Post by Deleted on Mar 20, 2020 22:59:37 GMT
Nighthawk isn’t arrogant, far from it. The word you would seek to use to describe him isn’t really blind arrogance. Rather, it is self-confidence and conviction. This is a man who, rightly so, believes himself to be a peerless technical wrestler. He is right in this assessment of his skills. And, when he gets off the plane for the Roulette, he will seek to remind 29 men, some of the best wrestlers in the world, exactly how good he has always been. This is the only thing that matters to him.
Clad in a black USA Wrestling t-shirt, baby-blue ripped jeans, and black work boots, the “Master of 1000 Holds” crosses his legs together in perfect lotus position and meditates until his eyes slowly flicker closed as we hear a previously-recorded voiceover.
“The IWF Roulette is a great many things, but the one thing it is above all else is the only night of the year where a longshot can believe they can become the next Andrew Jacobsen, or Spike Kane, or Rob Diamond. That longshot can look at that field of 29 and believe, in their heart of hearts, that they can become the MAN in a single night. And for my entire IWF career, I have been that longshot. I have been the guy who has scratched, and clawed, and fought and realized it was never quite enough.
And if that wasn’t enough, I heard everyone else in the locker room make the same joke, ask the same question. How unqualified is he? Why is he here, taking up a perfectly good roster spot that somebody who’s worth a damn can have?
I heard it. At first, it was just people I didn’t respect. People I didn’t care to listen to. Then, by the end, it was everyone. People I had trained alongside, people I had taught, people I considered friends. Every last one of them asked the same question, and made the same joke. So when Steve Awesome injured my leg, I took the time to leave and heal up once and for all. My friends, such as they were, would be left behind too.
And then, months after getting my legs back, I get a phone call from a member of the IWF Alumni Board. They wanted to know if I would show up for the Roulette and compete. But I knew what they were expecting. Hanale, the 90-year-old man who lives down the road from us in Honolulu, knew what they were expecting, and he hasn’t watched wrestling since the days of High Chief Peter Maivia.
Nighthawk was going to show up, smile, wave, and then get eliminated. That was everyone’s grand plan. Except it wasn’t mine.
I have spent my entire IWF career being told I wasn’t good enough, being told I didn’t have it. And I internalized all of it, and doubted myself to the point I lost matches to people I should have run through.
But, after spending weeks and months laying in the sun and healing, I came to a decision. If I ever got the chance to step back in the ring, I would be the man this company signed.
And so that’s why I said yes. To show the world I am who I have always been, beneath the doubt and low confidence.
So 29 men will see me. 29 men will find my name on the signup sheet, and they will expect something like an easy night’s work. And then, as each one of those men find themselves walking to the back with their jobs unfinished, they will realize their expectations were false. They will all realize why I am here. I am here to show the world that I am still, without a shadow of a doubt, the best you will see in that ring.
In Rome, in the shadow of history and culture that go back for millenia, I will be the one making history. I am a ‘Wrestling Genius’, and a ‘Master of 1000 Holds’.. I will be the last one left standing. There are no stars in the sky that can stop me.
Goodnight from paradise. Stay Safe.”
Clad in a black USA Wrestling t-shirt, baby-blue ripped jeans, and black work boots, the “Master of 1000 Holds” crosses his legs together in perfect lotus position and meditates until his eyes slowly flicker closed as we hear a previously-recorded voiceover.
“The IWF Roulette is a great many things, but the one thing it is above all else is the only night of the year where a longshot can believe they can become the next Andrew Jacobsen, or Spike Kane, or Rob Diamond. That longshot can look at that field of 29 and believe, in their heart of hearts, that they can become the MAN in a single night. And for my entire IWF career, I have been that longshot. I have been the guy who has scratched, and clawed, and fought and realized it was never quite enough.
And if that wasn’t enough, I heard everyone else in the locker room make the same joke, ask the same question. How unqualified is he? Why is he here, taking up a perfectly good roster spot that somebody who’s worth a damn can have?
I heard it. At first, it was just people I didn’t respect. People I didn’t care to listen to. Then, by the end, it was everyone. People I had trained alongside, people I had taught, people I considered friends. Every last one of them asked the same question, and made the same joke. So when Steve Awesome injured my leg, I took the time to leave and heal up once and for all. My friends, such as they were, would be left behind too.
And then, months after getting my legs back, I get a phone call from a member of the IWF Alumni Board. They wanted to know if I would show up for the Roulette and compete. But I knew what they were expecting. Hanale, the 90-year-old man who lives down the road from us in Honolulu, knew what they were expecting, and he hasn’t watched wrestling since the days of High Chief Peter Maivia.
Nighthawk was going to show up, smile, wave, and then get eliminated. That was everyone’s grand plan. Except it wasn’t mine.
I have spent my entire IWF career being told I wasn’t good enough, being told I didn’t have it. And I internalized all of it, and doubted myself to the point I lost matches to people I should have run through.
But, after spending weeks and months laying in the sun and healing, I came to a decision. If I ever got the chance to step back in the ring, I would be the man this company signed.
And so that’s why I said yes. To show the world I am who I have always been, beneath the doubt and low confidence.
So 29 men will see me. 29 men will find my name on the signup sheet, and they will expect something like an easy night’s work. And then, as each one of those men find themselves walking to the back with their jobs unfinished, they will realize their expectations were false. They will all realize why I am here. I am here to show the world that I am still, without a shadow of a doubt, the best you will see in that ring.
In Rome, in the shadow of history and culture that go back for millenia, I will be the one making history. I am a ‘Wrestling Genius’, and a ‘Master of 1000 Holds’.. I will be the last one left standing. There are no stars in the sky that can stop me.
Goodnight from paradise. Stay Safe.”
Well howdy there pardner.