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 |  Subject: The Warrior's Code  Fri Jan 13, 2012 6:10 pm | |
| - Quote :
- Crowd: LET'S GO KEVIN! LET'S GO KEVIN! LET'S GO KEVIN!
February 28th, 2010
WCF 'Till Death Do Us Part
Baltimore, Maryland
Two out of Three Falls
Brad Kane vs. Kevin Hardaway - Quote :
- Brad pushes himself back up, trying to get the effects of that flurry shook off. Kevin is on his hands and knees, willing himself back up. Kane lifts Kevin up and spin kicks him in the stomach before turning him around and dumping him on his head with a backdrop driver! Brad holds his ribs before walking over to Hardaway, grabbing his head. People know what's coming and no one has seem them for a long time. He starts to kawada kick the head of Kevin Hardaway. The crowd gets to their feet again and begins to boo as each strike comes harder and harder. Moser checks on Kevin's condition. Brad is on his tenth kick and not relenting in the least. Kevin begins to shut his eyes, losing it.
Hardaway goes limp, the crowd gasping with disappointment. Moser is about to have the bell rung but KEVIN GRABS ONTO HIS PANT LEG. The crowd explodes into a massive ovation while Brad can't believe it. He drops Kevin and begins to argue with Moser over it. Kevin rolls onto the apron, recovering with each passing moment. Brad shoves Moser but gets shoved right back. The two keep yelling at one another, Kevin getting back up to his feet, a little worse for wear. Brad shakes his head and turns around into backfist! As he reels backwards, Kevin pulls him in and gets him in the torture rack. ASYLUM BOMB! A BLAST FROM THE PAST! The crowd erupts again. Kevin covering.
One!
Two!!
Thre!!!
BRAD AGAIN KICKS OUT! Kevin is becoming upset with the fact he can't put away his long time rival in his last contest. Kevin picks Brad up and slaps him in the chest a couple of times before pushing him into the corner. He takes a few steps back and goes for another corner yakuza kick. Brad ducks out of the way, Hardaway connecting with nothing but air. In a single moment, Brad gets Kevin into a torture rack himself. RECKLESS KILLING! THIS BITCH IS DONE!
Kane smirks before covering knowing this is all she wrote.
One!
Two!!
Three!!!
WHAT, KEVIN KICKS OUT AT THE LAST POSSIBLE SECOND SENDING THE CROWD INTO A FRENZY! Brad simply can't believe someone kicked out of his old finisher. He shakes his head before pulling Kevin back up. He lifts Kevin into the air before sitting him on the top rope. He climbs up to the top rope and signals for the end, Kirisute Gomen.
Kevin grabs onto the top rope to block the move. Brad keeps trying but nothing helps matters. Kevin elbows him a couple of times as Brad starts to headbutt him. The two men do battle on the top rope, trying to gain the advantage. Finally Kevin attains it, butterflying Brad's arms before HITTING THE WILLIAMS DRIVER OFF OF THE TOP ROPE! Kevin scrambles to cover, hooking a leg.
ONE!
TWO!!
THRE!!!
THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT?! BRAD GETS HIS SHOULDER UP! Kevin is in tears at this point. He shakes his head in disgust. Brad gets pulled back up to his feet, Kevin hitting another Williams Driver on him. Instead of covering, he points to the top rope.
He ascends the buckle, getting to the top one. He inhales, trying to measure up his rival. Kevin leaps off of the top with his infamous Hope Is frog splash. However he connects only with the canvas as Brad moved out of the way. Kane holds his back and ribs, feeling all the air drove out of his body as of late. He pulls Kevin up and nails him with the BK Backfist, pulling him in and hitting the Love Megan Driver. Both men are down on the canvas. Brad rolls up to his feet and looks down at Kevin. Now its Brad's turn to go the top rope. He slowly climbs and gets to the top. Kane inhales himself, looking down at his rival.
He leaps off with a double foot stomp, missing his opponent. Brad rolls through and kicks Kevin in the fact. Kevin reels backwards and comes back with the Decapitation Lariat! Brad flips inside out! Kevin wastes no time in going back to the top rope. He flies off again with Hope Is and this time connects right with it! He rolls around for a moment before leaping on top of Brad Kane, hooking both legs.
ONE!
TWO!!
THREE!!!
*DING DING DING!*
The Baltimore crowd gets to their feet and goes insane, absolutely insane. Kevin kneels on the canvas, tired and stares at Brad Kane who is having problems trying to breathe.
The match is over, the night is over, the dream is over. Hardaway gets on his knees slowly and starts to soak it all in. And with that, the water works starts flowing. He shouldn't be ashamed that he's crying like this, he should be happy, because around a record setting crowd here are on their feet, applauding and cheering on their hometown kid. Hardaway lifts his head up now, tears uncontrolablly running down his face as he gets up to a standing position and raises his arm up in the air to a raucous applause. That's when he bumps into Brad.
The arena falls under deaf ears as both men, after one of the most epic battles in the history of this sport, stand face to face, sweat beaming down their faces, blood drying up on Hardaway's face, but the aura, the rage, it apparently still stands. Everybody in the arena are unaware at what may happen here at this very moment. But then, something shocking happens. Hardaway offers out his hand. Told you, it's shocking. We thought we would never see this. Ever.
The crowd are pretty mixed. Some want to see the burden finally put to rest once and for all... others don't want to see a obvious turn by Brad that would leave the crowd silent and most likely ruin one of the best moments that the WCF has ever seen. Brad looks on at the crowd, looking at the mixed reaction seen here before looking at Hardaway and his outstretched hand. Guess what happens next?
Yeah, like you were surprised... Brad reaches out and shakes Hardaway's hand as well. A handshake though turns into a hug from both men, as the 1st Mariner Arena is now booming once again. A rivalry that has spoken out against the world. Blood, sweat, and tears from the both of them over the years. Kevin Hardaway didn't win this rivalry. Brad Kane didn't win this rivalry either. The fans did. They got to see two of the world's best duke it out. Titles were on the line, sure. But it didn't matter, because after a long and exhausting journey, the end is here.
Brad whispers something to Kevin's ear and then leaves the ring. This is his moment. His time to shine. Sure, he wasn't the best wrestler that the entire universe has ever seen, but tonight...tonight is his night, regardeless on whether he won or lost. But you know...I think Kevin has done all that he could do. He made sure the fans were treated to one hell of a show. And they look like they were treated to one tonight. So his job here is done.
Kevin leaves the ring though and goes to the front row near the entrance ramp as he smiles and high fives a few fans, going towards his parents, giving them each a hug for their efforts. Hey, not every day you see this with your family. He slaps hands with a few of his friends as well, before going over towards what seems to matter most right now. His wife, Angie. His daughter, Kimberly. Angie grabs her daughter and places her in the arms of her father, as he kisses her on the forehead, then kisses Angie. The both of them whisper something to each other before Kevin and Kimberly walk up the ramp.
Like we mentioned before, the dream is over. And with that, the show logos come up. The show is over. The final images you see of 'Till Death Do Us Part being Kevin Hardaway and his loving daughter walking up the ramp, Kevin's arm in the air, disappearing behind the curtain and disappearing for good. It’s hard to believe that it’s almost been two years. What you just saw up above was footage from, actually…what was supposed to be the last professional wrestling match in my career. I was going to hang up my boots and actually call it a career. I felt like that there wasn’t much else to do after the career that I had and I figured the only way to finish it off, was to go out there and beat somebody who I could never defeat in my entire life. I wasn’t going to sit so idly blind as I had that one goal left, just sitting there, not crossed off, whatever the hell you want to call it. I was ready to just get on the ground, go to sleep and let my career fade away into the limelight. Then again, come to think of it…I wasn’t retiring because I wanted to. I retired because I had to. Because honestly, there was nowhere else I could go. A few months prior to that, I was involved in an incident with the promotion that made me into the person who stands before you, and in turn, got blackballed from every place you can think of. The only place that allowed me was the place that allowed me to have my final match with a sense of pride. And to be honest, I hated the hell out of it.
So there was no other choice.
It’s amazing, you know…in about a few short years’ time, you go from one of the brightest and biggest wrestlers on the face of the planet, to just a small little blight on people’s imaginations. You turn into a disheveling train wreck of epic proportions. Where nobody wants to even bother with you anymore, where they don’t want to deal with the “martyr” who stabbed everybody in the back. THAT WAS ME! Where else could I go? I couldn’t go anywhere, I was afraid that every single promotion in North America, let alone the world would think a rage of blind hatred at me. So I took the short road home. Fuck what other people think, I’m done. I took my bag and I walked back home. Real pussy of me, right? I know…dammit, it was a couple years ago, I wasn’t the wiser man back then, okay? It didn’t matter to me though. This damn business is like a blessing and a curse, you know. One day, it gives you the world by its hands and then the next day; it throws you back out into this wretched world.
Only two people cared about me at this point…my wife, Angelina…and my daughter Kimberly. And guess what? I was about ready to lose one of them to the skies above.
I’m sure you all read my biography that was just posted on IWF’s website, so I guess I can fill you all in on the details. Angie has been there through thick and thin, I’ll tell you what. Everywhere I went, she was right there behind me. So much so, that she got herself caught up in some of the things that I went through. Like being kidnapped…thinking that she was cheating on me with somebody else (the same person who I went up against in my final match)…a severe car accident on my 29th birthday that almost ended her life…and mine in the long run. She’s a trooper, I’ll tell you what. So I guess it didn’t shock me all that much when one day…we…we found a lump on her breast. It didn’t shock me because she’s been through so much, and that breast cancer IS a cancer in my family’s heritage as I lost family members to it and had my mom diagnosed with it. Unlike my mom though, they found Angie’s a little later than my mother’s. A lot later actually.
My mom has been cancer-free for 10 years now.
Angie wasn’t so damn lucky.
You see that footage of my supposed “final” match and people have asked why she didn’t look as well as one would think, you know seeing her with me all these years and…yeah, that was the reason why, believe it or not. That footage of her is the last time you get to see her on camera. She died in a hospital bed about 3 weeks later.
One of the things that I was so grateful for was being able to have her be in attendance for my “final” match back then. Now I know you all know where this is going, but back then, that was it. I thought that was going to be it for me, and if you would’ve called me this time last year and asked if I was going to ever make a return to wrestling, I would’ve kicked you where the sun don’t shine and called you the craziest fucking person in the history of modern man. People would like to tell you that losing a loved one is pretty difficult to get over, but you have no god damn idea, now do you? For almost 20 months, I did absolutely NOTHING. I had a dead-end job, and maybe once in a blue moon, I would actually take a booking or two, but what you saw then on me…that wasn’t me. I was a former shell of myself. I was a broken down, looney train wreck. I actually started drinking, for the first time in life…previously then, I was pretty damn straight edge. I didn’t have a father that was an alcoholic; I didn’t have any issues with that at all. I just didn’t like to drink. Didn’t like the taste, so why the hell bother?
But after Angie died, I didn’t fucking care one bit. I just started taking them down one by one. Some nights I wouldn’t remember where I was, some nights I would just fall asleep with a bottle by my side. Those nights were the worst. Some bookings I took, I can’t remember because I was probably so hammered that I was just in a different planet. The courts had to give custody of my daughter away to my parents, it was a nightmare. Nobody could do anything about it. Not my parents, not my friends, not my therapist at the time. Just…how the hell wasn’t I dead in a pool of my own vomit by then? Hell, I could recall getting death rumors once every blue moon as well.
Really, I should be dead now. I’m surprised at myself, really. If the booze wasn’t going to destroy me, wrapping a fucking glock around my lips and pulling the trigger would’ve have been my next best option. And it was for the longest time. But I didn’t want to take the chickenshit way out. If I was going to kill myself, it was going to be slow and painful, not quick and painless. And the thing is…I just can’t explain the moment of clarity I had in my brain the day I decided to actually get up and do something for a change. I don’t know if my brain cells were all gone or what, but…really, I can’t explain it. The only thing I can say is that I now look at all of the ink that is on my arms and neck. Perhaps I used that as a substitute to not drinking; hell…that was the substitute for alcohol. I’ve been clean since last year and I plan on keeping it that way for the rest of my life, hoping that it doesn’t come back to kick me in the ass in about 10-15 years.
I have no idea if this would be what Angie wanted for me to do after she was gone, but who the hell knew she was going to be gone so early into her life? Maybe this is just the only thing I can do. When I was a little kid, I never wanted to be a firefighter or a lawyer or an astronaut like they want you to become in school. I was never built out for anything. I was never the star quarterback with the beautiful cheerleader girlfriend. I was the kid who was just a little screwed up in the head, not being able to take classes with the other “normal” students because they were afraid I would break a vein and lose my mind. I was never going to be anything. So maybe, just maybe this is me after all. Maybe I’m just a spoke on the wheel, but do you think I give a damn? No. I don’t know if Angie thinks me getting back up and restarting my wrestling career is what she wanted, but either way…she’s smiling. She’ll yell at me when we meet again, believe me, but for now…this is who I am.
Now, life couldn’t be any better. I’m back up, I’m moving around again…a couple months ago, one of my best friends set me up on a blind date. I guess he was just as worried about me as everybody else was. I honestly thought he was messing with me, but hey…it’s worked so far right? It actually has. Jennifer is a little different than Angie, but that’s okay. I never wanted Angie 2.0; I wanted somebody new, with a simple personality, a simple mind set. Jennifer is a-ok by me. I mean, just look at her…
She’s a sweetheart, isn’t she?
Not only that, but I get to see my daughter more often than not. She’s still in custody of my folks, but I’m working on that as I’m speaking to you guys right now.
I’ve been standing for the past several months and this weekend…for the first time in almost 2 years, I’m wrestling in the United States of America again. These past few months I’ve been trying to get back into shape and work off the ring rust in places like the famous Olympia in Liverpool, England and the famous Tokyo Dome in Japan to great success, but this weekend…this weekend, I come as close to home as I possibly can.
And to all of the fans of IWF who have NO idea on who I am, don’t worry…because within the coming weeks, you will hear my name more often than once. And to anybody in that locker room…whether you’re somebody new like Kadian Kincaid or Brent Carter OR you’re THE guy in the back, whether you’re…Stygian or Alison Williams, or even the champion himself, Brandon McDonald, you’re not hearing the last of me. I may not be the tallest guy or even the smartest guy. I’m damn sure that I’m not the smartest out there. But dammit, I’m somebody and if you don’t like that, then the hell with you. Just know that it takes a lot to have me go “You know, I do respect you out there!” but in due time, you can earn it. For now, everybody’s a target.
This isn’t just for me. It’s for Angie, it’s for my friends, it’s for my family, it’s for Jennifer, it’s for everybody.
Donec non moritur.
(Hope never dies.) |
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