The road to achieving one’s goals is never an easy journey. In fact if the journey taken is pathed in the ease of assistance – instead of resistance – one could argue the goal wasn’t worth it to begin with. For how much value could be placed in a goal easily accomplished? How much pride could one derive in obtaining the obtainable?
Johnny Graves journey – to this point – had not been an easy one. Given up by his teenage mother at birth, an alcoholic adoptive father, and absentee adoptive mother, the murder of his mother, foster care, spending years of his life attempting to stay a step – preferably two – ahead of the police. There were so many more hardships that had helped shape, Johnny Graves, that assisted in molding and hardening who the man was today. Including the struggle against feelings of abandonment and betrayal now that She was gone.
It had been a fine line he walked ever since rediscovering his love of professional wrestling, this time as a competitor rather than merely a fan. He knew his past. He knew heart. And most importantly he knew how fragile the peace that resided within him truly was. A constant war within himself to maintain the values and discipline instilled in him by his mentor, Zeek William’s. But then again there was, Marcus Carter, who had a very different intention for Johnny. While William’s saw Johnny as someone who could one day be considered one of the greatest to ever lace a pair of boots and step into the ring, Carter saw him as more of a marketing, controversy-creates-cash wet dream, capable of physically dismantling opponents verbally as well as physically.
And he had to admit, there had been moments in his career he could honestly say he enjoyed the pain he inflicted on people. There were points in time when the chaos and destruction he caused felt more like home than any other point in his existence.
He liked hurting people.
He liked upsetting the status quo.
Whatever decisions were made, Johnny Graves knew one thing… when all was said and done there wasn’t going to be a single man or woman in this business that didn’t respect what he could do inside the ring. Even if he had to beat the respect out of each and every one of them.
..// FORWARD \\..
“I don’t know if I’ll ever fuckin’ understand…”
“Seriously.”
“I mean, day in and day out I tell people that I am the best professional wrestler walking the Earth today. Day after day I tell the critics and the doubters say whatever you want because I will prove you wrong. I will rise and I will triumph. And every fuckin’ time I do exactly that. Three time CWF Impact Champion, former CWF Tag Team Champion, winner of the Make Your Impact Scramble. With the exception of Deuce Jones – who I’m still lookin’ to negotiate a rematch with somewhere – I have defeated every single person the CWF has placed before me. Including the reignin’ World Champion.”
“No offense, champ.”
“Hell, I beat Jeff Jackson’s ass so badly The Judge found himself without a job. Jackson, Scourge, van Owen, Most Known Unknowns, T33m Elit3, Deuce Jones, Freddie Styles… the list goes on and on. Everyone who has stepped into the ring with the Sin City Saint learned real quick what I’m all about. When you step into the ring with me, you know it’s not gonna be an easy night. You know you’re in for a fuckin’ fight. And you know you ain’t gonna be the same the next day. These are facts. I proved it the first day I walked in here, and every day since.”
“And yet…”
“Every time I put one of these loud mouthed, try hards with bitch in their heart down another one comes crawlin’ outta the woodwork like a goddamn cockroach. Every time I think I can breathe, take it easy, and just get away with my beautiful girlfriend for a week some piece of shit wants to use my name in a desperate attempt to elevate himself. I think back to all the back and forth bullshit. All the words traded on Twitter and in interviews with these who weren’t even worthy of my time.”
“See that’s what fuckin’ bugs me.”
“We’re not talkin’ ’bout CWF pointin’ to a guy and sayin’ ‘he’s ready. Let’s put him up against Graves and see how he does.’ No never that. Its Sean Fuller havin’ his wife talk shit about what he’s gonna do to me, about takin’ my title on Twitter. I put him down and wake up to Jeff Jackson lettin’ his fingers write cheques his ass cant cash – again – on Twitter. So I put both Jackson and Scourge on a one way flight out of the CWF, try to chill, try to breathe and out of nowhere some knew try hard wants to start runnin’ his mouth on Twitter.”
“The funny this is… I don’t even follow the guy. I have no idea who the man is. I mean I remember hearin’ some talk in the back about a guy who thought he was the son of God… or maybe I overheard his attempt at a promo over a monitor… or something! I dunno! All I know is this man took to Twitter and started runnin his mouth about me. Again. Usin’ my name to get himself over. And the even funnier thing… this man posts a meme on everythin he fuckin says! It’s like arguin’ with a sixteen year old girl! Oh em gee, el oh el, I’m so done with you right now, hashtag over it.”
“Insert meme here.”
“Calliou… Kenichiwa… whatever the fuck your name is understand somethin’. If you think for a second that you stand apart from any of the dozens before you who thought they could take to social media and get the better of Johnny Graves then what I said about you on Twitter is true. You’re fuckin stupid. Maybe more so than all the one’s before you. They say a smart man learns from his mistakes, but a wise man learns from the mistakes of others. Yet here you are doin the same shit Sean Fuller tried, the same shit Jeff Jackson and Scourge tried, the same shit Duece Jones tried and yet… here I stand as YOUR C… W…. F… IM… PACT… CHAMPION!!”
“See when I think about this lil tag situation we’ve got comin up I can’t but wonder what Zoltan’s thinkin. I mean on one side of the ring you’ve got the CWF World AND Impact Champions with Freddie Styles and yours truly respectively. Then on the other side you’ve got the CWF Paramount Champion and the delusional half-wit who believes that bein in the same ring with greatness is the same thing as bein great. Don’t believe me? Check his Twitter. Its at… k-e-n-a-n-d-r-y-u-f-o-r-e-v-e-r or some dumb shit like that.”
“My point is if I was Zoltan I’d be pissed. I mean, I’d be so pissed I’d go to management and beg them to just let me go it alone. If that didn’t work I’d sit out. I would straight boycott participating in the match. I mean the weak link is obvious. Don’t get me wrong I’m not exactly sayin that I’m impressed with Zoltan in any way, shape, or form but the man does have a championship. So that ain’t for nothin. You look at his partner though and the man failed to capture the World Title, then failed to capture the Paramount Title. Yet to hear him talk he’d be the first to tell you he headlined a pay per view, he was in the main event, he was in the ring when the title was on the line, and he loss. Yet when you point that out he’ll tell you wins and losses don’t. Yet if you lose, you don’t walk out as Champion, so therefore yeah, wins and losses kinda count there, bruh.”
“I mean Zoltan, what are you even game plannin for Evolution when your tag partner – the guy that’s supposed to have your back – says wins and losses don’t matter? Jesus”
“Seriously ya’ll, I feel like I’m in some budget remake of Groundhog’s Day. Some idiot runs his mouth on Twitter, said idiot gets a response from me, whoever runs CWF’s social media accounts blows the shit way outta proportion and thinks a rivalry is brewin’, next thing I know the dumb sonuvabitch is climbin’ into the ring with ya boy and gettin’ shots they don’t deserve. Gettin’ opportunities they don’t deserve. But let’s talk about what people do and do not deserve…”
“Because facts is facts. The only reason you don’t ya boy in the World Title picture is because ya boy purposefully leaves himself out of the World Title picture. Let’s recap, I came into the company and I beat everybody placed before me, I won championship gold within a month of bein’ signed, my stock rose and rose and rose, every single damn time they put me on TV the ratings jumped. Every time I took to Twitter to run down a so-called rival the Internet latched on and it’s all anyone could focus on. I don’t call myself the best in the world at what we do because it sounds cool. I don’t say that I’m the only champion in CWF that matters because it looks good on a T-shirt. Think about it… think about all the names I’ve mentioned… all the men who came ME lookin’ to cut their teeth and solidify their own status by gettin’ in the ring me. And look at all the men that failed. See the only reason ya boy ain’t in the World Title picture is because I got fed up with the bullshit, I got fed up with the politics, and I walked out on CWF. I didn’t get fired, I didn’t get released, I walked on my own. So naturally, I wasn’t gonna be takin’ part in the Alpha Omega Tournament. Because I wasn’t here. And when Rishel reached out about bringin’ me back into the fold, back home, I specifically told him I wanted MY Impact Title back. I chose to compete for the Impact Title.”
“See this company has seen a lot of ups and downs. There’s been a lot of hirin’s and a lot of firin’s. But throughout all of it one thing has remained constant. When the Sin City Saint is in that ring people pay attention. When it’s announced that Johnny Graves is scheduled to compete people stop and take notice. It doesn’t matter if I’m Impact Champion or not. It doesn’t matter if I’m World Champion or not. People pay the fuck attention when I am on their screens. So all you fuck boys that think just because you were in a little tournament and got a glimpse of the World Title that you’re somethin’ special, that you earned anythin’, that you have anythin’ to do with the success or failure of the CWF are delusional and you’re lyin’ to yourselves. This company stands on the precipice of achievin’ new heights, new levels of success and don’t any of you dare kid yourselves: me the reason.”
“Life with it… or die from it… I don’t care either way.”
delinquentsociety 