Pop

[chrismadison]

June 30th, 2017
Long Island, New York

Pop, Pop

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Chris Madison danced around, barefoot, on the only dance floor that he's ever felt comfortable on, a one and three-eigth inch wrestling mat that covered a portion of his training facility, The Warehouse. He bounced off of the balls of his feet and unloaded a series of combinations as one of the students held up a pair of punching mitts for him to target. Every time his gray boxing glove hit the punching mitt, that soothing popping sound echoed throughout The Warehouse.

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Behind them, Frankie Morrison carefully watched. The back end of the Pride of Puroresu Crown tournament was on the verge of starting and it would be easy for Madison to tunnel his focus on the one individual that he's dying to get his hands on, Mitsuo Shimada. It seemed destined that the two would be meeting, unbeaten, in the last match of the first round with a spot in the finals on the line. Before he could get to Shimada, there'd be one final obstacle that could potentially spoil that potential monumental matchup.

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"I can't believe it has taken this long for the two of you to finally square off", Morrison said as Madison bobbed and weaved under a pair of hooks thrown by his blonde haired training partner.

Chris quickly rose after dodging the hooks and unleashed one final combination of strikes.

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"Chris Madison versus John Pariah, just the kind of match that could have headlined a supershow", Frankie pondered while grinning from ear to ear.

Chris had begun pulling off his boxing gloves and made his way next to his manager's side. He dropped his gloves down onto the edge of the mat and grabbed a bottle of water from the floor. He tossed the bottle back and chugged as he watched Frankie zone out. "In the past, yeah... We definitely could have been headlinin' a major show. But this John Pariah hasn't looked like John Pariah of old. Maybe being back in NJFC is forcin' him to relive his failure at Stardom One", he suggested while twisting the cap back onto his bottle of water. "He was robbed of a fair shot at the NJFC World Heavyweight Championship when Julian Savell and Tara Davidson interfered and ensured a win for JPD. Could be weighin' on him every time he steps through those ropes. Cause to be honest, seein' him only win two of his matches so far, has been a huge let down."

"I know you were really looking forward to this one. But with your rematch against Shimada immediately following, it may not be such a bad thing", Frankie advised.

"Frankie you know me better than anyone. I'm not lookin' for an easy road. When the scheduled matches were released, I was thrilled that I had John Pariah right before facin' Mitsuo Shimada. I saw it as an opportunity to keep myself on my game, iron out some of my mistakes from the first time we faced and ended in a double count out. But after watchin' his performances so far, I'm disappointed to see him as a shell of what he once was", Chris sighed as his head swayed from side to side. "Pariah and I have never had the chance to mix it up with each other. As long as we've both been in this business, we've rarely worked for the same company, and when we did, it wasn't at the same time. NJFC is the first company to have Chris Madison and John Pariah under contract at the same time."

"I know you're not going to take him lightly, regardless of what he's accomplished as of late", Frankie acknowledged.

"I've never taken anybody lightly; sure as hell don't plan on startin' now. There isn't a person in this industry that respects the purity of this sport as much as I do. John Pariah is one of the most lethal strikers to ever step foot inside of a squared circle. No matter how this match plays out, he packs the kind of power behind his strikes that could flip the script in an instant", Chris admitted. It was never hard for Madison to respect the kind of fighting spirit John Pariah has. Especially since that same fighting spirit is what made Chris Madison who he is. "I know I have to be on my toes. I know I have to keep my head on a swivel and watch for that rolling elbow that has been puttin' lights out all across the globe!"

"Yeah but you're no slouch when it comes to exchanging strikes. There's been plenty of times that I've sat by and watched as I thought you were knocked unconscious, only to see you fight back; But there's been even more occasions that I've seen you turn your opponent's lights out with a plethora of different strikes", Frankie confessed.

"This match, stylistically, should be everything that NJFC fans want to see. Japanese wrestlin' fans have embraced strong style as their own. Pariah and I, we're not going out there to bounce across the ring and fly off of the ropes like acrobats. We're gonna square up and try to knock each other out cold. It's as simple as that. Those fans, whether they like it or not, no matter what the committee's views are, will be treated to one of the best strong style matches possible; and to top it off, it'll be two 'gaijins' puttin' in the work", Chris confidently bragged.

Frankie couldn't fight back the amusement he found in the not-so-discrete jabs his client took at the GPC Committee. "Showing them up in their homeland with their own style of action? Yeah, I'd imagine that'd send a clear message to the committee", he conceded without hesitation.

"In all seriousness, I just can't wait to hear that comforting popping sound that flesh makes when being struck over and over again", Chris confessed before helping himself to another swig of the water bottle he held onto.