Once again, a sustained absence. Allow me to catch you all up. We have (at least almost, at the time of this posting) purchased our first house. Between the stress of that, our jobs, hurting my back for a bit, and various other things, I have made maybe half of the practices. And recently, several of those meetings were not traditional practices. Not to mention, sometimes I just can't motivate myself to go. Motivation has been my biggest obstacle for any undertaking of mine.
As for " untraditional practices," that leads me to my next point. It's been posted about on my Facebook and Twitter, but definitely warrants a post here. We went to the funeral of OSW's own brother, Luis Romero, today. I will not go into the details of it. I will only say that he mentioned he had suffered a concussion two weeks prior to his collapse, and soon after slipped into a coma. No one knows what caused it, as he only mentioned it after the fact. It was a set of unfortunate circumstances that I hope will be avoided in the future. We love and miss our brother.
Looking towards the future, I want to get more active in the ring again. I may miss the next few upcoming practices as we finish the old house and set up the new one, but I fully intend to put myself back into it with the vigor I had when I first began his journey 8 months ago. That sounds like a New Year's resolution, but I never put any stock in those. As Calvin said, that implies imperfection. And along with that, I'll try and keep this blog alive. There hasn't been a lot to post lately, but that's partially my fault for inactivity. The party continues in 2013!
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Thursday, November 15, 2012
I'm aware posts have been few and far between. I certainly haven't been able to make every practice, but the main reason is that what has transpired in practice is mostly a repeat of things I've written before. I've already started following this policy, but I suppose I should announce that I'll only post when there's something noteworthy.
We've got some new blood. People come and go, but it's nice to have fresh faces at the facility to clothesline. Some of them have some natural talent, even. We taught them some new moves. We practiced hip tosses, back body drops, belly-to-back suplexes, DDTs, vertical suplexes, dropkicks, and fall away slams. Jastin wanted Isaac and I to do a short match. We had 5 minutes to plan it and 5 minutes to execute it. I didn't have it recorded, but I'd say it went well. Jastin told us we followed the formula and had some good psychology.
Just gotta stick with it...
We've got some new blood. People come and go, but it's nice to have fresh faces at the facility to clothesline. Some of them have some natural talent, even. We taught them some new moves. We practiced hip tosses, back body drops, belly-to-back suplexes, DDTs, vertical suplexes, dropkicks, and fall away slams. Jastin wanted Isaac and I to do a short match. We had 5 minutes to plan it and 5 minutes to execute it. I didn't have it recorded, but I'd say it went well. Jastin told us we followed the formula and had some good psychology.
Just gotta stick with it...
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Charlie Haas Seminar
Dear lord, where do I start? Let's go chronologically. Last night's Tommy Chong show was great! I thought it was better than the Steve-O show. Charlie Haas and some of the guys went to Graham's to hang out after, but I wanted to get to bed and be prepared for the morning. I didn't suspect drinking and being out late would be the best way to do that. I already expected to be wanting to puke; I didn't need more ammo.
Charlie's first task for us was some cross training. He set up 6 stations for us and had us do each one for 50 seconds, and then we had 10 seconds to go to the next station. After one full rotation, we had a 2 minute break. We did this for 5 rounds. This was the longest 40 minutes of my life. I still don't quite feel 100% (my head was pounding all of 2 minutes in) but to my credit, I never gave up or threw up. I was very much on the verge of purging, but I was able to push through. Fred heard my monster belching and was like "what the fuck was that, are you gonna puke?" I said "Well, not after that, I feel way better!"
Then we sat down and talked psychology. He broke down the match into parts and laid it all out for us. This is the segment I was really looking forward to. I'm not yet overly familiar with how to tell a story in the ring. He had us split into groups of 2 and work matches in small pieces. I teamed with Rooster and worked face. Part one was the beginning of the match, and he wanted us to stop right at the point where the heel starts to build up the heat. We did this by having him run out the ring, me chase him, and as he came in he "accidentally" bumped into the ref to distract him, and he'd kick the middle rope as I was stepping over them. Charlie was a fan of that. While we waited on food to show up we had some Q&A going on.
We had lunch at that point. Bridgette and my parents showed up and we all indulged. Unfortunately for us trainees, we had to get right back into the ring afterwards. In the middle part, he wanted the heel to take over and show intensity. He wanted to end at a double down to set up for a finish. So, Rooster started beating me relentlessly. His punches are quite stiff; he was knocking my head pretty good. I fought back some, but he'd get the better of me. Then he picked me up for a body slam, I slipped out the back door, and hit him with a Russian leg sweep. That was our double down. Fred loved it; he had been commenting that none of us never use that move.
As a finish, in quick succession I hit him with a clothesline, a back elbow, and a flying shoulder tackle. Then, I yelled out "LAST CALL!!!" (After all, I am the Party Boy) and hit him with a cross body for the finish. I was surprised at how well Rooster took to it. He's farther along in his training than I thought.
Charlie took pics with us all and gave us autographed 8x10s. I'll get those posted up soon. It was a great experience and helped clear up a lot of misconceptions I had. I believe we'll be incorporating the cross training into our routine. That will build us up like nothing else ever could.
Training will not commence tomorrow because all of us could be declared clinically dead. We should be good to go for Tuesday.
Charlie's first task for us was some cross training. He set up 6 stations for us and had us do each one for 50 seconds, and then we had 10 seconds to go to the next station. After one full rotation, we had a 2 minute break. We did this for 5 rounds. This was the longest 40 minutes of my life. I still don't quite feel 100% (my head was pounding all of 2 minutes in) but to my credit, I never gave up or threw up. I was very much on the verge of purging, but I was able to push through. Fred heard my monster belching and was like "what the fuck was that, are you gonna puke?" I said "Well, not after that, I feel way better!"
Then we sat down and talked psychology. He broke down the match into parts and laid it all out for us. This is the segment I was really looking forward to. I'm not yet overly familiar with how to tell a story in the ring. He had us split into groups of 2 and work matches in small pieces. I teamed with Rooster and worked face. Part one was the beginning of the match, and he wanted us to stop right at the point where the heel starts to build up the heat. We did this by having him run out the ring, me chase him, and as he came in he "accidentally" bumped into the ref to distract him, and he'd kick the middle rope as I was stepping over them. Charlie was a fan of that. While we waited on food to show up we had some Q&A going on.
We had lunch at that point. Bridgette and my parents showed up and we all indulged. Unfortunately for us trainees, we had to get right back into the ring afterwards. In the middle part, he wanted the heel to take over and show intensity. He wanted to end at a double down to set up for a finish. So, Rooster started beating me relentlessly. His punches are quite stiff; he was knocking my head pretty good. I fought back some, but he'd get the better of me. Then he picked me up for a body slam, I slipped out the back door, and hit him with a Russian leg sweep. That was our double down. Fred loved it; he had been commenting that none of us never use that move.
As a finish, in quick succession I hit him with a clothesline, a back elbow, and a flying shoulder tackle. Then, I yelled out "LAST CALL!!!" (After all, I am the Party Boy) and hit him with a cross body for the finish. I was surprised at how well Rooster took to it. He's farther along in his training than I thought.
Charlie took pics with us all and gave us autographed 8x10s. I'll get those posted up soon. It was a great experience and helped clear up a lot of misconceptions I had. I believe we'll be incorporating the cross training into our routine. That will build us up like nothing else ever could.
Training will not commence tomorrow because all of us could be declared clinically dead. We should be good to go for Tuesday.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Alright, so I was able to get into the ring and do a decent workout today. I haven't been feeling 100% lately, so between that and work I've either missed practice or attended but barely participated. I'm still plagued by headaches and a general uneasy feeling, but I kicked that shit to the curb and didn't hold back. With Charlie Haas coming in two days and whipping all our asses, I can't exactly continue to sit back and take it easy. At some point you gotta bite the bullet and just go for it.
I am very excited about this weekend. Tomorrow we're all attending a Tommy Chong stand up show. Charlie will be with us, and my parents are coming into town as well. Then Saturday morning, Charlie is basically going to take us outside and shoot us; at least, it'll feel that way. We don't know what he has planned, but I do know I will half-ass nothing and intake all the knowledge I can. This is not an opportunity I will get very often.
I am very excited about this weekend. Tomorrow we're all attending a Tommy Chong stand up show. Charlie will be with us, and my parents are coming into town as well. Then Saturday morning, Charlie is basically going to take us outside and shoot us; at least, it'll feel that way. We don't know what he has planned, but I do know I will half-ass nothing and intake all the knowledge I can. This is not an opportunity I will get very often.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
2500+ views!
As the title states, I have over 2500 views on this blog. I guess some of you are reading! So please comment more. Let me know what you want me to elaborate on and what I can leave out. Yes, updates have been sporadic. Allow me to explain with the short version: I've been stressed and depressed. Some practices I've missed for legit reasons; especially being stuck at work all day and night. With Bridgette's stress level affecting me deeply, I had no willpower to do much of anything. She's getting better, and so am I. I went to practice Tuesday, but didn't really participate. Today I decided I had no good reason not to, so I stepped into the ring again.
Today was not a hard day, so I was able to ease back in. Jastin taught us some new exercises he had picked up, including new ways to roll. I feel like they're much easier to do and to pop up from. He also had us do a couple of matches. I've already uploaded it, so feel free to enjoy:
"Party Boy" Keith Crushridge vs. Chris Wolfe
Today was not a hard day, so I was able to ease back in. Jastin taught us some new exercises he had picked up, including new ways to roll. I feel like they're much easier to do and to pop up from. He also had us do a couple of matches. I've already uploaded it, so feel free to enjoy:
"Party Boy" Keith Crushridge vs. Chris Wolfe
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Slow ride...
You'll notice there hasn't been an update lately. Well, I haven't been lately. You can blame my job for that. I had some big league coming to my store (head of the games department) and I needed to be ready for the visit. Good news is, it went well. Bad news is, he mentioned the CEO will be visiting our store soon. So much for going back to the daily grind.
So work is stressful. On the flip side, Bridgette's job is far more stressful; which is taking its toll on us both. Things will get better, but for now nights are rough. She's not sleeping, so I'm not sleeping. She doesn't feel well, so I don't feel well. Neither of us slept last night, so we both called in to work. After we went up there and got things set up for a sub, we came home, and slept until 2. It was nice and we needed it.
Went to practice, but my head isn't where it needs to be. Luckily, today was filled with good news. For one, we have dates for some future shows. Sept. 30th in San Angelo, during which time I'll be in Abilene; and Nov. 10th in Stanton. Also January 19th for a fundraiser for Hood Jr. High, and Feb. 9th at the Horseshoe Arena. These dates may be a day or two off but I believe they are correct. As always, us trainees are under constant evaluation as to whether we will be on the card or not.
Secondly, Tony, who I haven't seen in the ring since I very first started due to his own job situation, came in to help us on weight lifting. He took the time to show us proper technique and find out our maxes. Building and shaping my body is probably one of the largest reasons I started this in the first place, so that was exciting.
I'll just have to walk it off and come back full force on Thursday. As you've heard: the party must go on.
So work is stressful. On the flip side, Bridgette's job is far more stressful; which is taking its toll on us both. Things will get better, but for now nights are rough. She's not sleeping, so I'm not sleeping. She doesn't feel well, so I don't feel well. Neither of us slept last night, so we both called in to work. After we went up there and got things set up for a sub, we came home, and slept until 2. It was nice and we needed it.
Went to practice, but my head isn't where it needs to be. Luckily, today was filled with good news. For one, we have dates for some future shows. Sept. 30th in San Angelo, during which time I'll be in Abilene; and Nov. 10th in Stanton. Also January 19th for a fundraiser for Hood Jr. High, and Feb. 9th at the Horseshoe Arena. These dates may be a day or two off but I believe they are correct. As always, us trainees are under constant evaluation as to whether we will be on the card or not.
Secondly, Tony, who I haven't seen in the ring since I very first started due to his own job situation, came in to help us on weight lifting. He took the time to show us proper technique and find out our maxes. Building and shaping my body is probably one of the largest reasons I started this in the first place, so that was exciting.
I'll just have to walk it off and come back full force on Thursday. As you've heard: the party must go on.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Now trending worldwide!
New Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/kcrushridge
New Twitter: @KCrushridge
Follow plz!
New Twitter: @KCrushridge
Follow plz!
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Hahaha...ahhh...ow.
Today started with a more intense version of the regular routine. This was to help build us up for the Charlie Haas seminar, where he is to whip our asses. I made it through, but it was certainly a call to arms for us to step it up.
More of the same, really. Not much to document.
More of the same, really. Not much to document.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Haas of Pain
Not much to speak of on today's training, but next month Charlie Haas is coming to do a seminar for us; and he'll also be joining us to watch Tommy Chong do standup the night before. Awesome shit! If you don't know who that is, get on Wikipedia and do your research.
Sunday, September 2, 2012
DDT-Pain
See what I did there?
Today was spent doing more basics. Hip tosses, clotheslines, shoulder blocks, suplexes, front suplexes (those kinda suck,) DDTs, and bulldogs. The reason for the title is because when one of the new guys gave me one, he didn't let go and drove my head down pretty hard. I was fine after a minute, but I could feel it resonate down my neck at first. I'm good now.
No post from Tuesday or Thursday. Last week was pure chaos. Bridgette started a new job, two of my bosses made a visit to my location; just all kinds of things happening at once. Back to the normal grind now; no excuses to miss practice.
We may be doing a show in San Angelo the last weekend of this month but unfortunately I won't make that. I'll be in Abilene attending a WWE house show.
Today was spent doing more basics. Hip tosses, clotheslines, shoulder blocks, suplexes, front suplexes (those kinda suck,) DDTs, and bulldogs. The reason for the title is because when one of the new guys gave me one, he didn't let go and drove my head down pretty hard. I was fine after a minute, but I could feel it resonate down my neck at first. I'm good now.
No post from Tuesday or Thursday. Last week was pure chaos. Bridgette started a new job, two of my bosses made a visit to my location; just all kinds of things happening at once. Back to the normal grind now; no excuses to miss practice.
We may be doing a show in San Angelo the last weekend of this month but unfortunately I won't make that. I'll be in Abilene attending a WWE house show.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Shoulder lean
I'm clearly running out of witty titles. I might just start using the date.
Today was a slim crowd; as Sundays tend to be. Jastin wanted to polish up some of our more basic moves to make us all more uniform. Me and Samson ran the same spot over and over, adding more to it each time. The finality of it was this: I'd whip him off the ropes, and he'd hit me with a standing shoulder tackle. He'd go back to the ropes and I'd roll over for a drop down. He'd jump over me and come off the other rope, and I'd leapfrog over him. As he came off the ropes again, I'd hip toss him. Then I'd pick him up he'd reverse and whip me, and we'd do the same spot in reverse. This exercise really helped me with ring positioning and footwork. It was also my first leapfrog. When I do shoulder tackles I have a tendency to run right through them and take extra steps. To properly set up for more spots, I need to stop immediately on impact. That habit was hopefully broken today.bSamson and Mike had a match that I tried to record, but my phone ran out of memory fairly quickly into it.
Next practice on Tuesday.
Today was a slim crowd; as Sundays tend to be. Jastin wanted to polish up some of our more basic moves to make us all more uniform. Me and Samson ran the same spot over and over, adding more to it each time. The finality of it was this: I'd whip him off the ropes, and he'd hit me with a standing shoulder tackle. He'd go back to the ropes and I'd roll over for a drop down. He'd jump over me and come off the other rope, and I'd leapfrog over him. As he came off the ropes again, I'd hip toss him. Then I'd pick him up he'd reverse and whip me, and we'd do the same spot in reverse. This exercise really helped me with ring positioning and footwork. It was also my first leapfrog. When I do shoulder tackles I have a tendency to run right through them and take extra steps. To properly set up for more spots, I need to stop immediately on impact. That habit was hopefully broken today.bSamson and Mike had a match that I tried to record, but my phone ran out of memory fairly quickly into it.
Next practice on Tuesday.
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Late update
Two days later. Whatever. You're not my professor!
Allergies were kicking my ass Thursday, so I was glad we had a pretty light session. It was me, Samson, Issac, Jastin, and three of the newer guys. We got out and chain wrestled as Jastin had a couple of the guys working on running ropes and such. Then Issac and Samson worked out a couple spots in the ring while I taught the new guys drop toe holds and headlock takeovers, and worked on reversals and strikes. Jastin had Allan and I chain in the ring, and he kept up pretty well.
Samson and Issac took a water break while Jastin and I taught irish whips to the new guys. They're coming along pretty well. Afterwards Samson and Issac had a match and I reffed, while Jastin filmed it. Uploaded for your viewing pleasure: here.
Allergies were kicking my ass Thursday, so I was glad we had a pretty light session. It was me, Samson, Issac, Jastin, and three of the newer guys. We got out and chain wrestled as Jastin had a couple of the guys working on running ropes and such. Then Issac and Samson worked out a couple spots in the ring while I taught the new guys drop toe holds and headlock takeovers, and worked on reversals and strikes. Jastin had Allan and I chain in the ring, and he kept up pretty well.
Samson and Issac took a water break while Jastin and I taught irish whips to the new guys. They're coming along pretty well. Afterwards Samson and Issac had a match and I reffed, while Jastin filmed it. Uploaded for your viewing pleasure: here.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Get it, son
First thing was rolls as usual. Then Mike had us do 3/4 rolls from corner to corner with a partner. He didn't tell us how many to do. Most of the duos did about 13 sets there and back, and got dizzy and quit. Me and one of the new guys did 23 sets before Mike stopped us. I had started first, so I just kept going to see how long he'd keep up.
After the initial warmups, Mike split the new guys off and had me and 3 others in the ring. Issac and Chris did a long spot called by Mike, and then Delton and I did it as well. Lindsey was training on how to be a ref, so Mike had us slow things down to get her in the right positioning, etc. Then we went ahead and did some matches for her to practice. Delton and I did ours and had pretty much the whole match planned to a T...then we got in there and forgot the whole thing. We got all the parts of the match in there, but had to improv the whole thing. We fucked up a couple spots, but worked through and I think it turned out alright.
My memory is terrible, but I'll work on that. Getting better as long as I keep at it.
After the initial warmups, Mike split the new guys off and had me and 3 others in the ring. Issac and Chris did a long spot called by Mike, and then Delton and I did it as well. Lindsey was training on how to be a ref, so Mike had us slow things down to get her in the right positioning, etc. Then we went ahead and did some matches for her to practice. Delton and I did ours and had pretty much the whole match planned to a T...then we got in there and forgot the whole thing. We got all the parts of the match in there, but had to improv the whole thing. We fucked up a couple spots, but worked through and I think it turned out alright.
My memory is terrible, but I'll work on that. Getting better as long as I keep at it.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Milestones!
Two of them have been passed today: over 2k views of this blog, and my first promo. It's almost as if people read this!
Today started as a typical practice, but at one point everyone got into the ring and we all went through the same process. We all gave and received monkey flips, received a body slam, and we all got chopped. Kind of an initiation for the new guys.
Trey performed the clothesline on me and kinda missed. He basically punched me in the side of the head. What a fun experience, he said with heavy sarcasm! Anyway, I finally got to perform the promo I made. Here's a video. There's a lot more background noise than we anticipated, so it's kind of hard to hear. The setup: Richard Long and I were having a match that was interrupted by Madd Mike Payne.
He also shot one on me:
Today started as a typical practice, but at one point everyone got into the ring and we all went through the same process. We all gave and received monkey flips, received a body slam, and we all got chopped. Kind of an initiation for the new guys.
Trey performed the clothesline on me and kinda missed. He basically punched me in the side of the head. What a fun experience, he said with heavy sarcasm! Anyway, I finally got to perform the promo I made. Here's a video. There's a lot more background noise than we anticipated, so it's kind of hard to hear. The setup: Richard Long and I were having a match that was interrupted by Madd Mike Payne.
He also shot one on me:
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Nope.
No update today. Training was moved to a later time and we already had plans, and family in town. Going for Tuesday.
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Catching up
Two things off the bat: Blogger tells me where my traffic typically comes from. Mostly it's from Facebook and some of the forums I frequent; but lately it's been telling me one of my top three sources is Stumbleupon. I guess I'm not "hip" on them interwebz cause I don't know what that is. If you are reading this, please comment on where you came here from, and how you found out about this blog if you didn't follow a link posted directly by me. I'm just curious.
Second thing, I didn't post Sunday pretty much out of laziness. This is a catch up post.
It seems that one of the guys that shot the commercial also does web design. It's likely OSW will have a website in the future, with videos, pictures, roster, etc. With the advent of social media in wrestling these days, that means my character page will have a link to Facebook and Twitter profiles. Now, my character doesn't yet have either, but I will create them. I don't even use Twitter, but I guess the dumb short posts I make on Facebook to be funny can be a great substitute for content. I will post them when they are live and active. I also assume a link will be put to this blog, so I'll probably be wanting to focus more on writing purely in character. More on that as it happens.
Sunday's training included two new people yet again. Our family is growing, and that's damn sure what we need. Sunday was like 4 years ago so details are sketchy, but at the end I worked a match against Richard Long "Dick for Short." Mike interrupted the match before it could end and took us both out. Mike's homework for everyone was to write and perform a 90 second promo on our opponent, to be ready by Tuesday.
Tuesday I did not attend. Bridgette (does she need a character name too?) has been working very long hours and has been under a lot of stress lately, and I have barely seen her. She came home Monday night right about when RAW started, was home for an hour, then had to take back off and didn't come back til 11:30. She didn't come home Tuesday until after 7 so I elected to take the training day off and spend a night with her. From what I understand, Mike wasn't there anyway so I couldn't have delivered the promo anyhow.
Today included one more brand new person; although I didn't see the other two from Sunday and I don't know if they attended Tuesday. They wouldn't be the first one-hit wonders I've seen come and go but I hope they stick with it. We always need fresh blood. Hell, listen to me, like I'm a vet. I've only done this 4 months. Anyway, the first bit was Fred handing out a waiver for everyone to sign. Not only was it for medical reasons and liability, it explained the focus of the school and exactly what the training entails and promises. It's good to see some legitimacy brought into the business side. OSW has evolved greatly in the short time I've been a part of it. Anyone who saw the facility when we first moved in and sees it today will see incredible progress; and it's only going to get better and more promising. After warmups we split off, and the new guys worked in the ring on bumps, etc. while the rest of us either chain wrestled on the mat or worked the weights. After all that Jastin tought us how to do a headlock takeover by going to the corner and kicking up and off of it. It's a flashy, more advanced move I immediately felt comfortable doing.
I'll try to be better about getting updates out. The laziness factor is two-fold: coming home so late (and working early) as well as the fact that it is really hard to update this on my phone. The format just doesn't quite work right, so it's infinitely easier on my computer. But, that means shoving all the dirty clothes off the chair, booting it up, blah blah blah. The fans DEMAND updates, so I will do better. I promise.
Training again on Sunday. Hopefully Mike can make it and I can deliver my promo. It's been ready since Sunday night, and I haven't changed a word of it. Once I deliver it, I'll transcribe it to be read here.
Second thing, I didn't post Sunday pretty much out of laziness. This is a catch up post.
It seems that one of the guys that shot the commercial also does web design. It's likely OSW will have a website in the future, with videos, pictures, roster, etc. With the advent of social media in wrestling these days, that means my character page will have a link to Facebook and Twitter profiles. Now, my character doesn't yet have either, but I will create them. I don't even use Twitter, but I guess the dumb short posts I make on Facebook to be funny can be a great substitute for content. I will post them when they are live and active. I also assume a link will be put to this blog, so I'll probably be wanting to focus more on writing purely in character. More on that as it happens.
Sunday's training included two new people yet again. Our family is growing, and that's damn sure what we need. Sunday was like 4 years ago so details are sketchy, but at the end I worked a match against Richard Long "Dick for Short." Mike interrupted the match before it could end and took us both out. Mike's homework for everyone was to write and perform a 90 second promo on our opponent, to be ready by Tuesday.
Tuesday I did not attend. Bridgette (does she need a character name too?) has been working very long hours and has been under a lot of stress lately, and I have barely seen her. She came home Monday night right about when RAW started, was home for an hour, then had to take back off and didn't come back til 11:30. She didn't come home Tuesday until after 7 so I elected to take the training day off and spend a night with her. From what I understand, Mike wasn't there anyway so I couldn't have delivered the promo anyhow.
Today included one more brand new person; although I didn't see the other two from Sunday and I don't know if they attended Tuesday. They wouldn't be the first one-hit wonders I've seen come and go but I hope they stick with it. We always need fresh blood. Hell, listen to me, like I'm a vet. I've only done this 4 months. Anyway, the first bit was Fred handing out a waiver for everyone to sign. Not only was it for medical reasons and liability, it explained the focus of the school and exactly what the training entails and promises. It's good to see some legitimacy brought into the business side. OSW has evolved greatly in the short time I've been a part of it. Anyone who saw the facility when we first moved in and sees it today will see incredible progress; and it's only going to get better and more promising. After warmups we split off, and the new guys worked in the ring on bumps, etc. while the rest of us either chain wrestled on the mat or worked the weights. After all that Jastin tought us how to do a headlock takeover by going to the corner and kicking up and off of it. It's a flashy, more advanced move I immediately felt comfortable doing.
I'll try to be better about getting updates out. The laziness factor is two-fold: coming home so late (and working early) as well as the fact that it is really hard to update this on my phone. The format just doesn't quite work right, so it's infinitely easier on my computer. But, that means shoving all the dirty clothes off the chair, booting it up, blah blah blah. The fans DEMAND updates, so I will do better. I promise.
Training again on Sunday. Hopefully Mike can make it and I can deliver my promo. It's been ready since Sunday night, and I haven't changed a word of it. Once I deliver it, I'll transcribe it to be read here.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
lrn2speak mexican
Currently uploading the teaser trailer and news segment we aired for Univision. They played on TV on got recorded on an iPhone; so of course they are of the utmost quality. If someone else posts an actual upload of them, I'll link to those instead. Here's the links:
Teaser Trailer
Segment
For those curious, I'm in the blue and silver lucha mask. You can see me running ropes and standing on the far right in the final shot.
Today's training was a little different. Mike and Jastin had us doing mostly chain wrestling. Truth is, I've done very little of that; and it's kind of essential. I feel like we skipped it entirely and went straight into in-ring work. They're saying we should put everything else on hold and work almost solely on chaining for now, and I agree. If you can't start a match correctly, or comfortably work with someone, why should anyone care about the middle or end of your match? I performed my first headlock takeover today, and Mike said it was the best he'd seen all night.
Trey and Jastin started chaining and ended up putting on a wrestling clinic. Then Mike and Samson "Richard Long, Dick for Short" had a match. This consisted of them working while Jastin, Trey and I made as many dick jokes as we could. You know, things like "Dick's working a little stiff, don't you think?" "He's choking Dick rough, his head is turning purple!" "Dick is like putty in Mike's hands." "Dick is back upright and getting the job done!" We're so witty.
Next training on Sunday.
Teaser Trailer
Segment
For those curious, I'm in the blue and silver lucha mask. You can see me running ropes and standing on the far right in the final shot.
Today's training was a little different. Mike and Jastin had us doing mostly chain wrestling. Truth is, I've done very little of that; and it's kind of essential. I feel like we skipped it entirely and went straight into in-ring work. They're saying we should put everything else on hold and work almost solely on chaining for now, and I agree. If you can't start a match correctly, or comfortably work with someone, why should anyone care about the middle or end of your match? I performed my first headlock takeover today, and Mike said it was the best he'd seen all night.
Trey and Jastin started chaining and ended up putting on a wrestling clinic. Then Mike and Samson "Richard Long, Dick for Short" had a match. This consisted of them working while Jastin, Trey and I made as many dick jokes as we could. You know, things like "Dick's working a little stiff, don't you think?" "He's choking Dick rough, his head is turning purple!" "Dick is like putty in Mike's hands." "Dick is back upright and getting the job done!" We're so witty.
Next training on Sunday.
Commercials are up
That thing I just said. Jackalopes commercials are done and on YouTube. Enjoy!
Commercial 1
Commercial 2
Commercial 1
Commercial 2
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
In the Spotlight Again
First of all, the segment we filmed yesterday didn't show today as I had thought. What we got was about a 20 second teaser trailer. It looked really good. I recorded it on my phone. Not the best quality, obviously; but I'll get it uploaded at some point. The segment will run Thursday. I'll try to get it too.
Today we re-shot the Jackalopes commercial. Thank god I didn't have to be the mascot again. I hit my cross body as I did last time. For the most part, we all did the same spots. David and Delton did a double team with a splash followed by a spear. Madd Mike Payne hit the poor bastard with a clothesline...ALL THE WAY FROM HELLLLLLL. Trey did a crazy fast airplane spin when Cash was in the suit that almost made me throw up just from watching. Devon, who had been in the suit for most of it, did a picture perfect standing moonsault. They say it should be ready in about 3-4 days.
Next training on Thursday. Now with the ring set back up and our weight equipment mostly ready to go, it's time to get back to the grind. We've got three new guys to break in. It'll be fun!
Next training on Thursday. Now with the ring set back up and our weight equipment mostly ready to go, it's time to get back to the grind. We've got three new guys to break in. It'll be fun!
Monday, July 30, 2012
El Guapo en la casa!
We shot a segment today for one of the local Spanish TV stations. I came to the ring with my old Halloween mask on. I didn't opt for the sharpie tattoos this time. I wasn't involved much in it but I'm there for sure. It will be shown tomorrow at 5 and 10. I don't have DVR but I'll see if I can record it on my phone.
Another commercial being shot tomorrow, this time en ingles!
Another commercial being shot tomorrow, this time en ingles!
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Placeholder post
Today was a fairly unproductive day. There was some weight work, but a lot of the equipment isn't fully set up yet, and most of it needs work. There were some announcements made about future shows, but I caught the tail end of it so I'll need to get caught up before I can say anything here. I do know that next month we will be having a seminar hosted by Charlie Haas. That's pretty exciting. More to come as I know more...
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Fresh blood
Today was somewhat of a laid back day. We had a new guy in training. His arms are all sleeve tagged up. I pointed out a Magikarp I noticed, and he showed me a Nuka-Cola bottle and a 20 sided die as well. NERDDDDDDDD
Fred and Jastin were in the back discussing business, so we were mainly without direction. Some of us chain wrestled, some worked with the new guy on bumps, and some of us starting using the weight equipment we just got. Not much else to speak of.
We tore down the ring today and set it on a trailer. It's being rented out for a bike rally show this weekend and we will take it out there Thursday and set it up. No practice, so no blog. No point in making an entry where I confirm the fact that I helped build the ring again.
David, our trainer and my first opponent, is moving to Austin this Friday. We'll miss you, brother.
Fred and Jastin were in the back discussing business, so we were mainly without direction. Some of us chain wrestled, some worked with the new guy on bumps, and some of us starting using the weight equipment we just got. Not much else to speak of.
We tore down the ring today and set it on a trailer. It's being rented out for a bike rally show this weekend and we will take it out there Thursday and set it up. No practice, so no blog. No point in making an entry where I confirm the fact that I helped build the ring again.
David, our trainer and my first opponent, is moving to Austin this Friday. We'll miss you, brother.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Temporary hiatus broken
Ok, so there was no training Tuesday or Thursday week before last. Sunday training was canceled because apparently no one was able to show up. This played into my favor, as it eliminated my rush to leave Abilene to get back to town. Tuesday I was stuck at work all day; my RVP was coming to the store that week and it looked like shit. Thursday he had come and gone, but Bridgette and I had a stressful enough week already and hadn't really seen each other, so I elected to instead spend the day with her. So, this Sunday was my first practice back in two weeks; and it felt like it. I was quite winded, even doing the warmups. Gotta stay in it!
Got a text this morning that the article ran in the paper. I bought one and took photos of it: visible on my Photobucket. Here's the link. If we can get some trainees out of it, or a bigger audience, I think we'll be in good shape.
Not a whole lot of new stuff learned this session, but I did perform a tornado DDT off the second rope.
Got a text this morning that the article ran in the paper. I bought one and took photos of it: visible on my Photobucket. Here's the link. If we can get some trainees out of it, or a bigger audience, I think we'll be in good shape.
Not a whole lot of new stuff learned this session, but I did perform a tornado DDT off the second rope.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Poetry Corner
I wrote a haiku that describes what some of my training sessions are like:
What's that? A new move?
Ok, I'll give it a shot.
Ow, my back! Fuck! FUCK!
(insert gong noise here)
What's that? A new move?
Ok, I'll give it a shot.
Ow, my back! Fuck! FUCK!
(insert gong noise here)
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Short session
Received a text saying for everyone to be prepared for a hard workout today. I expected to show up to a full class and go through some hardcore conditioning. Instead, I show up and Mike's the only one there. Samson and Jastin showed up soon after...and that was it. Samson and Mike still have injuries so there wasn't a whole lot we could do. Jastin taught us drop toe holds and had us perform them at various places in the ring; taking people down in the center, into the turnbuckle, and onto the ropes. Not long after Fred and David showed up. As everyone stood around talking David called me into the ring and set up a long spot. I ducked a clothesline, hit him with a flying shoulder tackle, cross body, and then a drop kick. My drop kicks tend not to be high enough, so we ended up switching it so that after the cross body, I'd throw him into the corner, hit him with a thump splash, snapmare, then come off the ropes with a missile drop kick as he's seated. It's a long spot but it's a great setup for a finisher, or a comeback.
Since no one else showed up we didn't feel too much more like working out, so we pretty much just sat and talked for an hour before we left. No practice Tuesday or Thursday. Next Sunday at 6 we should be viewing last Sunday's matches and breaking them down. So, no post until then.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
My antlers hurt.
Today, we filmed a commercial. We have a local ice hockey team here called the Jackalopes. If I'm remembering correctly, they've been shooting a series of commericals where the mascot goes out and does various things unrelated to hockey. In this case, getting beat up by wrestlers. The guy who typically wears the suit was not a part of it. So guess who got to put it on and get beat up? (Editor's note: insert picture of me holding up two thumbs at myself later.)
It was hot as hell, but this is not the first mascot costume I've worn. Third, actually. The idea was for me to take big moves from everyone, that will be cut and spliced together into a series. The first move I took was a corner splash. When he did a trial run to show the cameraman how it would look, I immediately knew the mascot head was going to hurt me. The place to see out of was his mouth. There was no padding; straight up hard plastic grating. I was gonna bust my nose and mouth if I took the move, so I asked for padding. They cut a small piece of ring padding and shoved it up the front. It was great for protection, but limited my visibility to roughly 0%. I was hit by a blind splash. The only indication I had that it was coming was "action!" and then footsteps. I basically had to guess when impact was coming. The padding helped, but not knowing exactly when it hit was the worst. And, since this wasn't exactly live and in real-time, we did several takes for everything. Kinda glad to get the worst part out of the way.
Second spot was the spear. As always, I took it like a champ...so well, in fact, my head flew the fuck off. On every take except the last. If they can cut it so you don't see my face, I bet they'll keep it that way. It looked great. I also took: Vader Bomb, top rope frog splash (first take ended with Cash's knee in my gut,) cattle mutilation submission, being choked on the ropes, a chairshot to the back (the mascot's padding really helped out here,) and ending with the champ standing over me with the belt and turning my head 180 degrees to face up at him. Now, I wanted to be in this thing too, so I got out of the costume and Cash put it on. He whipped me off the ropes and I came back with a flying cross body. I laid on top of him and gave the old Rick Rude pin while a ref counted to 3. Cash ended up taking quite a few other moves: a top rope elbow drop, a big kick from a spring board, a side slam, a body slam, and a clothesline. I may have missed a move or two in all this; but when the commercial is fully finished we've all been promised copies. I will make sure to get it posted.
The ending to the commercial is all of us in the ring, standing around the downed Jackalope, stomping the shit out of him. In the foreground is an announcer, grinning in a tie while he talks about the team or something; I don't know for sure, couldn't hear him. A lot of the guys got some footage on their phones of me and Cash taking these hits, and I gotta say they look pretty brutal. I cannot wait to see the finished product. We all had a lot of fun doing it. Me being the bump bitch and taking all these hits is kind of a way of breaking me into the business. We all gotta pay our dues. Some people work a squash match where the opponent intentionally breaks a nose or makes them bleed. Some people don't get to use a locker room. Some people have to carry the vets' equipment for them. Some people sleep on the floor in the hotel room, or just get embarassed in some way. I apparently get to wear a costume and get fucked up on camera. Personally, I'll take it.
Next practice is Sunday, and then we're taking Tuesday and Thursday off for the holiday. Then there's the next Sunday practice after that; which I will likely miss. That's my birthday weekend so I expect to be in Abilene for it. I think they might be watching footage of last Sunday's matches and critiquing it, and possibly getting the raw, uncut footage of this commerical, so I may need to get my ass back here regardless. Those are both things I need to see.
It was hot as hell, but this is not the first mascot costume I've worn. Third, actually. The idea was for me to take big moves from everyone, that will be cut and spliced together into a series. The first move I took was a corner splash. When he did a trial run to show the cameraman how it would look, I immediately knew the mascot head was going to hurt me. The place to see out of was his mouth. There was no padding; straight up hard plastic grating. I was gonna bust my nose and mouth if I took the move, so I asked for padding. They cut a small piece of ring padding and shoved it up the front. It was great for protection, but limited my visibility to roughly 0%. I was hit by a blind splash. The only indication I had that it was coming was "action!" and then footsteps. I basically had to guess when impact was coming. The padding helped, but not knowing exactly when it hit was the worst. And, since this wasn't exactly live and in real-time, we did several takes for everything. Kinda glad to get the worst part out of the way.
Second spot was the spear. As always, I took it like a champ...so well, in fact, my head flew the fuck off. On every take except the last. If they can cut it so you don't see my face, I bet they'll keep it that way. It looked great. I also took: Vader Bomb, top rope frog splash (first take ended with Cash's knee in my gut,) cattle mutilation submission, being choked on the ropes, a chairshot to the back (the mascot's padding really helped out here,) and ending with the champ standing over me with the belt and turning my head 180 degrees to face up at him. Now, I wanted to be in this thing too, so I got out of the costume and Cash put it on. He whipped me off the ropes and I came back with a flying cross body. I laid on top of him and gave the old Rick Rude pin while a ref counted to 3. Cash ended up taking quite a few other moves: a top rope elbow drop, a big kick from a spring board, a side slam, a body slam, and a clothesline. I may have missed a move or two in all this; but when the commercial is fully finished we've all been promised copies. I will make sure to get it posted.
The ending to the commercial is all of us in the ring, standing around the downed Jackalope, stomping the shit out of him. In the foreground is an announcer, grinning in a tie while he talks about the team or something; I don't know for sure, couldn't hear him. A lot of the guys got some footage on their phones of me and Cash taking these hits, and I gotta say they look pretty brutal. I cannot wait to see the finished product. We all had a lot of fun doing it. Me being the bump bitch and taking all these hits is kind of a way of breaking me into the business. We all gotta pay our dues. Some people work a squash match where the opponent intentionally breaks a nose or makes them bleed. Some people don't get to use a locker room. Some people have to carry the vets' equipment for them. Some people sleep on the floor in the hotel room, or just get embarassed in some way. I apparently get to wear a costume and get fucked up on camera. Personally, I'll take it.
Next practice is Sunday, and then we're taking Tuesday and Thursday off for the holiday. Then there's the next Sunday practice after that; which I will likely miss. That's my birthday weekend so I expect to be in Abilene for it. I think they might be watching footage of last Sunday's matches and critiquing it, and possibly getting the raw, uncut footage of this commerical, so I may need to get my ass back here regardless. Those are both things I need to see.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Breaking news
Today, we were told to show up in full gear. A photographer from the newspaper was going to be at practice taking pictures of our workout. It seems they want to do a story on us. And so, he was there snapping pictures as we went through our regular routine. We started putting some spots together, such as corner splash - bulldog - belly to back suplex, or shoulder tackle - clothesline - back elbow, and also hip toss - body slam - Japanese arm drag. Still a little beat up from the match, and feeling cottonmouth, but I kept up.
We had a trainee there who hadn't been in a while, so eventually the whole thing kinda devolved into him taking moves from everyone as a sort of punishment; and also just for fun. Mike and David kept hitting him with really big moves that looked pretty heinous. Mike even gave him a powerbomb from the second rope. Poor guy's head almost hit the ceiling beam. Order was somewhat restored and I also learned how to take a powerslam.
Fred sat us all down after the photographer had left and told us that it seems the article will be a lot bigger than expected. He's going to come back for more shots, maybe do some light training to see what it's like (well, I guess the writer is the one who will be doing that) and maybe going with some of the workers out of town when they do matches elsewhere, to see life in the locker room and the ride there and back. It's going to be a pretty in depth story, perhaps. I'll make sure to get a scan of it when it happens; but don't know when it will yet. It's going to be great exposure when it does happen.
After we locked up and started leaving, the head trainer and I started to talk about his new diet plan, which ended up jumping subjects a lot. We talked for a good hour. Apparently he used to be pretty into DDR and fighting games. It's scary how much we have in common. He's like an older, blacker version of me. I know what you're thinking, "who could be blacker than you," but I'm referring to skin tone. He used to do full band plays of Rock Band and Guitar Hero, and now be knows the secrets behind how certain arcade machines, such as cranes and pushers, are rigged.
Next practice is on Thursday. There's big exposure to be had then as well, but I save that entry for that day.
Monday, June 25, 2012
The legend begins!
I had a match yesterday. I was not scheduled to perform, and it was essentially thrown at me at the last minute. I'm totally glad that happened.
Yesterday we had a cookout, and put on a couple matches for family and friends. The match has been recorded and here's the link to view it: http://youtu.be/wh3YXG8GR9Q
Before you judge too harshly, remember a few things:
- I knew about this match roughly 30 minutes before it happened
- My name was announced wrong! And my music started playing for my opponent before his did
- This was Bridgette's first time recording anything
I'm probably my own worst critic, so I'm trying not to be too harsh on myself. On one side, it's something to be proud of. I did a match after only two months of training, and it wasn't a total train wreck. On the other, I really wish I'd gotten more offense in. This is essentially a squash match. But this is the first of many, and I gotta start somewhere. That being said, I'm proud of that spear I took. Clearly, I should've died.
Yesterday we had a cookout, and put on a couple matches for family and friends. The match has been recorded and here's the link to view it: http://youtu.be/wh3YXG8GR9Q
Before you judge too harshly, remember a few things:
- I knew about this match roughly 30 minutes before it happened
- My name was announced wrong! And my music started playing for my opponent before his did
- This was Bridgette's first time recording anything
I'm probably my own worst critic, so I'm trying not to be too harsh on myself. On one side, it's something to be proud of. I did a match after only two months of training, and it wasn't a total train wreck. On the other, I really wish I'd gotten more offense in. This is essentially a squash match. But this is the first of many, and I gotta start somewhere. That being said, I'm proud of that spear I took. Clearly, I should've died.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Good to be back
It's been a while, so it was good to get the rust off. Today I took some more back body drops, and learned flapjacks as well. I also did an up-and-over maneuver, where you run to the turnbuckle, bounce off the bottom rope and throw your legs up and jump over as your opponent runs under you. Only a few of us are agile enough to do it. It's a real fun move!
After it all we moved some stuff around to make a makeshift locker room. As we all were standing around, David grabbed me by the back of the head, led me to the ring, and threw me in. He picked me up, put me in suplex position, and called out a series of spots. He gave me a vertical suplex, a clothesline, pushed me to one corner and threw me into another, gave me a splash, took me down with a bulldog, and then locked me into a submission. Only afterwards did he explain he was finding a way to set up his finisher. He switched it up a bit and found a nice way to transition it more smoothly. I think it would look pretty devastating.
This brings home the fact that I need to think of a finisher too. I have a couple of moves I really like, such as corner splashes and cross bodies, but those aren't really finishers. More like signature moves. I'd like to try a curb stomp too; but again, not a typical finisher. The theory of a flying elbow drop is nice; the practice is a little nerve wracking. I guess I need to be booked in a match before I worry too much about it.
There's a cookout on Sunday. I'll definitely enjoy that!
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Not much to speak of...
I missed Sunday, but not intentionally. I went to the facility at 2, not realizing practice was at 3. I headed back home for an hour to test some game systems I had bought to resell. At about 2:45 all my power went out. I was stuck at home dealing with the electric company and trying to find out why. It came back on at 3:30 for about 5 minutes, then went back down. It stayed out until at least 5:30. We left the house to run errands and it was on by the time we got back. Still though, very hot and very irritating.
Fred sent a text today requesting everyone's presence for announcements. I won't Gogol far into that, but the short version is our numbers are dwindling, and a lot of people have broken their promises as far as showing up and paying dues. I hope we can resolve that. I damn sure don't want this to end before I get to do anything with it.
We only spent 30 minutes or do working out, and a lot of time talking. Then most of us went to Denny's and ate and talked more. Looks like today was more about bonding than working out; which is fine now and again. But my ass needs the workout. I've been lazy lately.
No update until next Thursday. This Thursday I'll be stuck at work, no practice on Sunday due to father's day, and I'll be out of town on the Tuesday session. I believe Thursday is another cookout, so that's a good time to come back for sure.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Brokeback got fingered by a midget
Fred requested that I put that statement in this post. I will explain nothing. It's funnier out of context.
There was no training last Tuesday, and I was out of town Thursday and Sunday. Today began with some good exercises. We all laid in the ring with our head off the mat, and held it as long as we could. This makes you tired a lot more than you'd think it would. We were told that the first one to drop his head had to clean the bathroom. After 25 minutes with no one doing so, Fred let us up. I kinda wanted to keep doing that. I wanted to see exactly how long we could all last.
New moves from today include sunset flips, Russian leg sweeps, school boy roll ups, a couple of other pins I forget the names of. There's going to be cookout in a couple of weeks, and Fred wants us to put on a few matches. Currently, the plan is to have 4 singles matches and 1 tag match. The 4 matches would have a trainee going up against a vet, and the tag match of 2 trainees versus 2 vets. That means everyone who is green has somebody to help carry them. It's under evaluation who gets to wrestle. Only the people who have been showing up and training are eligible, obviously; and there's not a whole lot of us. I'd say that statistically I've got a decent shot of having a match in a couple weeks. Isn't that some exciting shit? I'm not trying to get ahead of myself here. I just have to bust my ass to prove to the trainers that I am a good pick. Here's to hoping. It wouldn't be a show or anything; just a little exhibition for family and friends. I'm sure Bridgette will be bringing her video camera. I'll see if we can't get some matches put up on YouTube.
I bit the inside of my lip and make it bleed. My left ankle is a bit swollen. My neck is sore. That means it was a good day.
There was no training last Tuesday, and I was out of town Thursday and Sunday. Today began with some good exercises. We all laid in the ring with our head off the mat, and held it as long as we could. This makes you tired a lot more than you'd think it would. We were told that the first one to drop his head had to clean the bathroom. After 25 minutes with no one doing so, Fred let us up. I kinda wanted to keep doing that. I wanted to see exactly how long we could all last.
New moves from today include sunset flips, Russian leg sweeps, school boy roll ups, a couple of other pins I forget the names of. There's going to be cookout in a couple of weeks, and Fred wants us to put on a few matches. Currently, the plan is to have 4 singles matches and 1 tag match. The 4 matches would have a trainee going up against a vet, and the tag match of 2 trainees versus 2 vets. That means everyone who is green has somebody to help carry them. It's under evaluation who gets to wrestle. Only the people who have been showing up and training are eligible, obviously; and there's not a whole lot of us. I'd say that statistically I've got a decent shot of having a match in a couple weeks. Isn't that some exciting shit? I'm not trying to get ahead of myself here. I just have to bust my ass to prove to the trainers that I am a good pick. Here's to hoping. It wouldn't be a show or anything; just a little exhibition for family and friends. I'm sure Bridgette will be bringing her video camera. I'll see if we can't get some matches put up on YouTube.
I bit the inside of my lip and make it bleed. My left ankle is a bit swollen. My neck is sore. That means it was a good day.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Ow fuck
Missed Thursday. Today wasn't too involved. We did a lot of sitting down and talking today. After our drills and a couple movesets, including learning arm drags, Cash took Brokeback and I aside and had us work on our punches. After some work, mine reportedly look pretty good. His either miss completely, or they're too stiff. When he goes for the top of the head, they're alright. When he tries to switch from a punch to a slap to the neck, like I do, he slapped the shit out of me a couple times. Of course, this being wrestling, I was happy to return the favor. His neck is red for sure, but a blood vessel popped on mine. Pictures at the album, link here.
A couple of guys had a match, with Jastin reffing. At one point, Isaac wanted to hit Trey with Samson's crutches, so I jumped on the apron to distract the ref. I was all like "hey, ref, c'mere, I have a question!" He came over, and the first thing I thought of to do was to pull open the front of my pants and say "does this look infected? It's all purple and facing the wrong way; are you a doctor?" That says a lot about my psyche, I'm sure. That ended the match.
Bumped and bruised, but I feel better than on most days. I think I may have hurt Cash on our arm drag though. He couldn't raise his arm very high. On one hand, I feel bad for doing that; although no one really blames me. No one watching saw what caused it. On the other hand, THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU GET IN THE RING WITH ME, SON. YEAH BOYYYYYYYYYYY
A couple of guys had a match, with Jastin reffing. At one point, Isaac wanted to hit Trey with Samson's crutches, so I jumped on the apron to distract the ref. I was all like "hey, ref, c'mere, I have a question!" He came over, and the first thing I thought of to do was to pull open the front of my pants and say "does this look infected? It's all purple and facing the wrong way; are you a doctor?" That says a lot about my psyche, I'm sure. That ended the match.
Bumped and bruised, but I feel better than on most days. I think I may have hurt Cash on our arm drag though. He couldn't raise his arm very high. On one hand, I feel bad for doing that; although no one really blames me. No one watching saw what caused it. On the other hand, THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU GET IN THE RING WITH ME, SON. YEAH BOYYYYYYYYYYY
Monday, May 21, 2012
Pics or it didn't happen
Those of you who have my girlfriend added on Facebook can see all the pictures she took yesterday. Those of you who only have me added can view the majority of them. Those of you who are neither probably suck, so I made a Photobucket so you can view a few of them.
View it here.
View it here.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Ok first match GO
Didn't go Thursday; wasn't feeling well. I already feel like throwing up in the ring occasionally. I doubt doing all this while nauseous is a good plan.
Today we spent a good amount of time cleaning up. The facility certainly needed it. The office looks wayyyyy better. They tiled it, painted it, etc. It was a concrete floor and torn up wood walls. Now it looks better and has some furniture. Workout was fairly short; but we had to endure burgers and hot dogs being grilled while we worked. Torture! I took some 2nd rope back bumps and leg drops. After watching a couple matches after practice, Jaston told me to get in the ring with Issac and do one. Andddddd so we did. I wanted to incorporate some of the spots we did the other day; but in the heat of the moment we pretty much forgot most of it. We did do the sidewalk slam and a back drop suplex, as well as the dropkick to knee/DDT combo. I was heel and worked his leg plenty. We finished with him hitting me with a big splash and a pin. Bridgette, Jeff, and Hesper attended this session. Bridgette got a TON of pictures. Once she goes through them and cleans them up a bit, I'll post them up. Got some excellent ones of our match, and some good ones of other matches. She showed me an excellent one of Jaston throwing a dropkick.
Had some bad landings so my neck is a little tight, but WALK IT OFF.
Today we spent a good amount of time cleaning up. The facility certainly needed it. The office looks wayyyyy better. They tiled it, painted it, etc. It was a concrete floor and torn up wood walls. Now it looks better and has some furniture. Workout was fairly short; but we had to endure burgers and hot dogs being grilled while we worked. Torture! I took some 2nd rope back bumps and leg drops. After watching a couple matches after practice, Jaston told me to get in the ring with Issac and do one. Andddddd so we did. I wanted to incorporate some of the spots we did the other day; but in the heat of the moment we pretty much forgot most of it. We did do the sidewalk slam and a back drop suplex, as well as the dropkick to knee/DDT combo. I was heel and worked his leg plenty. We finished with him hitting me with a big splash and a pin. Bridgette, Jeff, and Hesper attended this session. Bridgette got a TON of pictures. Once she goes through them and cleans them up a bit, I'll post them up. Got some excellent ones of our match, and some good ones of other matches. She showed me an excellent one of Jaston throwing a dropkick.
Had some bad landings so my neck is a little tight, but WALK IT OFF.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
I took a chairshot today; I don't recommend it.
We'll get to that title in a minute. The first part of today was spent talking about the future of OSW, and the current state of affairs. I won't bore you with details. As such, the workout was short. One new exercise I did was hanging my legs from the top turnbuckle and doing vertical sit-ups. This is an excellent stamina exercise that I could do much better if my legs were long enough to lock. I have to focus more on keeping myself up than I do actually doing the sit-ups. Today I learned how to deliver back elbows and elbow drops. We did them in sequence with a body slam thrown in as well. I did my moves decently, and Brokeback was my partner. He couldn't quite get me positioned for the body slam, and I was more let down gently on my side than actually slammed. I'm glad I didn't get hurt. His irish whips were too rushed; if he'd slow down it would flow much better.
This makes me feel like I need to clear something up. For the most part, he's the only one I mention. I'm not trying to pick on him; I truly do hope he gets better and learns to work. It's just that he's the one who has been there the exact same amount of time I have; and no one else has come in since. He helps to give me a frame of reference. In a twisted way, it's like seeing him perform techniques wrong help me to get them right. And he does get them eventually. I look through past entries and it seems like I'm giving him hell. I'm really not trying to.
That being said, his dumbass mentioned at the last practice something along the lines of "I wanna get hit with a chair! How do you do that and it not hurt?" Well, one of the workers heard that and brought a chair today. So, before I left, I took a chairshot to the back. His only advice was "when I hit you, fall down." Well, I did. He told me it was a good bump, so I'll take it as a compliment. It wasn't as bad as I expected, but I'm not dumb enough to say it didn't hurt. In the immortal words of Good Ol' JR: "I don't care who you are! A chairshot is a chairshot!"
Next practice is Thursday. Same bat time, same bat channel.
This makes me feel like I need to clear something up. For the most part, he's the only one I mention. I'm not trying to pick on him; I truly do hope he gets better and learns to work. It's just that he's the one who has been there the exact same amount of time I have; and no one else has come in since. He helps to give me a frame of reference. In a twisted way, it's like seeing him perform techniques wrong help me to get them right. And he does get them eventually. I look through past entries and it seems like I'm giving him hell. I'm really not trying to.
That being said, his dumbass mentioned at the last practice something along the lines of "I wanna get hit with a chair! How do you do that and it not hurt?" Well, one of the workers heard that and brought a chair today. So, before I left, I took a chairshot to the back. His only advice was "when I hit you, fall down." Well, I did. He told me it was a good bump, so I'll take it as a compliment. It wasn't as bad as I expected, but I'm not dumb enough to say it didn't hurt. In the immortal words of Good Ol' JR: "I don't care who you are! A chairshot is a chairshot!"
Next practice is Thursday. Same bat time, same bat channel.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Most fun yet!
I'm going to try and recall this chronologically as best I can. After our beginning drills with David, Jaston had us running through some of the moves we'd already done: Back suplexes, back body drops, sidewalk slams, etc. As David gave a sidewalk slam to Brokeback, he jumped too early and kneed David in the face. It caused him to bleed a little bit. As we apparently don't learn anything, I gave him directly after and he caught me in the jaw just behind my right ear. I gave him a nice chop as thanks. Later we were doing suplexes. When I hit Brokeback with one, he didn't jump like he was supposed to and took it harder than he should have. Then he gave me one, and half-assed it so I almost landed on my damn neck. Luckily my body reacted perfectly and I rolled out of it without taking any damage.
The fun part came when Jaston had me and Issac run through a long series of spots. It was short at first, then he keeps adding on to it and altering it, and we just went with it. We even added onto it ourselves. Here's the finished product: We're in the center of the ring. He hits me with a few punches and I go back against the ropes. He shoots me off and as I rebound back, he kicks me in the stomach. As I double over, he pulls me into position, and gives me a vertical suplex. He even held me up for a few seconds to prove his strength. After he slammed me down, and I writhed in pain, he gave me a few head slaps and stomps just to be a dick. He pulled me up and irish whipped me again. He went for a clothesline; I ducked it, and hit him with a dropkick to the knee. He fell, and as he got back to his knees, I hit him with a DDT and went for the pin. He kicks out. I stalk him, waiting for his big ass to get back up. As he gets to his feet, I come off the ropes. Before I can hit him, he catches me in a sidewalk slam. After the hit, he goes for the pin. I kick out at 2. As he argues with the ref, I catch a breath. Right as I get into a sitting position, he locks me in a rear chinlock. I start to fade to black. Ref raises my arm 3 times, and I catch myself at the last moment and fight my way to a vertical base. I hit him with 3 elbows, run and bounce off the ropes, and hit him with a cross body. I go for the pin. He throws me off with authority...right after the 3 count. I roll under the ropes and celebrate my victory. He taunts me to get back in the ring, so I do. Before I can get my second foot through the ropes, he runs in and kicks me. I'm back down in the ring. He starts choking me. The ref can't do anything about it; match is over. I kick him in the back a couple times, but he takes my hand off the ropes which takes away my leverage; and continues to choke me. I manage to get my leg in front of his head, and I roll him over into a sitting armbar. I crank on that until I'm satisfied, then I rolled back out and continued to celebrate my victory. Suck on that, Dragon!
That was only 3 or 4 minutes of action, so it's not quite a match. But we could have built more before it and made it a good 8-10 minutes. That's a fairly short match, but totally doable. I've only been training 3 weeks; that's exciting shit! The trainers told me I'm one of the fastest developing trainees they've ever seen. That's encouraging, but I'm trying not to get ahead of myself. I'm not even close to being ready for a show. But if I keep it up at this rate, I'll be bodyslamming motherfuckers from city to city in no time! BEST BE READY.
The fun part came when Jaston had me and Issac run through a long series of spots. It was short at first, then he keeps adding on to it and altering it, and we just went with it. We even added onto it ourselves. Here's the finished product: We're in the center of the ring. He hits me with a few punches and I go back against the ropes. He shoots me off and as I rebound back, he kicks me in the stomach. As I double over, he pulls me into position, and gives me a vertical suplex. He even held me up for a few seconds to prove his strength. After he slammed me down, and I writhed in pain, he gave me a few head slaps and stomps just to be a dick. He pulled me up and irish whipped me again. He went for a clothesline; I ducked it, and hit him with a dropkick to the knee. He fell, and as he got back to his knees, I hit him with a DDT and went for the pin. He kicks out. I stalk him, waiting for his big ass to get back up. As he gets to his feet, I come off the ropes. Before I can hit him, he catches me in a sidewalk slam. After the hit, he goes for the pin. I kick out at 2. As he argues with the ref, I catch a breath. Right as I get into a sitting position, he locks me in a rear chinlock. I start to fade to black. Ref raises my arm 3 times, and I catch myself at the last moment and fight my way to a vertical base. I hit him with 3 elbows, run and bounce off the ropes, and hit him with a cross body. I go for the pin. He throws me off with authority...right after the 3 count. I roll under the ropes and celebrate my victory. He taunts me to get back in the ring, so I do. Before I can get my second foot through the ropes, he runs in and kicks me. I'm back down in the ring. He starts choking me. The ref can't do anything about it; match is over. I kick him in the back a couple times, but he takes my hand off the ropes which takes away my leverage; and continues to choke me. I manage to get my leg in front of his head, and I roll him over into a sitting armbar. I crank on that until I'm satisfied, then I rolled back out and continued to celebrate my victory. Suck on that, Dragon!
That was only 3 or 4 minutes of action, so it's not quite a match. But we could have built more before it and made it a good 8-10 minutes. That's a fairly short match, but totally doable. I've only been training 3 weeks; that's exciting shit! The trainers told me I'm one of the fastest developing trainees they've ever seen. That's encouraging, but I'm trying not to get ahead of myself. I'm not even close to being ready for a show. But if I keep it up at this rate, I'll be bodyslamming motherfuckers from city to city in no time! BEST BE READY.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Gearing up to be a SUPERSTAR
Added some more moves to my repetoire today. Gave and receive: Belly-to-back suplexes, sidewalk slams, and double clotheslines. I'd like to write more, but...um, there's really not a whole lot to write. I hate short posts, but they can't all be novels. DEAL WITH IT.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Repair Session
Sunday workout from 2 to 6 was mostly spent restructuring the ring. We spent a good 3 hours doing that today. I don't really mind; my body was pretty much rested for today's session but I appreciate a little more time to recuperate. Besides, part of being a wrestler is taking care of the ring, breaking it apart, moving it, and rebuilding it. It's good to know to ins-and-outs of all aspects. The last hour we spent mostly doing things I've done before, and building on them. I'd taken clotheslines, but never given them; same with hip tosses and scoop slams. As they say, it is better to give than receive.
I much more enjoy learning and practicing moves and techniques, but I certainly understand the need for conditioning and cardio. What's the use of knowing an arsenal of wrestling moves if you give three in a row and then have to powder out? I like the mix-up we do, and the fact that we tend to do the same basic exercises almost every time. If I'm not comfortable doing a flip bump, I'm sure as hell not going to be comfortable getting suplexed. Before I ever enter the ring in front of a crowd, I need to have the basics entrenched so deeply into my movements that I don't have to stop and think about it before they are executed. When I'm being hip tossed I don't want to have to consider "wait, do I put my hand here, or here, or OH GOD MY BACK."
More than anything, I'm proud of myself for not holding back. Three weeks ago if you had asked me if I was comfortable enough to flip around and land on my back without half-assing it, I would've said no. I was never the kid to take unnecessary risks. But I love this environment, and the people I train with. First I'll watch the motion. Then, I'll walk through it. Then, I just fuckin do it. That's really the only way you can learn. As long as I listen and do exactly what I've been shown and told, it's very unlikely I'll hurt myself. Sure, I'm sore all the time, but that's my body catching up with the fact I've never had a consistent serious workout program for more than a week. I've noticed a change for the better in my body; even Bridgette felt my stomach while I was laying on the bed and could tell it was harder. I've always tried to tell her there's rock-hard abs under this thin layer of fat.
There was only 5 of us trainees, Jastin the trainer, and Fred the owner today. Hopefully we'll see a better turn out Tuesday. Hopefully you'll read my next post, too.
I much more enjoy learning and practicing moves and techniques, but I certainly understand the need for conditioning and cardio. What's the use of knowing an arsenal of wrestling moves if you give three in a row and then have to powder out? I like the mix-up we do, and the fact that we tend to do the same basic exercises almost every time. If I'm not comfortable doing a flip bump, I'm sure as hell not going to be comfortable getting suplexed. Before I ever enter the ring in front of a crowd, I need to have the basics entrenched so deeply into my movements that I don't have to stop and think about it before they are executed. When I'm being hip tossed I don't want to have to consider "wait, do I put my hand here, or here, or OH GOD MY BACK."
More than anything, I'm proud of myself for not holding back. Three weeks ago if you had asked me if I was comfortable enough to flip around and land on my back without half-assing it, I would've said no. I was never the kid to take unnecessary risks. But I love this environment, and the people I train with. First I'll watch the motion. Then, I'll walk through it. Then, I just fuckin do it. That's really the only way you can learn. As long as I listen and do exactly what I've been shown and told, it's very unlikely I'll hurt myself. Sure, I'm sore all the time, but that's my body catching up with the fact I've never had a consistent serious workout program for more than a week. I've noticed a change for the better in my body; even Bridgette felt my stomach while I was laying on the bed and could tell it was harder. I've always tried to tell her there's rock-hard abs under this thin layer of fat.
There was only 5 of us trainees, Jastin the trainer, and Fred the owner today. Hopefully we'll see a better turn out Tuesday. Hopefully you'll read my next post, too.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Thursday session
Today was pretty harsh. Things I did, in no particular order: Rolling around in the ring, bear crawls, rope drills, jumping jacks, seal push-ups, squats, walked around carrying Brokeback in a fireman's carry; some other shit. I also took: (and some given as well) Body slams, back drops, back body drops, monkey flips, chops, punches, and clotheslines. After the first part, I was feeling like I needed to throw up; but once again I was able to work through it. The rest was diverse and fun. I'll post a pic on Facebook here in a bit of my red chest from the chops. They're really not that bad.
Brokeback had a rough day today. He fucked up at one point so we lined up and all delivered chops to him. It was great practice! I'm gonna start chopping kids at work randomly. That kid's got more determination than I do. If I were singled out like that and made to do everything they make him do, I don't know that I'd stick around. They'll certainly toughen him up, if nothing else. Props to him. I think if he stops overthinking everything and just lets loose and puts everything into his techniques, he'd do fine. He just gets scared and half-asses everything, and the trainers want no part of that. I'm surprised at myself for putting in as much as I have. It's easy to psyche yourself out about how bad things will hurt, but once you actually do them they're entirely bearable. Being flipped over and thrown on your back in the ring is more exhilirating than painful.
Still, from everything today, I'm certain I'll feel it in the morning. I'm gonna take a nice hot bath before bed. Next session is Sunday.
Brokeback had a rough day today. He fucked up at one point so we lined up and all delivered chops to him. It was great practice! I'm gonna start chopping kids at work randomly. That kid's got more determination than I do. If I were singled out like that and made to do everything they make him do, I don't know that I'd stick around. They'll certainly toughen him up, if nothing else. Props to him. I think if he stops overthinking everything and just lets loose and puts everything into his techniques, he'd do fine. He just gets scared and half-asses everything, and the trainers want no part of that. I'm surprised at myself for putting in as much as I have. It's easy to psyche yourself out about how bad things will hurt, but once you actually do them they're entirely bearable. Being flipped over and thrown on your back in the ring is more exhilirating than painful.
Still, from everything today, I'm certain I'll feel it in the morning. I'm gonna take a nice hot bath before bed. Next session is Sunday.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Thursday Session
After the start of the work out, I felt a tinge in my back during pushups. I tried to work through it, but definately felt it doing some rolls. I sat out for a while while they ran, and did some arm drags and hip tosses. I got back into it when they started locking up and chain wrestling. I didn't get much of a chance to get in a good workout. I was afraid of re-injuring my back like I did at Aaron's. The feeling in my back wasn't the same as it was when I hurt myself, but enough to make me nervous.
Time to rest up and go all out Sunday.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Long day
It's late, and I'm tired, so I'll keep it short. Worked through the pain today, but there many other things preoccupying all of us so the workout wasn't as rough as it has been. I got scoop slammed a couple times. That was fun. I watched a couple of matches as well. More detail next session.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Damage report
Walkin around, nothing feels sore. But while driving, I feel it in my neck when I'm driving and I check my blind spot. My abs hurt if I lay down and try to sit up. My quads hurt the worst if I bend down to pick something up. I think today will be spent doing the laziest repairs available to me.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Sunday is gonna be a busy day from now on
Session today, from 2 to 6. It's usually 3, but we spent some time sweeping out the place. It seems that Sundays are spent doing conditioning-type things and Tuesday and Thursdays are more about learning moves and techniques. I did, however, learn how to run on the ropes and throw myself over them. Check my Facebook for a picture of the ropeburn on my back. It looks worse in person, but it also looks worse than it is. I can feel it when you put pressure on it, but it's not bad at all. My neck does still hurt, but it didn't slow me down today. I did buy some IcyHot packs on the way home. I anticipate more pain tomorrow.
Today wasn't taught by the owner Fred, but by one of the veteran workers. He was tough on all of us, but especially hard on this one poor bastard who was also there for only the second time. He's a 15 year old kid who wants to go into the Army. He couldn't get the majority of the motions down and David wasn't having any of it. He's a "get up and do it again until you get it right" kind of guy, which makes sense. There was a lot of screaming going on today. One of the first things we did was dead cockroaches in the ring. You lay on your back, raise your head off the mat, and put your arms and legs up into the air at about a 45 degree angle. We held this position for a few minutes; it works out pretty much everything in your body. This kid...started crying. In a way, it was his own fault. He popped his mouth off about how doing these things wouldn't hurt, and that "you can't break me." He was wrong. Fred specifically told David not to stop us until that kid puked. Anddddddd he did. Right in the middle of the ring. That's probably the biggest no-no there is. "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? ARE YOU A CHILD? DO YOU NOT KNOW WHEN YOU'RE ABOUT TO THROW UP?"
They spent time on him alone while we found ways to utilize our time. He simply couldn't get down doing a bump, so they forced him to learn the only way they could. There was a lot of double-leg takedowns, shoving, tripping, all kinds of stuff they did to him to force him to fall right. I still don't think he ever quite got it down. To give the kid credit, he never gave up and left, and he said he'll be back Tuesday. Crazy motherfucker right there. I heard him groan, cry, puke, and I could see the expressions on his face, and the frustration of the trainers because he STILL wasn't getting it. Most of us agreed that this isn't for him and he should probably quit before he really hurts himself from doing things wrong, but at the same time I feel like he's trying harder than any of us. He got yelled at a lot by David. I got a fist bump and a "you've got a lot of heart, thank you." Kinda proud of that. I did waterlog myself and did feel like throwing up at one time, but it was never serious enough that I had to step outside. I went last on most exercises so I could rest and work through it. I won't be drinking too fast for long, that's for sure.
The ring needs some repairs done on it Tuesday so our workout will probably be short that night. I'm sure you'll see a post tomorrow about how sore I am and where. I don't feel it too bad now, but I bet I'll be walking gingerly into work tomorrow. Gotta walk it off, son. I'm surprised at myself on how fast I've picked things up. Like I've said before, I had no idea if I had any natural ability or talent. But I'm amazed that I'm in better shape than I thought, and I've been learning things quickly. I'm not trying to get ahead of myself though. One of the first things they said was shut up, open your ears, and shut your mouth. It's the fastest way to learn. I'm well aware of my inexperience. But I apparently have little issue hurling myself over the ring ropes.
At any rate, I'm having fun, and I'm sure my body needs this ass-kicking. It's more fun than the gym ever was.
Today wasn't taught by the owner Fred, but by one of the veteran workers. He was tough on all of us, but especially hard on this one poor bastard who was also there for only the second time. He's a 15 year old kid who wants to go into the Army. He couldn't get the majority of the motions down and David wasn't having any of it. He's a "get up and do it again until you get it right" kind of guy, which makes sense. There was a lot of screaming going on today. One of the first things we did was dead cockroaches in the ring. You lay on your back, raise your head off the mat, and put your arms and legs up into the air at about a 45 degree angle. We held this position for a few minutes; it works out pretty much everything in your body. This kid...started crying. In a way, it was his own fault. He popped his mouth off about how doing these things wouldn't hurt, and that "you can't break me." He was wrong. Fred specifically told David not to stop us until that kid puked. Anddddddd he did. Right in the middle of the ring. That's probably the biggest no-no there is. "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? ARE YOU A CHILD? DO YOU NOT KNOW WHEN YOU'RE ABOUT TO THROW UP?"
They spent time on him alone while we found ways to utilize our time. He simply couldn't get down doing a bump, so they forced him to learn the only way they could. There was a lot of double-leg takedowns, shoving, tripping, all kinds of stuff they did to him to force him to fall right. I still don't think he ever quite got it down. To give the kid credit, he never gave up and left, and he said he'll be back Tuesday. Crazy motherfucker right there. I heard him groan, cry, puke, and I could see the expressions on his face, and the frustration of the trainers because he STILL wasn't getting it. Most of us agreed that this isn't for him and he should probably quit before he really hurts himself from doing things wrong, but at the same time I feel like he's trying harder than any of us. He got yelled at a lot by David. I got a fist bump and a "you've got a lot of heart, thank you." Kinda proud of that. I did waterlog myself and did feel like throwing up at one time, but it was never serious enough that I had to step outside. I went last on most exercises so I could rest and work through it. I won't be drinking too fast for long, that's for sure.
The ring needs some repairs done on it Tuesday so our workout will probably be short that night. I'm sure you'll see a post tomorrow about how sore I am and where. I don't feel it too bad now, but I bet I'll be walking gingerly into work tomorrow. Gotta walk it off, son. I'm surprised at myself on how fast I've picked things up. Like I've said before, I had no idea if I had any natural ability or talent. But I'm amazed that I'm in better shape than I thought, and I've been learning things quickly. I'm not trying to get ahead of myself though. One of the first things they said was shut up, open your ears, and shut your mouth. It's the fastest way to learn. I'm well aware of my inexperience. But I apparently have little issue hurling myself over the ring ropes.
At any rate, I'm having fun, and I'm sure my body needs this ass-kicking. It's more fun than the gym ever was.
Friday, April 20, 2012
WALK IT OFF, SON
A bit of soreness in my neck from the bumps taken last night. Not too bad; feels like when you sleep on it wrong. We'll see if anything else develops before the next training session, but I don't think it will. We didn't do much. Now that the ring is set up, however, I bet we will. Expect many expletives describing how I feel on Monday.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
haha, fuck that, never mind
Just kidding!
Today's was the first training session. I'm sure it wasn't nearly as hard as they normally are. Today was mostly spent setting up the ring. I did do some squats, jump squats, bear crawls, duck walks, a little jogging; etc. I also learned how to lock up (apparently I do pretty well) and how to take a bump (still needs work.) I especially liked getting a feel of the ring. Next session is on Sunday; next blog post as well. I think I'm gonna like this place. The people seem great.
Monday, April 16, 2012
The Beginning
So, let's start at the beginning. That seems like a logical place, yes?
If you are reading this, you most likely know me; at least to some degree. One well-known fact about me is that I enjoy professional wrestling. One lesser-known fact is that I have, in the past, seriously considered moving to San Antonio to attend a very prestigious wrestling academy. However, due to lack of money, and...well, motivation, I clearly never did that. I always knew it was a pipe dream; I'm hardly the type to get up and make an immediate and drastic change. I guess that's why I surprised even myself when I up and moved the two of us to Odessa, away from my hometown of 24 years.
I came here for my job. I worked at Chuck E. Cheese in Abilene for a little over a year at the bottom rung: promised everything, but given nothing. I enjoyed the people I worked with, but I knew I was going nowhere. In need of money I went back to my old job at Aaron's. I knew I'd go nowhere there either, but I'd get paid more doing it. Not two months after I went back, I was told of an open position in Midland. I applied, got the interview, and got the job. Three weeks later we were moved into a new home. Obviously my "mission" to become a wrestler got put back on an even farther burner.
Then, 5 days ago, Bridgette told me she had heard an ad on the radio for a local wrestling show. I looked it up, and sure enough, there was one two days from then. I immediately bought the tickets, and that Friday we went. I was very impressed by the quality of the show. To think, two days earlier I had no idea this organization had even existed. I knew immediately that I wanted to be a part of Odessa's own Old School Wrestling.
I spoke with one of the performers at intermission and learned the name of the guy in charge. I found him on Facebook, added him, and expressed my interest. He gave his number and told me to call him. On my way home from work today, I did. He left a very good impression on me. Fred was very down-to-earth. He wanted to create an organization free of backstage politics; a close-knit family of performers. They've just gotten a new building and they're in the process of moving into it. He name-dropped a few wrestlers he anticipates to work with in the future, but he didn't do it in such a way that he sounded like he was simply trying to impress me. He was very honest, speaking of the bad as much as the good. This is encouraging to me.
He invited me to come check out the facilities and work out with them this Thursday. I will do so. I expect to be shown exactly how out of shape I am. I also anticipate loving every second of it. I always told myself that I have no way of knowing if I have any talent or ability for wrestling until I tried. I also knew that if I never gave it a fair shake, I'd regret it the rest of my life. This blog may only have two entries: this and another saying "haha fuck that, never mind." Then again, this may become a long series of what I go through on a weekly basis as I train my body and perfect my in-ring skills. Maybe I'll be inviting my friends and family to my debut performance. Only time will tell.
If you are reading this, you most likely know me; at least to some degree. One well-known fact about me is that I enjoy professional wrestling. One lesser-known fact is that I have, in the past, seriously considered moving to San Antonio to attend a very prestigious wrestling academy. However, due to lack of money, and...well, motivation, I clearly never did that. I always knew it was a pipe dream; I'm hardly the type to get up and make an immediate and drastic change. I guess that's why I surprised even myself when I up and moved the two of us to Odessa, away from my hometown of 24 years.
I came here for my job. I worked at Chuck E. Cheese in Abilene for a little over a year at the bottom rung: promised everything, but given nothing. I enjoyed the people I worked with, but I knew I was going nowhere. In need of money I went back to my old job at Aaron's. I knew I'd go nowhere there either, but I'd get paid more doing it. Not two months after I went back, I was told of an open position in Midland. I applied, got the interview, and got the job. Three weeks later we were moved into a new home. Obviously my "mission" to become a wrestler got put back on an even farther burner.
Then, 5 days ago, Bridgette told me she had heard an ad on the radio for a local wrestling show. I looked it up, and sure enough, there was one two days from then. I immediately bought the tickets, and that Friday we went. I was very impressed by the quality of the show. To think, two days earlier I had no idea this organization had even existed. I knew immediately that I wanted to be a part of Odessa's own Old School Wrestling.
I spoke with one of the performers at intermission and learned the name of the guy in charge. I found him on Facebook, added him, and expressed my interest. He gave his number and told me to call him. On my way home from work today, I did. He left a very good impression on me. Fred was very down-to-earth. He wanted to create an organization free of backstage politics; a close-knit family of performers. They've just gotten a new building and they're in the process of moving into it. He name-dropped a few wrestlers he anticipates to work with in the future, but he didn't do it in such a way that he sounded like he was simply trying to impress me. He was very honest, speaking of the bad as much as the good. This is encouraging to me.
He invited me to come check out the facilities and work out with them this Thursday. I will do so. I expect to be shown exactly how out of shape I am. I also anticipate loving every second of it. I always told myself that I have no way of knowing if I have any talent or ability for wrestling until I tried. I also knew that if I never gave it a fair shake, I'd regret it the rest of my life. This blog may only have two entries: this and another saying "haha fuck that, never mind." Then again, this may become a long series of what I go through on a weekly basis as I train my body and perfect my in-ring skills. Maybe I'll be inviting my friends and family to my debut performance. Only time will tell.
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