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Post by REDEFINE Pro on Jul 27, 2014 15:54:04 GMT
Showcase Match: Adam Stryker vs. Nighthawk
Adam is trying to interject himself in the 2CW Championship picture. What a way to do that than by beating the former champions best friend and tag team partner; Nighthawk. These two will meet for the first time at Clash at the Coliseum-in a match that is sure to have ramifications on the 2CW Championship rankings!
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Post by Dave on Jul 31, 2014 10:55:18 GMT
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Post by nighthawk on Aug 5, 2014 13:33:40 GMT
““In our modern world, we look unkindly on mistakes and imperfection. But this is far from the samurai ideal. Mistakes are part of the learning process and if you haven't made them then you are, indeed, dangerous because it means you have never learned anything. Mistakes, to a samurai, are the proof of your learning.”
As Nighthawk pulls up the wrought-iron gate that keeps locked the gym which he owns and trains at known as the Wrestle Factory in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago in advance of his highly anticipated match against Adam Stryker one has to wonder how the Chicago native is feeling after coming to the realization that he lost his chance at victory in the cibernetico match not due to anything that his opponents actually did, but instead to a rare mental error.
But as we realize who it is we are speaking about it comes to us that if we know nothing else about Nighthawk and the way that he has conducted himself over an absolutely sterling career, it is that any mistakes he might happen to make will be studied and remembered in order to ensure that they won’t happen again.
but while the “Wrestling Machine” might have catalogued his mistakes and committed all the steps he needs to take in order to make sure that it doesn’t happen again one has to wonder if that frustration over being outsmarted will bleed, perhaps even without him realizing that it’s happening, into the way he approaches trying to defeat Adam Stryker who, it should be pointed out, is a tough challenge in and of himself.
But as the “Man of 1000 Holds” finally pulls the gates all the way up and begins to turn on the lights in the gym, grumbling quietly to himself as he tightens up the ropes on one of the trio of full-sized rings that he has inside the gym, a rattle from behind him causes him to take out the black earbuds in his ear and turn off his powder-blue iPhone 5C. Wheeling around to see who has dared to enter his inner sanctum without permission Nighthawk frowns when he sees that it’s 2 men wearing Chicago Police Department uniforms.
Nighthawk: “To what do I owe this great pleasure? Which one of my students headbutted some young punk at a bar because he told them, no doubt brought on by liquid courage, that wrestling wasn’t real? Who did what?”
Police Officer #1, his olive-skinned face ashen with heartbreak: “It’s none of that, Tristan. It’s Santos. He was at home and he collapsed. The doctors said it was a massive stroke, and that he didn’t feel any pain. But, Tristan, he’s gone. Your friend is gone. After we told his wife, she insisted that you were the next person we told. She’s waiting for you at his house.”
Nighthawk, the sadness evident on his face for just a moment before he pulls on a tight mask in keeping with someone who has spent quite a good bit of his career turning himself into a machine when he needs to be: “Thank you for coming, gentlemen. I'll be sure to say hi to Santos’s wife personally.”
Nodding their heads in respect towards him, the police officers leave the gym silently as they understand they have just delivered a mighty blow. But as the “Man of 1000 Holds” sees them out, he finally collapses against one of the cement beams inside the gym and absolutely falls apart with soul-wracking sobs as his best friend, and the one person who appeared to know the best way to deal with him, is now gone from his life forever.
A few days later…..
As Nighthawk stands alone in front of his friend’s casket at his memorial service, staring out at a sold-out chapel waiting with bated breath to hear what he has to say, we can feel the waves of discomfort come off of the Chicago native at the situation that he has now found himself in. Despite how he is clearly feeling, however, the “Wrestling Machine” nonetheless steps to the lectern in an impeccably tailored black suit.
Nighthawk, his voice so thick with emotion that it seems to be a herculean struggle to get the words out: “I struggled with this, how to eulogize my best friend. I met Santos when I was 18 and he was 17 at a training camp in the Los Tuxtlas Mountains just outside of Veracruz. It was one of those things you do as a young wrestler to prove you’re ready for the life, and your goal is to survive it so that when you make your name you never have to do it again. But I didn’t just survive, I made a friend. And whenever I needed him, no matter how big the problem was, he was always there for me. And now, a man who wanted nothing more than one more chance to be out in front of the crowds is gone. I don’t know what to say. I don’t know how to make this be right. All I do know is this: My friend was a warrior. He fought every day of his life. And if you decide you want to honor his memory, honor what he stood for. Be the person he would want you to be. Live your life the way Santos lived his, and I don’t know what a better tribute to him would be.”
As Nighthawk leaves the lectern and the church, everyone understanding that he needs some time to recover after that much emotion literally poured out of him, we see tension finally remove itself from his body.
A few hours later…..
As Nighthawk leans against the wall of the church where his friend is being memorialized, the “Wrestling Machine” slowly closes his eyes. Clad in a black Sangre Mexicana t-shirt, blue leather pants with black pinstriping up and down the legs, and black Doc Martens boots, the “Man of 1000 Holds” slowly opens his eyes, the competitive fire he has become famous for once again burning in them.
Nighthawk: “I used to spend my life wanting to fulfill the spirit of the samurai, and understood that to mean that I had to be a perfectionist, that every mistake was a sin that would pull me farther and farther away from the idea of what chasing that spirit was supposed to mean. I didn’t have any responsibilities then, wasn’t teaching anyone what I had already learned. It is amazing how your view of the world, and how you view yourself, when you start passing on all your secrets to the next generation. And in those moments, and when you start having to teach the next generation after you what it is that you learned, you realize just how much of a fool’s errand perfectionism actually is. So it is with this in mind that I can admit, freely, that I made a mistake. That’s what the samurai spirit has taught me, to adapt to my mistakes and ensure that they never happen again. And that’s exactly what’s going to happen this week, Mr. Stryker. This week, I learn from my mistakes and I beat you in the center of the ring.
Now let me be clear: I don’t hold what you tried to do at Cibernetico Assemble against you. if I was in your position, and I wanted to make a splash, I probably would have done the same thing you did. Lord knows, after I snuck out in a samurai outfit for my first appearance here, I'm not the one to talk about the right and wrong way that one should consider making an impact. But your desire to remind the world of how good you are, and how much you crave the chance to be the top dog here, will not prevent me from doing the work that needs to be done. And that work, Mr. Stryker, is very clear for me. I have to beat you and make you tap out, and I will. This might sound self-assured, as though I know what I am going to do. The reason for that is simple: I do know. As hard as it might be, and as sore as my body will be in the aftermath of it, the truth of it is simple: I am better than you.
You may think of yourself as the man here, and that’s a very reasonable opinion to hold. But those days are short, and I am going to be the man who puts that into sharp focus for you. This week, you step into the ring with a machine. This week, Mr. Stryker, you step into the ring with someone who knows how to push himself beyond whatever limits that he has to push beyond in order to get the job done. That’s where you are right now. And because you’re standing between me and my greatest goals, Mr. Stryker, you’re about to be reminded of what happens when I focus all of my attentions on you.
I've had a horrible week, Mr. Stryker, by almost any estimation. So I hope that you take this request in the manner it’s intended. Please, Mr. Stryker, hit me as hard as you possibly can. Because after the week that I've had, I will relish being hit in a way that I can’t put words to. But I warn you now: Every blow you hit me with will just mean I return fire on you. And when this night is over, the way we get to the end might change, but the result won’t. My hand will be raised in victory. And yours won’t be.
Goodnight Mr. Stryker. May sleep give you the courage to go on.”
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