The End is The Beginning: A CZCW Diary

[TEWFan]

Saturday, August 11, 2009: Somewhere in Ireland

 

 

"I have never done anything like this before....you sure it's safe?"

 

"Sure lad, everybody here does it. Look at Ultra Violence....lad done it many many times and he's still walking. Nothing more than a bit of pain, just a boo-boo you know....nothin' good beer can't heal, aye?"

 

"Ok I guess....here goes nothing"

 

 

That was me. My name is Adrian Jones, aka The Grand Superfly. I graduated from CZCW's dojo a few months ago. It was my dream to compete over there, but they had no room for me. I was let go after my graduation match, thrown into the whacky world of independent wrestling with little more than a couple of moves and the will to learn. That and a lot of peanut butter jelly sandwiches. When you make little to no money in this business, peanut butter jeally sounds real nice. Two months later I get a call from Cliff Anderson, the owner of CZCW. I was extremely happy to hear from him, thinking that there was something for me there. Turns out I was wrong. No, he called to let me know a promotion in England was going through some financial troubles and was bringing in new guys to compete for them, since 21CW had raided their roster. MOSC, or Men of Steel Combat was their name. Cliff wanted to tell me how big an opportunity this was for me, to make a name for myself somewhere. But I could read him...this was not about me making a name...this was about me making some money. But more importantly, this was about me getting as far away from his sister as I could.

 

Yeah, maybe I made a mistake. Maybe that's why they did not have room for me in CZCW. But Karen Anderson was one hot piece of......err..lady. I fell for her the very moment I met her and a few dates later things turned serious. Cliff loved wrestling, but he hated the idea of a wrestler getting it on with his sister. He never said anything to me, of course, everything I know is what was heard in the locker room. But somewhere deep down inside me, I knew this is why Cliff was so "high" on the idea of me leaving for the UK.

 

I followed his advice. That voice was The Highland Warrior. The owner and certified legend of this promotion, if we can call it that. To be honest, I had matches in bars that where a lot more professional than this crap. According to him, this is my "big" moment. After a few matches in which I showed that I was more skilled than the half-drunk idiots that work here, I am about to take part in my first angle. During my match with Geordie Jimmy Norris, an experienced, bland worker, Danny Patterson is going to run in and destroy us both. He is going to put us both through tables and Norris will stay down, but I will somehow get up and fight back, showing "Fighting Spirit" and after that, I would feud with Patterson and turn myself into a main event "star". I have never gone through a table before, but like Warrior just told me, Ultra Violence goes through them every single night and he is still standing. I guess alcohol numbs your senses or something. Yeah, a simple angle, me put through a table. What could possibly go wrong?

 

My music plays and I hit the ring as Norris is already there. Our match lasts only a few minutes as we trade headlocks and counter holds, the type of beatiful mat-based wrestling these fans hate. I swear to God they actually popped when Patterson started walking down the aisle, a big grin on his face. Both Norris and I turn around to see him and we put our differences aside to fight the big guy. We stagger him with punches, but our double-clothesline attemp backfires as the nimble giant goes under us and delivers a dual clothesline of his own. He throws me outside like a sack of potatoes and does the same to Norris. I get up and eat a big boot as Patterson bends over to pick Norris up and I can hear Patterson softly tell Norris to "get ready". One powerbomb later and Norris breaks a table in half. Patterson bends over to pick me up and softly tells me to "stall for a second" as the ring crew are setting up the second table. I pretend to fight back nailing Patterson with punches to the gut, but a big knee ends my "comeback" and Patterson grunts "Get ready!". I am lifted high in the air....Patterson is so strong I barely had to help him and I can feel a cold, fresh air, almost like if I was standing on a higher place. One second, two seconds....BAM!

 

The world goes black.

[TEWFan]

Saturday, August 11, 2009: A Hospital in Ireland

 

 

"But is he ok? Man I knew it Warrior, I knew I let him go too early! It was my fault!"

 

"Take it easy Danny.....nothing but a boo-boo I tell ye! I already got a cold six-pack of beer for this kid and you will see....he be wrestling again tomorrow aye!"

 

A bright white light

 

"Uoogh! What the hell happened? Where am I?"

 

"Ye're in a hospital lad. Ye landed on yer head and ye blacked out....I tell ye to drink 'afore the match, but ye not listen!" *Hearty laugh* "Ye goinna be foine!"

 

"I am so sorry man! I never meant to let you go so early, you slipped and nex thing I know you went head first through that table, I am so sorry man, I really am...I just....just...."

 

In all my years I have never seen such a big guy cry. But Danny Patterson was crying. I could tell he was really sorry. But his pain was nothing compared to mine. My head throbbed. My neck felt like it was on fire. There was so much pain in both areas that one seemed to numb the other. So much pain that you can barely feel it....it sounds stupid, but that's how it felt. I took a small look around as my head continued throbbing. Everything was moving around and that white light....I could barely see. Somehow the rest of the world faded from me, I could hear Warrior's drunken ramblings about beer and how it healed everything, but I could not make real sense of his words. Well, I had trouble making sense of him BEFORE, but now his voice just trailed away. Patterson continued saying that he was sorry. For some reason my eyes focused on my feet. The rest of my body was covered in a blanket, but my feet where exposed. I knew it was cold, but I could not FEEL the cold. My feet where turning blue, but I could not FEEL THE COLD! I tried to move my legs and put them under the blanket....but for some reason they did not move. With all my effort I tried to move them, but they did'nt respond. I tried to tell them what was wrong....but I could not speak. Maybe it was the shock of knowing I would never walk again, but the words where caught in my mouth.

 

The doctor walked in. He kept looking at some papers as Warrior rambled on about how he got me some beer and everything would be fine. The doctor looked at me, dead center in the eye. I knew something was wrong, I did not need him to tell me.

 

5 minutes later and everything was clear. The vertebrae in my neck had suffered a serious injury that extended down my spinal cord. Not only that, but I had suffered a concussion, which explained the throbbing in my head. I could not come to terms with what I wanted to ask, but God bless Danny Patterson for asking for me: Will he walk again?

 

 

There is a CHANCE I can walk again. Some parts of my body would respond in spite of the injury and with some rest and therapy, maybe some day I would walk again. But he made one thing very clear.....

 

His career is over.

[TEWFan]

September 17, 2009: Sacramento, California

 

 

It still hurt me to see her go. Every morning it was the same deal. Karen would wake up and go to work, kissing me softly before she left. She would walk naked in front of me and it was nice to see that SOME things still worked. At least I was capable of getting it up and using it....well, letting HER use it. God, how I hated this. She would walk away and go to work....I would stay home, rolling on a wheelchair and watching TV. I loved wrestling, I loved to watch wrestling...but for the first time in my life, I felt that there was to much wrestling to watch. I had so much free time I could catch all the shows and I had dozens upon dozens of DVD's, some of them still in their plastic wrappings, sitting on top of a table. Maybe it was the fact that I could no longer do it, but I became OBSESSED with it. I would cringe every time someone tried a springboard move. I would cry every time someone was put through a table. In fact, I sent an expletive filled letter to Mitch Naess about how one day one of his workers would end up like me.

 

Then the afternoon would arrive and with it came Karen. I could tell by looking at her eyes that she was tired and wanted nothing more than to sit down and rest. But she would come over and kiss me softly, she would help me take a bath and then she would cook me some food. By the time that ordeal was over, it would be around nine o' clock and she would pass out in the bed next to me, dead tired. I felt like an useless old couch. She needed to take care of me in the house and she needed to take care of me OUTSIDE of the house. Her job was the only thing keeping us afloat. That and, God bless his soul, Danny Patterson, who was still so hurt by what happened to me that he would sent me a monthly check with a percentage of the money he made working. I had written a dozen letters to him, telling him that it was an accident, to move on, to stop sending me money....but he would continue to do so. First, he wrote checks and when I refused to cash them in, he started sending me dollars. Converting euros to dollars is not cheap (I think) but he even did that for me. That made me feel even more useless. Too crippled to go to the bank.....

 

 

One night I woke up in the middle of the night, thirsty. As I turned I noticed that Karen was not there. I dragged myself to my chair and rolled to the kitchen, when I heard Karen sobbing and talking to someone on the phone.

 

"You have to give him a job Cliff. You just have to.....I see him every day and he is falling deeper and deeper into himself. He feels useless, like he doesnt belong in this world, like God took away from him the only thing he was good at and placed him in that chair to make him miserable......."

 

I stopped. I knew what this was about, but I refused to believe Karen would beg Cliff to give me a job behind my back! I almost jumped from my chair as Karen started shouting!

 

"But you have to! This is your fault Cliff, you sent him to Ireland, you told him this was a good idea and all because you wanted him away from me. Now look at him! Look at me! Look at what we have become!"

 

She smashed the phone into the floor. I ran....err...wheeled myself into the living room, next to her. She just hugged me and kept crying. This was the bottom of the barrel for us.......how farther down could we go?

 

For some reason, something my father told me once when I was little kept popping into my head as Karen's tears rolled down my shoulder.

 

The end is the beginning

[TEWFan]

September 18 2009: The CZCW Offices

 

 

I hated this. I hated the idea, I hated having to come here on a wheelchair to get another handout. Yeah, Karen said it was a job, but it was a gift. A gift, a favor Cliff was doing Karen and not me. One of the few friends I still have in the locker room, Joanie Perez, was wheeling me around. Joanie is a good kid, talented too, but he is clearly not going to go as far as his brother Frankie. It seems when everybody watches Joanie wrestle they really want to see Frankie and that hurts him. For all the talent he has, it's what he does not have that people want to see.

 

It was against Joanie that I worked my graduation match and it was a good one! The memory of it almost makes me start crying. But I had to hold it all in. I can't let Cliff see me hurt and broken. Well, I guess there is no way to hide that I am broken....but....

 

Joanie wheeled me to Cliff's office. He was there talking to James Prudence, a very talented worker who once competed for TCW and who is rumored to be leaving soon. He oozes star potential and both, TCW and the SWF are high on him. Joanie pats me on the back and leaves, clearly wanting no part of this. Hey, I said he was a good kid, not a brave one!

 

Cliff quickly dismisses Prudence, who walks to me and shakes my hand before leaving. Cliff motions for me to get closer to his desk and I do. A few moments of awkward silence follow. If I was uncomfortable and trying to hide it, Cliff was making no secret of it.

 

"Listen Adrian I'm so....."

 

"Save it Cliff. I have heard that enough and I don't want to hear it again. I am here because Karen says you have a job for me".

 

"Yeah....yes, I have a job for you. It's just that I never apologized for sending you to Ireland. Listen, uuuuhhh, all those rumors about me not wanting you with Karen, well, they are overblown."

 

"Are they?"

 

"Yeah, well, truth is I really did not want Karen to get involved with a wrestler, but it was her choice. I sent you to Ireland not to get you away from her, but to help you. Over there the competition is less and it seems everyone that ends up looking like a star in MOSC gets picked up by 21CW eventually....they have written contracts you know? With guarantees and TV time...the works. There is less competition over there....over here...well, if you are not at least 6'4 and 280 you are not making it to the SWF, at least not in any meaningful role."

 

"Isn't that what you are trying to change with CZCW? To give the little man a chance?"

 

"Well, yeah, but I had no room for you here! And if I pushed you, they would say you where getting pushed because you are banging Karen. Just like they say Joanie is here because he is Frankie's brother or how they say that American Flash is getting pushed because he is Machine's protege. I guess we can't change the past, but I can honestly say that what I did had your best interests in mind."

 

Maybe Cliff was saying the truth, or maybe he was doing it to smooth things over with Karen. When something like this happens,you become paranoid, you stop trusting people, you stop believing. I wanted to belive what Cliff was saying....I just couldn't.

 

"So what's my job?"

 

"Well, I want you to book CZCW. We had a falling out with the old booker and it has been mostly me and Dylan booking things now. I needed someone who could concentrate on the job fully and I know you will."

 

"Wait.....what? You want me to book the company? You are giving me power? Isn't that the reason you didn't want me here in the first place? Because everything I did would be connected to me banging Karen somehow?"

 

"Well....yes...but what option do I have? I owe you this much Adrian! Besides, what else could you do?"

 

Ouch.....that hurt. I know Cliff did not say it with that intention, but he just made me feel useless again. Like I was getting the book simply because I was too crippled to do anything else.

 

"So.....you in or not?"

 

I took a deep breath. He was right. There was nothing else I could do for CZCW. Plus, Karen and I needed the money. Karen needed to see me do something, she needed to see me embracing the life God has given me instead of turning into the miserable beer drinking, wrestling watcher I had become. But how am I going to book CZCW, a place with athletically gifted superstars who put their lives at risk in pretty much every match? I wanted to say no, everything inside me told me to scream NO!....but I could not say no. For my sake, for Karen's sake, I had to do this.

 

"I guess I am in then."

 

Cliff smiled warmly and shook my hand. I could tell he was relieved to have me take the job. Everyone knows Karen can be a bit of a hellraiser and I know that hell was falling on Cliff.

 

I was now head booker of CZCW, a company's fate in my hands, a position of power. But one more time, another old saying came into my head......

 

With great power comes great responsability.

[TEWFan]

January 1, 2010: CZCW Offices

 

 

I have spent the better part of the last 3 months working and assisting Cliff and Dylan in the booking of CZCW. Today, new year's day, I assume full control of the book.

 

As much as I hated this idea at first, I am really enjoying myself. Most of the guys like having me around and I feel less and less like old lugagge every day. Sure, Al Coleman is an *******, but the rest of them are great. Jonnie has become my right hand man, wheeling me around and letting me know what is going on in the locker room. He is a good hand and he seems to realize he will never be a main event star, but he is happy the way things are. He is really smart to the business and something tells me he will make a good road agent or booker someday.

 

We have such a talented roster that we live in fear: Rumblings about James Prudence, Donnie J, Mikey James, Masked Cougar, Fox Mask, Matt Sparrow and even Marc Speed leaving for one of the "big two" are following us everywhere. I guess part of being a booker is dealing with these issues and finding adequate replacements when they have to go. To everyone's surprise, it was not any of the ones mentioned above that got poached. Flying Jimmy Fox got signed by TCW during the holidays and is set to debut soon. Jimmy is a good kid and he deserved the break, but with TCW trying to resurrect the "All Action" division, our talents are looking mighty fine to them.

 

As I think about how things are going to go in the future, I carry two lists. The names that work for us and the names I would like to bring in. I just hope Cliff lets me spend some money.

 

The product also needs a tweak or two. I want to introduce a bit more angles to help our stars get over. Not as much as say, SWF or USPW, but just enough to add some spice to the stories told in the ring. I also want to tone down the risk a bit. I think that being an example of what can go wrong during those matches, they will agree that this is for the best.

 

Here is our current roster:

 

Main Eventers:

 

Donnie J

Fox Mask (CZCW Coastal Zone Champion)

James Prudence

Remmy Skye

 

Upper Midcard:

 

Frankie Perez

Insane Machine

Matt Sparrow

Mikey James

 

Midcard:

 

Al Coleman (CZCW Tag Team Champion)

Jackpot Jordan

Marc Speed (CZCW Tag Team Champion)

Masked Cougar (CZCW Extreme Champion)

Snap Dragon

The American Flash

 

Lower Midcard:

 

California Love Machine

Jake Idol

Jeremiah Moose

 

Opener:

 

Air Attack Weasel

Jonnie Perez

 

Managers:

 

Jakki

Little Miss Sunshine

 

Authority Figure:

 

Rita Charles

 

Announce Team:

 

Cliff Anderson

The Guru

 

Referee:

 

Pee-Wee Germaine

 

Road Agent:

 

Dylan Slide

[LucianCarter]

Good start. And it's always nice to see another CZCW diary.