Linguistic
Active member
(A vaguely familiar video segment opens… A montage from the U.S. War on Terror in both Iraq and Afghanistan plays, circa 2005… Images of brave men and women from all over the greatest country on earth breeze by the viewer… In one, a young man in desert camouflage is loading a magazine for his M-16… In another a different young man is receiving orders from an older and obviously senior ranking man near a Humvee… The scene cuts to a young, white muscular man with a clean-cut military appearance… The camera pans from his desert tan military boots to his neck, but does not reveal his face…)
(Still, this video segment feels familiar… The opening sounds and beat of “We Right Here” by DMX key up… Things continue to come into focus mentally for the viewer, yet there’s that feeling of uncertainty… That’s when the words flash across the screen in stenciled font that make it all hit all wrestling fans watching...)
(Sporting no shirt, a pair of desert camouflage pants, and those previously described tan desert boots, The Sergeant’s full body is in focus… With the marvels of modern technology and production values, The Sergeant ages right before the viewer’s eyes… It’s been seven years since that first promo, and Sergeants hairline has receded… His face a little more mature, with light signs of stubble… Music fades…)
Sergeant: Years ago, I introduced myself to wrestling fans by telling them I was through with the Army. It was right in the middle of The Surge in Iraq, so I felt the need to inform them all that my departure was not because I couldn't hack it. I wanted something different in life. Something more individually satisfying.
Now I’m back on the radar in the wrestling world, so to speak, after exiting four years ago with little or no fanfare. Was my departure from wrestling the same as the one from the Army? Could I still hack it when I exited Empire Pro Wrestling?
I’m not so sure.
The mind is such a crazy thing. It’s so temperamental, and I’m not so sure that there is even a single solitary percentage of humans out there that understands the fragile chemistry that keeps us sane; that keeps us focused. I’d reached that next level of stardom that so few achieve, winning the EPW Intercontinental Title. I defeated two… count them, TWO of the best that the wrestling world had to offer.
Then it all hit me.
The rival organizations called for me to divide my time and compete for them. Man, that Pier Six Brawl in A1E alone took 10 years off my career and my life.
My hometown indy wrestling project, sold to me of course as a “great investment opportunity”. It wasn’t.
The endorsement deals. I mean, I passed up THE SERGEANT GRILL. George Foreman didn’t of course. Smart man. Me? I’ve got a garage full of shake weights and a lawsuit pending to make sure they NEVER show the commercial I filmed.
(Sergeant’s smile looks forced…)
Sergeant: I started wrestling first and foremost because I loved it, but also because it was something I could focus on individually. That motivation soon escaped me when I let other things creep in… to grab my focus. To take my eye off the ball.
Imagine my surprise a few years later when, while browsing the bins at a Blockbuster going-out-of-business sale, I found a little DVD known as “The Best of Empire Pro Wrestling.” 3 discs and 45 matches… and the next-to-the-last match on the entire set features me… losing…
A million feelings and emotions rushed through my mind with such force and then…
BAM! A single thought.
“Is this my legacy?”
Four years have passed and suddenly there’s this itch. It’s an itch I keep scratching, and it won’t go away. It’s turned into a gaping wound, and nothing I can do is getting to the root cause. I did contract work in Iraq. Nothing. I get involved in veterans organizations, take up cycling, and write a food blog under my pseudonym. Still nothing.
This itch can only be soothed by wrestling again. I know that now, and what an opportune time. My old boss shot me Facebook message that was simple, yet true:
“I know you can’t stay away. Ultratitle tournament starts in April.”
He was right. I don’t want to be a footnote on a list of almost- greats. I want to be remembered. I was once one of the most heralded rookies in this business. Now I’m coming back less than a nobody… a has been.
64 other men and women; the best from all over the world competing.
It will be a trial by fire. An impossible task, if you will… but what else would you expect from a combat tested, mother approved juggernaut on a mission?
(FADE)
(Still, this video segment feels familiar… The opening sounds and beat of “We Right Here” by DMX key up… Things continue to come into focus mentally for the viewer, yet there’s that feeling of uncertainty… That’s when the words flash across the screen in stenciled font that make it all hit all wrestling fans watching...)
THE SERGEANT
5'10”
201 pounds
COMBAT TESTED
MOTHER APPROVED
5'10”
201 pounds
COMBAT TESTED
MOTHER APPROVED
(Sporting no shirt, a pair of desert camouflage pants, and those previously described tan desert boots, The Sergeant’s full body is in focus… With the marvels of modern technology and production values, The Sergeant ages right before the viewer’s eyes… It’s been seven years since that first promo, and Sergeants hairline has receded… His face a little more mature, with light signs of stubble… Music fades…)
Sergeant: Years ago, I introduced myself to wrestling fans by telling them I was through with the Army. It was right in the middle of The Surge in Iraq, so I felt the need to inform them all that my departure was not because I couldn't hack it. I wanted something different in life. Something more individually satisfying.
Now I’m back on the radar in the wrestling world, so to speak, after exiting four years ago with little or no fanfare. Was my departure from wrestling the same as the one from the Army? Could I still hack it when I exited Empire Pro Wrestling?
I’m not so sure.
The mind is such a crazy thing. It’s so temperamental, and I’m not so sure that there is even a single solitary percentage of humans out there that understands the fragile chemistry that keeps us sane; that keeps us focused. I’d reached that next level of stardom that so few achieve, winning the EPW Intercontinental Title. I defeated two… count them, TWO of the best that the wrestling world had to offer.
Then it all hit me.
The rival organizations called for me to divide my time and compete for them. Man, that Pier Six Brawl in A1E alone took 10 years off my career and my life.
My hometown indy wrestling project, sold to me of course as a “great investment opportunity”. It wasn’t.
The endorsement deals. I mean, I passed up THE SERGEANT GRILL. George Foreman didn’t of course. Smart man. Me? I’ve got a garage full of shake weights and a lawsuit pending to make sure they NEVER show the commercial I filmed.
(Sergeant’s smile looks forced…)
Sergeant: I started wrestling first and foremost because I loved it, but also because it was something I could focus on individually. That motivation soon escaped me when I let other things creep in… to grab my focus. To take my eye off the ball.
Imagine my surprise a few years later when, while browsing the bins at a Blockbuster going-out-of-business sale, I found a little DVD known as “The Best of Empire Pro Wrestling.” 3 discs and 45 matches… and the next-to-the-last match on the entire set features me… losing…
A million feelings and emotions rushed through my mind with such force and then…
BAM! A single thought.
“Is this my legacy?”
Four years have passed and suddenly there’s this itch. It’s an itch I keep scratching, and it won’t go away. It’s turned into a gaping wound, and nothing I can do is getting to the root cause. I did contract work in Iraq. Nothing. I get involved in veterans organizations, take up cycling, and write a food blog under my pseudonym. Still nothing.
This itch can only be soothed by wrestling again. I know that now, and what an opportune time. My old boss shot me Facebook message that was simple, yet true:
“I know you can’t stay away. Ultratitle tournament starts in April.”
He was right. I don’t want to be a footnote on a list of almost- greats. I want to be remembered. I was once one of the most heralded rookies in this business. Now I’m coming back less than a nobody… a has been.
64 other men and women; the best from all over the world competing.
It will be a trial by fire. An impossible task, if you will… but what else would you expect from a combat tested, mother approved juggernaut on a mission?
(FADE)