Post by Adam Stryker on Nov 11, 2017 12:37:56 GMT -8
The scene opens inside the locker rooms of the original Stryke Dojo, the one Adam Stryker has been running for five years in his hometown of Los Angeles. It´s early in the morning and the whole building is almost empty. Apart from one man, the owner and head trainer himself. We catch Adam sitting on a bench in his full wrestling gear, the good old red and black singlet, as he is putting a protective knee brace over his right knee. He looks up towards the camera and casts a smile towards it.
"Memory doesn´t serve me as well as it did after all those hits I took to the head," he says, "but I do remember some moments very, very well. The day I met my wife Maria, the day my kids were born, the morning I gave up smoking, my first match, my first championship win... a lot of positive memories. But I also remember a lot of bad moments. My first loss. The first time a title was taken away from me. My first injury. That one time this fucker," he taps on the knee brace, "pretty much imploded. Or my last match. March of 2015, more than two years ago, in EWC, me against Michael Carter. I was beat up, demotivated..." he sighs, "and I lost. And have not been heard from since."
Stryker takes a few seconds to take a deep breath before he speaks again. "You know," he continues, "I am still convinced I would live a happy life even if I never laced up these boots again. Think about it. I have a beautiful wife, three loving kids. A wonderful house. I co-run a PR agency, and I still have time to teach young up-and-comers here at the Dojo that I own. I´m making good money and still am around this business without putting my body through torture. I´m not bragging, it´s just the way it is. But..." He chuckles.
"For me, wrestling was always something... something more than just a way of income. Maybe it is so because I grew up around wrestlers, my dad Doug would take me to all the shows he was on. And trust me, his calendar was pretty damn full. In my almost 32 years on this Earth, I haven´t really loved anything much more than this. It was my family and wrestling over anything else. And just like I would miss my family if I would not have seen them for so long... I started missing wrestling after 2 years."
"It might be a cliché, but wrestling really is like a drug," he says with a persuasive tone. "Take it from me. I´ve done everything there is to do. I travelled the world and back, won titles everywhere, on five different occasions, I was the heavyweight champion of the world," Adam states proudly. "Yet after all that, I´m not just willing to say ´Well, that was fun´ and never stick my nose into it again. If I get just a small glimpse of a chance, I´ll jump on that again and try to live through it all once more. I didn´t just want to come back. My body, my mind, everything was telling me - Stryker, you HAVE TO come back!" he shouts as his voice echoes through the empty locker room.
Stryker gets up and heads out of the locker room towards the big hall where all the training takes place, as the cameraman walks with him. "I know I´m not the same man I was eleven years ago when I started out all guns blazing. I know I´m not the same I was four years ago, when I was willing to put my body throught just about anything," he says as he approaches a training ring. "I know I´m not even the same guy I was when I left this business in March of 2015," he continues, climbing in to the ring. He steps into the very center of the squared circle as the camera lens watches him from the outside through the ropes.
"I´m much, much better," Adam states boldly. "Maybe I have not wrestled competitively for two years, but I was in this very ring" he points down at the canvas, "every single day. I know that I have not lost a step, so when I enter the Elysium Pro ring, it´s gonna look like a never took a break from wrestling at all. In this world, there´s a lot of great wrestlers... But there´s only ONE Ringmaster!" he shouts as he points at himself, stabbing his right thumb into his chest. Adam takes a few steps closer to the ropes and bends over to face the camera.
"And you all should know," he says calmly, quietly straight to the camera. "That The Ringmaster is always coming to take the throne."
Fade to black.
"Memory doesn´t serve me as well as it did after all those hits I took to the head," he says, "but I do remember some moments very, very well. The day I met my wife Maria, the day my kids were born, the morning I gave up smoking, my first match, my first championship win... a lot of positive memories. But I also remember a lot of bad moments. My first loss. The first time a title was taken away from me. My first injury. That one time this fucker," he taps on the knee brace, "pretty much imploded. Or my last match. March of 2015, more than two years ago, in EWC, me against Michael Carter. I was beat up, demotivated..." he sighs, "and I lost. And have not been heard from since."
Stryker takes a few seconds to take a deep breath before he speaks again. "You know," he continues, "I am still convinced I would live a happy life even if I never laced up these boots again. Think about it. I have a beautiful wife, three loving kids. A wonderful house. I co-run a PR agency, and I still have time to teach young up-and-comers here at the Dojo that I own. I´m making good money and still am around this business without putting my body through torture. I´m not bragging, it´s just the way it is. But..." He chuckles.
"For me, wrestling was always something... something more than just a way of income. Maybe it is so because I grew up around wrestlers, my dad Doug would take me to all the shows he was on. And trust me, his calendar was pretty damn full. In my almost 32 years on this Earth, I haven´t really loved anything much more than this. It was my family and wrestling over anything else. And just like I would miss my family if I would not have seen them for so long... I started missing wrestling after 2 years."
"It might be a cliché, but wrestling really is like a drug," he says with a persuasive tone. "Take it from me. I´ve done everything there is to do. I travelled the world and back, won titles everywhere, on five different occasions, I was the heavyweight champion of the world," Adam states proudly. "Yet after all that, I´m not just willing to say ´Well, that was fun´ and never stick my nose into it again. If I get just a small glimpse of a chance, I´ll jump on that again and try to live through it all once more. I didn´t just want to come back. My body, my mind, everything was telling me - Stryker, you HAVE TO come back!" he shouts as his voice echoes through the empty locker room.
Stryker gets up and heads out of the locker room towards the big hall where all the training takes place, as the cameraman walks with him. "I know I´m not the same man I was eleven years ago when I started out all guns blazing. I know I´m not the same I was four years ago, when I was willing to put my body throught just about anything," he says as he approaches a training ring. "I know I´m not even the same guy I was when I left this business in March of 2015," he continues, climbing in to the ring. He steps into the very center of the squared circle as the camera lens watches him from the outside through the ropes.
"I´m much, much better," Adam states boldly. "Maybe I have not wrestled competitively for two years, but I was in this very ring" he points down at the canvas, "every single day. I know that I have not lost a step, so when I enter the Elysium Pro ring, it´s gonna look like a never took a break from wrestling at all. In this world, there´s a lot of great wrestlers... But there´s only ONE Ringmaster!" he shouts as he points at himself, stabbing his right thumb into his chest. Adam takes a few steps closer to the ropes and bends over to face the camera.
"And you all should know," he says calmly, quietly straight to the camera. "That The Ringmaster is always coming to take the throne."
Fade to black.
