Forged Steel's Wrestling Journal

Entry 8

At my last spot show I also injured another guy, but not as severe this time. The crowd was livid and threw garbage at me. I caught a battery, but thankfully with my hands instead of my head. It makes me a bit worried, but Quake says not to worry so I don't.

I really can't worry about it, because if you're always worried about whether your heat goes too far or is going to get someone to try and hurt you, it's going to take away from your work. Besides, if you ever do get in real danger as a heel, the babyfaces will come bail you out by breaking up the crowd and fighting you to the back.

The crowds here are rough. Every manager here carries some gimmick that has both a good reach and ability to be loaded or weighed down. I've already seen some fans get too rowdy (drunk) and get their "reward" for jumping the barrier. The other week one guy got clubbed with a baseball bat for hopping on a manager's back right in front of two cops who got hurdled. They arrested the manager but Quake making a very generous donation to their retirement fund and fraternal order got that to all blow over.

So the guy I'm going to feud with, I tweaked his ankle at the spot show. Quake says this is my big break, Slapjack is very over. He's of course not the main draw, but he can sell a house if put in the top spot. I didn't think I was going to the main event picture anyways, you should never expect that if you're new in a territory unless you're world's champion. Unlike that kid Thunderbolt, Slapjack actually likes to improvise in the ring as we go.

TV is this week. As I said before, we shoot the whole month in one go. Some of the vets call this hell week because it's going to be almost a week solid of 12-14 hour days. Between TV matches, TV promos, and local promos, there's very little down time. It's also crowded too as the studio isn't very big but it's all hands on deck.

I can't write much during TV. My first day I have a squash, a few hours going over TV promos, a local promo, then a second squash. I stay around for the whole day because Quake doesn't know if he wants me to run in. I don't get called and I leave around mid evening. Sister asks me to come to dinner with her and girlfriend but I have to decline as I'm just blown up from the day. Nothing much happens, I don't hear from Starlight and don't see that guy from the other night again.

The next day of taping I'm not in action, it's all promos all day. The vast majority of our content shot will just end up on the cutting room floor. As much as some complain about the hours, it's worse for Quake. He puts in 20 hour days some months and I overheard him say that he's probably going to go a full 24 this month. He definitely loves what he does though, he never complains (at least not around us).

In the evening I do decide to go have dinner with sister since I finished early. I finally meet Sister's girlfriend, Rusty. She's a local mechanic, a somewhat reserved, but very genuine lady. I ask if she made the dinner and she just laughed, saying that she can fix anything but food. Fair enough, I often feel like I have issues cooking too.

Rusty spends most of the day at her shop downtown, today's project was her completely rebuilding a refrigerator. Of course she asks about me, so I go over my past couple days. She's a bit surprised by all the work, having a very simplistic view of pro wrestling. I don't mind, she was apologetic about it and said that it wasn't her thing. I admit that wrestling isn't everybody's thing.

So the evening is spent with her and I getting acquainted. I'm happy for Sister, she's found a great lady. I eventually leave around 9 and start walking back to home base. I pass by my club and consider a drink, peering in the window. I see that guy again, but with no one yet again. I don't know why I keep going back to him in my mind, perhaps it's just the mystery around him. I decide not to drink since I have yet another early start in the morning, going back to home base for another early night.

The next day I do a squash, more promos, and this time a run-in on Slapjack's match. It leads to a brawl with the entire cast of referees and staff coming to break it up. This is late in the day, so Slap and I cut our promos, our only one-takes so far, and we're free to go. Quake surprises me and says that today is all he needs from me for this month's TV and I'm free to skip the rest of the week.

Well, with TV done I decide it's as good a time as ever for a drink. I head down to my bar, and get myself a straight vodka. It's the first time in a while I feel like I can relax. I space out listening to the live band for a few hours. Despite it being miserably hot out here, the fans being a very considerable hazard to life and limb, and the work schedule being very tight, I feel like my trip here is going to be a resounding success.

My self-congratulations are interrupted a time later as I'm snapped back to the real world by a familiar figure, but it's not who I thought it would be. I was expecting Starlight to come to me and make another pass on me, but instead it was that stallion. His hair was brown like the table's woodgrain, his light eyes seemed nervous as he asked "Hey, this spot taken?"

I easily tip that he's caught me off guard in my pause, but he starts to get up with "N-never mind.." I stop and invite him back. No it's not taken. He sits back down, clearly relaxing a bit. I tell him that I'm just a bit cautious since he'd watched me for quite a while my last few trips here, as well as seen where I live. At the very least he plays like he didn't recognize me with an "Oh, so that was you getting out of that van."

So you want to sit at my table and meet my acquaintance but won't tell me your name? "Oops, sorry, I'm Caramel." I ponder my options for an instant, but realizing my stature know that I couldn't hide my persona long give him my common name, Forged Steel. He doesn't follow wrestling because without any hesitation at all he smiles and says it's nice to meet me.

He works on an apple farm, first started as just a lowly apple harvester, but worked himself up to a foreman. I try to keep it generic, saying that I'm in athletics. He guesses wrestling, I ask how he figures, and he says it's easily the biggest sport around here. Fair enough, yeah I'm a wrestler. He says that's how my name sounds familiar, a few guys on the farm were talking about me. He's smart enough to the sport, saying that he won't tell any of them about me.

He notices that I'm writing the whole time and asks me about it. I tell him it's just a little journal I do to keep my head on my shoulders. I assume he gets that I don't want to go into it so he just drops the subject. He offers to buy me a beer, and I accept (can't really turn down a free drink).

I return the favor by offering to buy him a drink of his choice, he refuses many times and I don't press. He's a local and tells me a little about growing up, says this town is as old fashioned as it looks. I tell him a little about home and how it's much the same, though hospitality is top notch. Caramel says that even here is the same way. I suppose I should maybe go out more.

Our conversation continues like that for a while, standard "getting to know you" talk. The band finishes up, I pay for both of us, and start to leave. He asks if I'll be around, and I will be. I think I've made a friend as I go home and call a night.