Post by Jack Tillman on Apr 30, 2017 12:56:45 GMT
Chapter One
May 8th, 2004
Omaha, Nebraska
AGE 13
-It's been three days since father passed away from a heart attack. I have no more tears to shed as I look at his grave. The funeral has just finished and everyone is gone. I'm the only one left as I just stare at dirt and a head stone that reads his name. Mother is next to him in the ground, passed away five years ago from a car accident. I've missed her since she passed, just like how I will miss father right now.....mostly because I'm all alone now.
-Father drove off the rest of my brothers and sisters. Pushed them to hard to follow him into the wrestling industry. I don't mind the training, but from what I heard, my training was lighter compared to the rest of them. None of them showed up to the funeral. Many people showed up though. Allot were wrestlers. Old rivals. Old employees. Past students. Everyone had a story to tell about my father at the wake. Some funny, some sad, but all honest in saying that he was a loyal friend and a true legend in the industry. They all told me that if I ever needed help or wanted any training in the business to call them up.
-A nice lady from child services told me that I can stay as long as I want as I just stare at the grave. The patter of rain drops hit my hair and I know it's time to leave......but I don't want to. I'm not ready. Just a couple more minutes. All of these emotions, just swirling around my head but I don't know how to handle it all. I'm lost. I'm confused. I'm scared. I'm angry. I'm.......I'm.......I'm......
-And then a hand is placed on my shoulder. Rough and tight as it squeezes my right shoulder. Looking at the corner of my eye, I see a familiar face. One that I haven't seen for awhile but one that my father always smiled to when he came to visit. Over my other shoulder, I hear a familiar voice that always brought a smile to my face when he came to visit. The man on my right is Chris Constantine, a former student of my father who later became a manager. The other man to my right is Kurt Newman. A former student who's still in the business today. Both men will mold me into what I am today. I don't know this yet though as Kurt does his best to help out a child that just lost his father.
Kurt Newman: "Jackie boy.......this world is that of chapters to a story. Today is the end of one chapter and the beginning of a new one. Chris and I will there to help you write this next chapter of your life. Would you like that?"
-I don't know what to do or say at this very moment. My mind is that of darkness as the rain begins to come down a little bit harder now. But I don't want to go now. Not just yet. Another minute please. I just want to burry all of these feelings into this cemetery.....because I never want to feel like this ever again.
-End Scene
-Sweat rolls down my face and onto the wrestling mat as I stare at it with gasping breath. Breath in breath out Jack. Take a break. Let your body heal up a little. That's what the little voice in my head is telling me. But the rage......the anger.....it wants me to continue. Push yourself. If this were real life, you wouldn't be able to take a break. Just breath Jack. Breath and relax.
Jack Tillman: "I was conceived in a wrestling ring.
I was born in a wrestling ring.
I grew up in a wrestling ring.
I took my first bump when I was still in diapers in a wrestling ring.
I became a man in a wrestling ring.
I am who I am because of this ring.
This ring, it's my home. It's my church. It is my everything. I have dedicated my life to this wrestling ring and I can only hope to die in this wrestling ring. Some might see this point of view as pathetic or sad because there's so much more in life than this. That I need to have a social life and not to take this whole thing seriously. Act like the 21 year old kid that your are. Go out. Have fun. Drink. Screw women. Make those stupid mistakes.
But that ain't me.....
There's a saying though that do what you love. Pick a job that doesn't feel like a job and you will do it for the rest of your life. Wrestling is that thing that I love to do. I wake up every morning at 4 in the morning to go train.....and there isn't one day that I dread getting out of bed and not wanting to go train. There isn't one thought in my head that I don't tire of feeling pain or the threat of getting punched in the face.
This ring.......it's my everything. That's why I take this industry so seriously because it's an honor to be apart of it. Many people would die for the opportunity that I have now. Many people have put in the time and effort to get a shot at being a professional wrestler......but they fall short because of injury or they just didn't put in the time or energy. Many people have died in this ring while trying to prove to the masses that they are the best.
This is why I treat this ring with respect and honor. And it's also a reason why I hate sports entertainers......gimmicks........cos players...... and low life's......because they spit on this ring......this sacred spot......and don't give it the respect that it deserves. So I do what is right and just......and that's beating the ever living shit out of them and give that ring, that we're fighting on, a blood sacrifice.
Many people in this tournament don't deserve to be called wrestler.....many more don't deserve to even be in the ring. They'll get theirs soon enough by my hands....god willing..........but I have to wait and eat my wings......for my name is the bird Hermes, eating my wings to keep me tame. Eating them so I don't send my message in person to the masses that their time will soon end by my hands.
But you Amy......you deserve to be in that ring with me. You've earned your place in that ring because unlike so many of the people involved in this tournament......you actually know what you're doing in that ring. You've put the time in. You've trained around the world and we're instructed by the best. Instead of being a stick figure like the rest of the Barbie Dolls in the wrestling industry, you're at a weight that isn't laughable. So Amy, it's an honor to face you in that ring.
But a winner must be had and Amy......you don't stand a chance.....and you already know you don't stand a chance. You've already told me all I need to hear in your defeat Amy."
-Slowly rising to my feet, I stand in the middle of the ring as I continue to calm down from my training session.
Jack Tillman: "Amy, when it was first announced that the two of us were going to face one another......what was the first tweet you sent out to respond to our match?
Four letters.
F.........U.........C.........K
That......that right there Amy is all I needed to hear to know that you've already lost this match because I'm already planted in your head. You already know what I'm capable of in that ring. You know that no one works harder than me when it comes to wrestling. Amy......you know that I am one of the most dangerous individuals in the wrestling industry today because unlike so many other people in wrestling today......I don't fuck around and I know what I'm doing.
But you're not just going to lay down and surrender. That's not your style. You're not going to disrespect your name and LAW. You're going to give me your all. You're going to put those years of training to good use and give me a fight that you've never fought before. You're going to give me your all and pray to what ever God that you worship that you can keep me down.
I wouldn't want it any other way.
But you know it....and I know it Amy.....you won't stand a chance against me. You're a broken individual. I could close my eyes, point at an area of your body, and you would had either had surgery there or had a major injury in that area. Amy the game plan against you is simple. Pick a body part and attack it by beating the ever living shit out of it or stretching the hell out of it until you eventually tap out or pass out from the pain.
Time is on my side Amy. I'm a 21 year old fresh body without any major injury and no where near the bumps that you've taken over your career. I'm faster than you, better trained than you, stronger than you, and that much better than you.
You know this deep down inside Amy. That's why you said fuck. But you have to save face. So you'll get encouragement from your friends and family. You'll get the LAW universe behind your back and do it for them. You want prove that LAW is one of the best Feds around in the wrestling industry. Do what ever it takes to make you confident in stepping in the ring with me because Amy I want you at your best. I want the Amy Jo that's one of the top faces in LAW. Amy I want your everything because as that bell rings and we finally lock up in that ring........I'm going to take your best and destroy it all. I'm going to destroy your reputation. I'm going to burn down your legacy. I'm going to bury the Amy Jo name and take a piss on everything LAW because just like you and LAW......it's nothing but over blown hype and little girls playing a slap fest.
Amy you are wrestling in a mans world against one of the very best in the wrestling industry today. So Amy, after I defeat you and leave you a crippled little fool.......and you make your way back to LAW with what ever courage you have left to look at your fellow competitors......don't look at them in the face with respect and honor .......look down at the grown with disgrace because Jack Tillman made you look like a fool."
-Leaning towards the camera, I lift my right index finger and poke the camera lens with it as a sinister grin comes crawling across my face.
Jack Tillman: "My name is Jack "The Ripper" Tillman. Representing EWC. This ring......this is my church......this is my world....,,and you Amy......you're just an uninvited guest. So like any cockroach that steps out from the shadows, you will be met with the bottom of my foot.....and wiped off from existence.
May God have mercy on your soul......because I will give you none."
-With that, I go back to training. End Scene
Chapter 2
12 June 2007
Mexico City, Mexico
Age 16
I hate flipy shit. I hate high spots. I hate wrestlers flying all over the place. Super fast and extremely agile. That's the best I can say about Mexican wrestlers. The Lucha style is a form of wrestling that I really don't care to much because at any moment you can break your neck by your own form of offense. To many ways to end a career with their style of wrestling because it's nothing but flying in the air and landing awkwardly on your neck, spine, or legs. It's all based on the here and now and fuck about your future. It's all about getting that adrenaline rush. To hear the crowds cheer and get that satisfaction when they pop. It's just like putting that needle into your arm with your drug of choice.....those fans will eventually kill you at the end because the fans will never be satisfied with what you put out. They'll want more each and every time they step in that ring. That one time that you don't feed their addiction.....you're hated, vilified, and looked down on.
One good thing about about their wrestling is that their mat skills are some of the best around the world. It's like dancing when they apply an arm bar on someone. It's all in the hips. It's also all about the transition. One minute they can go from your arm, and before you can think of a way to get out of the predicament, they've moved to your legs and you didn't even know it happen.
Kurt sent me to Mexico for the summer to train under Senior Red Demono and his students. Kurt said that he trained under Demono when he was younger so that he could master the Lucha style. But I'm not here to learn the Lucha style. I'm here to learn how to defend myself against it. To find the weaknesses of it and defeat it so that when I do face a Lucha Wrestler in the future that I'd be able to defend myself.
Problem with all of this is that Kurt never told me how to defend myself against Lucha wrestling. He also didn't tell me that Demono and his students don't speak a lick of English and hate Americans. And of course they aren't going to tell me how to defend myself because fuck you whitey. So for the past two months I've sweated my ass off in the Mexican heat while getting my ass kicked on a daily basis by guys that don't want me there. Each morning I wake up sore with dry blood formed around my nose. Each night I draw up game plans in my head on to how to defeat them. It's a slow process but I'm improving each and every day. Plus I love the challenge. The pain fuels me. Let's me know I'm still alive.
I'm starting to finally get it though. I'm able to find their tell signs. I'm able to understand that the best way to defend myself is to keep the Luchas down on the ground and to cut off momentum, the main source of strength of Lucha wrestling. Work on their backs, necks, and mostly legs.....because legs are the only way that they can move and jump around. The problem with trying to keep them down is what I said before hand about Lucha wrestlers, their technical skills on the mate is on par or even better than American or British mate wrestling. But like I said before, it's all art. It's all about showing off. So when they show off to the crowd, that's when you attack. Use my body weight to my advantage because most of the Lucha wrestlers are small compared to me.
Tomorrow morning is a new day. Continue to learn. Use what Kurt and my old man taught me. Learn from my beatings. Learn from the bruises. Wrap yourself in the pain and welcome it as a friend. You don't lose Jack.....you learn. That's what Kurt has taught me. Thats what Chris Constantine has taught me. That's what my dad taught me. Losing is not an option......not any more.