Breakdown 12-2-21 #2
{{Saturday, November 20
Gretna, LA
Spencer's Apartment}}
Spencer had taken Amy's advice, and taken some time after Breakdown to rest and let his big win sink in. They got back to New Orleans Friday afternoon, and Spencer had gone straight home. He thought about calling Jodi to come over, but decided against it. She seemed to finally be okay with the fact he didn't want to get into anything serious, and he didn't want to complicate things again. Especially not when he now had his eye and attention on someone else. When Spencer first met Marie Caedes he thought she was a pretty girl and hoped he'd see more of her backstage. But then she came to New Orleans to work out at BlackOut Academy, he saw and spoke to her a few more times.... and discovered she isn't just a pretty girl. No, Marie was smart, mature for her age, and as he found out when he wrestled her... much stronger than she looks. She was one woman he was going to have to play by all the rules for, if he wanted a chance. If that meant breaking some of Amy's rules... so be it.
Today though, Spencer forced himself to turn his attention to preparing for his United States Championship match. Spencer had spent the morning looking up a bunch of Christy Matthews' big matches – her World Championship win, a few from her Adrenaline Championship reign, including the one he and Amy had spoken about, where Amy defeated her for the title. They were all available on SCWs YouTube channel, and Spencer made himself a playlist. After lunch, Spencer sits down at the table, laptop in front of him, a notebook and pen for taking notes on the side. Watching film was technically resting, as he wasn't working out. Right? As he's about to hit play, another playlist he created catches his attention. He made it months ago, not too long after moving here to train at BOA. It was about a dozen matches, spanning over a decade and a handful of companies.... featuring the man he knew was his father. Spencer had watched every match countless times since creating the list, both impressed and disgusted with the man's skill. He'd gone on to reach these heights after walking out on Anna Pryce, having never met his son, or seeming to care about his existence. Had he thought Anna got rid of the pregnancy? Or did he not care? Either way, it didn't matter to Spencer. He'd turned his back on responsibility, and sometime soon.... the man would be faced with everything h walked away from.
But not as soon as Spencer had planned.
He hadn't expected to be anywhere near title contention so soon in his career. And he also hadn't expected to meet someone like Marie.
Spencer shakes his head at himself, no time to contemplate the woman now. He had to watch film.
Yet, as Spencer pushed the cursor to the Matthews' playlist... his finger slides a little lower and he clicks the other playlist instead.
“Look at you, you sack of shit....”
The video from 2009 begins as Spencer leans back, letting the match play while he thinks back to finding out exactly who his father was....
* * * * * {{ May 2020 – Beaumont }} * * * * *
At the Beaumont Public Library, Spencer sat at a computer, deep in research. With the name Spencer got from the college cover letter Caleb found in their mom's papers, he'd found a plethora of information, mostly college football stats. On the third page of Google results though... was where Spencer found the tidbit that became a breakthrough. Sometime after college the man had discovered wrestling.... and made the decision to change his name. The initials B.L. were no longer relevant. Once Spencer looked up that name... the floodgates of information opened.
“You sneaky motherfucker. Did you do that to keep Mom from tracking you down? Not that she would have, she was too proud to go chasing a man who didn't want her.”
Spencer read pages and pages of information, covering the man's whole wrestling career, right up to where he was currently located.
“New Orleans, huh? So close yet so far away...”
The more Spencer read, a plan formed in his head. He knew of the wrestling school run by Amy Chastaine, he'd looked into it when he thought about getting into professional wrestling after graduating college. His wrestling championships would give him a good foundation, Growing up watching SCW, HVW, and others had given him the idea to wrestle in high school and college. It was a logical next step and Spencer had decided on a school on Houston... but then Mom suddenly died. Maybe it was time to revisit the idea of signing up, and also give BlackOut another look. Spencer made himself leave the search results on his father's name and open a new window, pulling up the BlackOut Academy website. Before reading anything else, he looked over the staff page, that listed all the trainers. Amy Chastaine, of course. Jeff Alexander, Simon Lyman, and Jason Helms part-time. All names Spencer knew, all highly skilled wrestlers with different styles and strengths. Spencer clicked over to the Application page.
Yes. This was the move he needed to make. A great school... located where his asshole father had settled down. Without any further thought, Spencer filled out the application.
“I'm coming to find you, asshole. Might as well work on two missions at once.”
Clicking submit, Spencer knew he was doing the right thing.
* * * * * {{ Present – Spencer's Apartment }} * * * * *
At the time he filled out the BOA application, Spencer hadn't yet realized how much of his natural talent had likely been genetic. After finding his father's matches all over the internet, though? It was clear. Without having ever met the man, Spencer had worked with some of his mannerisms, even back in college wrestling. After being trained professionally though, it stood out to Spencer even more, to the point that he changed his style to eliminate the similarities. Watching his own matches back though, Spencer could still see it. And he hated it. The match playing now, from 2009, showcased one of those mannerisms Spencer also had, and he shakes his head and stops the video.
“Get a grip, Spence... you're supposed to be studying Christy, not this motherfucker.”
Spencer makes himself click the other playlist... first up on the Christy Matthews mix? Her Adrenaline Championship match against Amy in 2017.
“Alright, let's see what I gotta do to beat you, my girl.”
Spencer leans on the table, closer to the laptop, watching closely. He had a lot to learn, in a short amount of time.
* * * * *
A few hours later, it's nearly dark, and Spencer has watched every match on the Matthews playlist. He made a lot of notes, things he wanted to work on at BOA between now and December 9th. Deciding that he'd done enough work for the weekend, Spencer closes his laptop and grabs his shoes, planning to go grab some take out for dinner. He goes out to his car – he'd replaced the 2004 Malibu with a 2020 – and drives around the complex towards the exit gate. As he's waiting behind a truck for the gate to open, a brunette walking by with her head down catches his eye. Spencer watches the woman go down the sidewalk, wondering what's familiar about her. She then goes up the stairs of the building closest to the exit gate, and as she makes the turn on the landing towards what must be her apartment door, Spencer smiles to himself.
Marie Caedes.
Spencer watches as she pulls a key out and opens the door, then disappears inside. The truck in front of him moves, and Spencer drives out towards his dinner, thanking God for having given Marie the idea to choose this apartment complex to move into, only a few buildings down from his own unit.
Small world, huh?
ON CAMERA
I'm still pinching myself, y'all. Yeah, I know I sounded pretty confident and pleased last week after I picked up the big win, but it's still sinking in. In only my sixth professional wrestling match ever... I'm gonna challenge for one of the most prestigious championships in the business, the United States Championship!
It doesn't get any more epic than that.
Five other competitors fought hard, but in the end I pulled it off, and.... I'm really still just trying to wrap my head around this. Don't get me wrong, I've been preparing too. Watching film, picking Amy's brain, doing everything I can to be ready. I wasn't expecting SCW to give me a match before December ninth, though. And not just a regular match, but a tag team match.
I'm just stepping into all kinds of firsts pretty quick in my career. This is gonna be my first tag match, yet I don't feel nervous. That's because my partner is someone I've already gotten to know a little bit, in Marie Caedes. We've fought one on one, we've fought in the six-person match last week... but away from the ring, we've also trained together. Marie chose to hone her already amazing skills by heading to the deep south and putting in some work at BlackOut Academy. I've had the chance to work out with her a few times, especially in the last week getting ready for this match.
We know what were up against. Both new to SCW, never teamed before. Hell, I've never had a tag match, period. Marie has, elsewhere, and been pretty successful at it too so I'm hoping that will prove useful when we step into the ring with the... Farmstead Friends?
I get it. We're supposed to look at this as a joke. A man dressed as a bear and another man shirtless wearing a mask, who are essentially Lexy Nation goons. The idea here is for Marie and me to underestimate these guys... and end up looking foolish when it turns out the goons can actually wrestle. Lexy Chapel might be over the top and, okay, slightly annoying sometimes... but she's not stupid. She wouldn't bring anyone into her group that would be detrimental. She's trying to take over the world! So, while I can't promise that me and Marie are gonna pick up the win... and I can't speak for Marie but I can promise you that I'm not underestimating anyone.
I have a pretty good feeling these guys might underestimate us, though. A rookie and a newcomer, teaming for the first time, and my first tag match ever? Come on... even I know we're the underdogs here. But I'm asking all of SCW not to count us out just yet. Marie comes from a wrestling family, it's in her blood. I'm a two-time Texas State Champion in collegiate wrestling. While I know that's not quite the same thing as what we do here, it does give me one hell of an advantage over someone who might not be so technically trained. I can't imagine Penguin and Bear have the background or training that Marie and I combined do. They might catch us with trickery or just strength.... but there's also a damn good chance we're gonna just outwrestle them. And if I catch one of them and lock in a Pryce Check? It's all over. Ask G-Money, he's been caught twice.
We're also not naive to the fact that they are a part of Lexy Nation, and with that comes everyone associated with Lexy Chapel. Autumn Valentine, Ace Marshall, Katsumi Yashidi, maybe even Ryan Watson if he gets the itch to put down the controller and throw a Pele kick for old times' sake. Point is... even with Amy in our corner, Marie and I know we're outnumbered if everyone comes out to play. We hope things stay even and on the up and up.... but I wasn't born yesterday and I've seen how Lexy works. We have to be prepared for anything and everything. Luckily for me and Marie... we've had some of the best training in the world. In my case... I've already proven I can keep my head on a swivel and take anything thrown at me from any direction. Just look at last week for proof.
Like I said, I wasn't expecting a match before facing Christy Matthews, but I'm glad I got one. I get to work with an amazingly talented woman, and I get to keep on my toes and hopefully gain a little more momentum heading into next week. But I'm not looking past tomorrow night. One challenge at a time, one match at a time. So far I've risen to every occasion, I haven't been pinned or submitted yet. There is a first time for everything, but don't count on that particular first on being at Breakdown tomorrow night. What you can count on, is both me and Marie giving our best, because we were taught to show up and show out each and every time our name is on the card. Underestimate no one. And always remember that the most important match of your life... is the next one.
Farmstead Friends? We hope you guys are ready. Me? Well... I've never tapped out a farm animal before. But like I said moments ago... there's a first time for everything, right?