Chapter View

What Has Gone Before

End of the Road

Rush Hour

Sort of a Retirement Song

I Want My Title

Over and Back Again

Believe

The Old College Try

There Was A List




The Old College Try

(CUT TO: "The Big Man On Campus" JJ DeVille, wearing his NC State Wolfpack varsity jacket, has a Kiniseology textbook and a cup of Cherry Coke on his table in the Atrium Food Court at North Campus.)

JJ: You know, ever since Gold Rush, when I came back to my dorm room, everyone's been asking me how I was doing. If I was dissapointed. If I was upset. Those guys on my floor... they're the best.

I have to admit... yeah, a little bit. I went into Gold Rush thinking, for sure, that I was going to walk out of that ring actually doing what I dreamed of doing when I was a little kid, watching from the upper tier of the Merritt Auditorium.

I thought that I was going to win this whole thing. And that everyone was going to be chanting my name. And that I was going to be the new champion of the CSWA, the league that started it all.

So, yeah, I was dissapointed. I let my fans down. I let my family down. But most importantly, I let myself down.

That might be weird to hear coming from me. If you know anything about my career, you know that I've lost a lot more matches than I've won. You know all about how I lost to a guy, Luscious Lance Leisure, in my debut match in under one minute... and the last I heard of him, he's cleaning bathrooms at a Starbucks somewhere.

You know how I got my start not just as a wrestler but as the personal assistant to both Eddy Love and his tag team partner, Troy Windham. How I publicly shamed myself repeatedly just so they could have some cheap laughs at my expense. How I humiliated myself and my family name just so I could play court jester to my heroes.

I've come a long way in this sport. I'm not the automatic loser, the towel boy in the locker room. I'm no longer the biggest clown in the industry. I'm respectable.

But... (JJ slams his book.) That's ALL I am. Respectable. I'm not a big name. I'm not a big star. I'm in the middle of the pack.

But that's not where I want to be. I didn't sneak into the cheap seats one day dreaming of being a Parsons brother or one of the thousands of guys in this promotion's history that you don't remember anymore.

I dreamed of being Hornet. Of Mark Windham. Of Mike Randalls. Of GUNS. Of Eddy Love. Of Troy Windham. Of Dan Ryan.

I dreamed of being the CSWA World Champion.

I am NOT letting that dream die.

(JJ has a sip of his Cherry Coke.)

I might be respectable now. But in due time... in due time, I'm going to be so much more.

And that time... that time is coming sooner than you thought.

(FTB)