Post by Matt Pulver on Jan 21, 2024 4:55:54 GMT
It is the morning after Christmas day. Susan Newton is still in bed, sleeping off the Christmas stress. In his room, nine year old Orville is already up and playing with his new toys. Hand-written spreadsheets and notebook pages are laid out on the floor, covered in notes about win-loss records, strengths and weaknesses, championship histories, and "long-term booking strategies".
In the middle of the sea of papers is a toy wrestling ring, where an epic battle is taking place. Orville is sitting next to it, holding an action figure in his right hand and an unopened box in his left. He looks at the figure and then the box. This box is different from other action figure boxes he has seen. It's colorful, covered in eye-catching designs, and even has a list of stats on the back of it. Most importantly though, the figure itself is unlike any of his other figures. It's bigger, more detailed, and even promises flexible arm movements. As much as he wants to introduce "American Hero" Hank Eagle to his roster of competitors - he can't bring himself to open the box.
This day would mark the beginning of a new chapter in Orville's life. He would still spend time carefully planning out the booking of his action figures, and picking apart certain figures in order to craft his own custom figures for wrestlers lacking their own figures - but his relationship to figures was forever changed, and his obsession would transition more and more towards collecting figures and keeping them in mint condition.
Some figures would be sold or traded away once he got older, but “American Hero” Hank Eagle would remain on his shelf - a symbol that maybe someday, Orville's own likeness would be just as revered.
It's the morning after Christmas day. Susan Newton is still in bed, sleeping off the Christmas stress. In her basement, Orville is just waking up. His head is still hurting from being whacked by a steel ladder, but as he's coming to, he soon remembers the gifts that this holiday season brought. He looks over across the room towards a pile of various technological gadgets, tabletop games, wrestling memorabilia, and - hanging displayed on the wall above it - the Jolliest Merryweight Championship. Yet the gift that stands out, is the one that is not there - nothing more than a promise at this point in time - his very own action figure.
He imagines how it will look, its potential accessories, the design of the box, the mobility of its limbs. It takes a while until he notices the sound that woke him up; Matt Pulver heading out of the door.
Ever since his loss at the HIJO, Matt has been spending most of his time at the gym. He'd be heading off first thing in the morning and not get back until late in the evening. This morning was no different. Orville would sometimes join him for a few hours, but once his own training was done there wouldn't be much else to do. Matt would be all too focused on his training to be social.
He knows that Matt has been struggling since losing the mask and the championship. If only there was something he could do to help out his friend.
---
January 7th 2024
After yet another long day at the gym, Matt Pulver arrives back at the Newton House. It's almost midnight and both Newtons are asleep. He carefully goes through the basement door, trying to not wake anyone up. As soon as he's inside, he sees a box by his inflatable mattress.
On the box is a note.
“A belated Christmas present for my best friend.”
He opens the box. It's an action figure, but not just any action figure. It's a custom figure, constructed with pieces from various figures, combined and painted to look exactly like Matt Pulver.
Looking into the tiny plastic version of his own face, all these months of burying himself in training and constantly feeling sorry for himself are put into perspective. What has it all been for?
When he takes the figure to put it on the shelf, he notices something still in the box - The World's Cruiserweight Championship.
He drapes the title over the shoulder of the figure, before placing it on the shelf - next to an empty box reading “‘American Hero’ Hank Eagle”.
In the middle of the sea of papers is a toy wrestling ring, where an epic battle is taking place. Orville is sitting next to it, holding an action figure in his right hand and an unopened box in his left. He looks at the figure and then the box. This box is different from other action figure boxes he has seen. It's colorful, covered in eye-catching designs, and even has a list of stats on the back of it. Most importantly though, the figure itself is unlike any of his other figures. It's bigger, more detailed, and even promises flexible arm movements. As much as he wants to introduce "American Hero" Hank Eagle to his roster of competitors - he can't bring himself to open the box.
This day would mark the beginning of a new chapter in Orville's life. He would still spend time carefully planning out the booking of his action figures, and picking apart certain figures in order to craft his own custom figures for wrestlers lacking their own figures - but his relationship to figures was forever changed, and his obsession would transition more and more towards collecting figures and keeping them in mint condition.
Some figures would be sold or traded away once he got older, but “American Hero” Hank Eagle would remain on his shelf - a symbol that maybe someday, Orville's own likeness would be just as revered.
It's the morning after Christmas day. Susan Newton is still in bed, sleeping off the Christmas stress. In her basement, Orville is just waking up. His head is still hurting from being whacked by a steel ladder, but as he's coming to, he soon remembers the gifts that this holiday season brought. He looks over across the room towards a pile of various technological gadgets, tabletop games, wrestling memorabilia, and - hanging displayed on the wall above it - the Jolliest Merryweight Championship. Yet the gift that stands out, is the one that is not there - nothing more than a promise at this point in time - his very own action figure.
He imagines how it will look, its potential accessories, the design of the box, the mobility of its limbs. It takes a while until he notices the sound that woke him up; Matt Pulver heading out of the door.
Ever since his loss at the HIJO, Matt has been spending most of his time at the gym. He'd be heading off first thing in the morning and not get back until late in the evening. This morning was no different. Orville would sometimes join him for a few hours, but once his own training was done there wouldn't be much else to do. Matt would be all too focused on his training to be social.
He knows that Matt has been struggling since losing the mask and the championship. If only there was something he could do to help out his friend.
---
January 7th 2024
After yet another long day at the gym, Matt Pulver arrives back at the Newton House. It's almost midnight and both Newtons are asleep. He carefully goes through the basement door, trying to not wake anyone up. As soon as he's inside, he sees a box by his inflatable mattress.
On the box is a note.
“A belated Christmas present for my best friend.”
He opens the box. It's an action figure, but not just any action figure. It's a custom figure, constructed with pieces from various figures, combined and painted to look exactly like Matt Pulver.
Looking into the tiny plastic version of his own face, all these months of burying himself in training and constantly feeling sorry for himself are put into perspective. What has it all been for?
When he takes the figure to put it on the shelf, he notices something still in the box - The World's Cruiserweight Championship.
He drapes the title over the shoulder of the figure, before placing it on the shelf - next to an empty box reading “‘American Hero’ Hank Eagle”.