World Wrestling Generation

On the sands of Australia’s aptly named Gold Coast, in the rising light, the new beginning, a lone man sat. His toes dug into the sand absent-mindedly as he watched and listened to the roar and crash of the morning’s swells, the early rising surfer’s rushing out for the next wave. In his hand, half disguised in a brown paper bag, an almost empty bottle of rum. He let the last few drops fall to the sand, and flipped sunglasses down across his face as the sun broke the horizon.

“I thought I would find you here,”  said a voice from behind. Eddie Hayes turned his head. One look was enough, even if he didn’t recognise the voice.  “It’s not the most obvious of places, but you and I, we think very similarly. Let me guess; you’re feel—”

 “I don’t need you to tell me how I feel, Stranger, I know myself well enough.”  For a moment, Eddie wished he hadn’t poured out those last few drops. “I thought I made it clear, you and I are through. I don’t want or need your help anymore. I’ve got my own friends, people who don’t turn me against my friends, and I don’t need you playing your games. You’ve done well to help me become a better fighter, but that’s it.”

 “Like it or not, you still need my guidance,”  said the Stranger, sitting down in the sand. A black hood covered his face.

 “I don’t want it.”

 “What is it the Rolling Stones say? You can’t always get what you want. But here, I am ready to listen whenever you need to vent.”

They sat in silence for another minute. Eddie watched the Stranger from the corner of his eye, hoping he wasn’t watching him, but unable to tell through the mask. There was a familiarity in the man, a familiarity he couldn’t place. He carried himself well, as if experienced – and training, together, Eddie had seen that was true. It had bothered him at first, not knowing, but he came to accept that he wasn’t going to find out, and stuck to training. It made him better, but not enough, so now the question was back.

 “Just who are you anyway?”

The Stranger thought for a moment.  “Once that question might have mattered. I could’ve done a big reveal and you, everyone would be stunned. But you don’t really want to know my identity. That’s not why you ask. I’ve been here before. I asked that same question, and it was the wrong question. Try again.”

Eddie scoffed. Typical avoidance from the Stranger, typical cryptic nonsense. Why couldn’t anyone be straight forward? It was a simple question. It had a simple answer. All Eddie wanted to here was a name. He didn’t care what, he just needed to name the Stranger, to label him something different. To make him… more real. To understand, was there really a story there? A human name for a faceless man, that’s all he wanted. With that, he could place the Stranger in the world. He could figure out where he belonged in this tale, hero or villain, mentor or obstacle, a memory or a footnote. And then he could figure out where he, Eddie Hayes, fit into all of this. Was he just the footnote in the Stranger’s story? Was he the hero he thought he was? And if so… why had he failed? He looked back down the beach out across the ocean.

 “Who am I?”

Beneath his mask, the Stranger was smiling. He let Eddie continue.

 “I mean, I thought I was destined for something better than this. I thought – naively – that I could just walk into that ring, stun the world, and be somebody. Even if it lasted just a week, or two, winning that Elimination Chamber match was going to be my Legacy. And if I didn’t win it, I was gonna go out fighting. I was gonna give them a performance to remember for the rest of their lives. You, Titan, the crowd, everybody watching, they’d remember that night. Remember Eddie Hayes? Remember how awesome he was, how he came from nothing and fought his heart out to become something? But that didn’t happen. That didn’t happen at all. Instead I failed. Miserably. First man out. Survived against Nobody for a few minutes, but got eliminated soon after Rayven came in, and was immediately forgotten. I don’t even understand how it happened. I can handle more than that. I could’ve kicked out. I could’ve won that match… I could’ve…”

 “But you didn’t. For as much posturing you did, the fact was you weren’t ready. You still aren’t. You’re still learning. Did you really expect to be an overnight legend? Are you really that arrogant?”

 “No, but—”

 “No, you listen to me for a minute. This is what I wanted to tell you. You can’t just work hard for a few weeks and expect to overtake people who have been working their whole lives. You know, you keep saying you’re not naturally talented, that you have to work hard, but you haven’t worked a hard day in your life. And you ARE talented. When you trained with me, I pushed you as much as you could take. I knew you didn’t have what it takes to win the championship, not yet, but I still helped you, I helped you secure your place in that match. I knew you’d get beaten, and beaten badly – your opposition was too good, and you, you’re just not good enough. So here, I’m offering again. Come back and train with me again. You’ve got this opportunity, a tournament to become the number one contender, and each week it’ll just get harder and harder. Your opponents will get hungrier and more determined. Through this tournament, I can turn you into the star you think could be.”

 “I’ll have to talk it over with Titan. He doesn’t like you.”

 “Then talk it over with him, Eddie. But think about this. If you really want to know who you are, you need to find that out for yourself. You can’t always be relying on someone else to watching your back… friends, brothers, eventually they’ll all turn on you. If you really want to succeed, to become this symbol you think you can be, you’re not gonna be able to lean on someone like Titan. You have to take it for yourself.”

Silence filled the space between them again, as Eddie turned away to watch the waves.

 “No.”

He stood up, turned towards the Stranger and almost stumbling over – the sand and the drink equal putting his balance off – and pointed a finger straight at the Stranger, as he too rose to his feet.

 “No, you’re wrong. You’ve been wrong about me from the start. I’m not some lost little puppy sitting here drinking away his sorrows. I’m not just gonna wallow in self-pity and regret for my mistakes and my failures and put my faith in a man who hasn’t delivered on his promises. You – you pig-headed ****, you’re full of self-importance, deluded by your own fantasies, trying to turn me into your little plaything, aren’t you? You’re not on my side, you’re on your own side. How dare you try to fracture my relationships, how dare you try to break me? You, by your own admission, a ‘Stranger’… you **** sicken me, you know that? You talk well. You’re a silver tongued devil, and you just want me to deal with you.

“Here’s where I **** up, Stranger. I let you in, I let you break me down. I didn’t stand a chance not because I’m not ready, but because all the friction you caused between Titan and I had mentally drained me. I wasn’t prepared properly because I was tending to those wounds rather than addressing my shortcomings, wounds you inflicted. So here’s what happens now. I cut you out, completely. You stop following me – don’t just fly across the world to give me a lecture – you **** off until I come for you, until I need you, and don’t you dare take credit for any role you’ve played in turning me into a functioning wrestler. I have done this, not you. I worked **** hard every day I trained with you, I know what I am capable of, and I don’t need you here belittling me again so you can play your narcissistic game, so you can pretend that you’re the one this whole story is about. Because you’re not, Stranger, you’re a pathetic, manipulative bastard who deserves what he has – an empty, shallow existence, defined by his impact on others.”

The sun, now well above the horizon, seemed only to fuel Eddie’s temper, as he stormed away from the Stranger. He suddenly stopped, turned around and threw his empty bottle at Stranger’s face.

 “I am my own man, Stranger. I don’t **** need you.”

A crescendo of crashing waves punctuated Eddie Hayes’ words as he walked off. This time, he did not look back.

Ooooh snap! Stranger just got dumped. He's going to have to drown his sorrows in ice cream and Netflix.

....which is a hilarious visual...