’ a year old! Nah...it will be the day that the IWF stands tall and cries out in ONE VOICE:
Rowan Macdonnough, the Demon Lady, does NOT control the IWF!
The Pack does NOT own us, for we will no longer bow to ‘em in fear!
We are gonna live on! We are gonna survive!! This is gonna be...our Independence Day!!!
Call it what ya will...but Imperial belongs to the peeps, the dudes and dudettes who buy into all them merchandisin’ stuff! It belongs to the men and women who put their bodies on the line so that the l’il ones can be inspired to create a future for themselves. We are the harbingers of that future, the bringers of hope to a world that’s surely in need of a Champion we can ALL be proud of!
A Champion...that can make Imperial FUN again!
A Champion...that can make Imperial GREAT again!
So dudes...the time for talkin’s done! Thirty of us will be beatin’ the crap outta one another, but only ONE...is gonna rise above the rest and be in the main event at Night of the Immortals. It’s gonna be every man for himself, and you can bet your hindquarters that I’m gonna be right in the middle of things, throwin’ every single trick in the book I can in order to be the last dude standin’! It all boils down to a simple choice, the only one that truly matters above everything else:
Step up your games and gimme EVERYTHING ya got…
...or get your happy butts chucked over the top rope!
Either way ya slice it, you’re ALL gonna know firsthand what it truly feels like to be left awestruck, speechless, and...
#Shellshocked
---
”UNSHAKEN”
JAMES’ PERSONAL LOG
Stardate: 47634.44 (March 7, 2019 - MORNING ENTRY)
Even though it’s been a week since I vowed to set the timeline straight, it feels strange bein’ back out in the open countryside.
Yet even after bein’ a self-admitted, beach-goin’ city dweller for the past thirteen years, it feels like ‘home.’
You could say that the first eighteen years of my life were split into two halves. I spent the first half livin’ in the suburbs, and the second half...well, I spent it out here, in wide open spaces just like the one Yulia and I are in now on Fiona’s ranch. Honestly though...it’s this sort of livin’ I truly enjoy the most over urban hustle and bustle. I can’t stand the smog, I can’t stand the sounds of screamin’ kids or car stereo speakers blastin’ out crap music from the likes of Snoop Diggity-Dogg, Jay-Z, or whoever’s popular these days.
Even on the sands of my private beach, I can’t truly escape city life!
It goes without sayin’...but if the pine trees and grasslands on Fiona’s ranch could talk to me, you, or anyone for that matter, I can only imagine the stories they could tell. There’s so much substance, so many shared memories, that I can’t begin to fully describe the history of these hallowed grounds without ramblin’ on and on. In my mind...what good is just tellin’ a story without havin’ a purpose, a reason for bein’ there?!
This is the part where my imagination kicks in...
“May I stand unshaken
Amid, amidst a crashing world
Did I hear a thunder?
Did I hear you break?
I can't quite remember
Just what guided me this way, oh
May I stand unshaken
Amid, amidst a crashing world”
...where I can truly partake in some self-reflection and let my deepest thoughts do all the homework.
As I’m relaxin’ in a lawn chair out back while the sun’s goin’ up, I’m reminded of the two markers I saw while walkin’ these fields. The first one, located in front of the newly-expanded and renovated farmhouse that serves as our livin’ quarters, tells about how these grounds have been passed down from generation to generation, from owner to owner, since 1885. I can’t help but imagine some of the good and excitin’ events that have taken place here.
Weddin’s, birthdays, family reunions, horse-ridin’ lessons...those could have been moments worth cherishin’ forever and ever.
“The pines, they often whisper
They whisper what no tongue can tell
He who drinks from the deep water
May he know the depths of the well
Well
May I stand unshaken
Amid, amidst a crashing world
May I stand unshaken
Amid, amidst a crashing world”
In a way...IWF reminds me of how life on these grounds is supposed to pan out.
I mean, shoot...wrestlin’ in general should be about the good things, about people comin’ together to watch the world’s greatest sports entertainers put on a helluva good show. Every time I step out in the ring, I have to remind myself to stay focused and relaxed, all the while not concentratin’ so much on bein’ better than the other guy. All I ever wanted to do since 2012, when I first started tourin’ full-time, was to have fun and, perhaps, learn a few things along in my travels.
For the most part...I feel as if I did just that, but I know I still have so much I wanna learn.
Yet not all things in this life can be good things.
“Mmm, oh, traveler
What have you seen?
Were there crossroads
Where you been, where you been?
I once was standing tall
Now I feel my back's against the wall”
After all, this place could’ve had some heartbreakin’ moments throughout its past.
Funerals, divorces, natural disasters...to me, they all reminders about how cruel and unforgivin’ this life can be. When I’m out here, in these open spaces, I can hear the voices beckonin’ me to hug ‘em, to comfort ‘em, to give ‘em the courage they need to go on with their lives and keep on doin’ what they love doin’. This is where the second marker comes into play, and...well, I’ll just say that it memorializes a human bein’ who ain’t on this earth no more, a man who impacted so many lives in ways I can’t begin to describe.
The inscriptions tell the whole story of what I’m talkin’ about:
“The morning light
When it comes to me
It was there but I could not see
Am I to wander
As a wayward son?
Will the hunter be hunted
By the smoking gun?”
It’s a soberin’ thought to think that he and I were born on the same day, but I’m digressin’.
Perhaps...my mind’s tellin’ me that the last thing Jack wanted for anyone to be after he died was alone...and scared.
It’s moments like these, knowin’ that the man who worked his whole life to bring joy to the wrestlin’ gig is gone, when I realize just how much my heart breaks for Fiona. She’s been through so much crap in her life, yet she’s felt as if she was fightin’ alone. I’m led to thinkin’ that, perhaps, she went back in time ‘cuz she wanted to search for that bit of love she’s lost, only to find nothin’...except more sadness. She wouldn’t be in this wrestlin’ business if it wasn’t for him, it it wasn’t for all those hours spent trainin’ together and learnin’ how to survive in a cold, cruel world that doesn’t give a hoot about those who don’t fit their narrative.
Yulia helped me come out of my shell when we was on that cruise, and now...it’s my turn to pass on what she taught me to Fiona.
The truth is, Fi and I have only a single common bond...and that’s through wrestlin’, through Jack bringin’ us BOTH into the gig at various points throughout our lives. It’s where we both flourished when everybody else just laughed and snickered, where we both learned what it’s like to grow as human bein’s. It’s why Rob and Steve are comin’ to join me here a week from now: to help her remember the one thing that should never, ever die.
Hope.
“May I stand unshaken
Amid, amidst a crashing world
May I stand unshaken
Amid, amidst a crashing world
May I stand unshaken
Amid, amidst a crashing world…”
Hope...is a good thing, probably the greatest blessin’ in a person’s lifetime. Imperial might be in an effed-up state right now, but we should never give that up. Yet in order to keep hope alive....we gotta live our lives by the very credo that’s inscribed on Jack’s memorial plaque, a credo that is so much more than just a theme to one of my all-time favorite flicks.
When everything starts turnin’ to snot all around ya, when ya feel that all hope seems lost, you’re only left with a simple choice:
Get busy livin’...or get busy dyin’.
That’s goddamn right...somethin’ worth fightin’ for, I’d say.
-Log Entry 1 of 3-
To be continued in “Turn the Page”...
Renee Pleasant and Bertie Verona.
Whether you love ‘em or hate ‘em dudes and dudettes, speak any one of them names and I promise ya, they’ll give ya the most common denominator ya can possibly. These five names punched their ticket to the IWF’s biggest stage by winnin’ a contest that’s just as brutal as it is thrillin’ to watch...the Roulette. Welcome to High Stakes boys and girls, where we--the superstars of the Imperial Wrestlin’ Federation--will do battle to separate the contenders from the pretenders.
It so happens...that this year’s edition falls on my birthday!
Yet I don’t want March 24, 2019 to be about me…’cuz I want this day to be about those who’ve HELPED me get to where I’m at now.
I realize that I sound kinda bland there, but honestly...competin’ in the Roulette is a thrill unto itself. Competin’ in the Roulette on my 37th birthday, now THAT’S gotta be worth somethin’, right!?! I said it once already, but it bears repeatin’...I vowed to make 2019 one of the most memorable years of my life. I vowed to continue hangin’ and bangin’ with the likes of Rob Diamond, a man who’s done nothin’ except give me a mindset that I probably would have never had two years ago:
The mindset...of a Champion.
After everything that’s gone down in the past two years, from Andrew Jacobsen breakin’ title records to Spike’s untimely demise, I’ve come to oe basic truth, perhaps...the greatest truth there is. Bein’ a Champion in this gig should be about more than simply bein’ the best. It should be about bein’ a shinin’ example for other people so that, one day, they can march their butts into a ring and carry on that tradition!
That IS the idea, right?!
The sad truth is...all I’ve seen is people lightin’ other people on fire--or flat-out KILLING ‘em--for their own sick and twisted pleasure. I’ve seen people end other people’s careers just ‘cuz they wanted to be king so badly but had to sell their souls in order to gain that power! I’ve seen so-called “families” of zealots build an entire cult that does nothin’ else except subjugate and destroy those in their path. As a result...IWF is in one helluva pickle...
...and lemme say to you now, dudes and dudettes, that I--no, WE--cannot stand for that crap no more!
This match ain’t simply gonna be about fightin’ tyranny or oppression. Nahhh...this is gonna be IWF fightin’ the evildoers for our very existence! We’re gonna be fightin’ for the very right to have fun, and to grown and flourish not just as an athletic entertainer...but as a livin’, breathin’ human bein’!
That, right there, is what this gig is truly all about!
To me, that's what "for love of the game" truly represents!
Should I win the Roulette?! Should I be the last dude outta the thirty?! I don’t want my birthday--Sunday, March 24th--to be known as a day of celebratin’ the fact that I’m gettin’ a year old! Nah...it will be the day that the IWF stands tall and cries out in ONE VOICE:
Rowan Macdonnough, the Demon Lady, does NOT control the IWF!
The Pack does NOT own us, for we will no longer bow to ‘em in fear!
We are gonna live on! We are gonna survive!! This is gonna be...our Independence Day!!!
Call it what ya will...but Imperial belongs to the peeps, the dudes and dudettes who buy into all them merchandisin’ stuff! It belongs to the men and women who put their bodies on the line so that the l’il ones can be inspired to create a future for themselves. We are the harbingers of that future, the bringers of hope to a world that’s surely in need of a Champion we can ALL be proud of!
A Champion...that can make Imperial FUN again!
A Champion...that can make Imperial GREAT again!
So dudes...the time for talkin’s done! Thirty of us will be beatin’ the crap outta one another, but only ONE...is gonna rise above the rest and be in the main event at Night of the Immortals. It’s gonna be every man for himself, and you can bet your hindquarters that I’m gonna be right in the middle of things, throwin’ every single trick in the book I can in order to be the last dude standin’! It all boils down to a simple choice, the only one that truly matters above everything else:
Step up your games and gimme EVERYTHING ya got…
...or get your happy butts chucked over the top rope!
Either way ya slice it, you’re ALL gonna know firsthand what it truly feels like to be left awestruck, speechless, and...
#Shellshocked
---
”UNSHAKEN”
JAMES’ PERSONAL LOG
Stardate: 47634.44 (March 7, 2019 - MORNING ENTRY)
Even though it’s been a week since I vowed to set the timeline straight, it feels strange bein’ back out in the open countryside.
Yet even after bein’ a self-admitted, beach-goin’ city dweller for the past thirteen years, it feels like ‘home.’
You could say that the first eighteen years of my life were split into two halves. I spent the first half livin’ in the suburbs, and the second half...well, I spent it out here, in wide open spaces just like the one Yulia and I are in now on Fiona’s ranch. Honestly though...it’s this sort of livin’ I truly enjoy the most over urban hustle and bustle. I can’t stand the smog, I can’t stand the sounds of screamin’ kids or car stereo speakers blastin’ out crap music from the likes of Snoop Diggity-Dogg, Jay-Z, or whoever’s popular these days.
Even on the sands of my private beach, I can’t truly escape city life!
It goes without sayin’...but if the pine trees and grasslands on Fiona’s ranch could talk to me, you, or anyone for that matter, I can only imagine the stories they could tell. There’s so much substance, so many shared memories, that I can’t begin to fully describe the history of these hallowed grounds without ramblin’ on and on. In my mind...what good is just tellin’ a story without havin’ a purpose, a reason for bein’ there?!
This is the part where my imagination kicks in...
“May I stand unshaken
Amid, amidst a crashing world
Did I hear a thunder?
Did I hear you break?
I can't quite remember
Just what guided me this way, oh
May I stand unshaken
Amid, amidst a crashing world”
...where I can truly partake in some self-reflection and let my deepest thoughts do all the homework.
As I’m relaxin’ in a lawn chair out back while the sun’s goin’ up, I’m reminded of the two markers I saw while walkin’ these fields. The first one, located in front of the newly-expanded and renovated farmhouse that serves as our livin’ quarters, tells about how these grounds have been passed down from generation to generation, from owner to owner, since 1885. I can’t help but imagine some of the good and excitin’ events that have taken place here.
Weddin’s, birthdays, family reunions, horse-ridin’ lessons...those could have been moments worth cherishin’ forever and ever.
“The pines, they often whisper
They whisper what no tongue can tell
He who drinks from the deep water
May he know the depths of the well
Well
May I stand unshaken
Amid, amidst a crashing world
May I stand unshaken
Amid, amidst a crashing world”
In a way...IWF reminds me of how life on these grounds is supposed to pan out.
I mean, shoot...wrestlin’ in general should be about the good things, about people comin’ together to watch the world’s greatest sports entertainers put on a helluva good show. Every time I step out in the ring, I have to remind myself to stay focused and relaxed, all the while not concentratin’ so much on bein’ better than the other guy. All I ever wanted to do since 2012, when I first started tourin’ full-time, was to have fun and, perhaps, learn a few things along in my travels.
For the most part...I feel as if I did just that, but I know I still have so much I wanna learn.
Yet not all things in this life can be good things.
“Mmm, oh, traveler
What have you seen?
Were there crossroads
Where you been, where you been?
I once was standing tall
Now I feel my back's against the wall”
After all, this place could’ve had some heartbreakin’ moments throughout its past.
Funerals, divorces, natural disasters...to me, they all reminders about how cruel and unforgivin’ this life can be. When I’m out here, in these open spaces, I can hear the voices beckonin’ me to hug ‘em, to comfort ‘em, to give ‘em the courage they need to go on with their lives and keep on doin’ what they love doin’. This is where the second marker comes into play, and...well, I’ll just say that it memorializes a human bein’ who ain’t on this earth no more, a man who impacted so many lives in ways I can’t begin to describe.
The inscriptions tell the whole story of what I’m talkin’ about:
“The morning light
When it comes to me
It was there but I could not see
Am I to wander
As a wayward son?
Will the hunter be hunted
By the smoking gun?”
It’s a soberin’ thought to think that he and I were born on the same day, but I’m digressin’.
Perhaps...my mind’s tellin’ me that the last thing Jack wanted for anyone to be after he died was alone...and scared.
It’s moments like these, knowin’ that the man who worked his whole life to bring joy to the wrestlin’ gig is gone, when I realize just how much my heart breaks for Fiona. She’s been through so much crap in her life, yet she’s felt as if she was fightin’ alone. I’m led to thinkin’ that, perhaps, she went back in time ‘cuz she wanted to search for that bit of love she’s lost, only to find nothin’...except more sadness. She wouldn’t be in this wrestlin’ business if it wasn’t for him, it it wasn’t for all those hours spent trainin’ together and learnin’ how to survive in a cold, cruel world that doesn’t give a hoot about those who don’t fit their narrative.
Yulia helped me come out of my shell when we was on that cruise, and now...it’s my turn to pass on what she taught me to Fiona.
The truth is, Fi and I have only a single common bond...and that’s through wrestlin’, through Jack bringin’ us BOTH into the gig at various points throughout our lives. It’s where we both flourished when everybody else just laughed and snickered, where we both learned what it’s like to grow as human bein’s. It’s why Rob and Steve are comin’ to join me here a week from now: to help her remember the one thing that should never, ever die.
Hope.
“May I stand unshaken
Amid, amidst a crashing world
May I stand unshaken
Amid, amidst a crashing world
May I stand unshaken
Amid, amidst a crashing world…”
Hope...is a good thing, probably the greatest blessin’ in a person’s lifetime. Imperial might be in an effed-up state right now, but we should never give that up. Yet in order to keep hope alive....we gotta live our lives by the very credo that’s inscribed on Jack’s memorial plaque, a credo that is so much more than just a theme to one of my all-time favorite flicks.
When everything starts turnin’ to snot all around ya, when ya feel that all hope seems lost, you’re only left with a simple choice:
Get busy livin’...or get busy dyin’.
That’s goddamn right...somethin’ worth fightin’ for, I’d say.
-Log Entry 1 of 3-
To be continued in “Turn the Page”...
Well howdy there pardner.