Water dripping from the pipes down in the basement,
Bare feet on a concrete floor,
Notches on the wall of my solitary cell,
Sweat dripping out of every pore
It feels like it takes forever,
It's maybe five minutes on screen,
But the horns will swell and the strings will sound
When that flipped quarter hits the ground
I'm doing this for revenge
I'm doing this to try and stay true
I'm doing this for the ones
They had to leave behind
I'm doing this for you
Keep cool down in the quiet of the morning
Sweat blood, when the sun comes through
Thick mist on the pond before the temple
Headed down for the final rendezvous
Everybody ready for justice
Just another mile to go
But the strings will keen
And the horns will cry
When it's just me against the sky
I'm doing this for revenge
I'm doing this to try and stay true
I'm doing this for the ones
They left to twist in the wind
I'm doing this for you
I'm doing this for you
I'm doing this for revenge
I am doing this to try and stay true
I'm doing this for the ones
We had to leave behind
I'm doing this for you
I'm doing this for you
I'm doing this for you
Salem's bus pulled up into the WWFG arena parking lot, using the special entrance designated for talent as Murphy expertly maneuvered into an open space. Salem was already at the front of the bus next to his driver, dressed in a black sleeveless shirt and some gunmetal gray jeans. Combat boots, taped fists, an ivory colored arrowhead hanging around his neck, and a bowler cap his father gave him after his first title win, Salem itched like a racehorse in the starting gates for the bus doors to open.
"Not taking any gear with you, boss?" Murphy asked curiously.
"Got everything I need." Salem said, his eyes focused out of the windshield on any passersby, seeing different production workers and wrestlers but not the one he was looking for.
"Want me to keep it running, boss?" Murphy asked, starting to open the doors.
"Sure. Back later." Salem replied, already going down the steps as soon as the hydraulics hissed, stepping off the bus and towards the production area backstage.
His pace was urgent, his posture straight and determined, his eyes hard and focused but lips curved in a smile, nodding and greeting those that did so as he approached but not stopping to talk with anyone. Like drawn by a magnet, Salem worked his way towards gorilla position, seeing an aide doing tests on microphones and snatching one as he passed by.
"Uh, hey?!" the confused lady blurted, turning to holler after Salem.
"Need this, sorry!" he shouted, not looking back but lifting his empty hand in an apologetic wave.
Going down the hall leading backstage into gorilla position, one of the program directors noticed Salem's hurry and waved.
"Hey, bud, what's going on? Didn't expect you here!"
"Where we at on the show?" Salem asked curtly as he passed by.
"Uh, intermission - what's going on?"
"Play my music!" Salem shouted, already some twenty feet further down the hall, nearing gorilla position.
"What song?!" the director shouted back, scrambling after Salem and towards gorilla, himself.
"Whatever you got!" Salem demanded, the director touching his headset and calling someone in production, Salem breezing through gorilla position as an acoustic cover of "Wanted Man" by Rev Theory began to play, lighting up the audience.
Stepping out the curtain, Salem finally came to a stop as the thousands in attendance cheered for him, feeling spacious and taking a deep breath despite the throngs of fans surrounding the stands.
Pacing around the stage a bit, Salem played to the crowd, getting them fired up before starting down the ramp, taking time to clap hands and fist bump patrons from both sides, of all ages. A few times, he took a second to pose for selfies, feeling a satisfaction from being around the crowd that he hadn't felt since losing to GBL.
After taking time to go around the ringside area and thank his fans, Salem slid under the bottom rope, rolling to his back and kipping up flamboyantly for the crowd, getting a rousing welcome back after not having seen them since the loss. It was good seeing they'd missed him, that he hadn't been overlooked.
"I gotta say, that was the happiest I've been coming down to the ring in quite some time." Salem said casually into the mic, taking a leisurely walk around the ropes as the audience cheered.
"WELCOME BACK!"
"WELCOME BACK!"
"WELCOME BACK!"
"WELCOME BACK!"
"WELCOME BACK!"
"Thank you, very much," Salem continued, using his empty hand to gesture for the audience's enthusiasm to simmer down a bit. "I appreciate that, but I needed to step away briefly to get my head back on straight. Last time I left one of these rings, it was on a little crooked."
The audience groaned over the reminder of his loss to GBL in the Grand Tournament Finals, a match many of his supporters felt like he'd deserved to win. Still, others were happy to see GBL's win, evidenced by those in attendance wearing his merch. Salem's eyes caught a kid near the front row wearing a Copperhead shirt, looking sad, and pointed at him.
"Hey, you - Copperhead shirt, third or fourth row." he gestured, fans turning to the kid who now looked wide-eyed up at his hero in the ring. "What's your name, kid? Hey, someone bring him a microphone."
As a ringside attendant took a spare mic over to the boy, Salem leaned on the top ropes of the side facing the child, waiting patiently as the boy answered. "Braeden!" he said excitedly, the crowd giving him a pop. "My name's Braeden, sir! You're the best, Salem!"
The crowd popped louder for the fan, the aide taking the microphone back to the ringside table as Salem smiled and looked into the kid's eyes, audience starting to quiet a little as Salem spoke again.
"Well, Braeden, it's nice to meet you. Gonna get you some merch later, so just sit tight. But I want to tell you, Braeden, and all my fans out there...I'm sorry if I let you down, when I didn't win the world title. I let myself down, and it hurt a lot, and I never want to do that again. But I'm just a man, okay, Braeden? I'm not perfect. I make mistakes. Don't ever try to be like me, Braeden. Be like yourself. Because no one's perfect, we're all gonna struggle sometimes. I had to remember that, so I could come back now and truly be the best version of myself. So to all of you, and you too, Braeden, I'm sorry for not being that hero you looked up to...but I want you to know, imperfect or not, you can all be your own heroes, every day, and if you wanna be a wrestler, Braeden, I hope you do it for yourself and know that even when you aren't perfect, you can still be the best, and maybe one day you'll be in this ring punching me in the face for a world title."
The audience cheered hard for Salem's inspirational talk, applauding as he took a moment to catch his breath again after the lengthy diatribe. Holding his hand up to quiet the crowd once more, Salem smirked into the hard camera as he lifted the microphone to his lips.
"But, if nobody's perfect..." Salem said with a clear leading in his tone, turning his head to the stage as the audience roared with anticipation of what they expected him to say next.
"Let me ask YOU, Gee Bee El, think you got it in ya to beat me twice?!" Salem shouted, feeling his adrenaline spike as he flexed and stirred the crowd up again.
"See, GBL, you may have beaten me, but it was damn close, and while I know I've got more left in my tank, I wonder if you might be running on fumes after the toughest match you've had in years! My daddy taught me a lot, but one thing was, when you kill a snake, you cut off its head and bury it so it doesn't bite you twice! But you didn't kill me, G, and you DAMN SURE didn't bury me! So you tell me, Champ, you got enough nerve left to put down this young buck for good?! Or are you gonna take the next Space-X outta here because you can't do it again?! Because I'm not going away! I'm going to be a problem, YOUR problem, until I get what I want, which is that world title around my waist! I'm not going anywhere, GB! So come on out and tell me how it's gonna be!"
Pacing the ring like a caged animal provoked, Salem rules up the audience, taking a moment to look over at a cheering Braeden in the crowd and giving him a friendly point as they all waited impatiently for a response!
"Not taking any gear with you, boss?" Murphy asked curiously.
"Got everything I need." Salem said, his eyes focused out of the windshield on any passersby, seeing different production workers and wrestlers but not the one he was looking for.
"Want me to keep it running, boss?" Murphy asked, starting to open the doors.
"Sure. Back later." Salem replied, already going down the steps as soon as the hydraulics hissed, stepping off the bus and towards the production area backstage.
His pace was urgent, his posture straight and determined, his eyes hard and focused but lips curved in a smile, nodding and greeting those that did so as he approached but not stopping to talk with anyone. Like drawn by a magnet, Salem worked his way towards gorilla position, seeing an aide doing tests on microphones and snatching one as he passed by.
"Uh, hey?!" the confused lady blurted, turning to holler after Salem.
"Need this, sorry!" he shouted, not looking back but lifting his empty hand in an apologetic wave.
Going down the hall leading backstage into gorilla position, one of the program directors noticed Salem's hurry and waved.
"Hey, bud, what's going on? Didn't expect you here!"
"Where we at on the show?" Salem asked curtly as he passed by.
"Uh, intermission - what's going on?"
"Play my music!" Salem shouted, already some twenty feet further down the hall, nearing gorilla position.
"What song?!" the director shouted back, scrambling after Salem and towards gorilla, himself.
"Whatever you got!" Salem demanded, the director touching his headset and calling someone in production, Salem breezing through gorilla position as an acoustic cover of "Wanted Man" by Rev Theory began to play, lighting up the audience.
Stepping out the curtain, Salem finally came to a stop as the thousands in attendance cheered for him, feeling spacious and taking a deep breath despite the throngs of fans surrounding the stands.
Pacing around the stage a bit, Salem played to the crowd, getting them fired up before starting down the ramp, taking time to clap hands and fist bump patrons from both sides, of all ages. A few times, he took a second to pose for selfies, feeling a satisfaction from being around the crowd that he hadn't felt since losing to GBL.
After taking time to go around the ringside area and thank his fans, Salem slid under the bottom rope, rolling to his back and kipping up flamboyantly for the crowd, getting a rousing welcome back after not having seen them since the loss. It was good seeing they'd missed him, that he hadn't been overlooked.
"I gotta say, that was the happiest I've been coming down to the ring in quite some time." Salem said casually into the mic, taking a leisurely walk around the ropes as the audience cheered.
"WELCOME BACK!"
"WELCOME BACK!"
"WELCOME BACK!"
"WELCOME BACK!"
"WELCOME BACK!"
"Thank you, very much," Salem continued, using his empty hand to gesture for the audience's enthusiasm to simmer down a bit. "I appreciate that, but I needed to step away briefly to get my head back on straight. Last time I left one of these rings, it was on a little crooked."
The audience groaned over the reminder of his loss to GBL in the Grand Tournament Finals, a match many of his supporters felt like he'd deserved to win. Still, others were happy to see GBL's win, evidenced by those in attendance wearing his merch. Salem's eyes caught a kid near the front row wearing a Copperhead shirt, looking sad, and pointed at him.
"Hey, you - Copperhead shirt, third or fourth row." he gestured, fans turning to the kid who now looked wide-eyed up at his hero in the ring. "What's your name, kid? Hey, someone bring him a microphone."
As a ringside attendant took a spare mic over to the boy, Salem leaned on the top ropes of the side facing the child, waiting patiently as the boy answered. "Braeden!" he said excitedly, the crowd giving him a pop. "My name's Braeden, sir! You're the best, Salem!"
The crowd popped louder for the fan, the aide taking the microphone back to the ringside table as Salem smiled and looked into the kid's eyes, audience starting to quiet a little as Salem spoke again.
"Well, Braeden, it's nice to meet you. Gonna get you some merch later, so just sit tight. But I want to tell you, Braeden, and all my fans out there...I'm sorry if I let you down, when I didn't win the world title. I let myself down, and it hurt a lot, and I never want to do that again. But I'm just a man, okay, Braeden? I'm not perfect. I make mistakes. Don't ever try to be like me, Braeden. Be like yourself. Because no one's perfect, we're all gonna struggle sometimes. I had to remember that, so I could come back now and truly be the best version of myself. So to all of you, and you too, Braeden, I'm sorry for not being that hero you looked up to...but I want you to know, imperfect or not, you can all be your own heroes, every day, and if you wanna be a wrestler, Braeden, I hope you do it for yourself and know that even when you aren't perfect, you can still be the best, and maybe one day you'll be in this ring punching me in the face for a world title."
The audience cheered hard for Salem's inspirational talk, applauding as he took a moment to catch his breath again after the lengthy diatribe. Holding his hand up to quiet the crowd once more, Salem smirked into the hard camera as he lifted the microphone to his lips.
"But, if nobody's perfect..." Salem said with a clear leading in his tone, turning his head to the stage as the audience roared with anticipation of what they expected him to say next.
"Let me ask YOU, Gee Bee El, think you got it in ya to beat me twice?!" Salem shouted, feeling his adrenaline spike as he flexed and stirred the crowd up again.
"See, GBL, you may have beaten me, but it was damn close, and while I know I've got more left in my tank, I wonder if you might be running on fumes after the toughest match you've had in years! My daddy taught me a lot, but one thing was, when you kill a snake, you cut off its head and bury it so it doesn't bite you twice! But you didn't kill me, G, and you DAMN SURE didn't bury me! So you tell me, Champ, you got enough nerve left to put down this young buck for good?! Or are you gonna take the next Space-X outta here because you can't do it again?! Because I'm not going away! I'm going to be a problem, YOUR problem, until I get what I want, which is that world title around my waist! I'm not going anywhere, GB! So come on out and tell me how it's gonna be!"
Pacing the ring like a caged animal provoked, Salem rules up the audience, taking a moment to look over at a cheering Braeden in the crowd and giving him a friendly point as they all waited impatiently for a response!
