Featuring: Ryuji Kamigawa Date: 07/15/11 Event: WorldWide 151
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"Get him some painkillers, stat!"
Backstage at the Moondome, the Rampage Royal had made for a very busy medical team. Right now, though, they were dealing with the largest member of the final four, one Ryuji Kamigawa. Kamigawa was being wheeled on a stretcher for precautionary reasons, flanked by a phalanx of medical professionals.
"How the Hell is he conscious," I heard them ask me, and I could only groan in response. I had taken more risks in one night on the Moon than in my entire young wrestling career, but this was Global Championship Wrestling.
One of the medics held out a pill, and I immediately swallowed it, another medic letting me chase it down with a swallow of water. Four more pills followed, and my groaning only intensified.
"It’ll feel better in a bit," the water-holder told me. I really, really wanted to believe him. I had been in no shortage of fights in my career as a bouncer, but this hurt worse than all of them.
Hands touched carefully at all parts of my body as the doctors looked for what I could only assume was any possibility of permanent damage. Everything hurt: my back, my legs, my neck, and to make it all worse, I was utterly exhausted. Cardio never was my strong suit.
"You’re gonna be okay, son," the oldest-looking doctor said, looking down at me with a practiced eye. "It’ll just hurt like Hell, but you’re a pro wrestler."
At that, I nodded weakly, speaking in passable English. "I knew what I signed up for."
The doctor nodded his approval. "And hey, it was one Hell of a debut." That I couldn’t deny. "Get him up. Let him sit down in one of the comfy chairs and catch his breath. Right now, I’m more worried about how exhausted he is. No permanent damage, but his heart rate’s through the roof."
The four or five men surrounding my stretcher all helped to lift me up into a position where my feet dragged on the floor. I could hear them struggling; understandably so, I was three-hundred pounds of dead weight that they manage to plop down in what was admittedly a very comfy chair. I could feel it mold to match my body, and finally I relaxed a bit, down into the softness of the cushions.
With me presumably taken care of, I watched them all race off in another direction. Perhaps Azuma or Gallway had been eliminated. Maybe Gordon needed more care. Lord only knew.
I sucked in great, greedy gasps of air. The nature of the match and chances taken had pushed my body to its veritable limit. With one opponent, generally, I was fine. Under normal rules, again, fine. But the Rampage Royal had pushed me beyond my limits in an effort to cement my place with the company.
Even years from now, I don’t think I’d be able to explain what went through my mind when I climbed to the top rope. Maybe I finally believed I was on the moon. Maybe I wanted to make the WorldWide opening highlight reel.
Whatever the case, though, I leaped backwards into the crowd, backflipping into a move I’d done three times in normal gravity, ever. Damned if that wasn’t the prettiest Ten Kara I’d ever hit in my life.
And it did what I wanted it to do. It got me a spot in the Rampage Tournament. Me, a complete neophyte to GCW, would have an opportunity to win one of its most vaunted events.
Whether I won the tournament or not was essentially meaningless. False as that sounds, for me, simply becoming a regular, well-known member of the roster was enough. Even a hard-fought first round loss to one of the favorites could do wonders for my career. It was something I’d learned in Japan – one’s fighting spirit often times meant just as much as winning or losing.
In America, sometimes, that was different, but that simply meant I needed to show people how much I cared.
The Rampage Royale was step one. I would have other opportunities. My career was just starting. But for now, I was content to simply rest in the comfortablest chair I had ever been in, savoring what I had just achieved.
Success always came at a price. Tonight had proven that I was willing to pay that price.
To be one of the best here, the Bank of Kamigawa will always remain open.