Another Victory!
Wait, I probably shouldn’t say that; it kind of makes me sound arrogant. I’m not arrogant; but, I am proud about what I’ve done and what I’ve accomplished. I’m, let’s just look at what I’ve done here in Second City in the past month or so.
I made an appearance on the 2CW 2; it was a standard promo. All I really did was introduce myself to the audience. In my first match I was thrown into the Lion’s Den; I had to face AJ Fairchild. Like I’ve said before, it was a big honor facing Mr. Fairchild. My main federation right now is Frontier Grappling Arts. So, getting a chance to face-off against a former FGA Heavyweight Champion was spectacular.
It was an awesome opportunity.
Many wrestlers probably would have been frightened; they would have been scared, especially considering how “tough” AJ tried to appear on Twitter. But, I rose to the occasion—I defeated him!
And, how could I forget about Pat Gordon, Jr., who I faced at the last event.
Before I talk about that match, I want to say this; I respect the Hell out of Pat. There are about 10 or so guys that I’ve been dying to work with, and Pat was one of them. Like I’ve said before, we’ve been booked to wrestle before, but those bookings fell through.
It was an honor to work with him as well…
But, I’d be lying to you if I said I was happy with that match; because I wasn’t happy. I realize that I won the match; that’s all well and good. But, the match wasn’t the classic that it was supposed to be. That match should have been a showcase, a technical clinic.
Pat and I should have gone out there and had a classic match.
But instead, we both went to there and had an unorganized, messy brawl. That’s not my style, and it isn’t his. We should have had a match of the year candidate; but instead we had a totally forgettable match.
Ha, I’ve been replaying the match over in my head.
Maybe Pat was off of his game that night…
Hell, maybe I was off my game.
Lately, my mind has been on that Heritage Championship. Maybe I should have focused more on the match at hand, instead of future matches.
…
Second City’s Heritage Tournament will actually be my fifth tournament in about night months. Because of my of my success in FGA, I started getting offers from places all around the world.
My first big tournament was APW’s Survive and Conquer. Everyone knows about APW and its grand legacy; and, Survive and Conquer was the company’s second largest event. Each year APW invited wrestlers from all over the world to compete in a battle royal style tournament. Like any tournament, I’m sure it had humble beginnings; but as time went on, the event grew to massive sizes.
I was told at one point in the time, the number of wrestlers competing in that match alone was about 60 or 70.
Survive and Conquer 2013 was the last one APW held before it closed down. APW could have sent an invitation to anyone; every wrestler would have jumped at the chance to compete for them.
And for whatever reason the company chose to invite me.
I didn’t even have to think about it; signed the papers and returned them as quickly as I could. I knew it was something that I couldn’t pass up. At the time, I had even been on TV yet, much less a huge Pay-Per-View. I knew that I would get exposure just from competing in the match…
I also knew that I would learn some valuable lessons.
Survive and Conquer was an experience; I learned a bunch. The first thing I learned was that I need to control my emotions. A lot of things flood into your brain when you realize that you are stepping into the ring with a few legends of the Business. I had to learn to calm myself, and not get too worked up.
That tournament also taught me about confidence. Before then, I knew my skills in the ring were good; but I…I guess I felt like it was me against the world. I would win big matches in FGA, but the commentators would say that I was terrible. Other wrestlers in FGA saw me as a big threat, so they tried to tear me down with insults.
But Survive and Conquer washed most of those feelings away. In Survive and Conquer I stood toe to toe with Doug E. Fresh, and the world’s best stars. I proved to the world that I could fight with the best of them. I didn’t win the match; but, I did fairly well. I was in the ring for a decent amount of time before I was eliminated; I even got a chance to eliminate some people.
Things started changing for me after Survive and Conquer—both in FGA, and everywhere else that I went.
The next tournament was the RXW March Mayhem 2014. That was actually a spur of the moment event that I was able to participate in. The promotion sent something out of Twitter and I responded; the next thing I know, I’m out in the Midwest competition. It was a 32 man tournament if I’m not mistaken; I made it to the quarter finals.
Next on the docket is the FGA Dynamic Duos tournament; I’m still competing in this one as we speak. Each year FGA invites tag teams from all over the world to come in and work; the winner of the finals gets a shot at the tag team titles.
This whole event has kind of been a challenge to me. I’ve been wrestling for four years now. But, truthfully, I haven’t had many tag team matches. Up until Dynamic Duos, I had only had to two tag team matches, and both of those were six-man tags.
I’m a singles wrestler; I think that’s pretty clear. So, finding a partner in the first place was difficult. I reached out to a man named Sean Sands; he was the Golden Child of FGA when I joined. We squared off at one of the super shows and I ended up winning; I earned his respect that night. He put me in contact with Blake Jones. Blake another great wrestler; he’s been going for about five or six years now. Fortunately for me, Blake has been in a number of successful, championship caliber tag teams.
We met and instantly clicked. We entered that tournament; but there was a lot of talk about our chances. Our backs were to the wall. Everyone thought we were going to lose; they thought we were going to wash out and fail.
By sheer will alone we pushed through the first and seconds rounds.
And now—we are in the finals. We are two matches from becoming the FGA tag team champions!
What have I learned from Dynamic Duos?
I learned how to believe in myself. I haven’t been in wrestling very long, but I have learned this; when you are good, sometimes people are going to be against it. I guess…I guess I learned how to block those comments out. Or, at least do my best to block those comments out.
The last tournament I’ve competed in was the Phoenix Wrestling Iron King tournament. It was a pretty big event; the whole event spanned three consecutive nights. But, it wasn’t just your every-day tournament; it was a little special. In the Iron King, competitors are broken up into different groups or categories. The categories were: Striking, High-Flying, and Grappling. Ironically, I got placed in the Striking category against PW native Faith Skyler.
That match was…interesting to say the least.
Essentially, it was a shoot fight. The two of us beat the hell out of each other; but I lost in the end. I also tweaked my knee a bit; you’ll probably be able to tell in my next few matches.
What was the lesion to learn in that tournament?
Composure, Patience, and Momentum.
Stepping into the Iron King tournament was probably a stupid decision honestly, and I’ll tell you why. Many of the competitors in the tournament were signed to PW. So, what does that mean? The rest of us were behind the eight-ball from the get go. Think of it like this; those wrestlers had a home-court advantage. The referees knew them, the fans knew them, and backstage management knew them.
What did that mean to an outsider like me? Essentially, it means I had to definitively knock Faith out, so there would be no question about the winner—I wasn’t able to do so…
Momentum—Faith had it, and I didn’t. Additionally, I wasn’t able to sway it in my favor.
But hey, what can you do? I count it as a part of paying my dues. But, although I couldn’t control any of that stuff, I was able to control how I reacted to things…
Composure...
I stayed composed, at least until the end of the match.
Hmm, what about patience? It’s extremely easy to lose your patience during a wrestling match, and it’s even easier to lose it in a fight. Faith and I had a fight; and at the end of that fight, I lost my patience.
And in the end, I lost.
Patience…
…
So, once again I find myself in another tournament; this time for Second City. And once again, I feel the pressure beating down on me; I can feel the wall pressing up against my back. You see, every tournament has its own struggles and difficulties; Second City’s Heritage Tournament has some as well.
There are eight people in this whole thing; and to be honest, two of them should probably be removed. I don’t mean to be rub or unreasonable, but that’s just how I feel. I haven’t been in Second City very long; but, I’ve worked hard and I’ve won my matches.
But, you can’t say the same about Derrick Wiland and James Silkk.
Let’s look at Silkk first. I’m not going to take anything away from the man; he can wrestle a decent match. But, he’s lost twice in Second City right? AJ Fairchild was booted after three losses; so how exactly has Silkk earned the right to compete in this tournament?
But, that’s not fair right? I’ve forgotten to mention his Spitfire record. While it is true that when became the Spitfire Champion, his record down there has been lackluster as well.
And then there is Wiland. Similar to Silkk, his record has been lacking.
It’s kind of interesting if you think about it. From its inception, Second City has told us all the Wins and Loses matter, and yet, they give Silkk and Wiland this opportunity?
Interesting…
But, these are the types of things you have to deal with when you toss your name into a tournament; and, there’s nothing you can really do.
The only thing you really can do is stand up and fight!
That’s what I’m going to do!
…
I guess one big question remains…
What happens after this tournament?
Where do I go from here?
Ha, I guess that question really depends on if I lose or win; it also depends on a couple of my overseas ventures.
If I win this thing and become the Heritage Champion, then I’ll definitely be here at Second City more often; there’s really no question about that.
But if I lose? Well—that’s where things get tricky. I came to Second City to compete; I think I’ve proved that thus far. But recently, new opportunities have come up, and I’d be foolish to not give them a shot. I’ve got the opportunity to go to Japan at the end of the month; I’m going, no matter what.
And then there is the UK.
A while back PW FRONTIER contacted me. We had a few talks, but they didn’t really go anywhere. At the time, I couldn’t make it out there; but, things are a bit different now. My plan is to make it out there by the end of the summer.
So I guess…I guess a lot is riding on this match with Derrick Wiland…