Body, Heart, and Soul
{{December 25
Beaumont, TX
Caleb's House}}
The last Breakdown before the holidays hadn't been one of Spencer's favorites. Marie faced Tsunami, and he wanted to go to the ring with her but she insisted on having Amy in her corner instead. Just a manager, not an active wrestler, therefore not someone who was a threat. Spencer saw her logic, but he didn't like it. His bad feeling was proven correct when Jaina was sent to interview Marie after the match, and she was basically tricked into getting into the ring, then Tsunami tried to attack her. Tried, because Jaina evaded then dropkicked him in self-defense. Spencer ran out, wanting to make sure the big man didn't try again, or go after Marie, given she'd won by count-out. It seemed like a lot of people were shocked by Jaina's ability to evade, then throw some offense, but Spencer wasn't. He knew that she'd been doing some training in the last few months, although Amy had only recently found out.
Spencer drove to Beaumont to spend Christmas with Caleb. Caleb also had his girlfriend Allie over, it was just the three of them. Caleb and Allie had been together since high school, so Spencer knew her well and they got along. They kept dinner simple – meatloaf and mashed potatoes with gravy, one of Spencer and Caleb's mom's favorite things to cook for them. The conversation over dinner had been mostly catching up. Caleb and Allie talking about their jobs, and Spencer answering questions about SCW.
After dinner the trio sit outside on the back porch drinking beer. It was unusually warm for Christmas, so being outside was nice. Allie picks up the conversation.
“How long are you in town for, Spence?”
“Just another day or two. There's this end of the year show I have to attend.”
“I heard about that, are you wrestling?”
“Nah, but they have these year end awards, and I was on the ballot for a few. So they want me there in case I win any.”
“Big bro bout to win Asshole of the Year.” Caleb laughs as Spencer leans over and punches his shoulder. “See?”
“Fuck off, man.” Spencer laughs though.
“Seriously though, that's cool shit that they got you up for some things.”
“Why wouldn't they? No one's beat me yet, not really.”
“That's right, only DQ and that one four way someone else got pinned, right?”
“That's right.”
“Don't keep bringing that up, he won't get his head back into the door.”
“Why do I come here? All you do is bust my balls.”
“Making up for us as kids when all you did was push me around.” Caleb makes a face, which makes Allie laugh again.
“Half the time you deserved it, you were a little shit.”
“Were?”
Caleb snaps his head towards Allie. “Really? I thought you were on my side?”
Everyone laughs. “I can be on your side and still think you can be a shit sometimes.”
“You are so lucky I love you.” Caleb shakes his head. Allie finishes the beer in her hand and gets up.
“I know.” She smirks. “I'm getting another, you guys want?”
“Yeah, thanks.”
“The answer to that is always yes.” Spencer smirks. Allie picks up the other empty bottles and goes inside.
Once the door closes, Spencer chuckles a bit. “You gotta keep that one, bro. She keeps you in line.”
“Don't I know it.” They laugh. “When you gonna let some girl keep you in line?”
Spencer scoffs. “That'd be a good trick. You know me better than that bro.”
“I know you been spending a lot of time with that teenager.”
Spencer shakes his head. “Don't say it like that, you make me sound like a pervert. She's an adult!”
Caleb laughs. “Look at you, all defensive. She's really under your skin, huh?”
“I'm not having this conversation if all you're gonna do is give me shit.”
Caleb sighs, and drops the mischievous tone. “Alright, alright, fine. What's really up with her though?”
Spencer shrugs a bit. “Not all that much, really. Just training, hanging out. Had drinks once.”
“Drinks?”
“At my place.”
Caleb leans in, eyes widened. “Oh yeah? And how did that end up?”
“With me walking her home cause she's a lightweight.” Spencer grins.
“Not what I expected, but okay. Since when are you a gentleman like that?”
“Since she's not the type I usually mess with. I keep telling you this.”
Caleb sits back again, stretching. “Yeah, and I keep telling you this has trouble written all over it. This girl is in your head, bro. You keep putting off your mission.”
“Look man, it's not only cause of her, okay? I was screwed out of that title match, I'm waiting to see if I'm gonna get another shot. What I have to say is gonna be taken a lot more seriously if I'm walking around the place as a champion. Gold gives you cred in this company.”
“Maybe so, but you told me yourself you wanted to see how this played out with her, see if she'd be on your side.”
“You weren't supposed to remember that....”
Caleb laughs. “You ain't supposed to blow smoke up my ass, either. You had a plan when you went to New Orleans, you were just about to put it in action.... then this girl-”
“Marie.”
“What?”
“You keep saying 'this girl.' Her name is Marie.”
Caleb shakes his head in annoyance. “Yeah, Marie, whatever. She comes around and you slam the brakes.”
“We've already had this conversation, bro.”
“Yeah, I know. But you ain't changed nothing. You're still letting her distract you from what you intended to do.”
“Sidetracked, maybe. But not distracted. I even told her.”
Caleb leans forward again, eyes wide. “You did what?”
“Yeah, I told her I was there to find my father. Didn't tell her who he is.”
“Shit... you scared the shit outta me for a second there.”
“What does it matter to you?”
“Do I really need to spell this out? She's young, she has history with Chastaine, she's friends with her daughter, right?” Spencer nods, Marie and Jaina had known each other since they were kids. He wasn't sure if they were really friends at the moment, but Caleb didn't need to know the nuance. “What if you tell her, and she lets it slip before you're ready to confront the fucker?”
“That's exactly why I have no plans on telling her. She didn't even ask. But... just hypothetically? I think that if I did want to tell her, I could trust her.”
Caleb shakes his head. “Something is really wrong with you, man. Since when do you trust any female that isn't mom?”
“Stop, I trust Amy.”
Caleb scoffs. “The fuck you do. Or else you would have been up front with her about this from the jump.”
Spencer sighs, Caleb had a poing. “Okay, fine... I trust her with everything else.”
“That's what I thought. I gotta ask you bro, if you can't trust your mentor, manager, whatever you want to call her, with this... what is it about this gi-... about Marie, that makes you think you can trust her with everything?”
“I don't know.” Spencer shakes his head. “I don't, it's just... a feeling I get.”
Caleb just looks at him a few seconds, then laughs. “You're so full of shit, that feeling is just in your cock.”
“Impossible. My cock hasn't felt her.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“You truly are insane in that case, my man.”
“Maybe.” Spencer didn't want to say it out loud, but he thought maybe that was why he felt he could trust Marie. She hadn't immediately tried to ride him, like most women he flirted with did. She wasn't only interested in that, she seemed to be interested in something more.
Allie comes back outside, carrying three beers, already opened. ”Sorry it took so long. My mom called, and she can't take a hint that I want to get off the phone.”
She hands a beer to Spencer and Caleb before sitting back down. Spencer has a long pull from his beer, thankful that Allie had come back out when she did. He didn't like the way the conversation had been going and he knew Caleb wouldn't continue it with Allie present. She knew nothing about Spencer's mission about his father. The brothers planned to fill her in right before Spencer pulled the trigger – he'd wanted no one to know anything, to not risk word getting out in any manner. There was no way Spencer was going to admit to Caleb that he'd nearly told Marie everything, or that a part of him still wanted to, despite knowing the risks.
{{Tuesday, January 4
Gretna
BlackOut Academy}}
The End of the Year Special came and went, Spencer walked away with the Rookie of the Year award, he was proud of it. It was recognition, of his talent and success so far, and put more attention on him, more credibility. That would be invaluable when it came time for him to speak his truth to the world. In the meantime though, Spencer knew he couldn't slack off in the slightest bit. He still hoped he'd get another shot at Christy Matthews, and had a feeling he'd find out at the upcoming Breakdown, where SCW would find out who would be in charge going forward... either current GM Cian O'Dwyer, or someone else.
BlackOut reopened for classes yesterday, but Spencer had spent the day in the gym downstairs, reacquainting himself with the weights and treadmill. He'd taken a break from training over the holidays and needed to snap himself back into shape. Today, he was in the ring for drills. He, Marie, Lynn Bradley, and Brennan Davis were teamed up and being led by Simon, while Amy led a larger, less experienced group in the other ring. Spencer watches as Lynn and Brennan run a sequence, starting with a few whips across the ring and ending with Lynn pining Brennan with a jackknife cover.
“Well done, Lynn! Just a word of advice, with a taller opponent you want to make sure you pull their legs up far enough to get their ass off the mat. Remove their kicking out leverage, just like you did with Brennan here.”
“Thanks, Coach.”
“You calling me short, Simon?”
“Yes Brennan, I am.” Simon chuckles, while Brennan and Lynn laugh. Brennan was on the shorter side of average for a man, while Lynn was on the taller side of average for a woman.
“Okay, just checking.” Spencer and Marie chuckle as Brennan and Lynn step aside.
“Alright. Spencer, Marie. You're up. Same drill.”
The two step into the center of the ring. They lock up, and Spencer grabs Marie's arm and sends her across. She bounces back and ducks under, hitting the other side. She bounces back again and Spencer grabs her and hip tosses her. Marie rolls through and gets back to her feet. She grabs Spencer and sends him into the ropes. He bounces back and Marie hits a clothesline. Spencer goes down, rolls back and through and back up to his feet. He backs into the ropes, springing off them himself and drops Marie with a running knee. He goes for a cover but she rolls away. Spencer grabs her and pulls her up and slings her into the corner. Marie looks surprised, that wasn't in the list for the drill. Marie isn't sure what do to when Spencer runs at her, but her instincts take over and she gets a foot up, blocking the shoulder tackle Spencer was going for. He steps back and Marie hops onto the bottom ropes, springs off them and hits Spencer with a dropkick. She then hurries over and folds him into the jackknife cover. Simon claps his hands for the three count.
“Good job, Marie! That's thinking on your feet, when Spencer here went off-script.”
Both Marie and Spencer get to their feet. Marie smiles, but Spencer glares.
“Off-script?”
“Yes, we're running drills. You were supposed to whip her into the ropes again, not into the corner. But it worked out, she thought quickly and-”
“That was kinda the point. I know she needs to be able to think fast so I threw her a curveball.”
“And I get that. It worked out, Marie did very well. I will point out though that the objective of these drills are so that these common moves become second nature, rather than you having to think about them each time the opportunity to use them comes up. If we don't have the fundamentals down to instinct, the fancy stuff doesn't matter.”
“Look man, I just wanted her to get used thinking quickly, expect the unexpected. You don't have to scold me like a damn child.”
Simon sighs. “I was doing nothing of the sort. Simply explaining why we're doing what we're doing.”
Marie steps in. “Guys, it's okay... I wasn't super thrown off by Spencer doing something different. It's fine.”
“See? She says it's fine.”
“I also said it was fine. My 'off-script' comment wasn't intended as an admonishment or scolding. If you feel it was though, maybe you need to examine why you feel that way.”
Spencer steps up to Simon, glaring again. “Why I feel that way? Cause you're always getting on my case over something stupid. I can't breathe around here without you telling me I'm inhaling wrong!”
“Spencer-”
“So I try to do something to help Marie with something she and I spoke about she needs help with, and I get called out?”
Simon glares back, a rare sight for the usually easy-going veteran. “Yes, you did. Because last time I checked, I was the coach in this ring, not you. This is a learning space, there is no room for ego here. If you think you've progressed enough that you should be teaching instead of learning, maybe you don't need to be here in class.”
Spencer smirks, and steps back, nodding, every action dripping in sarcasm. “Great. I'll take that to heart. Peace out.” Spencer even throws up a peace sign before dropping and sliding out of the ring. Marie runs to the ropes.
“Spencer!”
He turns back towards the ring, Marie is leaning over the top rope, looking upset that he's mad. Simon's head is down, shaking, as he stands with his hands on his hips. Lynn and Brennan look at each other, unsure what to do.
“Nah, you heard the coach. I don't need to be here, so I won't be.”
“Spencer, I didn't mean what I said in that way. I just meant that-”
“Maybe you should be more clear with your words, old man. If you didn't want me to leave, you shouldn't have made the suggestion.”
“All I meant, was that these methods have a purpose. Everyone in this business should always be looking to improve themselves, whether they're a rookie or a twenty year veteran.”
“I don't have a problem with that, I just have a problem with the condescension from you.”
Spencer sees everyone looking at him like he's crazy, including Amy and the other students in the other ring, who heard the commotion. Unphased, he turns and walks out, not bothering to look back again, even though he heard someone drop and hop out of the ring.
Spencer is downstairs and halfway to the door when he feels a tap on his shoulder. He turns and sees Marie.
“I'm not going back up there.”
“I wasn't going to ask you to.”
“Then why did you chase me down the stairs?”
“I wanted to see if you were okay.”
“I'll be fine once I get out of this building away from that asshole.”
Marie squints, confused. “He wasn't being an asshole. He was just trying to help us. I knew what you were trying to do with me, but he had a point too.”
“Yeah, he had a point. But he didn't have to be a dick about it, calling me out, when what I did caused zero harm.”
“It didn't sound like calling you out, just saying that-”
“You don't get it.” Spencer starts to walk off. Marie grabs his arm and stops him.
“Tell me.”
Spencer sighs. “He's come at me with that kind of bullshit since day one. Passive aggressive, condescending. Trying to make it sound like he means no harm but I can read between lines.”
“You really think he has it out for you? Cause I watch the shows back every week and he's always putting you over on commentary.”
Spencer scoffs. “That doesn't mean shit. He's just trying to take some credit for my skills since he works here. Most of what I learned here came from Amy and Jason. That motherfucker ain't taught me shit but restraint. Had to learn that on day one.”
“You keep talking about you and Simon butting heads your first day here. What happened?”
Spencer looks around the gym. He was surprised that no one else came after him from BOA upstairs. But there were still too many people around who didn't need to be hearing this conversation.
“Walk with me at the park?” Mel Ott Park, named after a local man who played baseball for the New York Giants in the 30's and 40's, was across the street from the building, and was equipped with a jogging track.
“Spencer... you're deflecting.”
“I just don't want to talk about it in here.”
Marie smiles weakly. “Oh. Okay. Yeah, let's go.”
They leave the gym together, and carefully make their way across the six-lane road to the park.
Once Spencer and Marie got their pace going around the track, Spencer recalls his first day of training at BlackOut Academy....
* * * * * {{ July 2020 }} * * * * *
Bright and early on a hot and humid Monday morning, Spencer arrived at BlackOut Academy to begin his training. He'd signed paperwork with Amy the week prior, and managed to find an apartment in the few days between. He couldn't move in yet, he had to wait til August first, but the lease was signed. The place was just down the street from BOA, recommended to him by Amy, not only for the convenient location but also the affordable price for a one bedroom. Moving in wasn't Spencer's biggest concern though. Getting started with training was. He'd been wrestling for years already, since high school and all through college. He felt like this was the start of something brand new, even though it was familiar. It was a strange feeling.
Spencer got upstairs and looked around. There were three trainers in attendance that day – Amy, Simon Lyman, and Jeff Alexander. Spencer had met Simon a few days ago when he signed his paperwork. He hadn't met Jeff yet but was looking forward to it. Amy saw Spencer walk in and look around, she walked over.
“Good morning! Ready to get started?”
“Absolutely.”
“Great. I have a few other new students starting today, we'll be in the smaller ring.”
Spencer looks in that direction, and sees three people already seated inside the ring, near the ropes on one side. “Ok, I'll go join.”
Amy smiled and walked off, towards her office. Spencer went over to the ring. He'd never been in one before and wasn't quite sure how he was supposed to enter. Just then he saw Jeff Alexander approaching. Spencer fidgeted with his bag, while watching. Jeff walked up the ring steps and stepped through the ropes between the top and second. Simple enough. Spencer set his bag down and went up the steps, same as Jeff did, to enter. He'd expected the ropes to be slightly less stiff, but other than that he had no issues getting in. He took a seat next to a young woman who paid him no attention whatsoever as he sat. Shortly, both Amy and Simon also entered the ring. The three coaches stood across from the four new students.
“Good morning guys, and welcome to your first day at BlackOut Academy. I hope you'll enjoy what we offer here, and get a lot out of our instruction. As you can see, there's no other students here just yet. I always ask new students to be here an hour early on their first day so we can go over some things. Firstly, refresh my memory, which of you has in-ring experience already?” The woman seated next to Spencer raises her hand. She's the only one. “Great, Lynn, right?”
“That's right.”
“And where did you get this experience?”
“Oh, just a small promotion out in Memphis. They shut down though, so here I am.”
“Oh... sorry to hear that, but we're glad to have you.” Amy and Lynn both smiled. “I understand the rest of you have some wrestling experience but not this kind of wrestling, correct?” Everyone else nodded, including Spencer. “That's okay, too. We can absolutely work with that, and it's why you were accepted. We don't take just anyone in off the street, take their money, and hope for the best. No, I'm more interested in people who already have the itch, have found that this is their passion and who truly want to make something of themselves. The three of you are the first students we've taken on who have zero in-ring experience, but through the application process have shown not only an inherent talent but also that the passion and desire we look for is there, and strong. So... welcome. We've never really started from almost scratch with anyone, so we'll learn together. How does that sound?” A few murmurs to the positive came from the small group. “Awesome. Now, you've heard from me, I'll let the other two trainers speak a bit. We do have another trainer who helps on occasion, when his schedule allows, Jason Helms. Unfortunately he won't be here until next week, due to business obligations in Los Angeles. That said, I'll turn it over to the guys.”
Amy glanced at Simon and Jeff. The men exchanged a look, Simon nodded. Jeff took a step forward.
“I'm not really a guy for big speeches. All I'm gonna say right now is, y'all made the right choice coming here. We're gonna turn you into some ass-kickers.” Jeff smirked. Spencer appreciated his bluntness. The others snickered a bit. Jeff stepped back and Simon stepped up.
“Guess that leaves me. I've seen all of your film, spoken to some of you.” Simon gave a small nod towards Spencer. “And I'm very excited to get started with you all. I know you all have various wrestling backgrounds, either in a promotion or in school with amateur wrestling. The first thing I would advise you all to do is... forget everything you've learned, that you think you know, up to this point. What we teach here isn't just moves and styles, we also train your brain. We-”
“Hold up.” Spencer couldn't stop himself from interjecting. “Forget everything I know? No offense, but everything I know is what got me into the door here. I'm sure that's the same for these guys, too.”
“I'm not suggesting you won't be using any of that, son.” Spencer cringed, he really hated being called that. It came off condescending. “What I am suggesting, is that we'll be building on and reinterpreting your foundations, so much so that what you were taught before may become unrecognizable. Amateur wrestling has it's skill set, and gives a solid base for professional wrestling. But the two are not the same. Think of this as a college football player getting drafted into the NFL. Same sport, sure. But completely different league. Different rules. Higher stakes. We're going to take what you know and mold it to a larger scale.”
“Then why say forget it, like it doesn't matter?”
“It does matter. It's just a figure of speech. I'm sorry if that was unclear.”
“This one's gonna be trouble...” Lynn, the woman next to Spencer, commented. The others snickered.
“Oh, excuse me for being insulted by the idea that eight years of training and work were about to be thrown out the window as not good enough, when it's that work that got me here.”
Amy stepped up next to Simon. “That's not the case at all. As Simon said, we're building on what you already know, not asking you to leave it all behind. Just for further clarification.”
For some reason, the same idea expressed by Amy instead of Simon didn't rub Spencer the wrong way. He made himself calm down, it had just been the way the man said it, the tone... but Spencer brushed it off.
“Okay. Got it. Sorry I interrupted.”
“No, no. You're fine. We want you to express your thoughts and even reservations, should any come up. We're not the kings and queen of wrestling. We're just here to help you pave your own way.”
The rest of the orientation went fine, as well as the rest of the first day of training. Spencer found he enjoyed the drills, and they did actually build on and expand from what he already knew. The misunderstanding between Spencer and Simon though stuck in his head, and it would color every interaction Spencer would have with him.
* * * * * {{ January 4 – Mel Ott Park }} * * * * *
“Ever since then, it seems to me everything the man says sounds like he thinks they're better than us, or like we're all children. He even calls all the students kids, like we're not grownass men and women.” Spencer shakes his head.
“Maybe it's a term of endearment for him?”
“It's a term of bullshit.”
Marie shrugs as they continue to walk. “I don't know, Spencer. It all sounds like you just keep misunderstanding each other. Like the story you just told me. It sounds like he was using a metaphor that you took literally.”
“I just feel like people should say what they mean instead of speaking in riddles. He did the same shit earlier. If someone tells me they don't think I should be there, how else am I supposed to take that? Especially a person I've constantly argued with?”
“That's a good point, maybe he should be more aware of the way he talks to you, given this happens a lot.”
“That's what I'm trying to say! He has no awareness, he just talks and expects people to understand him and take his word over anyone else's just because of who he is. Pulling this high and mighty card, like we're just sooo privileged to be in his presence, while he saves the future of wrestling one student at a time. Give me a fucking break...” Spencer shakes his head. Marie doesn't seem to know what to say for a few moments. It was clear that Spencer just did not like Simon one bit, and probably never would.
“Can I make a suggestion?”
“Go for it.”
“Maybe you should have a conversation with him. It sounds like you just keep misinterpreting one another and maybe acknowledging that and trying to work on it would help.”
Spencer shakes his head, never breaking stride. “That's not gonna happen. It's been too long and there's been too many instances. Today, a few weeks ago when that asshole had Jodi cornered, a few months ago when we were told who was going to the FanFest, before that when.... you know what? We'd be here all day if I went over everything I remember. Trying to talk to him would just be a waste of time.”
“Even if you were able to clear things up?”
“I have no interest in that. Some people aren't worth the effort.”
“Why not? He's one of our coaches, seems to me like you'd have an easier time if-”
“Look. I tried, early on. It just doesn't work. Oil and water, you know? There's no point in wasting my time on it, I have better things to do.”
“But-”
“Marie... I really don't want to be rude with you, but I don't want to talk about this anymore, either. Please drop it.”
Marie sighs, then smiles. “Okay. What do you want to talk about, then?”
Relieved that she let it go that easily, Spencer smiles back. “Tell me what you did over the holidays.”
Marie smiles bigger. “Oh, it was great! I went home to Savannah to spend Christmas with my parents and little brother. My sister was there too for Christmas day, and....”
They continued walking the track as Spencer listened to Marie tell him all about her holiday. The conversation calmed him, it was easy listening to her talk about her family, and made him forget about the stupid argument at BlackOut. Spencer hated the way Simon got under his skin randomly, but there wasn't anything he could do about it. The man was the way he was, and Spencer knew nothing he said would change that. He'd much rather spend his time between traveling working on his conditioning, or doing what he was doing right now – spending time with Marie. He knew Amy didn't like it, but the more time he spent with Marie, the less he cared what Amy thought.
{{January 7
Philadelphia
After Breakdown}}
The honeymoon was over. After debuting in SCW in August, fighting he wasn't even sure how many matches, including one title match, it had finally happened. Spencer had been pinned. Spencer's anger at the situation wasn't what he expected, though. He knew it had to happen eventually, it was completely unreasonable to think he would never lose. He just hadn't thought it would go like this. Instead of being bested at the end of a hard fought battle... Spencer had been distracted by a man who had targeted him from the first night he stepped foot into SCW, and his opponent took advantage of that. Attacked him from behind and stole the win.
Spencer could be angry at Tommy Valentine for the way he picked up the victory, being the first person to pin the rookie. Someone else might have tried to help Spencer run Tsumani off before continuing their match, so that it would be decided fairly. Tommy didn't do that. He saw a chance and took it. But Spencer wasn't pissed about that. He was pissed at himself.
After the match, after everyone had cleared the ring, Spencer and Amy were in the locker room she had gotten SCW to provide for herself and her two clients. Marie was in attendance, just not in the locker room at the moment.
“I can't believe I did that, how could I be so stupid? I know better than to take my attention off an opponent, especially one like him!”
“Beating yourself up isn't going to help anything, okay? No one is perfect, everyone makes mistakes. Tommy just happens to be the type of person who takes advantage of them better than most.”
“Yeah, he apparently has no problems sneak attacking someone rather than fighting him face to face.”
Amy shrugs. “He's ruthless. Always has been.”
“And I knew that. I grew up watching him, you warned me. And I still gave him my back. Fuck!” Spencer turns and starts to throw a punch to the wall, but stops himself, realizing that breaking his knuckles wouldn't be a good idea.
“Are you done?”
“What, being pissed? No!”
“Look at it this way, the first pinfall is over with, you don't have the pressure of keeping that up anymore.”
“Are you serious? Pressure? It wasn't pressure, it was something I was proud of.”
“Yes. Pressure. When I got started in this business, I had the same start as you. Had a title match my fourth match. I won it. And went on to keep winning until.... I don't remember, seven or eight matches later. And every time the bell rang, I wondered... is this is? Is this match the one where I'm going to finally lose? And when it happened, when I lost that title... I realized it wasn't the end of the world. Losing happens. Now it's happened, and you can move on and focus on this rematch you have instead of keeping up some standard that was never going to stay upheld.”
Spencer takes a deep breath. He knows Amy is right in one way, but not so much in another.
“Oh yeah? Did that person who beat you cheat to do it?”
“I actually don't remember, it was seventeen years ago. More to the point though, technically Tommy didn't cheat either. It was just-”
“It was me not paying attention because of that fucking ogre!”
Amy sighs. She was annoyed at Tsunami, too. “He'll end up paying for everything in the end. Messing with you, and Marie, trying to attack Jaina...” Amy shakes her head. “But I need you to focus. You can't go splitting your attention between that man and putting yourself in a good position to get the rematch.”
Spencer sighs, and spins around, somewhat dramatically. “Are you kidding me right now? I just lost, and Christy ran her ass out there making the three of them think again about continuing to kick my ass. That doesn't look very good for my chances, don't you think?”
“Actually, I think your chances are very good. Christy wants to give it to you, and you obviously were taken advantage of due to Tsunami getting into your face. At this point I'll be more surprised if it's not approved.”
“I don't know why it would be. Christy keeps running out there like she's my damn bodyguard or something, yet she's wanting to give me another chance? That doesn't make any sense.”
“It makes perfect sense. She knows she didn't beat you, the match was ruined by interference. She's no different than anyone else, she wants to prove herself. The fact that she still wants to do it against you shows that she thinks you're a threat on this roster already. If she didn't think you were, she wouldn't feel the need to fight you again. She wants real defenses, not fluke retentions. I mean, technically you won, not her.”
Spencer calms down, just a bit. Amy had a point there, neither of them actually won the match.
“Okay, fine, that I get. But I'm really getting tired of all the veterans around here acting like they're better than everyone else just because they're veterans. Christy trying to play savior, Tommy dropping me because he could... don't let me forget your boy Simon the other day giving me shit during drills! Longevity don't mean shit if all you're doing is putting yourself over as-”
“Spencer.” Amy's tone had a tinge of warning in it. “I'm gonna stop you right there, because I know you're angry right now, and you don't want to say something you're going to regret.”
“I wasn't gonna say shit about you. You seem to be the only 'legend'-” Spencer makes finger quotes in the air at the word. “-around here who doesn't act like the veteran or Hall of Fame status makes you better than everyone else.”
“While I appreciate that, I think you need to take a step back and really think about what you're saying about these people. Christy isn't 'playing savior,' she's trying to make sure things don't get out of hand, because she respects the integrity of the sport. Simon is... look, I can see how his demeanor can rub some people the wrong way. But he always means well, he's definitely doesn't think he's better than anyone else, quite the opposite actually.”
“Are you gonna tell me next that Tommy Valentine isn't really an opportunistic asshole?”
Amy scoffs. “No, on that one I think you're right on the mark. My point is...you're misinterpreting a lot of people's intentions. I'm not gonna suggest you try to clear the air with Christy, given you're likely to be facing her again sometime in the near future, but given what happened a few days ago, and other incidents at BOA, I think maybe you should have a conversation with Simon. He's-”
“No.”
Amy blinks, put off by his blunt response “What?”
“I said no. Look, some people just aren't meant to get along, okay? I'm okay with that, as long as he stays out of my face.”
Amy sighs, shaking her head. “Okay. I won't say anything else about it. I just want you to not work yourself up into these angry rants, though. It's very easy to get wrapped up in that and lose focus on your goals.”
“Noted. I'm gonna hit the shower.”
Amy knew when Spencer was done talking, it was in his tone, and that was it. “Alright. I'll go see if I can find out anything about that rematch.”
Spencer just nods then turns towards the showers. Why did everyone want him to try to get along with a man that he clearly had no interest in getting along with? Was he really the only one who saw through Simon's holier-than-thou complex? For that matter, Christy's savior complex?
After his shower and watching the rest of the show on a monitor, Spencer met up with Amy to leave. They were headed down the hallway towards the talent exit, when a man turned the corner from another hall, talking on his phone, and bumped into Spencer, rather hard. Spencer had his own phone in his hand, and the impact made him drop it.
“Fuck!” Spencer picked his phone up then turned to the man, ready to yell. He recognized him as Josh Hudson, but that didn't phase Spencer at all. He was ready to cuss but Josh spoke first.
“Hey, sorry about that man, didn't see you at all. Is your phone okay?” Josh then turns away a second and speaks low into his phone. “Let me call you back...” Then taps the screen.
Spencer makes sure his phone comes on and the screen unlocks before saying anything. “Yeah... no thanks to you. Maybe pay the fuck attention walking around back here next time?”
“Spencer!” Amy turns to Josh, an apologetic look already on her face. Josh steps back.
“No, it's fine. He's right. I wasn't paying attention, I was wrapped up in my conversation. I'm sorry. If anything turns out to be wrong with your phone, get in touch and I'll replace it.”
Spencer glances at Amy, then back at Josh. The way Josh spoke rationally forced Spencer to settle down. “Yeah... yeah I will. I think it's fine though.” Amy nudges Spencer slightly. “Thanks. Sorry I yelled at you.”
“Not a problem. I get it, you got punked and you're pissed, and then here I come barreling into you and almost broke your shit. I'd have probably popped off, too.”
“It's not been a great night, that's for sure.”
“It'll get better. You seem to have a good grasp on things, and from what I hear, this lady won't steer you wrong.”
“I'm trying.” Amy grins. Spencer wonders if the two had some history he doesn't know about.
“Thanks.”
“We good?” Josh gestures at Spencer's phone.
“Yeah... we're good.”
Josh gives them a nod and starts to walk away.
“Thanks, Josh.”
“No problem. Everyone has their moments. Have a good night, you two.”
Josh leaves, and Amy turns to Spencer. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“What? It turned out fine.”
“Do you just yell and cuss at everyone for any little mistake? Do you have any idea how much differently that could have gone down just a year or two ago?”
“Yeah, I do. I'm sorry, okay? I just said shit without really thinking. In case you haven't noticed, I'm really not in a good mood right now.”
“You haven't been in a good mood for a while now. What is going on with you?”
“We literally just had a whole conversation about it. Tsunami, Tommy, Simon... any of that ring a bell?”
Amy shakes her head. “No... it's not just that. You've been dealing with Tsunami since you came to SCW, Tommy was just tonight. You've been more on edge lately, and I think there's more to it than just SCW shit.”
Spencer rubs his face, he knew Amy was perceptive but this was almost... psychic. But that was impossible, right? “You know what, maybe there is. But also maybe... I don't want to tell you about every single thing going on in my life. Is that okay with you?”
Amy nods. “So it's personal, not work related. That's perfectly fine. I don't expect you to tell me all of your shit. What I do expect... is for you get a handle on whatever it is, so that it stops affecting you here. If these little outbursts over nothing keep up, you're going to get yourself into trouble.”
“That's not gonna happen, okay? I'm just dealing with some shit that's gonna work itself out soon.”
“I hope so.”
“It will. You'll see. I promise you'll notice.” She would have no choice but to, once Spencer told everyone the truth.
“I look forward to that. In the meantime you need to find a way to calm your nerves.”
“That's easy. I'm going out before going back to my room.”
“Out?”
“Yes, out. You don't want me hanging around Marie any more than professionally necessary, so even though she's here and is pretty good at listening to my shit, I'm going out to get a few drinks. Would you like to join me?” Spencer knew exactly what he was saying, he said it on purpose. Amy glares. She knew he did it on purpose, too.
“Go fuck yourself.”
“Yes ma'am.”
Spencer walks off, already pulling out his phone (which was working fine) to order an Uber. He hated being mean to Amy, she really had done a lot for him and continued to do so, but she could tell something was on his mind, something bothering him, and he didn't want to tell her. He couldn't. So, he made it about her ridiculous opposition to him and Marie being friends (or more? He wasn't sure where that was going) and said something he knew would piss her off, so she would leave him alone. As he goes outside to wait for his ride, Spencer recalls what Caleb had said over Christmas. How much did he really trust Amy, that he didn't want to tell her the truth? And furthermore, how much longer could he keep the information about his father to himself? He'd already nearly confided in Marie. It seemed closer and closer to seeing the light of day, no matter how much he wanted to pick and chose the moment of revelation. It might not seem relevant but in Spencer's mind, every issue bothering him can be tied back to his father. Finding the man and chasing him here, planning to confront him, is the whole reason he went to New Orleans. Trained to be a wrestler. Chose SCW. All of this was on his shoulders.
All Spencer had to do was try his best to stay level headed until he decided it was time to pull the trigger.
ON CAMERA
First of all, let me start by saying thank you. I'm not sure exactly who to thank... I don't know if this match was signed off on by Cian O'Dwyer before he left, or if it was approved by Shaun Cruze when he came in... but either way? I'm grateful. It would have been easy for anyone to just shrug and say oh well kid... you had your chance, and throw the next challenger in front of Christy Matthews. Maybe her insistence on giving me another shot due to the way the match ended played a role, and if so, then thanks to Christy, too.
It might seem like I should be thanking Christy for more than just that, on the surface. She's been running interference, getting in between myself and people who were looking to mess with me, on more than one occasion. Going back to over a month ago, before my first match with her, when she ran out and stopped me from doing something dumb with the Jackals all over the ring. Two weeks ago she did the same thing. I was facing Tommy Valentine and that no good ogre Tsunami showed up, got in my face... and cost me the match. And look, I own up to that, I shouldn't have let him get to me, I shouldn't have turned my back on a man like Tommy, well known around here as being one of the best opportunists there is. If there's an inch-wide opening, he'll bust through it and create a doorway. That's what he did, when I was too busy trying to stare down Tsunami, Tommy blasted me down and kept me there, scoring the pinfall. Yep... I am no longer unpinned around here. I could blame Tommy for taking advantage. I could blame Tsunami for getting in the ring and distracting me. But the blame really lies in one place.
At my own feet.
The only man I can really be mad at is myself. It's a learning experience, one I am not going to soon forget. At the time though I didn't have much time to process that, did I? Nah, Tommy and Kandis looked like they wanted to get some more, then Tsunami stepped up... until once again, Christy Matthews showed up. She slid in, got in between everyone, and everyone backed off. Everyone left not necessarily happy, but no worse off than before.
Christy wasn't done though, was she? Nah, SCW's resident guardian angel had more work to do. Just over a week ago, last Breakdown, we were supposed to be seeing the in-ring debut of a young woman I've gotten to know pretty well over the last year or so, Jaina Lancaster. She's been working hard, training to give this a shot like her mom, and I know she was excited to get in there and do the thing. Except... lo and behold, Tsunami, that bad penny, turned up again. He threw everyone around, Jaina, Marie Caedes who was in her corner, and even Jaina's opponent! Me and Amy took off backstage making our way out there, we weren't gonna stand by and let that man hurt those young women. I watched the show back, even Simon Lyman was getting out of his seat, ready to do something, anything. But... wouldn't you know it, Christy must have been watching close by, because she beat me out there. Ran in, put a stop to the madness. I arrived, Amy followed me. We settled things down, Amy arrived, too.
In this instance I get it, Christy was scheduled to face Tsunami, that was probably the next match, so she was already ready. Saw him starting trouble and ran out to take care of it. Seems innocent and benevolent enough. Jaina and Marie thanked her, so did Amy. Me? Not so much.
I tend to pick up on patterns, and the pattern here is that Christy Matthews just can't seem to stop trying to rescue people. Maybe her heart is in the right place. Amy thinks Christy just wants to make sure no one gets injured, nothing interferes with the sanctity of the sport. I have a few issues with that, though. Main one being that she didn't seem to mind interference at all when a run in helped her and Lucas Knight win a Tag Title match against The Connection. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the Connection didn't deserve it, or that this company needs them walking around as champions again. All I'm trying to say, is that it looks like Christy has a tendency to pick and choose when she wants to uphold these standards, and the times she picks to do it just so happen to be the ones where it presents her in the best light. Oh, and not bothering to dispute outside interference? That worked in her favor, too.
I don't want y'all to think I'm trying to tear Christy down, I'm really not. I'm just calling out what I see. It's actually upsetting, I wanted to look up to her. I really did. One of this company's all time greats. Supreme Champion, Hall of Fame, second ever female World Champion. She's done it all, pick any other SCW legend and she's probably beaten them at least once. And that's what makes it so upsetting that she's acting like this, trying to make it seem like everything she's doing is in the company's best interests. I learned a young age how to see through bullshit though, and that's what I'm seeing now.
Christy isn't playing savior to me, and Marie, and Jaina, out of the goodness of her heart. She has some kind of hero complex. Maybe it comes from a good place and maybe it doesn't, but I'm standing here to tell you that I don't need a savior. I don't need protecting. I'm a grown ass man and I can take care of myself. I especially don't need someone with veteran status constantly playing hero, making it look like the rookie always needs saving.
Christy, listen, okay? I'm really not trying to be disrespectful, if you really do have all the best intentions, please accept my apologies. But you have to understand where I'm coming from here. I gotta get ahead on my own, I have to handle my own shit. Maybe it's more of the same, you don't want me hurt because you want to face me at my best. But the constant putting yourself between me and whoever just makes it look like you don't think I can handle myself. I promise you that I can, and you were finding that out before the Jackals took away my chance to prove it.
Here's what's gonna happen. I'm walking into this with the same mindset I had before. I expect to walk out as United States Champion. If anyone tries to get involved, I will take them out myself, I'm sick of people thinking they can get away with just running into my matches, mess with my friends, just because I'm new around here. I'm not afraid to stand up for myself, no matter who you are. Seven foot tall bully, veterans, Hall of Famers, or anything else.
I can't be intimidated.
I don't need a hero.
I can be my own hero, and become an SCW Champion in the process.