Psycho Circus: The Father Of Invention

There’s a part of me that loves an argument. That thrives on conflict. There’s a part of me that loves the opportunity to argue that black is white. That money grows on trees. I don’t know what it is, I don’t know why I’m like that, I just love it. Sometimes I’ll let my opinion shift just so it differs to that of the people around me.

Maybe that’s counter-intuitive, maybe I wouldn’t have blown every relationship, every friendship I have if I didn’t act like that. I certainly wouldn’t be driving half way across the country for an argument with a guy I’ve never met, for what’s going to be a twenty minute argument at best, if I didn’t crave a fight, every single day. But that’s exactly what I’m doing, because it’s who I am.

I do think, every now and then, that I’d be happier if I could just relax, stop picking fights with everyone under the sun. But I can’t. Once or twice a year I’ll tell myself that, that’s not who I have to be, but the truth is that it is. That I’ll never be truly happy because being happy, just isn’t enough to keep me happy… Maybe I should just stop thinking…

***

Bishop draws up in his swanky new car, which certainly stands out in this absolute dump of a place. He opens the door and proceeds to get out, taking pretty much everything of any value with him, doing a quick sweep of the area before feeling comfortable leaving the car. Bishop’s suit looks pretty out of place too, he doesn’t where them usually, but he likes making people feel inferior and this seems like as good a way as any to do just that. Walking up to a battered old building, Bishop determines that it might be inhabitable but it’s hard to tell at this stage. He pushes open the wooden gate and begins to walk down the pathway, which has running down either side of it a scattered line of empty beer bottles and cigarettes, eventually he comes to the door of the house.

Knock, knock, knock.

A couple of minutes pass, but Bishop isn’t willing to give up too soon so he hangs around, checking his phone briefly before knocking on the door again, this time with a lot more determination. Eventually the door eases open just a little, and a face pops round the door, but the features aren’t exactly clear because of the greasy brown hair that covers most of his face. Bishop is still pretty sure that he’s found his man.

“Can I come in?” Bishop asks confidently, despite the fact that this is a man he’s never met before. The man in front of him pauses for a second before responding.

“Who are you?”

“I think you know exactly who I am.”

The door begins to close pretty fast, but Bishop’s foot is already jammed in the door and pretty quickly he has the door open and he’s standing inside face to face with ex-WFWF wrestler David Williams. Bishop motions towards the door to the living room as the man begins to speak.

“I don’t have a clue wh…”

“Oh please, don’t give me that. We both know that for at least a month or so now, you’ll have been watching me on Revolution, because I know that your interest has been heightened by the family connection that exists again. That particular failure is not what I’m here to talk about; it’s a completely different failure of yours that I’m interested in.”

Williams is clearly pissed; Bishop still looks pretty smug as he begins to speak again.

“You see I’m a guy who believes it’s important to learn from others mistakes. I believe that in order to ensure victory against Reckless, I need to find out how to avoid defeat. So why am I here?”

Bishop pauses for a moment, attempting to judge how far he can push the guy in front of him without making another enemy.

“Well I’m here because, frankly the list of men who have been bested by Reckless isn’t exactly a long one and you’re by far the most conveniently placed, took me just a couple of hours down the M1.”

“If you don’t leave now… I’ll make you regret the day you were born.”

Bishop laughed, not as confidently as he would have liked, but it was good enough.

“Come on man, I just want to know how one manages to lose to a guy like Reckless…”

Bishop smiles for a second, but then Williams moves towards him, ready for a fight, and Bishop is ready for a quick exit.

“Come on man, I just wanted some friendly advice!”

Bishop gets out of the building as the door slams shut behind him. He brushes himself down and laughs for a moment before returning to his car. He quickly checks his phone, but there are still no new messages since the last message Jake left a few weeks ago.

In all honesty Bishop’s been chasing down conflicts like this for some time; in fact he’s spent his life looking for a fight, an argument, a conflict of some sort. So it’s odd that he’s developed such a knack for avoiding the arguments he actually needs. The ones that really affect him.

***

I often find it difficult to differentiate between the things I want and the things I need.

For years it was my dream to become a champion in the WFWF, it was everything to me. It wasn’t important which belt I held above my head, I just wanted to be able to say I was a WFWF champion, to be able to tell my grandkids that I was a champion in the greatest wrestling federation on the planet. I needed it, I needed to be a champion, the belief that one day I would do it, was honestly all that kept me going, it was the only thing that drove me to get out of bed every morning.

Then finally at SuperBrawl, two years ago, I did it. That title belt that I had needed was finally mine. But within a week it was gone and I had left the WFWF and I had slipped back into obscurity. I was nothing, a no one. I’d lost that drive to get out of bed in the morning. All losing that belt did was cement this idea I had in my head, that I NEEDED to be the WFWF National Champion.

So two years later I laced up the boots once more. I decided, finally, that I couldn’t live like this, I needed something to motivate me to get up in the morning. So I fought, I battled, I won it back, and I felt… nothing. Not a thing changed. You see winning the National Championship just wasn’t enough, and defending it proved to be nothing more than a chore. Right now, I feel like I NEED more than just the fourth most prestigious belt in the greatest wrestling promotion around.

Is that greed?

I don’t know, but I’m certain that, if it is, I’m not the only one. In fact it’s pretty clear to me, that it’s one of the few traits me and my Psycho Circus opponent share. I guess the only difference is that up to this point, I’ve achieved exactly what I said I would, you can’t say the same about Reckless. You see Reckless is a guy who is always looking for more, even if he isn’t particularly deserving, but unlike me he comes up short nine times out of ten.

It’s kinda hard to believe that Reckless has been wrestling for 17 years, week in, week out, that guy has stepped into the ring. He’s picked fights with guys like me who, despite being years younger, are on his level. And you know what? Time and time again, he’s lost.

Now I’m not going to make the mistake of underestimating Reckless, I think that just a couple of weeks ago Carter Contra showed that even the most unlikely of upsets can happen and I guess once or twice, Reckless himself has pulled off the occasional upset. But it does seem a bit desperate, a bit pathetic, that despite coming up short time after time he keeps throwing himself into these situations.

Why does he keep doing it?

Well I guess his motives are exactly the same, because he craves conflict, because he needs to become a WFWF Champion. At least they seem like the obvious reasons. Unfortunately we’ve never been given a definitive reason for these attacks because, he’s never once bothered to explain why he’s actually doing this. At first I figured I was the target of these attacks because I was the National Champion and because rather than earning a shot like everyone else, Reckless would rather just attack the champion to get a shot.

But then I lost the belt and he kept it up, kept gunning for me, he didn’t back out of this match even after I lost the title. So I figured that he just liked to pick the fastest rising young wrestlers and go for them, because they frankly remind him that he’s never going to succeed at the one thing he’s dedicated himself to, that a ‘kid’ can rise up the ranks and it infuriates him. But over the course of the last few weeks, I’ve sadly, blown a couple of my own chances to impress. Still Reckless heads towards this match, still he targets me.

I don’t know why, I can speculate, but that’s all it is. I don’t know what it is about me that get Reckless so wound up, I don’t know what makes him want to destroy me. Maybe it’s the fact that I’ve done more in this industry in four years than he’s managed in seventeen. Maybe it’s the fact that I’ve still got time on my side. Maybe he just can’t stand me because I’m just plain better than him.

I guess the reason doesn’t really matter, all that matters is that when I go out there, this match is mine to lose. I’ve done a good job recently of losing matches that were mine to win, my clash with Carter Contra being a prime example of that. To beat Reckless, all I need to do is avoid a slip up. And all Reckless has done since he’s come back is try to make me slip up, he’s tried to get in my head, no explanations, just attack after attack has been aimed at me. But I’m not falling for it Reckless, I’m not going to let you get inside my head. I’m stepping into that ring, and unlike the few you’ve bested before, I’m not letting you win.

You see I’ve learnt from the mistakes of those guys that you’ve shocked, I realise exactly how you’ve done it, you make people falter, you make one or two slip up so that occasionally you’ll win a match that you’ve got no real right to win. I know that all I need to do is exactly what has won me two National Championships in a couple of years, and that’s going to be enough, because try as you might, you’ve never come close to doing it once. It’s as simple as that, you’ve only got one weapon and you’ve already missed with every shot. It’s not what I need to do that you should be afraid of though Reckless, it’s what I want to do. You see I can dispense of you pretty quickly by just outwrestling you. But I’m feeling greedy, so I’m not going to be satisfied with doing just what I need to do to beat you. I’m going to do what I want to do and what I want to do, is end your 17 year career before you’ve got a title to your name. I want to finish you off once and for all. I want a victory over the other guys they wouldn’t dare let onto the main show to be the only achievement to your name. You see, you picked a fight with the wrong guy; you picked a fight with a guy who is always looking for a fight.