Post by Andy D on Oct 3, 2016 18:23:28 GMT -5
Tommy, what on earth happened?
I had a disagreement with a business associate, you know how it is.
Tommy, I have a disagreement, I send them an angry letter. Maybe I pee in their mailbox. I don’t start World War 3 – Ken Rosenberg & Tommy Vercetti; Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
There are a few things in this world that truly piss me off. Bullies happen to be one of them. It’s even funny for me to get angry at bullies since they indirectly helped me become a wrestler in the first place. Back when I was a scrawny teenager, I used to get bullied a bit since I was constantly bounced from one family to another, and when I tried to learn how to fight back, that’s when I learnt to wrestle. Ok, granted the guy who taught me wouldn’t actually teach me how to fight until I got rid of the bullies another way, but still, they led to me being a wrestler.
Of course just because they’re the catalyst to who I am today does not mean I like them, it’s all just a cheep and petty way to make yourself feel good. So naturally when I found out my sister was being bullied at her new school, I was less than pleased.
Only really knowing the traditional stereotypes and clichés of American high school, I would have understood if it had been the cheerleading squad who had thrown nasty barbarous words at her. No, this was some guy who insulted because of her accent, called her worthless and then, this bit really pissed me off, he basically demanded she “pleasure” him. Needless to say I wanted to slam him into a brick wall, while my girlfriend Becks (who has become really close with Sarah to the point that were we to break up, my sister would go with Becks) wanted to castrate him.
I also toyed with the idea of shipping this kid off to Hangtown… but I doubt Grimm would have appreciated that.
But it was the more cautious of heads that prevailed. My manager Lucy Hunt had been as surprised as the rest of us to learn I had a sister, especially considering how long our professional relationship has been going now. She had made the suggestion that perhaps Sarah wasn’t being completely honest with her accusations. Now as much as I didn’t want to believe that was the case, Lucy made a compelling argument. She’s been moved to a country she doesn’t know, to live with a brother she had barely met and been abandoned by the only mother figure she had in her life. It was possible she could have been making this up, or at least embellishing it more, in order for some attention.
As I said, I didn’t really believe this to be the case, and Becks was struggling to admit it was happening as well. But with the lack of real evidence we couldn’t do much but send a letter to the school saying we had “concerns” of bullying and harassment going on and that we would appreciate it if they could look out and put a stop to it.
So what did they do? They sent a letter to the kid’s family saying he’s been “unfriendly” to other students and could he “please stop”
So that worked well! The sarcasm made all the more clearer when I tell you that a day or so later, both the kid and his father show up at my place. And they weren’t there to apologise.
Thankfully we (or rather Sarah) clocked these guys before they left their car. So while she’s panicking and thinking that her ‘life’ is over in a typical teenager fashion, Becks had a phone in hand and dialled 9, 1 and then held on for any other excuse to hit the other 1 and I exited out the house to calmly greet these two.
Well, the moment this father sees me he’s instantly yelling at me “You’re daughter has been spreading lies about my boy.”
“I don’t have a daughter.” I responded calmly
“Yeah, well who the fuck was that little bi…”
“That is my sister” I had to cut him off before he said something I’d make him regret.
“Well whatever she is, she’s been spreading lies about my boy.”
Now at this point, this guy has not only walked over to me by my door (which I did close behind me), but is trying to tower over me and has his finger pushing into my chest to emphasis his point. His son is standing over by the car, grinning slightly with a look of “My dad’s going to beat you to the ground now and I’m going to laugh.” It’s around here that I realise not only has Sarah been completely honest about this kid, but exactly where he’s getting his sparkling personality from.
Now there are several rules to dealing with a bully, I won’t go into all of them but the first rule is to stand up to them. Show them that they don’t make you afraid. With this guy it was easy, after all he was barely six foot tall, so towering over me was a bit of a stretch for him. Not to mention I’ve stared into the eyes of Billy Sadistic, Grimm, Murdoc… hell I’ve seen what Kelli Starr looks like when she’s denied candy. Now that is terrifying. This guy? Not remotely a concern.
The second rule of dealing with a bully is to try to reason with them, to get to a level when it won’t devolve into violence and you can go your separate ways. “I contacted the school” I started to reason, “hoping that they would be able to confirm what version of events was actually happening…” The guy grabbed my shirt and dragged me closer
“No, you will tell her to stop or…”
“Or what?” I looked him straight in the eyes, my face as stoic as Eira when she’s angry, or happy, or any kind of emotions in the ring. “No, carry on, or what?” Since reason seems to have failed, the third rule of dealing with a bully is to basically go back to the first rule... stand up to them and show them you are not afraid.
“You don’t want to know” the father eventually said and let go of me. Really? That’s the best he could come up with. I’ve been threatened with death, mutilations and being burnt to a crisp amongst other things and he goes with ‘You don’t want to know’? Well yeah, I do, that’s why I asked!
I watched him take a couple of steps away from me and before turning around. When I did I took a deep breath and counted to 3. I knew what this guy was going to do, it’s the same thing a lot of bullies will do when you try to stand up to them, catch you off guard to prove they have the power. So when I reached three, I ducked and turned around, watching this guy’s fist fly at where my head used to be. And since the last rule of dealing with a bully is that if it devolves into violence, end it quickly, I then raised my own and struck my forearm right between the legs. It was a textbook low blow as he crumpled back into the arms of some Police Officers who had just that moment turned up. Turns out Becks didn’t wait too long before pressing that extra 1 on her phone.
Of course I got dragged back as well, and had to give a statement and explain everything that happened. But they’d turned up early enough to see him take a swing at me (plus the squad car had a camera which caught the footage), so the officer I talked to was convinced it was self-defence on my part. “Well,” he said after I gave him my current occupation, “if he’s that stupid to take a swing at a professional fighter he got what he deserved.” That quote never made it into the official report however.
After I eventually got back into the house, I looked at Sarah and asked her if she’d seen what I’d done to the father. She didn’t speak but nodded that she had. “If that kid, or any other, makes sexual harassment remarks towards you ever again, you do that ok?” Yeah, I’ll teach my sister how to fight of all the jerks if I have to.
I thought I left the world of Bullies long ago when stopped being scrawny and started to actually fight. But it turns out that the kid and his father were just a small annoyance compared to the bullies I now have run into. Lunacy, The Jackdaw and Brother Maylock, the trio known as Anarchy have been bullying PCW to the point of borderline terrorism. But no longer will they be allowed to run around PCW attacking who they please, defiling the property of the company.
But I won’t be sticking to the rules on bullies for this one, as they defy reason from the start. No, like the underground rules that the match we find ourselves in, I will throw out most of the rules of dealing with a bully.
All but the first and the last rule. Show them you are not afraid, and end it quickly.
I had a disagreement with a business associate, you know how it is.
Tommy, I have a disagreement, I send them an angry letter. Maybe I pee in their mailbox. I don’t start World War 3 – Ken Rosenberg & Tommy Vercetti; Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
There are a few things in this world that truly piss me off. Bullies happen to be one of them. It’s even funny for me to get angry at bullies since they indirectly helped me become a wrestler in the first place. Back when I was a scrawny teenager, I used to get bullied a bit since I was constantly bounced from one family to another, and when I tried to learn how to fight back, that’s when I learnt to wrestle. Ok, granted the guy who taught me wouldn’t actually teach me how to fight until I got rid of the bullies another way, but still, they led to me being a wrestler.
Of course just because they’re the catalyst to who I am today does not mean I like them, it’s all just a cheep and petty way to make yourself feel good. So naturally when I found out my sister was being bullied at her new school, I was less than pleased.
Only really knowing the traditional stereotypes and clichés of American high school, I would have understood if it had been the cheerleading squad who had thrown nasty barbarous words at her. No, this was some guy who insulted because of her accent, called her worthless and then, this bit really pissed me off, he basically demanded she “pleasure” him. Needless to say I wanted to slam him into a brick wall, while my girlfriend Becks (who has become really close with Sarah to the point that were we to break up, my sister would go with Becks) wanted to castrate him.
I also toyed with the idea of shipping this kid off to Hangtown… but I doubt Grimm would have appreciated that.
But it was the more cautious of heads that prevailed. My manager Lucy Hunt had been as surprised as the rest of us to learn I had a sister, especially considering how long our professional relationship has been going now. She had made the suggestion that perhaps Sarah wasn’t being completely honest with her accusations. Now as much as I didn’t want to believe that was the case, Lucy made a compelling argument. She’s been moved to a country she doesn’t know, to live with a brother she had barely met and been abandoned by the only mother figure she had in her life. It was possible she could have been making this up, or at least embellishing it more, in order for some attention.
As I said, I didn’t really believe this to be the case, and Becks was struggling to admit it was happening as well. But with the lack of real evidence we couldn’t do much but send a letter to the school saying we had “concerns” of bullying and harassment going on and that we would appreciate it if they could look out and put a stop to it.
So what did they do? They sent a letter to the kid’s family saying he’s been “unfriendly” to other students and could he “please stop”
So that worked well! The sarcasm made all the more clearer when I tell you that a day or so later, both the kid and his father show up at my place. And they weren’t there to apologise.
Thankfully we (or rather Sarah) clocked these guys before they left their car. So while she’s panicking and thinking that her ‘life’ is over in a typical teenager fashion, Becks had a phone in hand and dialled 9, 1 and then held on for any other excuse to hit the other 1 and I exited out the house to calmly greet these two.
Well, the moment this father sees me he’s instantly yelling at me “You’re daughter has been spreading lies about my boy.”
“I don’t have a daughter.” I responded calmly
“Yeah, well who the fuck was that little bi…”
“That is my sister” I had to cut him off before he said something I’d make him regret.
“Well whatever she is, she’s been spreading lies about my boy.”
Now at this point, this guy has not only walked over to me by my door (which I did close behind me), but is trying to tower over me and has his finger pushing into my chest to emphasis his point. His son is standing over by the car, grinning slightly with a look of “My dad’s going to beat you to the ground now and I’m going to laugh.” It’s around here that I realise not only has Sarah been completely honest about this kid, but exactly where he’s getting his sparkling personality from.
Now there are several rules to dealing with a bully, I won’t go into all of them but the first rule is to stand up to them. Show them that they don’t make you afraid. With this guy it was easy, after all he was barely six foot tall, so towering over me was a bit of a stretch for him. Not to mention I’ve stared into the eyes of Billy Sadistic, Grimm, Murdoc… hell I’ve seen what Kelli Starr looks like when she’s denied candy. Now that is terrifying. This guy? Not remotely a concern.
The second rule of dealing with a bully is to try to reason with them, to get to a level when it won’t devolve into violence and you can go your separate ways. “I contacted the school” I started to reason, “hoping that they would be able to confirm what version of events was actually happening…” The guy grabbed my shirt and dragged me closer
“No, you will tell her to stop or…”
“Or what?” I looked him straight in the eyes, my face as stoic as Eira when she’s angry, or happy, or any kind of emotions in the ring. “No, carry on, or what?” Since reason seems to have failed, the third rule of dealing with a bully is to basically go back to the first rule... stand up to them and show them you are not afraid.
“You don’t want to know” the father eventually said and let go of me. Really? That’s the best he could come up with. I’ve been threatened with death, mutilations and being burnt to a crisp amongst other things and he goes with ‘You don’t want to know’? Well yeah, I do, that’s why I asked!
I watched him take a couple of steps away from me and before turning around. When I did I took a deep breath and counted to 3. I knew what this guy was going to do, it’s the same thing a lot of bullies will do when you try to stand up to them, catch you off guard to prove they have the power. So when I reached three, I ducked and turned around, watching this guy’s fist fly at where my head used to be. And since the last rule of dealing with a bully is that if it devolves into violence, end it quickly, I then raised my own and struck my forearm right between the legs. It was a textbook low blow as he crumpled back into the arms of some Police Officers who had just that moment turned up. Turns out Becks didn’t wait too long before pressing that extra 1 on her phone.
Of course I got dragged back as well, and had to give a statement and explain everything that happened. But they’d turned up early enough to see him take a swing at me (plus the squad car had a camera which caught the footage), so the officer I talked to was convinced it was self-defence on my part. “Well,” he said after I gave him my current occupation, “if he’s that stupid to take a swing at a professional fighter he got what he deserved.” That quote never made it into the official report however.
After I eventually got back into the house, I looked at Sarah and asked her if she’d seen what I’d done to the father. She didn’t speak but nodded that she had. “If that kid, or any other, makes sexual harassment remarks towards you ever again, you do that ok?” Yeah, I’ll teach my sister how to fight of all the jerks if I have to.
I thought I left the world of Bullies long ago when stopped being scrawny and started to actually fight. But it turns out that the kid and his father were just a small annoyance compared to the bullies I now have run into. Lunacy, The Jackdaw and Brother Maylock, the trio known as Anarchy have been bullying PCW to the point of borderline terrorism. But no longer will they be allowed to run around PCW attacking who they please, defiling the property of the company.
But I won’t be sticking to the rules on bullies for this one, as they defy reason from the start. No, like the underground rules that the match we find ourselves in, I will throw out most of the rules of dealing with a bully.
All but the first and the last rule. Show them you are not afraid, and end it quickly.
