Post by Venom 🕷 on Dec 23, 2021 20:56:17 GMT -5
‘Twas the night before the night before Christmas and all through the gym, not a creature was stirring except for Jim, the Janitor. He was cleaning up and sanitizing before we’re closed for three days. I nod to him and say:
El Combatiente: Merry Christmas Jim.
One of the few things I can say in English. He waves as he continues sweeping and I head for the door. Things didn’t go well with my parents the other night, but it wasn’t going to stop me from spending the rest of the holidays with my family. I exit through the front and lock it behind me. Jim will exit out the back and lock that behind him. I turn around ready to rush home and finish wrapping when I turn right into…
“Did you give my son this mask he won’t take off?”
…Bobby’s Mom sternly asking me questions in my face.
El Combatiente: Sí.
Bobby’s Mom: What kind of grown man gives a child on the street a toy mask…
Bobby: A professional wrestler who wears a mask.
Bobby’s Mom: …just randomly huh? Are you some sex pervert trying to groom my little boy? Are you like that Jeffery Epstein? Tell me!
El Combatiente: Le di una máscara porque es un fan. No soy un pervertido sexual. No soy en absoluto como Epstein, pero una vez conocí a su fantasma. No quería conocerlo, simplemente sucedió, y tuvimos que salvarlo incluso de un fantasma más aterrador.
(I gave him a mask because he’s a fan. I am not a sex pervert. I am not at all like Epstein, but I did meet his ghost once. I didn’t want to meet him, it just kind of happened, and we had to save him from even a scarier ghost.)[/i]
Bobby’s mom stares at me like the Tyrannosaurus rex in Jurassic Park. Maybe if I don’t move she’ll forget I was there.
Bobby’s Mom: Why can’t I understand him?
Bobby: Because he only speaks Spanish mom. He’s a famous Mexican wrestler. I’ve told you that.
Bobby’s Mom: Why didn’t I know that then?
Bobby: Because you were so mad someone gave me a mask you didn’t listen to me.
Bobby’s mom goes to speak, but stops. She looks from her son and then back to me.
Bobby’s Mom: Maybe I was a bit rash, but that is still weird to give a line child a gift on the street like that!
I had a feeling this might happen, and thanks to my dinner with my parents not going well I had something to help me out in this situation. I reached into my bag and pulled out an envelope. It’s the gift I tried to give my parents, but although I’m welcome to family events they still want nothing to do with me as far as wrestling is concerned.
El Combatiente: Tengo dos billetes de avión a Nueva York, una habitación de hotel y dos entradas para el espectáculo de Navidad XHF Xtreme. No tengo a nadie a quien dárselos, así que son tuyos si los quieres. Estarías en primera fila en el espectáculo, pero debo advertirte, se llama Oh Violent Night por una razón.
(I have two plane tickets to New York, a hotel room, and two tickets to the XHF Xtreme Xmas show. I have no one to give them to so they are yours if you want them. You would be front row at the show, but I must warn you, it is called Oh Violent Night for a reason.)
She reluctantly takes the envelope from my hand and looks inside. Her eyes get big and a smile crosses her face.
Bobby’s Mom: Tickets to New York? I’ve never been to New York. Sir, I don’t understand a word you’ve said but we’re in. Time to run back and tell your dad that he’s going to be taking your sister to ballet next week![/i]
Bobby’s Mom quickly grasps me in a hug then grabs her son by the hand and drags him off. Booby mouths over his shoulder to me as he’s dragged away thank you and they’re gone.
We open back up on El Combatiente sitting at a table. In front of him are presents he has wrapped and a few unwrapped toys that he’s still working on. His wrapping paper is uniquely his as it features repeating cartoon Santa faces with a traditional luchador mask on. El Combatiente sets the tape and scissors down and looks into the camera.
El Combatiente: The Fireside Tag Team Championships are in serious jeopardy as the President and I face our stiffest competition to date. A true Champion Myo who has stapled his name in history with brilliant runs as Junior Heavyweight and the X*Crown Champion. When I got talked into coming to Fireside Myo is one of the few people that I was hoping I would get matched up against. When they decided to take some time to recoup I was worried I would never get that chance. But here we are, set to face off with the Tag Team Championships on the line. The President and I have a chance to staple ourselves as one of the greatest teams Fireside has ever seen if we can stop a wrestler the caliber of Myo, but we shouldn’t be facing him at all.[/i]
El Combatiente stops, taking a beat before he breaks into why.[/i]
El Combatiente: You see Myo isn’t in this match because they have decided to make their mark as a tag team wrestler. Myo isn’t in this match because they’ve found a partner they can trust. No, Myo is in this match because the owner of Fireside, Anthony Caffery, practically forced him to so that he could get some sort of revenge on the President and the rest of the Bang Bros.[/i]
El Combatiente stops and shakes his head in disappointment.
El Combatiente: When I was recruited by the President to the Bang Bros and then asked to replace his injured tag team partner I knew he had a grudge against Anthony Caffery, but I thought it must have been something personal. In my experiences with him while we were both in SWAT I never had an issue with him. When he left he had his issues with management and they made sense to me. I understood. Creating his own company, fulfilling his life’s dream, also made sense to me. People told me he left because he was a self-centered jackass, but I didn’t believe them. People told me that he didn’t create Fireside because it was his life’s dream, but instead because he needed something to self-inflate his ego, but I didn’t believe them. It wasn’t the Anthony Caffery I had known. Now, though, my opinion has changed.
El Combatiente picks up one of the packages and examines it while he continues.
El Combatiente: Don’t get me wrong Anthony, I know you still have a good heart. Right now I’m wrapping toys that I’m bringing to underserved communities here in Los Angeles tomorrow morning. I know you do the same. You love your community in Philly. You are always doing things to give back. The problem, though, is that you don’t care about anyone else, and when it comes to wrestling you’re the only one that matters right?
El Combatiente sets down the present and continues.
El Combatiente: I’m sure you won’t argue it. If you did you’d be lying. It’s so blatant I’m not even sure you could deny it if you wanted to. Do you even know you’re doing it or is it just second nature? Something happens and you can’t help but just respond. The Bang Bros keep getting one up on you so what do you do? You force your way into title contention. That’s not enough, though, so you try and force our buddy Spike into a match you think he won’t be prepared for. You may be a hero in your community Anthony, but in the world of wrestling no matter what you do you’re the villain and there’s nothing you can do about it.
El Combatiente spreads out wrapping paper and places a present on top. He reaches for the scissors and we fade to black.
El Combatiente: Merry Christmas Jim.
One of the few things I can say in English. He waves as he continues sweeping and I head for the door. Things didn’t go well with my parents the other night, but it wasn’t going to stop me from spending the rest of the holidays with my family. I exit through the front and lock it behind me. Jim will exit out the back and lock that behind him. I turn around ready to rush home and finish wrapping when I turn right into…
“Did you give my son this mask he won’t take off?”
…Bobby’s Mom sternly asking me questions in my face.
El Combatiente: Sí.
Bobby’s Mom: What kind of grown man gives a child on the street a toy mask…
Bobby: A professional wrestler who wears a mask.
Bobby’s Mom: …just randomly huh? Are you some sex pervert trying to groom my little boy? Are you like that Jeffery Epstein? Tell me!
El Combatiente: Le di una máscara porque es un fan. No soy un pervertido sexual. No soy en absoluto como Epstein, pero una vez conocí a su fantasma. No quería conocerlo, simplemente sucedió, y tuvimos que salvarlo incluso de un fantasma más aterrador.
(I gave him a mask because he’s a fan. I am not a sex pervert. I am not at all like Epstein, but I did meet his ghost once. I didn’t want to meet him, it just kind of happened, and we had to save him from even a scarier ghost.)[/i]
Bobby’s mom stares at me like the Tyrannosaurus rex in Jurassic Park. Maybe if I don’t move she’ll forget I was there.
Bobby’s Mom: Why can’t I understand him?
Bobby: Because he only speaks Spanish mom. He’s a famous Mexican wrestler. I’ve told you that.
Bobby’s Mom: Why didn’t I know that then?
Bobby: Because you were so mad someone gave me a mask you didn’t listen to me.
Bobby’s mom goes to speak, but stops. She looks from her son and then back to me.
Bobby’s Mom: Maybe I was a bit rash, but that is still weird to give a line child a gift on the street like that!
I had a feeling this might happen, and thanks to my dinner with my parents not going well I had something to help me out in this situation. I reached into my bag and pulled out an envelope. It’s the gift I tried to give my parents, but although I’m welcome to family events they still want nothing to do with me as far as wrestling is concerned.
El Combatiente: Tengo dos billetes de avión a Nueva York, una habitación de hotel y dos entradas para el espectáculo de Navidad XHF Xtreme. No tengo a nadie a quien dárselos, así que son tuyos si los quieres. Estarías en primera fila en el espectáculo, pero debo advertirte, se llama Oh Violent Night por una razón.
(I have two plane tickets to New York, a hotel room, and two tickets to the XHF Xtreme Xmas show. I have no one to give them to so they are yours if you want them. You would be front row at the show, but I must warn you, it is called Oh Violent Night for a reason.)
She reluctantly takes the envelope from my hand and looks inside. Her eyes get big and a smile crosses her face.
Bobby’s Mom: Tickets to New York? I’ve never been to New York. Sir, I don’t understand a word you’ve said but we’re in. Time to run back and tell your dad that he’s going to be taking your sister to ballet next week![/i]
Bobby’s Mom quickly grasps me in a hug then grabs her son by the hand and drags him off. Booby mouths over his shoulder to me as he’s dragged away thank you and they’re gone.
We open back up on El Combatiente sitting at a table. In front of him are presents he has wrapped and a few unwrapped toys that he’s still working on. His wrapping paper is uniquely his as it features repeating cartoon Santa faces with a traditional luchador mask on. El Combatiente sets the tape and scissors down and looks into the camera.
El Combatiente: The Fireside Tag Team Championships are in serious jeopardy as the President and I face our stiffest competition to date. A true Champion Myo who has stapled his name in history with brilliant runs as Junior Heavyweight and the X*Crown Champion. When I got talked into coming to Fireside Myo is one of the few people that I was hoping I would get matched up against. When they decided to take some time to recoup I was worried I would never get that chance. But here we are, set to face off with the Tag Team Championships on the line. The President and I have a chance to staple ourselves as one of the greatest teams Fireside has ever seen if we can stop a wrestler the caliber of Myo, but we shouldn’t be facing him at all.[/i]
El Combatiente stops, taking a beat before he breaks into why.[/i]
El Combatiente: You see Myo isn’t in this match because they have decided to make their mark as a tag team wrestler. Myo isn’t in this match because they’ve found a partner they can trust. No, Myo is in this match because the owner of Fireside, Anthony Caffery, practically forced him to so that he could get some sort of revenge on the President and the rest of the Bang Bros.[/i]
El Combatiente stops and shakes his head in disappointment.
El Combatiente: When I was recruited by the President to the Bang Bros and then asked to replace his injured tag team partner I knew he had a grudge against Anthony Caffery, but I thought it must have been something personal. In my experiences with him while we were both in SWAT I never had an issue with him. When he left he had his issues with management and they made sense to me. I understood. Creating his own company, fulfilling his life’s dream, also made sense to me. People told me he left because he was a self-centered jackass, but I didn’t believe them. People told me that he didn’t create Fireside because it was his life’s dream, but instead because he needed something to self-inflate his ego, but I didn’t believe them. It wasn’t the Anthony Caffery I had known. Now, though, my opinion has changed.
El Combatiente picks up one of the packages and examines it while he continues.
El Combatiente: Don’t get me wrong Anthony, I know you still have a good heart. Right now I’m wrapping toys that I’m bringing to underserved communities here in Los Angeles tomorrow morning. I know you do the same. You love your community in Philly. You are always doing things to give back. The problem, though, is that you don’t care about anyone else, and when it comes to wrestling you’re the only one that matters right?
El Combatiente sets down the present and continues.
El Combatiente: I’m sure you won’t argue it. If you did you’d be lying. It’s so blatant I’m not even sure you could deny it if you wanted to. Do you even know you’re doing it or is it just second nature? Something happens and you can’t help but just respond. The Bang Bros keep getting one up on you so what do you do? You force your way into title contention. That’s not enough, though, so you try and force our buddy Spike into a match you think he won’t be prepared for. You may be a hero in your community Anthony, but in the world of wrestling no matter what you do you’re the villain and there’s nothing you can do about it.
El Combatiente spreads out wrapping paper and places a present on top. He reaches for the scissors and we fade to black.