19th January 2023
On a grey day, on a grey road, a grey car turned into a grey side street. Five times.
This time, however, the car continued to the end of the road and pulled unremarkably into a quiet car park and shuddered to a stop. The driver, Union Jack, slipped it into neutral before applying the hand break and killing the engine. Gripping the wheel tightly with both hands, he drew in a deep breath before closing his eyes and letting it out slowly. Sat beside him in the passenger seat was his best friend and partner, Pequeño Dinosaurio.
“Amigo, are you ok?” He looked out of the window toward the row of buildings before them. “We can go around again, if you want?”
“Not without refueling we can’t, mate.” Jack laughed nervously. “Besides, five times around the block is plenty… anymore and we’re gonna get a tug from the plod for Kerb Crawling.”
They were on an industrial estate, and the building before them was the kind of typical red brick lower with metal clad upper building you find on complexes like this up and down the country. It was truly unremarkable, save for black and white sign over the personnel door. The initials, stylized in a bold black font on a black globe. It read ‘GAW’ and the letters around the outside read ‘Global Association of Wrestling’.
“So… This is it?” Dinosaurio asked.
“This is it.” Jack agreed, nodding his head. “This is home.”
“Does your father know we’re coming?” He kept the question light as he tried to avoid prying.
“Dunno. We don’t really talk.” Jack sighed. “Sara probably told him though.”
“Probably.” Dinosaurio agreed, already knowing Sara well enough to be able to believe it was true.
“Well, this won’t by the baby a new bonnet.” Jack quipped.
“Huh?” Dinosaurio cocked his head in confusion.
“Oh…” Jack grinned. “Just something mum likes to say. Weird how quickly it comes back. Means it’s time to go. Come on.”
The two men climbed out of the beaten-up rental car and started toward the building which had been as a home to him as a child. The Global Association of Wrestling. One of, if not the only, lynch pin of wrestling on the UK scene. Built up over generations by the 'Brawling Bishops', and alien to him since he was sent to Mexico in disgrace over five years ago.
As they crossed the car park, a sudden bellowing voice stopped them dead in their tracks.
“HEY JACK!” The call echoed off the nearby buildings.
“Hey Jamie!” Jack calls back with no hesitation while Dinosaurio looks around, confused. Jack cocks his head skyward, gesturing to the roof. Dino looks up and he sees a guy sat on top of the building, his legs dangling over the edge and swinging absentmindedly. In his hand he is holding a rather sorry looking, homemade, cheese sandwich. “How you doin?”
The man was chubby, but not yet nearing fat, and his hair was cut in a mullet. He wore a warm smile on his face and seemingly no fear of the dangerous situation he has placed himself in.
“I’M GOOD!” Jamie smiles and takes a bite of his sandwich. “HEY, IS THAT DINOSAURIO?!”
“Sure is.” Jack gestures to his friend “Dino, this is Jamie. Jamie, this is Pequeño Dinosaurio. He’s my tag partner.”
“YEAH, I KNOW!” Jamie grins “I SEEN YOU GUYS ON TELLY!”
“That’s great!” Jack smiles.
“Hola Amigo!” Dinosaurio calls with a wave.
“HUH?” Jamie called back, true confusion in his voice.
“Oh, Jamie cant speak Spanish, not even the entry level stuff…” Jack lowers his voice “He’s taken a lot of high risk bumps over the years.”
“Oh..” Dino nods and looks back up at Jamie. “I eh… I mean Hi Jamie! Nice to meet you!”
“YOU TOO!” Jamie waves again. “YOU COMIN BACK, JACK?!”
“Oh eh.. I don’t think so Jamie. I thought I’d just swing by while IIW is in the UK, ya know?”
“AH CRAP!” Jamie kicks his legs in frustration. “WHERE’S LIL MC? I LOVE HIS LITTLE THINGGY!”
“Oh… He went to London… I think he’s up at Stringfellows.” Jack shrugged unknowingly.
“OW MAN! I LOVE STRINGFELLOWS! I COULD HAVE GONE TOO!”
“But Jamie… You don’t even know MC!” Jack laughed.
“SO?” Jamie shrugged.
“Good point.” Jack nods his head to Jamie, before shrugging to Dinosaurio. “Well, I’ll catch you later, ok?”
“YOU GOIN’ IN?”
“Sure are!” Jack confirmed and nodded his head.
“COOL!” Jamie climbed nimbly to his feet “I’LL COME WITH!”
Jamie lifts his arms to his sides, swings a leg forward and Dino’s eyes widen.
“WAIT!” Dinosaurio wails and flaps his arms.
“HA! GOT YA!” Jamie laughs.
“Yea.. You got me” Dinosaurio replies with a sigh of relief.
“He aint done yet.” Jack muttered in a low tone so Jamie was unable to hear.
Suddenly Jamie steps off of the building and into the void. Dinosaurio manages a yelp of concern as Jimmy suddenly falls forward, hurtles through the air and plunges the three stories toward them before slamming into a metal waste skip with an almighty thud. Dinosaurio visibly jumps at the sound. Jack meanwhile sighs and walks over to the skip, peering his head over the edge.
“You OK?” He asked the question in a matter-of-fact tone.
No reply can be heard, but Jack shakes his head all the same.
“Forgot the crash mat again, didn’t ya?!”
Jack continues to nod his head.
“Ok. Yea. Sure. No problem. What?”
Jack listens, nodding sympathetically.
“Ok well, pop it back in the socket and we’ll meet you inside, Ok?” Jack walks back toward Dinosaurio with a smile. “That’s probably going to be the highlight of this visit.”
“What the heck?!” Dinosaurio asks gesturing toward the skip. “Is he ok? Does he need a doctor?”
“Huh?” Confused, Jack follows his gesture. “Oh, you mean Jamie? He’s fine. He’ll meet us inside once his arm is pointing the right way.”
“Ese, we can’t just leave him like that!” A tinged note of panic has found its way into Dinosaurio’s voice.
“Dude, relax! He’s Northern… Mother fuckers are built different.” Jack nods toward the skip and Dinosaurio glances back to see Jamie’s arm protruding over the rim of the skip in a thumbs up... “See?”
“But…” Dinosaurio turns and gives chase after Jack “… His hand is pointing a different way from his elbow!”
Jack ignores the statement and pushes the door open and the two men enter the building. He is suddenly tense again as they cross the reception area and the building opens out, revealing the ‘Performance Centre’ in all its glory.
To the right of the room, there is a huge stack of chairs on trollies and stacked security railings beside them. All around, gym equipment lines the walls, with mirrors, weight benches and punching bags taking up most of that room. But dominating the majority of the space, is the perfectly maintained wrestling ring in the middle of the room.
“The GAW. I got my start here.” Jack chuckles. “From five years old I was helping to pack away the gym and set up the chairs on show day.”
“It’s how every legacy wrestler begins, Amigo.” Dinosaurio laughs.
“And over there is where I learned to do a hip toss at seven years old… I broke Sara’s ankle that day when she missed the mat and came down awkward.” Jack smiles absentmindedly. “Dad wouldn’t let me try that again with her for another four years.”
As Jack looked slowly around the room, the years fell away before his eyes. In many ways, he never expected to return to the GAW, yet now it felt as though he had never left.
“That’s where I had my first match.” Jack said awkwardly, nodding toward the ring. He smiled and inhaled deeply through his nose.
“God that takes me back.” He shakes his head ever so slightly. “I can still smell his cigars.”
Jack gestures to a huge banner hanging from the wall. It shows the black and white image of a man standing and leaning against the ropes, cigar in hand as he presumably talks to someone on the outside of the ring. He looks to be in his late fifties at least, his hair combed in a side parting and swept back. He was heavy set and despite wearing a tracksuit, the coarse hair that covered his body was obvious from what protruded from his collar and forearms.
“That’s him.” Jack smiled. “Grizzly Jack Bishop”
“Your Grandfather?” Dino asked the question while staring at the image.
“Aye.” Jack nodded. “Did I ever tell you he fought against Tiranosaurio?”
“Qué?” The word almost fell from Dinosaurio’s lips.
“Just the once.” Jack’s smile warmed. “I remember he showed me the tape when I was a kid.”
“He went to Mexico?” Dinosaurio asked, surprised.
“No.” Jack laughed. “They fought in Japan. Nothing major; not like they headlined the Tokyo Dome or anything like that. Tiranosaurio was still pretty green, and Grizzly was already on his way toward retirement. Actually… it was his last match in the territory, he never went away again after that… He said Tiranosaurio was the best he had ever seen.”
Dinosaurio paused to look at his friend. Tears were welling in the Lucha Bear’s eyes as he stood oddly somber for once.
“HEY JACK!” The suddenness of the now familiar shout broke the tension. Jack wiped his eye quickly and turned toward the interloper.
“Hey Jamie!” Jack said and opened his arms. The two men embraced one another as old friends. “How you doin?”
“I’M GOOD!” Jamie smiles. “HEY, IS THAT DINOSAURIO?!”
“Sure is.” Jack gestured to the little dinosaur.
“I SEEN YOU GUYS ON TELLY!” Jamie grinned warmly.
Dinosaurio shot a worried look at Jack, concerned the fall may have done more damage than was apparent.
“CTE.” Jack said the words with a grimace. “He struggles to retain anything that isn’t a wrestling fact or a crazy stunt.”
"Is that why he’s always shouting?" Dino whispered.
"OH SORRY!" Jamie interrupted loudly before pushing a finger in his ear and popping out a compressed lump of Cheese Sandwich. "Huh, where'd that come from?"
“Maybe from the fall?” Dinosaurio offered the seemingly obvious solution trying not to offend.
“I don’t think so.” Jamie shook his head. “Today’s sandwich didn’t have pickle on it.”
“That’s gross Jamie!” Jack laughed.
“Yea I know, but I ran out last night and couldn’t get to the shop.” Jamie shrugged. “I’ll catch you guys later, ok?”
“Sure.” Jack answered with a laugh as the dusty, but somehow unbroken, man limped away from them toward the back.
“Well, look what the cat dragged in!” The voice wasn’t a shout, but still it cut through the din of noise like a cracking whip. Jack and Dinosaurio were both suddenly frozen in place like teenagers hearing the call of a parent. They hesitated for a moment or two and Jack took that time to steel himself, before slowly turning.
“Hi, Dad.” Jack’s face was now completely serious and devoid of emotion as he locked eyes with his father for the first time in five years. “You look well.”
It was the truth. ‘The Raging Bear’ Nicky McGuire had aged well. Sure, his hair had started to grey at the temples and his face had a few more wrinkles and scars, but even from across the room it was clear he was still cut from granite, his muscles like coiled springs.
“And you look like a dick’ed!” He scoffed. “You two wear those rubber gimp masks when you’re blowing each other in the bubble bath too?!”
“It’s Lucha Tradition.” Jack replied sternly.
“And you aint a Lucha” He laughed. “I wish I’d been half as good as you are at wearing rubber!”
“They aren’t rubber.” Jack answered, a little more feebly this time.
“Prefer Lambskin do ya?” He laughed heartily and started toward them.
“Fuck sake.” Jack shook his head in frustration. “I knew this was a mistake.”
“Oh relax, you fanny! I’m just fuckin’ with ya!” Nicky wrapped his arms around Jack, pinning his arms at his sides and embraced him tightly. Despite being a good four inches shorter than his son, Nicky lifted Jack with ease. After a moment or two, he set him down and grinned. “Gonna introduce me to ya mate?”
“Sure.” Jack sighed. “Dad, this is Pequeño Dinosaurio, Dino… This is Nicky McGuire. My Dad.”
“Nice to meet you, Mr. McGuire.” Dinosaurio said through gritted teeth.
“It’s OK Lad, you can call me Nicky.” He almost bellowed the words and clasped Dino’s hand to give it a firm shake. “I saw your match the other day. Impressive. Didn’t think anyone else would get a winning record outta this one.” He gestured his head toward Jack and laughed again.
“Thanks?” Dinosaurio replied, uncertainly.
“I should thank you for taking him on so I didn’t have to be his partner again, eh?” He laughed and clapped them both on the shoulder, before turning his attention back to his son. “It’s nice seeing ya Lad, but you aint staying too long, are ya?”
“I just got here.” Jack’s reply was heavy with emotion, the hurt and offense it caused obvious.
“I know, and I said it’s nice seeing ya but, well… You know how it is, Jackie.” Nicky chuckled. “You’d only get in the way.”
“No dad.” Jack’s tone sounded defeated. He shakes his head. “We won’t be stickin’ around, we’re in Kentucky next week for our IIW Combat debut. Just thought we’d drop in… Has been five years after all.”
“Oh, Kentucky?! Very nice.” He laughs mockingly. Before turning his head back to Dinosaurio. “Ya know, we’re runnin’ a show tonight. I could get you a match, if you like?”
“A match?” Dinosaurio repeated in disbelief as he glances toward Jack, who looks shocked and offended. Gritting his teeth, he turns back to Nicky. “Do you have a team good enough to face us then?”
“Us?” Nicky asks with a stunned smirk. “Yea, Ok… I can do that.”
-TBC