Post by Mr. PerpetuaLynch Motion on Mar 4, 2016 0:18:18 GMT -5
Justin Tyme Part 1: Keeping Tabs
[/i] When you are very much in the thick of things, it’s really quite hard for a person to be able to take a step back and see what they’ve built, the path they’ve paved and where things are heading. Such is the case with Lucas Crowe. In the just under one year he’s spent here in the WFWF he has thrust himself so far into the forest that it can sometimes be hard for him to see through the trees. I however have been afforded the opportunity to witness the entire last year from the sidelines being the mentor for the Motor City Mercenary and in doing so I have made some observations that many may not have noticed. I’m going to just go ahead and through some numbers out for you.
One hundred sixty-three. That is how many days it has been since the last time Lucas Crowe faced a loss, a tag team match where he was not even pinned nor submitted. And for those inquiring minds, two hundred and sixty-three is the number of days it’s been since the last and to date only time that Lucas Crowe has been pinned or submitted. But it was only his second match and it was against a seasoned competitor in Penny Shannon. For the past two hundred and sixty-two days Lucas Crowe has been the dictionary definition of unconquerable. He cannot be beat, not one person on the roster can stop him. Want another number that would prove my point?
One hundred forty-four. It has been one hundred forty-four days since Lucas Crowe conquered the odds of a triple threat match and became the NEW reigning, defending WFWF National Champion. Since that time they have thrown triple threat matches in his path and he has bulldozed straight through them. Then they put the longest reigning WFWF National champion in this company’s entire history, a very accomplished competitor by the name of Ante Whitner, they put him in Lucas Crowe’s path and he went straight through it. Most recently, they put two returning warriors directly in front of Lucas Crowe. And what happened? Lucas Crowe violently and maliciously put a halt to their little hero’s welcome. Not that David James is a hero per se but even still I’m sure there was at least one or two people in the building that night who were happy to see him back in the ring only to have any sense of joy snuffed out, suffocated by the nearly seven-foot-tall behemoth that has earned the right to be called WFWF National Champion for the past one hundred forty-four days.
And now they have put someone in his path that people are once again touting as Lucas’ biggest, toughest challenge yet. The thing about it is that Lucas is very aware that every time he steps between those ropes with a championship over his shoulder he is walking straight into another one of his toughest challenges. Because while it may not be the World Heavyweight Championship, that WFWF National Championship means something to everyone in that locker room. And it has a special meaning to Lucas’ opponent this time around. But Lucas Crowe has made a habit out of crushing people’s hopes and wishes as of late. I trust this time will be no different.
One hundred sixty-three. That is how many days it has been since the last time Lucas Crowe faced a loss, a tag team match where he was not even pinned nor submitted. And for those inquiring minds, two hundred and sixty-three is the number of days it’s been since the last and to date only time that Lucas Crowe has been pinned or submitted. But it was only his second match and it was against a seasoned competitor in Penny Shannon. For the past two hundred and sixty-two days Lucas Crowe has been the dictionary definition of unconquerable. He cannot be beat, not one person on the roster can stop him. Want another number that would prove my point?
One hundred forty-four. It has been one hundred forty-four days since Lucas Crowe conquered the odds of a triple threat match and became the NEW reigning, defending WFWF National Champion. Since that time they have thrown triple threat matches in his path and he has bulldozed straight through them. Then they put the longest reigning WFWF National champion in this company’s entire history, a very accomplished competitor by the name of Ante Whitner, they put him in Lucas Crowe’s path and he went straight through it. Most recently, they put two returning warriors directly in front of Lucas Crowe. And what happened? Lucas Crowe violently and maliciously put a halt to their little hero’s welcome. Not that David James is a hero per se but even still I’m sure there was at least one or two people in the building that night who were happy to see him back in the ring only to have any sense of joy snuffed out, suffocated by the nearly seven-foot-tall behemoth that has earned the right to be called WFWF National Champion for the past one hundred forty-four days.
And now they have put someone in his path that people are once again touting as Lucas’ biggest, toughest challenge yet. The thing about it is that Lucas is very aware that every time he steps between those ropes with a championship over his shoulder he is walking straight into another one of his toughest challenges. Because while it may not be the World Heavyweight Championship, that WFWF National Championship means something to everyone in that locker room. And it has a special meaning to Lucas’ opponent this time around. But Lucas Crowe has made a habit out of crushing people’s hopes and wishes as of late. I trust this time will be no different.
The Wreckers Part 7: Grand Slam
[/i]We’ve all been training so hard in the gym every day for the last couple weeks since the Christmas break that Justin has suggested that we all take the day off and have a little bit of fun. His suggestion couldn’t have come at a better time as Spring Training for the upcoming baseball season has just got underway. I managed to convince Speedwagon and Steelheart to tag along with me to go see the Detroit Tigers take on the New York Yankees. Reo was pretty excited, apparently he spent a lot of his life growing up in New York before his family moved across the country to Los Angeles so he grew up a Yankees fan. So naturally there was some friendly ribbing exchanged between the two of us with Steelheart interjecting every so often to inform us that they do, in fact, play Baseball in parts of Russia. Their national team even came in fourteenth place at the Baseball World Cup just thirteen years ago!
I’m tellin’ ya Steelheart, there ain’t never been a good baseball player that’s ever come out of Moscow. Sports with ice and snow? Sure that may be your guys’ forte but baseball players you are not.
Maybe no players you’ve ever heard of. But that’s because you don’t pay attention to anything outside of United States of America. In Russia, trust me, they have great baseball being played over there.
I’m gonna just go ahead and take your word for it there muchacho. Maybe if we ever find ourselves in the good ol’ Soviet Union you can take champ and myself to a game.
Is no longer Soviet Union Speedwagon! But sure, you guys come to Russia and I’ll show you how real baseball game is played.
Reo and I just exchanged glances while trying to stifle our laughter as we pull into the parking lot at the stadium. Parking was painless enough even with my giant monstrosity of a truck and there was no shortage of people having a bit of a tailgate party before the game starts. That sort of thing isn’t really up mine or Reo’s alley and Steelheart had absolutely no idea what the point of it was. A few Tigers fans recognized me and asked if I could sign their jerseys or hats which I was happy to oblige. It’s still strange to me being asked for autographs and to take pictures since I’m not exactly a good guy inside the spectrum of the WFWF and the company I keep is even worse. But work is work and this is my day off and on my days off I’m happy being just a normal guy. I’m not a bad guy I’m just a guy that likes to get paid and sometimes in the line of work that I’m in, sacrificing the moral high ground is a more lucrative option. After taking a few photos with the last few people and sharing a few drinks with some fellow Detroit natives we headed for the stadium and found our seats.
The first inning was relatively uneventful, most of my entertainment came from Reo and Steelheart’s constant bickering back and forth. It is never ending anytime the two of them are in the same place together. Reo likes the sound of his own voice and Steelheart is easily agitated by the things that Reo says that are incomprehensible to Steelheart. It’s a pretty amusing dynamic to just sit back and watch or listen. They would probably make a really good tag team now that I’m thinking about it if not for Reo’s bum leg. Reo and Steelheart get up at the bottom of the first to go fetch a couple of beers but I decide to stay in my seat. Top of the second rolls around and the pitcher for the Yankees, Luis Severino, with bases loaded walks Mike Aviles to put the Tigers up by one. Then it happens. Bases loaded still with Tigers catcher Bryan Holaday taking the plate and then like a
ing prophecy built to explain my life and career this baseball game lobs it right over the plate. I hear the ball crack off the bat. I almost lose sight of it in the clouds as it sails through the sky careening back towards the wall. Then it’s as if time slows down for me as I see the Yankees outfielders lumbering their way to the wall. It’s going to be a grand ing slam.Lucas Crowe Chapter 23: Recognition
[/i]To some people the WFWF National Championship holds no prestige. For entirely too long it has been looked at as the red-headed step child of success. Some sort of distant relative. The only people that desire it are the people that want it to complete some sort of other grand accolade left unchecked on their resume. To hold it just to say they held it at some point. Being the reigning, defending National Champion just doesn’t hold any value in some people’s eyes. But in my eyes right now it is the entirety of my being. Everything Lucas Crowe is right now is synonymous with this strap of leather and gold.
Nearly one year ago I wandered into the WFWF ring competing in a tag team title tournament I was woefully unprepared for with a partner who was woefully unqualified to tie even my boots at that time. Truth be told I couldn’t tell you his name if I tried. And y’know what? We still won the first match. If my career had ended there I still would have ended up more successful than some people that stepped through the ropes of the WFWF ring. But the driving motivation for me at that time was money. This wrestling thing paid the bills, nothing more and nothing less. Even after elimination from the tag team title tournament it was still better than where I was.
Then something happened, a shot at the WFWF National Championship fell into my lap. I seized the opportunity without a moment’s thought and the rest, as they say is history. Since that time I’ve been amassing a decent resume for myself. I knocked off Nikki Dean to win this championship in a triple threat match, I’ve defended it successfully in a triple threat match and the coup de grace of this reign to date as everyone knows is when I defeated the longest reigning WFWF National Champion in history, Ante Whitner.
That’s when something switched in my head. Money is no longer the driving motivation for me anymore. My nickname may still be the Motor City Mercenary and believe me when I tell you that I still enjoy a good payday but it is no longer the sole reason I do this anymore. Recognition is. The recognition that comes not from being something like the longest reigning WFWF National Champion in history but the recognition of being the single greatest WFWF National Champion in history. I want the people that come to the shows as well as my peers in the locker room to recognize what Justin Tyme saw in me when he plucked me from obscurity one year ago and molded me in the shape of an unbeatable thrashing machine.
And then Samael Ahriman enters the frame. I think it’s pretty fair to say that we were never on each other’s radar thus far. Ahriman has been on his own little crusade while I have been toiling away making the WFWF National Championship an attractive prospect. And not just for someone that might want it to complete a grand slam but it is becoming an attractive prospect to talent the world over. There is an influx of talent from Japan that surely would like to have a crack at what I have spent the past several months building.
And Samael wants to shatter that, shake it to the ground. Put a halt to everything I have worked so very hard to build of late. All in the name of his obsession with some sort of validation. To be mentioned in the same breath as some of the other greats of the industry. For his name to forever be scrawled in the annals of history as a WFWF Grand Slam Champion. I can respect the ambition but I weep for the path that he has to take to get there. Too bad you didn’t make your drive for the WFWF National Championship earlier in your career when the champion wasn’t nearly seven feet of complete domination.
I almost hate to be the one that has to stand in the way of your endgame Samael but it goes back to that whole concept of recognition. If Lucas Crowe retains his WFWF National Championship, that’s it that’s all for you Samael. All your months of hard work to make this last push to obtain the Grand Slam will have all been for naught. No WFWF National Championship and thus no shot at the WFWF World Heavyweight Championship. The dream dies right then and there. Try and tell me you won’t recognize Lucas Crowe after that.
The Wreckers Part 8: Not Today
[/i]Deep in my subconscious I envision myself on the field now wearing the famed Yankees’ pinstripes standing center field. This isn’t during some spring training game though, there are considerably more people in attendance here right now. Almost feels like a playoff game. Then, the entire play I just witnessed seems to replay in slow motion once again. The pitch across the plate, the crack off the bat and the ball soaring high over my head back towards the center field wall. I begin my sprint towards the wall but it feels like I’m running through quick sand. No matter how hard I try to hustle, that ball keeps carrying back, back to the wall. I glance to left field and I see Reo Speedwagon, also wearing pinstripes, standing with his arms folded, barking at me to hurry hard to stop this grand slam. I look to the right field and see William Steelheart staring at me with a thousand-yard stare. Looking behind me I see standing on the pitcher’s mound is Justin Tyme with his hands covering his head in preparation for the inevitable outcome that I just can’t make it to the wall to prevent this. A sense of determination boils deep within, eventually spilling over as I will my legs to move faster and faster towards the wall. I make one last push as I feel my body leave the ground, I soar through the air and feel the ball land in my glove.
you and your grand slam. Just then, I’m suddenly awoken from my haze by Reo as he nudges me, handing me a beer. Yo champ, JT’s here. He’s just outside the entrance and says he needs to have a word with you.
God dammit. Thought this was supposed to be a day off.
Ah it’s only pre-season Luke, Tigers are up by five anyways. It’s probably in the bag. Steely will keep you posted. Don’t wanna keep Tyme waiting champ.
Reo playfully taps his watch as I get up, down the beer Reo just gave me and head out the entrance. Tyme is standing there smoking a cigar.
I take it you had a pretty good meeting?
Very fruitful actually. That’s what I need to talk about. They want me to go over contingency plans with you. In the unlikely event that you fail to beat Ahriman.
Well failure isn't really a word I ever bothered to learn so this so called “contingency” isn’t necessary. This is seriously what you interrupted me enjoying the ball game for? To discuss a non-issue?
Justin smirks and taps out his cigar, putting the rest in his breast pocket.
I told them you’d say that. Alright, I’ll see you back at the gym Luke. Enjoy the day, we’re back to work bright and early tomorrow.
I shake Justin’s hand and head back into the arena. He doesn’t need to remind me, I know where I’m at and what kind of preparations need to go into this match. I know what Samael is trying to accomplish and what it means to our associates but the thought of us needing a contingency plan is laughable at best. Justin Tyme has proven to be a true master of strategy so we will go in with his plan and I will walk out of that ring with my hand raised and the title around my waist with his plan. Contingency plans come about when people that don't know how a system operates try to get involved and make the parts move. I'm weary about the whole thing but Justin has shown that it's worth it to trust his judgement so I stick to thinking about our endgame. I take my seat and see that the Tigers have since made it seven to three. Reo is going to have to endure this ribbing for a little while longer
I dont know good luck 
