If you were to ask me to describe the last two weeks in three words, they’d probably be; disappointment, anger and motivating. I’d explain why when we get to the end of the blog but read on, and you’ll know exactly why.
Rewind a couple of weeks and the mood is good, im about to head into a second RDW championship defence in Underwood against Joseph Conners
Two things to note here: having recently taken over the small Underwood venue from HOPE Wrestling, this and the Sutton In Ashfield audience’s are going to take esome building. Underwood had 2 previous cancellations there, so the trust between fans and wrestling in the area needs to be rebuilt.
Secondly, as far as Joseph Conners is concerned, im sure his reputation is well known amongst British wrestling fans, he and i have yet to have had a match that both of us are fully satisfied with. On occasion I’ve not looked forward to the match because of this reason. Bow, this match came so very close to being ‘the one’, at least for me.
A small, and reluctant crowd were, by the end of the bout, fully invested in the story. Despite a couple of hiccups. I would say both Joe and i set high standards for ourselves and have a great deal of pride in our work, so those hiccups were annoying.
In addition, this match was the one where i received my first ever concussion. Oh joy(!) I will say, this wasn’t down to my opponent. I believe it happened when i threw myself back into a couple of bumps slightly too much and clonked my head. Concussion isn’t a fun experience in the slightest, it can be pretty frightening to have forgotten parts of your evening and almost pass out through the overwhelming feeling of tunnl vision. Anyway, apparently i won with and RKO and still took pics with members of the audience after. Madness.
So that meant a few days out of the gym, just to stay on the safe side. Bad timing really as my plan for the week was intense, what with a Thailand tour next week…
Alas, i felt fine by Thursday, and treated myself to a heavy compound lifts, turned leg workout.
Friday saw a local show in Nottingham, kicking off House of Pain’s September weekender in a new venue in Hucknall. This is another venue that’s going to need to rebuild in the area, having had some pretty poor wrestling in the same venue a year or two previous. Main event tag action, a which saw me team with Garrett Bond against LJ Heron and Danny Thomas.
Bond is someone who has the potential to really do something in British wrestling, perhaps further should he so wish. A few areas for him to improve upon, but he’s still less than a year into the job, so i cant see why he wouldn’t be able to achieve his potential.
Anyway, tag match was fine, nothing spectacular, but certainly not bad. I’d probably have forgotten the match a few days later, but as it happens, this turned into one of this matches that I’ll now not ever forget. How so? Well, of course, i picked up a fucking injury.
A routine spot where i go over the top rope backwards, i actually hit the ropes side on, and tumbled out sideways, and smacked just under my knee on the steel work on the ring. Its one of those you feel immediately, and just think ‘oh shit’. I managed to get through the match with no issue, and thought i was out of the woods, with just a bit of a knock.
I headed home, and felt a little stiff, but thought nothing of it. I was due to head off to the airport a couple of hours after getting home, so i finished packing my case, ate, and went and laid on my bed for an hour. As i got up after, my knee had started to balloon, and I had a bad feeling. Being stubborn, i still headed off to the airport to sit there overnight and wait to check in for an early flight. Knee stiffened further on the journey there. And again whilst waiting. I checked in, still worried, but determined to go.
After a while i got concerned and went to get some ice from a medic, who after seeing the size of swelling, strongly advised against travelling long haul. I now had a decision to make. A very difficult decision.
The Thai branch of Gatoh Move has a very special place in my wrestling history, having been the first place overseas to allow me to train with them back in 2013. Now their four year anniversary event was upcoming, and i wanted so badly to be a part of it, in an addition i wanted to work in front of the Michinoku Pro, and other Asian company representatives in attendance, and show them what I could do.
I dwelled on the decision for a good 4 hours before begrudgingly deciding to pull off of the plane. I was very much struggling to bend my knee at this point, so I do believe i made the correct decision. Indeed, even now, im still walking with a heavy limp, and swelling remains.
Having spoken with the staff of Gatoh Move Thailand, the plan is to come back to make up for my absence. I believe i owe them that much.
Its at time like this, im grateful that I’ve managed to form a good relationship with both Thai and Japanese branches, and they know that im not someone who lets them down for no reason.
And just like that, my whole exciting week, that id been working for, for a long time, disappeared. I was, and indeed still am pretty devastated by not being there, made worse by seeing pictures from the events. I put a lot of pride into my Asian tours, so to miss one hit hard.
I moped, came home and slept the whole day. The next day, I felt like i needed to be around people, so i went and watched the House of Pain event in Calverton, and im really glad i did, as anymore moping would have been completely demoralising.
So, the injury itself; as mentioned, im still limping, but im walking and managing to get to the gym, to work upper body of course. Im aiming to be able to manage an assisted free squat by Sunday evening. Just one. And ill go from there. I’ve been advised to recover for 2-3 weeks, so im hoping im strong enough to not miss out on any work. I’ve a date in my diary for next week, which I’m aiming for as it is a multiman match and i can protect my knee more, but I’ll make a call on that in the next few days.
If unable to work, that will be the only one i miss out on, as i feel I’m recovering well enough to aim for at least that 3 week recovery.
Before I get to the end of the blog this week, i just want to send out a few thanks, publicly. First of all to my partner who came and picked me up from the airport, on very little sleep. She looked after me all throughout Saturday.
And finally, i really want to thank anyone who reached out to me, in person, Facebook, text and twitter with well wishes. I hadn’t realised so many people cared, from such a broad spectrum of people. Local fans, through to Thai and even Japanese fans. So overwhelming, so thank you so very much.
Song of the week:
Toyed with not doing this, this week, but sod it.
This is from the new Devin Townsend album ‘Transendence’ that I’ve been listening to a lot recently.
Juken Pro Wrestler 