Post by Rick Majors on Sept 8, 2020 19:13:26 GMT -5
"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past."
Pure Class Entertainment Group presents Living a Legacy VI Sunday, July 6th 2014 LoKi takes advantage of Rick’s back being turned and wraps his arms around his waist, slamming him with a big German duplex holding him there for the pin. Burke hits the floor and starts a count… 1….. but another clap of the canvas is heard as Cruz hits for a 1 count, counting the pin also. Ace: Both referees are counting? Jerry: Both men’s shoulders are down! They’re both being counted! 2…. 3……!!!! Sudden uproar as LoKi gets to his feet and cheers, holding his arm up for the referee, Burke but Cruz rushes Burke and shakes his head, the both of them shouting at each other and pointing at different men, both declaring a different man the victor. Ace: Well I didn’t see this coming! Jerry: Heh, really? It brings me back to last year’s tournament with your … victory. Ace: What do you mean by that? Jerry: Oh, nothing! Ace: What is going to happen? Rick Majors shoulders were clearly down for the 3 count! Jerry: But so were LoKi’s Ace, they were both counted to 3! The confusion gets more erratic and loud until “Stars and Stripes Forever” by The United States Army Field Band blasts through the arena and the head honcho himself, Mr President arrives on the scene with a microphone. He motions the production team to cut his music. “Well well well, two tournaments in a row … two questionable endings …” said the President to the crowd. “Well, we need a winner tonight. Cruz, get control of your match and get these men ready; we’re restarting this contest and we’re doing it now. Ring the bell!” he says before leaving the ramp and heading backstage. Ace: Whoa. Shocker! These men are toast! How are they gonna perform? Jerry: Looks like they won’t have a choice! The bell is rung and Burke leaves the ring, leaving the original referee, Cruz in charge of the contest. The match restarts but both men are resting in turnbuckles, exhausted. They slowly move toward one another and take turned trying to mount an offense with punches, kicks and headbutts until LoKi begins to get the upper hand, kicking Majors in the stomach and prepping him for the Alpha Breaker but as he goes to do so, the lights go out causing the crowd to scream with unsure curiosity. When the lights come back on, Murdoc is standing on the apron!! Jerry: What is Murdoc doing here??? Ace: Looks like Murdoc wasn’t happy with the decision made by our president? LoKi makes eye contact with Murdoc and starts shouting at him but Murdoc just laughs. Majors rushes up to knock him down from the apron while the referee is holding back LoKi. Murdoc pushes Majors back and LoKi breaks free. With a rage, LoKi runs forward to try and launch over the ropes at Murdoc but as he launches up at him, Murdoc suddenly throws a bright orange fireball right in LoKi’s eyes, blinding him a moment and LoKi falls down onto the canvas, holding his eyes, rubbing them hard as he tries to see. Jerry: Whoa…Murdoc with the Fireball! Ace: We’ve seen it so many times! The bell rings loudly and the referee has a word with the announcer as the crowd grows restless. The announcer shakes his head and announces the result to the audience. Winner: LoKi by Disqualification Jerry: I’m not sure I agree with that decision at all… Ace: It’s the right choice Jerry, it’s clear to me that LoKi had Majors pinned with the German Suplex, his shoulders were down. So even with Murdoc pissing about with interference, the true winner got the victory. Jerry: LoKi’s shoulders were down for the count there as well and I think Majors had the 3 count…but it’s not my call, the officials called for a restart and that’s only fair but Murdoc may just have cost Majors his livelihood tonight and for that, I’m really upset for the guy. |
After that match, after losing his best chance to enter the upper echelon of talent in PCW, Rick Majors walked back to his locker room. But he didn’t changed. He didn’t shower. He headed to his bag and picked up a bottle of painkillers. They’d been getting him through the day recently. At this point, there's no way he could wrestle without them. There's no way that he could climb a flight of stairs without them. They’d been helping him sleep at night too. And that’s what he needed right now. He needed to sleep. He needed to sleep for a long, long time. He needed to sleep forever.
He couldn’t do it anymore. Failure after failure after failure…. it was too much. How could he face his wife like this? They were already separated. They were going to get divorced. But... he somehow thought that maybe he could impress her of he was more successful. He thought that maybe he could show her that all of their sacrifice was worth it. He thought that maybe if he won the tournament, and then went on to win the World Title, he’d be happy. And if he was happy, he'd be in a better mood. He'd stop ignoring her. He’d stop snapping at her. He’d stop being so angry and anxious and bitter. Maybe it would fix things. Maybe she’d see that he wasn’t neglecting her because he was a jerk, but she'd see that he was focused. He was working. He was working hard to rebuild his career.
But that’s not how it turned out. He lost. Again. All he had to do was kick out and he couldn't. He was too weak. He let Murdoc decide the match when a better man would have gone out there and won cleanly.
Rick Majors reached back into his bag. There was a bottle of vodka in there too. That’s another way that he’s been getting to sleep these days. He needed that right now too.
With his tools in his hands, he turned and started to walk out the door. But he stopped. It wasn’t that he was reconsidering though. He had to do this. It was the only option. He just needed some insurance. He went back to his bag and picked up a knife. It wasn’t the sharpest knife in the world, but it was good enough to cut an apple, so it would be good enough to cut him.
Now he walked down the hall to the washroom. He sat down in the stall. A handful of pills. Now the knife… wait…. no… he couldn’t do it. “Dammit, Rick, you fail at everything else in life, don’t fail at death too.” He twisted the lid off the vodka bottle and let it fall to the floor. A drink would help. Maybe two. “Now do it, you fucking coward.” He slowly dragged the knife across his wrist. As blood started to pour out, he questioned whether it was deep enough. It probably wasn't. He’d better do the other one too, just to be sure. "Get to it, you idiot. Do something right for once in your damn life." Another handful of pills. Another swig of the bottle. He passed the knife to his other hand. It was already getting tough to focus. “Do it now, you loser. You fucking loser. You fucking sad loser. Just end it. Do something good for the world. Fuck you.”
This time he got the blade in deeper. That would work. “Fuck, that’s a lot of blood. Shit. That hurts.” More pills. More vodka. He slumped back. It was either the blood loss or the drinks or the pills or a combination of all three, but he was very dizzy. “Don’t fuck this up. They’ll all laugh at you if you fail. Get the job done.” The last of the pills. The last of the vodka. "Good."
He laid down on the floor of the washroom stall. It felt cool. It felt comfortable. It felt right. He closed his eyes. He was finally going to accomplish something.
When Rick Majors woke up, he was in an ambulance.
“He’s awake! He’s awake!” someone yelled.
But he wasn’t awake for long. He quickly fell into unconsciousness again. The next time he woke up, he was in the hospital. Kelly had called him after the match. When he didn’t answer after several tries, she called the arena and they sent a security guard to look for him. He was found in the stall. A few more minutes and he would have been dead. Kelly hated him – she’d told him so herself – but she saved his life.
But it didn’t have to be that way.
Pure Class Entertainment Group presents Living a Legacy VI Sunday, July 6th 2014??? LoKi takes advantage of Rick’s back being turned and wraps his arms around his waist, slamming him with a big German duplex holding him there for the pin. Burke hits the floor and starts a count… 1….. but another clap of the canvas is heard as Cruz hits for a 1 count, counting the pin also. Ace: Both referees are counting? Jerry: Both men’s shoulders are down! They’re both being counted! 2…. 3……!!!! Majors got his shoulder off the canvas at the last possible second! Both referees pointed to him as he sat up on the canvas, exhausted from the grueling match. “Demons” by Sleigh Bells began to play. Jerry: Majors wins! He’s done it! He’s going to the tournament final to face Murdoc! Ace: What a victory! |
After that match, after finally earning his chance to enter the upper echelon of talent in PCW, Rick Majors walked back to his locker room. He was tired, but ecstatic. One more match. That's it. One more win and he’d be the tournament champion. He’d earn himself a title shot. He felt so close to the World Title that he could taste it. It was finally happening.
Should he call Kelly? He really wanted to. Really. But he shouldn't. Should he? No. Yes. Or should he wait until after the final? It would be better to call her when he was actually tournament champion, right?
He didn’t need to make that decision. His phone was ringing. It was her.
“Hello,” he said, trying to sound not like someone who was both excited and nervous to hear from her.
“Rick! Amazing match! You’re in the final! Congrats!”
“You… you watched it?”
“Of course I did,” she said sincerely. “Look Rick, I know we’re having troubles right now, but I also know how much this means to you. This is huge! One more win and you’ll earn a title match!”
“Do you…. do you think I can do it?” he said. Something about knowing that she was watching suddenly made him feel nervous and shy.
“Definitely,” she responded immediately. “Murdoc’s tough, but he’s not as tough as you. You can do this!”
“Thanks,” he stammered.
“I know you probably want to get ready for your next match, so I won’t keep you any longer. Go out there and win! I’ll be watching.”
“Thanks, Kelly. Thanks a lot. It was really nice that you called.”
“I’ll call you after the show. We’ll have to find some time to celebrate!”
“Well, I haven’t won yet.”
“But you will.”
“Thanks again, Kelly. And thanks for watching”
“Don’t thank me. I’m always here for you. No matter what. Always.”
“I’ll talk to you soon.”
“For sure. Love you!”
“…… love you too.”
He hung up the phone.
She said she loved him. Maybe it was by habit, or maybe she was caught up in the moment, but she said it. Did she mean it? Maybe… maybe it was working. She was watching him after all, right? Maybe she saw what he was trying to do. Maybe she felt what he felt. This was his chance. This is why he came home late every night. This was why they never took any vacations. This was why he holed himself up in the basement watching videos of matches. This is why he was so anxious and stressed all the time. He wanted to be the best at this. Sure, he wanted that for him but he also wanted that for them. He wanted the life they had in the NLCW. They were happy then, right? Even if they weren’t, they would be happy now. He knew that he could make a happy life for them. This would be different from this night on.
He quickly jumped into the shower. His next match was happening very soon. He needed to put on the performance of his life. He needed to win. He needed to earn her respect again. He would do it. He would.
But that’s not how the story went. Rick Majors did not defeat Loki. He did not win the tournament. He did not win the World Title. He struggled for years. He lost his identity. He gave himself to a cult. He almost died. But now here he was, ready to face Loki once more. A lot of things had changed – he had changed – but his goal was still the same.
It took Rick Majors six years to get back here. In that time, he’d lost many things: his wife, his name, his sanity, and nearly his life. But he hadn’t lost everything. No, he’s still here. Time hasn’t defeated him. Not yet.
Of course, it’s not the same in 2020 as it was in 2014. At this point, he’s an old man on his last run. But he’s a champion. He’s in main events. He feels good about himself. Yes, it’s not the World Title, but that’s okay. It’s something. He has something. Despite going through hell, he finally has something to show for all his work. Kelly is gone. His chances of winning the World Title are likely gone too. But he has this. He has the Genesis Title. And he has a chance to finally show that he can beat Loki.
Time hasn't defeated Loki either. He walked back into the ring and immediately won the North American Title. He's respected. He's revered. Time has passed for both of them, but it's clearly treated Loki better. And that's okay. Rick Majors can't compare his life to anyone else anymore. He doesn't want to. He's on his own path now. All he can do is live his own life in a way that works for him.
And what he needs right now is to defeat Loki.
They’re both a lot older now, but that doesn’t matter to him. Murdoc stole six years of his life with that fireball and, while he’s not around anymore, a victory over Loki can bring closure to all of this. Rick Majors can’t get back those six years, but he can show himself – and he can show the world – that he has to what it takes. He has always had what it takes. Sometimes he didn’t even know that himself, but it's true.
Rick Majors can pin the man who now holds the PCW North American Title. Rick Majors can beat Loki.
It won’t get him a World Title shot if he does, but it’s something. It’s something. And that’s much better than nothing.
