Post by kylecross on May 29, 2005 11:32:29 GMT -5
The chameleon chrome Hummer H2 SUT blazed south-west towards Greenville on Highway 29. Kyle glanced over at the passenger seat, at the contract that had been faxed to his home in Toronto just a few days earlier. The contract that had set off a whirlwind of activity in his life, flying to Atlanta then driving to Greenville, and a whirlwind of rumor and speculation in the wrestling world. Everyone wanted to believe it, but no one really did. Could Kyle Cross be returning to wrestle in a North American promotion for the first time in months? The question was all over the internet, but no one was buying. Kyle couldn't blame them. He didn't really believe it himself.
Unreal. I mean, I guess I figured when word got out that I was coming back to the west to wrestle again, I knew someone would offer me a contract. Maybe Vince. Maybe Paul Williams. Maybe the Jarretts. But not him. Not Luis Malave.
Cross though back to January 2004. To the first time he came to work for a North American promotion after a ten-year career in Japan... Paul William's IWL. Cross had immediately made an impact, his legend having been built in the west by tape traders and internet smartmarks. He had great matches with guys like 'The Hellraiser' Jason Dobbs, Machine Knight K, 'The Biz' John Smith... but just when he was hitting his stride, the five members of Hybrid Theory, led by 'The Icemann' Luis Malave, jumped Kyle backstage. Those injuries put Kyle on the shelf for three months
I was going to wreck you, Ice. Laying in that hospital bed, I wanted nothing more than to take you apart, piece by piece. You'd taken the only thing I ever cared about, the roar of the crowd, away from me. I wanted your blood on my hands.
Cross had returned to IWF... but he returned too early. He hadn't properly rehabbed his injuries, and he couldn't compete with the guys at the bottom of the IWL ladder let alone getting to the then IWL World Champion Luis Malave. Cross decided to leave the IWL and go back to his home in Tokyo, to work out with his friend and mentor, Keiji Muto. Thinking of Keiji put a smile on Kyle's face as he accelerated to pass an eighteen-wheeler hauling fruit north.
Keiji... you were right. I was bitter then. There was a lot of anger in me. I'd waited so long for a chance to wrestle in North America, and I was full of rage at having all of that taken away from me by Malave. It was poisoning me.
After a few dark months in Japan, Cross finally made another return to IWL. But this time, The Icemann had gone into retirement from active competition. A darker Cross than North American fans had ever seen emerged, with Cross attacking several wrestlers who he once called friend. Cross then walked out of IWL for the last time, returning to Japan. While there, Kyle worked through his anger, and slowly reverted to his old self. After several months, Cross decided to give North America another shot, and fly home to Toronto. That was five days ago. The following day, before he'd even had a chance to declare himself a free agent, his fax machine had spit out a contract. An incredible contract. An incredible contract from a most improbable source.
What are you thinking, Malave? Is this a trap set by a cunning adversary or simply and intelligent acquisition by a shrewd businessman?
The contract was to join Pure Class Wrestling, a regional fed out of South Carolina that was owned by Luis Malave. Normally, Cross would have just thrown the contract in the garbage... except he'd heard about the fans at the PCW Arena. The type of rabid devotion not seen since the early days of ECW. That appealed to Kyle, even if it meant working for Luis Malave. And then there was the matches... Cross was being offered a spot in the main event at PCW's first ever PPV 'Revival'. A three-man round-robin event for the Pure Class Wrestling World Championship.
From a personal standpoint, I know that the last thing that The Icemann would want is Kyle Cross holding his World title. But from a business point of view, putting the title on an international superstar with a cult-like underground following might just be the best thing for the company... and by putting me up against two men who have been training for a different opponent... it's almost as if he's making it too easy for me.
Cross reached down into the center console, grabbing his cellphone and hitting the speed-dial for Kato Yamagato.
“Kato... yeah, it's Kyle... (pause)... I'd love to, but I'm not in Tokyo. I'm in the States. I've got a job lined up. Listen, I need you to put together a package for me. I need you to get all the footage of a couple of guys I'm going to be facing next week. First is a guy goes by the name of Sexay Jay, and the other is a guy named Maniac. They're both working for Pure Class Wrestling right now, so start with any footage from PCW's first eight shows, and transfer that to DVD. Then, start working your way backwards. As for Sexay Jay... (pause)... Yeah, that's him, the rapper. He's twenty-five, but it doesn't sound like he's been wrestling long, so you're not going to find much footage on him for the DVD outside of the PCW stuff, but I want any info you can dig up. Where he trained, with whom, what injuries he's had, all of it. As for Maniac, he's a fellow Torontonian like me... he's about twenty-five as well, and he's been around. Dig up footage from PCW, EHW... and from IWL... (pause)... yeah, I remember him from when I was in IWL, but we didn't have any matches together. Get all the footage, all the medical, all the background on both of them, and send it to me overnight express at The Hyatt Regency in Greenville, South Carolina. I'll be staying in The Brooks Suite under my real name... (pause)... thanks Kato."
Cross hung up the phone as the sun began to set. Ahead, he could see the lights of Greenville.
Whatever you're up to, Luis... I guess I'm game.
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