Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2015 18:43:26 GMT
“Dignity is as essential to human life as water, food, and oxygen. The stubborn retention of it, even in the face of extreme physical hardship, can hold a man's soul in his body long past the point at which the body should have surrendered it.”
As Nighthawk walks into the locker room of the Wrestle Factory, quickly getting dressed for the morning training session which he runs, one can’t help but wonder how the Chicago native would react if he were able to win Roulette and get a chance to face whoever the Imperial Champion might happen to be.
While he has always considered himself someone capable of besting anyone in the world with his finely-honed technical skill, and relentless intensity, it stands to reason that with Renee Pleasant’s entry into the contest, few believe he has much of a chance.
But while the “Wrestling Machine” has always been underestimated for a variety of reasons, it should be pointed out that there is perhaps no one on the IWF Roster as well-suited to solve whatever challenge might be put in front of them.
But as the “Man of 1000 Holds” heads towards the ring, the “freshman class” waiting for him, we see perhaps his most positive attribute on display: Superhuman intensity.
Nighthawk: “As I look out at all of you now, I see in your eyes the same thing I’ve seen in every freshman class that has walked in front of me since I opened the doors of this gym.
Hunger.
All of you, for different reasons, crave the idea of graduating here and going on to live your dreams.
For some of you, that dream includes fame and fortune.
For others, it’s the chance to be the best you can.
I tell you all now, no matter what your reasons for entry into this sport might be:
Your life will include pain.
No matter how good you think you are, and I will make sure you are as good as you can be, you will hurt.
You will suffer.
Get used to it here, now.
Because as I have told you before, I will not allow you to walk out in the world having no idea how to handle being put
through pain.
If you have any questions to ask of me, now is the time.”
Francois Petit Jr., a reed-thin 2nd-generation Québécois wrestler whose high level of potential is matched only by his high opinion of himself:
“Why do we have to suffer?
I know personally that I plan on being so good, and being so well-schooled, that I am not going to suffer.
I will just be better than the rest of my classmates here, and better than the men you want me to call peers.
Where am I wrong?”
Nighthawk, embers of anger beginning to creep into his voice as he turns to look at his cocksure student: “
Firstly, say hello to your father for me.
He was a man I wrestled many times, and took a great joy in doing so.
But as to your question, foolish though it might be, I give you this answer.
To do this, and to become the champion you seem to want to be, you will have to suffer at some point.
Beating a great champion doesn’t just happen because you’re more skilled than they are, or because you’re faster, stronger, or whatever else.
It’s because there will come a day when that’s no longer the case.
What will you do then, Mr. Petit?
What will happen when you’re not blessed with all of the athleticism that you THINK you possess?
If you don’t learn to suffer here, in a safe space, you’ll be doomed.
Because when you get out there in the real world, veterans will take advantage of you.
They will maul you, and stretch you, and beat on you until you’re on your knees.
And if you think I’m going to be the guy who lets you go out into that unprepared, Mr. Petit, I have only one thing to say to you.
There’s the door.”
Scanning the room, seeing that there are no more questions for him, Nighthawk directs his students into the ring to begin their morning drills with one hand as he shoos us out of the gym with the other.
A few hours later….
As Nighthawk walks into St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, closing the heavy wooden doors behind him, we see in his ice-blue eyes a need to be re-assured that he is doing the right thing for the right reasons.
Walking to the votive candle rack, his black leather trenchcoat waving behind him, the “Wrestling Machine” kneels down in front of it.
Nighthawk: “We beseech Thee, O Lord, to grant us the pardon of our sins by the intercession of Saint Philomena, virgin and martyr, who was always pleasing in Thy sight by her eminent chastity and by the profession of every virtue.
Amen.
Illustrious virgin and martyr, Saint Philomena, behold me prostrate before the throne whereupon it has pleased the Most Holy Trinity to place thee.
Full of confidence in thy protection, I entreat thee to intercede for me with God, from the heights of Heaven deign to cast a glance upon thy humble client!
Spouse of Christ, sustain me in suffering, fortify me in temptation, protect me in the dangers surrounding me, obtain for me the graces necessary to me, and in particular allow me to achieve victory where no one else believes that I can.
Above all, assist me at the hour of my death.
Saint Philomena, powerful with God, pray for us.
Amen.
O God, Most Holy Trinity, we thank Thee for the graces Thou didst bestow upon the Blessed Virgin Mary, and upon Thy handmaid Philomena, through whose intercession we implore Thy Mercy.
Amen.”
As Nighthawk walks back towards a pew, sitting down again, we see the beginnings of his famous confidence and intensity begin to radiate back out from his soul.
Nighthawk: “I know it’s weird to be talking to you here, Dad.
We usually speak at your home, but for something like this, I feel like this is a better place.
I need your help.
I’ve never asked for it before, because I’ve believed you would have looked at me askance if I had asked you to guide me through battles I had been through myself.
This, though, is a different matter.
This Roulette match means I need the kind of strength, and wisdom, that only comes from all the battles and wars that YOU had.
I have never had the desire to be a brawler, like you were.
I know that pleased you in your last days, and that it pleases you now.
You always wanted to be thought of a technician, as a guy who knew how to wrestle, instead of how to fight.
I have tried to live up to the best parts of what you wanted to be, and I think I’ve done a pretty good job of it.
But for this Roulette match, which is more like a brawl than any other match I’ve been in, I can’t be a technician.
I have to fight to get my way through this.
And there is no man I know who is a better fighter, who knows what toughness is, than you.
Please help me.
Please let me get my chance to truly, and finally, give you the legacy you deserve.
I love you, Dad.”
As Nighthawk walks back out of the church, lifting the hood of his leather trenchcoat back over his head, we see the beginnings of a smile cross his face.
The next morning…..
As Nighthawk packs up his car and prepares to head off to High Stakes, he leans against his trunk and slowly closes his eyes.
Clad in a black leather trenchcoat with a full-scale mural of the city of Chicago on the back, a black Dynamite Kid t-shirt, black leather pants with a blue-and-orange checkerboard pattern up and down each leg, and black work boots, the “Wrestling Machine” opens his eyes.
Nighthawk: “Since I put pen to paper on my IWF contract, I have told the world I wanted one thing, and one thing only.
I wanted to give my father a chance to be remembered as more than just a blood-and-guts warrior.
That has been my defining motivation, the thing that gets me up in the morning to train when everyone else is asleep and keeps me awake at night.
More so than the search for perfection, it’s the idea that I can save my father’s name that keeps me going.
And that’s why this Roulette match is so important to me.
Because in one night, I can have the chance to finally, truly, correct his legacy.
And the best part?
No one expects me to win, to even survive to the end.
All of the narratives, all of the pressure of being asked ‘Are you going to win?’, fall on the heads of other people.
Spike Kane is going to win, because revenge is a powerful motivator.
Renee Pleasant is going to win, because after all, this is his coronation.
And then there’s me.
I’m a cute underdog story.
I don’t have a reason to crush the champion.
I don’t have a throne to ascend to.
All I have, all I’ve ever had, is the memory of my father and the promise I made to him.
And that’s all I’m going to need.
I’ve dreamt about this moment, this chance, since I signed here.
I want the chance to be the man, to be THE champion.
And in order to do that, I have to win Roulette.
I can, and I will, out-think, out-smart, and out-last everyone else in that ring with me.
I will survive, and I will win.
These are the facts.
They are indisputable and unassailable.
I will be the last man standing.
And whoever the champion is after High Stakes is done, consider yourself warned.
A Machine is coming.
And I will not stop until I have your belt.
Goodnight IWF. May sleep give you the courage to go on.”
As Nighthawk walks into the locker room of the Wrestle Factory, quickly getting dressed for the morning training session which he runs, one can’t help but wonder how the Chicago native would react if he were able to win Roulette and get a chance to face whoever the Imperial Champion might happen to be.
While he has always considered himself someone capable of besting anyone in the world with his finely-honed technical skill, and relentless intensity, it stands to reason that with Renee Pleasant’s entry into the contest, few believe he has much of a chance.
But while the “Wrestling Machine” has always been underestimated for a variety of reasons, it should be pointed out that there is perhaps no one on the IWF Roster as well-suited to solve whatever challenge might be put in front of them.
But as the “Man of 1000 Holds” heads towards the ring, the “freshman class” waiting for him, we see perhaps his most positive attribute on display: Superhuman intensity.
Nighthawk: “As I look out at all of you now, I see in your eyes the same thing I’ve seen in every freshman class that has walked in front of me since I opened the doors of this gym.
Hunger.
All of you, for different reasons, crave the idea of graduating here and going on to live your dreams.
For some of you, that dream includes fame and fortune.
For others, it’s the chance to be the best you can.
I tell you all now, no matter what your reasons for entry into this sport might be:
Your life will include pain.
No matter how good you think you are, and I will make sure you are as good as you can be, you will hurt.
You will suffer.
Get used to it here, now.
Because as I have told you before, I will not allow you to walk out in the world having no idea how to handle being put
through pain.
If you have any questions to ask of me, now is the time.”
Francois Petit Jr., a reed-thin 2nd-generation Québécois wrestler whose high level of potential is matched only by his high opinion of himself:
“Why do we have to suffer?
I know personally that I plan on being so good, and being so well-schooled, that I am not going to suffer.
I will just be better than the rest of my classmates here, and better than the men you want me to call peers.
Where am I wrong?”
Nighthawk, embers of anger beginning to creep into his voice as he turns to look at his cocksure student: “
Firstly, say hello to your father for me.
He was a man I wrestled many times, and took a great joy in doing so.
But as to your question, foolish though it might be, I give you this answer.
To do this, and to become the champion you seem to want to be, you will have to suffer at some point.
Beating a great champion doesn’t just happen because you’re more skilled than they are, or because you’re faster, stronger, or whatever else.
It’s because there will come a day when that’s no longer the case.
What will you do then, Mr. Petit?
What will happen when you’re not blessed with all of the athleticism that you THINK you possess?
If you don’t learn to suffer here, in a safe space, you’ll be doomed.
Because when you get out there in the real world, veterans will take advantage of you.
They will maul you, and stretch you, and beat on you until you’re on your knees.
And if you think I’m going to be the guy who lets you go out into that unprepared, Mr. Petit, I have only one thing to say to you.
There’s the door.”
Scanning the room, seeing that there are no more questions for him, Nighthawk directs his students into the ring to begin their morning drills with one hand as he shoos us out of the gym with the other.
A few hours later….
As Nighthawk walks into St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, closing the heavy wooden doors behind him, we see in his ice-blue eyes a need to be re-assured that he is doing the right thing for the right reasons.
Walking to the votive candle rack, his black leather trenchcoat waving behind him, the “Wrestling Machine” kneels down in front of it.
Nighthawk: “We beseech Thee, O Lord, to grant us the pardon of our sins by the intercession of Saint Philomena, virgin and martyr, who was always pleasing in Thy sight by her eminent chastity and by the profession of every virtue.
Amen.
Illustrious virgin and martyr, Saint Philomena, behold me prostrate before the throne whereupon it has pleased the Most Holy Trinity to place thee.
Full of confidence in thy protection, I entreat thee to intercede for me with God, from the heights of Heaven deign to cast a glance upon thy humble client!
Spouse of Christ, sustain me in suffering, fortify me in temptation, protect me in the dangers surrounding me, obtain for me the graces necessary to me, and in particular allow me to achieve victory where no one else believes that I can.
Above all, assist me at the hour of my death.
Saint Philomena, powerful with God, pray for us.
Amen.
O God, Most Holy Trinity, we thank Thee for the graces Thou didst bestow upon the Blessed Virgin Mary, and upon Thy handmaid Philomena, through whose intercession we implore Thy Mercy.
Amen.”
As Nighthawk walks back towards a pew, sitting down again, we see the beginnings of his famous confidence and intensity begin to radiate back out from his soul.
Nighthawk: “I know it’s weird to be talking to you here, Dad.
We usually speak at your home, but for something like this, I feel like this is a better place.
I need your help.
I’ve never asked for it before, because I’ve believed you would have looked at me askance if I had asked you to guide me through battles I had been through myself.
This, though, is a different matter.
This Roulette match means I need the kind of strength, and wisdom, that only comes from all the battles and wars that YOU had.
I have never had the desire to be a brawler, like you were.
I know that pleased you in your last days, and that it pleases you now.
You always wanted to be thought of a technician, as a guy who knew how to wrestle, instead of how to fight.
I have tried to live up to the best parts of what you wanted to be, and I think I’ve done a pretty good job of it.
But for this Roulette match, which is more like a brawl than any other match I’ve been in, I can’t be a technician.
I have to fight to get my way through this.
And there is no man I know who is a better fighter, who knows what toughness is, than you.
Please help me.
Please let me get my chance to truly, and finally, give you the legacy you deserve.
I love you, Dad.”
As Nighthawk walks back out of the church, lifting the hood of his leather trenchcoat back over his head, we see the beginnings of a smile cross his face.
The next morning…..
As Nighthawk packs up his car and prepares to head off to High Stakes, he leans against his trunk and slowly closes his eyes.
Clad in a black leather trenchcoat with a full-scale mural of the city of Chicago on the back, a black Dynamite Kid t-shirt, black leather pants with a blue-and-orange checkerboard pattern up and down each leg, and black work boots, the “Wrestling Machine” opens his eyes.
Nighthawk: “Since I put pen to paper on my IWF contract, I have told the world I wanted one thing, and one thing only.
I wanted to give my father a chance to be remembered as more than just a blood-and-guts warrior.
That has been my defining motivation, the thing that gets me up in the morning to train when everyone else is asleep and keeps me awake at night.
More so than the search for perfection, it’s the idea that I can save my father’s name that keeps me going.
And that’s why this Roulette match is so important to me.
Because in one night, I can have the chance to finally, truly, correct his legacy.
And the best part?
No one expects me to win, to even survive to the end.
All of the narratives, all of the pressure of being asked ‘Are you going to win?’, fall on the heads of other people.
Spike Kane is going to win, because revenge is a powerful motivator.
Renee Pleasant is going to win, because after all, this is his coronation.
And then there’s me.
I’m a cute underdog story.
I don’t have a reason to crush the champion.
I don’t have a throne to ascend to.
All I have, all I’ve ever had, is the memory of my father and the promise I made to him.
And that’s all I’m going to need.
I’ve dreamt about this moment, this chance, since I signed here.
I want the chance to be the man, to be THE champion.
And in order to do that, I have to win Roulette.
I can, and I will, out-think, out-smart, and out-last everyone else in that ring with me.
I will survive, and I will win.
These are the facts.
They are indisputable and unassailable.
I will be the last man standing.
And whoever the champion is after High Stakes is done, consider yourself warned.
A Machine is coming.
And I will not stop until I have your belt.
Goodnight IWF. May sleep give you the courage to go on.”
Well howdy there pardner.