Post by Michael Kelly on Dec 25, 2018 21:17:06 GMT -5
We’re taken to RAW GRAPS New York, owned by head coach and wrestling vet Michael Kelly. As soon as the doors are opened, MK begins the day with his young trainees, helping them get the ring set up while the other wrestlers, champions and athletes around start off with their individual workouts. With New York being the much newer branch in the RAW GRAPS brand, Michael has his hands full with being the only wrestler at the gym on standby. Every question and idea revolving wrestling, whether it be how to take a certain bump or simply giving an in-ring perspective, he’s the center of knowledge. Everyone comes to him and who is he to oppose? The veteran has plenty to teach and ever since the idea of opening the gym crept into his head, he knew that he’d be the father of the gym and that everyone would come to him for something. It’s how he lived throughout his childhood, being the oldest of 3 siblings. He found a certain peace in the madness.
RAW GRAPS, the home gym of up and comer Eden Connors as well as decorated champions Riley Savell, Cosmo Cooper, Devin Hearst and many more. Although Raw Graps Gym started out as a place to hone your craft, veterans and wrestlers from other gyms have started to make their way over to both the New York and Original branches in order to build upon themselves both mentally and physically with the help of coaches. The interaction with the coaches and veterans alike have made the place a destination for everyone in the sports world as opposed to solely wrestling.
A few hours later…
“I’ve been workin’ hella hard, shit ain’t really workin’ out.”
A spaced out Michael is seated by the wrestling ring as ‘Working out’ by JID plays continuously in his headphones, looking into his callused hands as his mind is clearly elsewhere. More than likely, he’s thinking about his pregnant wife and daughter on the way, the worrying yet exciting thought of being a first-time father occupying his brain on a regular basis. Looking back on one hell of a year topped off with a championship victory, the veteran’s hard work has most definitely worked out but he hasn’t taken a moment, a breath to soak everything in.. until now. A heavy sigh of relief followed by a chuckle and a light nod of his head later, he looks up from his palms to see Eden Connors with a confused look on her face. Michael removes his headphones from his ears and hangs them over his neck as he stares up at the young woman.
Eden: You’re not done, are you?
She reminded MK of himself when he was younger, pushing herself to the limit every single day in order to get better at her craft. Not because she had to or because she felt forced to, but because she wanted to. He knew the feeling of wanting to improve, wanting to take every opportunity to learn something new. Her hunger and fight called to Michael and it's why he took an interest on the young prospect. Albeit she was already well-trained courtesy of the RAWGRAPS crew back, Kelly knew that not only was she unhappy with the finished, or rather unfinished product that she was as a performer but that she had the mind and love for the business that he once had. Such is life though, losing some sort of interest in your job is something that everyone who works feels one way or another. However, this loss of interest was mainly on the extras in the business: the twitter warriors, the unbearable personalities of certain people, the backstage drama. He just wanted to wrestle and training this kid gave him the opportunity to just have that.
MK: Nah.
Eden: That's right. The moment I stepped foot into this gym, you told me what you tell everyone of your students that..
MK: I know.
Eden: You know what?
Michael rises up from the chair and looks down at his young pupil.
MK: Don't strive to be good, strive to be the best.
Eden nods and chuckles at her somewhat exhausted coach and pats him on the shoulder.
Eden: So let's get to it.
He shakes his head as they head toward the 50-foot black fatgrip battle ropes anchored around a 150lb kettlebell. It's go time, Michael grabs the head of the battle ropes and stands with his feet apart in a lazy, shallow squat. He begins his 10 reps of alternating wide circles, a workout that puts an emphatic amount of stress on your back and grip strength. Eden eggs him on, watching Michael in one of his many elements as he tightens his core and moves each rope out to the side in a circle motion with such momentum and muscle memory that he makes the strenuous exercise look as easy as pie. A quick breather later, Mike's back at it. Only this time, he's bringing the heat with repetitive powerslams, picking up the pace as countless amounts of sweat beads fall from his forehead and onto the floor, hiding the exhaustion of these after workout reps very well from his peers as he knocks the reps out of the park in due time.
Michael lays spread out on the floor, bursting out laughing at himself as a few regulars gather around him and give out an obnoxious round of applause.
MK: Alright, you fuckers.
He reaches his arms out and gets some assistance to his feet, dusting himself off whilst holding in a bit of laughter, walking over to the side and into his office, shutting the door. It isn't long before he swings the door open, fully clothed this time. He says his goodbyes as he slowly starts to make his way out of the gym, stopping in his tracks as a tardy Devin Hearst walks past MK, greeting him with a silent head nod.
MK: Dev, you're late. Make sure you hit the ropes bud.
Devin smirks at Michael and the two share a fist bump before Mike gets into his car and heads home.
AN HOUR LATER...
Mount Sinai, New York. Home of Michael and Brittany Kelly. A quick transition through the place leads us to the most important room of the house, the nursery. It's there where we find Michael, gritting his teeth as he tries to finish his baby girl-to-be's crib but not before leaving the room for a second. Carefully walking back into the nursery, MK opens up and places a tricamera pod right at the doorway, facing the inside of it. Mounting a lightweight camera atop of the tripod, he turns it on before going right back to setting up the crib.
MK: Kira Izumi. A talented kid who persevered, winning championship after championship after championship despite a ton of injuries. It's honestly inspirational when you really think about it. It takes months, sometimes years to overcome some of the injuries he's suffered and here he is. In Union Battleground. Wow, just wow. Congrats man.
Kelly leans over, looking back at the instructions for the crib with a raised eyebrow. Realizing that he's missing a screw, Michael gets down on his hands and knees to survey the floor, his body sliding across the floor until his eyes light up like Christmas lights, reaching out to grab onto the missing piece before rising up to a vertical position.
MK: So where was I again? Was it injuries? See the thing is, my assumption is that you're probably overworking yourself, beating your body down to make a quick buck for both you and your wife. Which is not something to be ashamed of by any means, be proud of it. Maybe not proud of the fact that you nearly destroyed your body and in turn your future, but proud of the fact that you did what you had to do. I know the feeling. I was a younger guy that took crap bookings for crap money all to feed my brothers and sister and while I felt somewhat overworked and used, I felt a sense of pride in what I did. What you've got to realize one day is that deathmatches and all of this stuff you've got going on... your body takes a giant toll. You'd like to be able to walk at 50 years old, right?
Flipping the Crib upwards, Michael smiles as he looks at the modern-styled white crib, rocking it to see if it's sturdy enough. Sure enough, it is, prompting him to sit down against his daughter's tiny dresser and let out a sigh of relief.
MK: Where I see a warrior, I also see a man with a bad eye and a ton of weak points. I see a person who's stepping into the ring with a guy who's entire career was based on making his opponent's night a living hell. A guy who's going to want to hide in his world of manga and anime because when you're in the real world with someone like me, someone who doesn't care that your wife is sitting on the outside, begging for me to be just a bit more merciful as she watches her husband get brutally assaulted in the center of the ring. I don't need light tubes, C4 or barbed wire to be violent when my hands do the job just as well... and it's all the more satisfying.
MK: So when you two come down to the ring and you realize that you're facing me, bring your A-game. Bring the strikes, bring the knees. Bring you at your very best so that I don't have to look back and go ' hey what if he was 100%' or 'yeah man. that match would have been amazing', no. I want the match to be amazing, I want it to be a challenge, I want to be impressed. So impress me.
Kelly walks over and pulls the camera off of the tripod, getting a super close up of Michael and his smirk.
MK: Now be warned, I won't stand for any of those games that your wife is going to play. You tell her, no.. Kirito, think twice about interfering or you'll end up just like your husband at the end of the night: Broken, Bloody, Beaten.
He says those last words with so much conviction, following up with a dead-eyed stare as we fade to black.
