Post by James Edwards on Jul 4, 2017 2:25:23 GMT
James Edwards is a man associated with two things: a professional wrestling ring and empty hallways. Seeing him on a baseball diamond, let alone a pitcher's mound is strange. Yet there he is, cap turned backward and a bucket of the ball at his feet. His windup is slow and deliberate. He doesn't get much extension but throws the ball hard enough for a loud ping to fill the air when it makes contact with the backstop. James shakes his right arm and looks into the camera.
"I like to get our here on a baseball field to clear my mind. I needed to it after the last four shows. There was a lot of anger and confusion bubbling up to the surface. I was and still ain't happy about the way things turned out against Mark and Chandler. The results against Yuji and Triple T, well I'm still trying to process those. The point though is to move on from my struggles, so to all four men, I'd like to thank you for the fight and wish you good luck during the rest of the competition."
He reaches down into the bucket and pulls nothing out.
"So with the past slowly getting smaller in my rearview mirror, I look to the future, even as uncertain as it is. I still haven't received any word from the NJFC office on whether I'll be coming back for another tour. Honestly, I'm damn nervous that they won't."
He eyes the backstop and picks up his bucket.
"The only choice I have is to keep looking ahead and hope I can win my next two fights, and looking ahead to them all I see is one word in big fucking bold red letters: danger. Tommy Knox and Ken Hideyoshi are my most dangerous opponents to date. Don't believe me? Well, consider this."
James reaches the backstop and finds an assortment baseballs laying around. He gets on his knees and begins to gather them one at a time.
"Ken's place of origin may put him in a good position, but his record doesn't. I'm not sure how he has done recently, but he started the tournament with five losses and zero, count em' again, zero wins. It does not matter how talented you are or how good your look is, if a fighter can't win then he is worthless to have around. I know that, and Ken sure as hell knows that. It is why I can't overlook him. He is gonna be desperate, more than I was the last two shows. Desperate men do nasty things. Shit, they normally wouldn't do. Stuff that won't be on tape so you can't study it. Couple with that with big match experience and he is overdue to turn back the clock and put on the performance of his life. I'm gonna need everything in my arsenal to put him down."
He pauses and removes his cap to wipe away the sweat pouring off of his forehead.
"Tommy Knox, a man known for saying dumb shit and walking out more rooms clouded smoke than Tommy Chong. I've heard a lot of scoffing when his name comes up back in the States, and all I can think is those people haven't seen the pile of bodies he left in Europe and Japan. The man won tag gold here. He might be the dirtiest wrestler in the tournament, and present company excluded, the best striker in the block. Put those two together, and you have danger personified. Tommy is also my last chance to net a win over a significant name. I couldn't beat Mark or Chandler. I couldn't erase the doubts about my ability to compete against the very best, the ones that started after Bryan cradled me. I've got one more chance to do that. To beat Tommy, I have to leave my morals at the door. I can't be afraid to cut corners or take him down when he is prone. It may be the only way I can win, the only way I can get a victory that will send the message I'm worth bringing back. With that said, to my future self, forgive me for what I might have to do, our survival in Japanese wrestling depended on it."
Finally finished cleaning up, albeit with a grim expression on his face, James heads back to the mound, perhaps in need of more time to center himself to face the danger to come.
"I like to get our here on a baseball field to clear my mind. I needed to it after the last four shows. There was a lot of anger and confusion bubbling up to the surface. I was and still ain't happy about the way things turned out against Mark and Chandler. The results against Yuji and Triple T, well I'm still trying to process those. The point though is to move on from my struggles, so to all four men, I'd like to thank you for the fight and wish you good luck during the rest of the competition."
He reaches down into the bucket and pulls nothing out.
"So with the past slowly getting smaller in my rearview mirror, I look to the future, even as uncertain as it is. I still haven't received any word from the NJFC office on whether I'll be coming back for another tour. Honestly, I'm damn nervous that they won't."
He eyes the backstop and picks up his bucket.
"The only choice I have is to keep looking ahead and hope I can win my next two fights, and looking ahead to them all I see is one word in big fucking bold red letters: danger. Tommy Knox and Ken Hideyoshi are my most dangerous opponents to date. Don't believe me? Well, consider this."
James reaches the backstop and finds an assortment baseballs laying around. He gets on his knees and begins to gather them one at a time.
"Ken's place of origin may put him in a good position, but his record doesn't. I'm not sure how he has done recently, but he started the tournament with five losses and zero, count em' again, zero wins. It does not matter how talented you are or how good your look is, if a fighter can't win then he is worthless to have around. I know that, and Ken sure as hell knows that. It is why I can't overlook him. He is gonna be desperate, more than I was the last two shows. Desperate men do nasty things. Shit, they normally wouldn't do. Stuff that won't be on tape so you can't study it. Couple with that with big match experience and he is overdue to turn back the clock and put on the performance of his life. I'm gonna need everything in my arsenal to put him down."
He pauses and removes his cap to wipe away the sweat pouring off of his forehead.
"Tommy Knox, a man known for saying dumb shit and walking out more rooms clouded smoke than Tommy Chong. I've heard a lot of scoffing when his name comes up back in the States, and all I can think is those people haven't seen the pile of bodies he left in Europe and Japan. The man won tag gold here. He might be the dirtiest wrestler in the tournament, and present company excluded, the best striker in the block. Put those two together, and you have danger personified. Tommy is also my last chance to net a win over a significant name. I couldn't beat Mark or Chandler. I couldn't erase the doubts about my ability to compete against the very best, the ones that started after Bryan cradled me. I've got one more chance to do that. To beat Tommy, I have to leave my morals at the door. I can't be afraid to cut corners or take him down when he is prone. It may be the only way I can win, the only way I can get a victory that will send the message I'm worth bringing back. With that said, to my future self, forgive me for what I might have to do, our survival in Japanese wrestling depended on it."
Finally finished cleaning up, albeit with a grim expression on his face, James heads back to the mound, perhaps in need of more time to center himself to face the danger to come.