A Man Chooses

[Jack Ferriman]

“I know I am not the only one seeing this as an opportunity. 

I’m not the only one seeing the roulette as the golden ticket to be seen seriously. I don’t even have to win the whole thing. Even just doing well gets me a step up. Gets people to see you differently.

Personally, I could use a change of perception.

I don’t have the best record here. That’s okay. No shame in not being the best of the best in a company full of amazing wrestlers. I’d love to get into a title scene, sure. But who wouldn’t want that?

I want to get out of my slump. I want people to take me seriously. 

Is it possible it’s all in my head? Oh, absolutely. It’s possible people don’t roll their eyes when they see my name across from theirs. It’s possible people don’t underestimate me. All this is possible. But I got to admit the hit to the ego doesn’t feel great.

Sure, big fish in a small pond to fish in the ocean? It takes some adjustment. It takes time to get used to the feel.

I came in during the partner tournament. I won a match and was knocked out second round. Nothing to feel sad about, I know. I did good work. I do good work.

But I’m hungry. I could be happy just getting paychecks to show up sometimes and tool about. 

But I didn’t become a wrestler because I wanted easy money. I became a wrestler because I wanted it all. I want to get to the top and I want a belt. I want people to remember my name and think, ‘Man, Jack was pretty great’. 

I want people to see my career and think it was good, that I didn’t waste time and that I worked by butt off.

I went from being a homeless kid to here. If I could get a championship, if I could get to the big time despite just being another new face? That would be pretty freaking sweet.

I know new guys don’t stick around long. I know a lot of them give it a couple shows, feel like they can’t compare to the top talent and let their contracts run out while doing nothing more than house shows. 

Part of that sickens me to be perfectly frank.

Just because I can’t promise myself that I can take Steve Awesome one on one. I’d like to believe so. But someone at Universal thought making Tom Cruise play a ‘younger man’ in the mummy reboot was a good idea. Sometimes believing in something doesn’t work out the way we would hope.

I know I have plenty of time to get to the top, I’m younger than almost everyone else in the company right now. I know that. But what can I say? I’m a Gen Z. I kinda want to do stuff now and not wait around. 

Because if I waited my turn whose to say I’d ever get it?

Who’s to say I wouldn’t be like so many other guys who are near the end of their career hoping for that one last run. I’d rather not bore people with nostalgia at the end of my career. I want to have my time now, while I am still young enough to enjoy it.

I am making the choice to get as far as I can right now. No waiting. Let’s do this."

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Jack had time to do a little sight-seeing, he knew that. He didn’t want to waste a lot of time with paying for a cab or renting a bike. Skateboarding was pretty allowed in Europe from the brief google search so taking his battered a worn board out for a sight on the town made as much sense as anything. He wasn’t popular enough to have to worry about being mobbed, not that he thought anyone in this job ever did.

He enjoyed the feel of the air rushing past as he took off down a hill, leaning slightly to get the best curve without hitting anyone. Unlike the states no one seemed to feel the need to shout as him as he made his way past, which was a plus in a lot of ways.

It was nice to just be in his own head for a little bit, see the city, see the people. Just be himself, as much as he could be anyway. Jill hated skateboarding so he could almost guarantee he wouldn’t be disturbed while he set out on his little alone time. With the increase in workout time it was his own little retreat. Jack stopped at a top of a hill, popping the board up on the curb and picking it up to put under his arm.

“Mister!” A little girl shouted running up to him, all bright eyes and smiling teeth, her accent he couldn’t place but it wasn’t local. “That was so cool! How’d you do that?”

“Which part?” Jack asked.

“the popping it into your hands! How’d you do that? Are you a professional?”

Jack laughed self-consciously, “Nah, I can’t do any of the cool tricks.”

“But that was a cool trick.” She crossed her arms.

“Looks flashy but it’s pretty simple.” Jack replied, dropping the board. “Want to see?’

“You’d show me?” She beamed.

“Sure, if your parents are okay with that.”

“Daddy and mummy are fighting. Show me!”

Jack grimaced, guess he could understand wanting a distraction. “Okay. But careful, yeah?”

Jack went over the trick once, showing her the easy way to pop it off the curb and catch it. She made him repeat it twice before she gave it a try herself. On her seventh try she managed to get the board in her hands, she made a squeal of excitement.

See, imagine if we could get that kind of reaction with our wrestling. Applying ourselves to it we could help other people see it for themselves too.