One bedroom in particular--inside of the massive suite towering over the city--found itself victim to the light's onslaught. The light filtered in, struggling through the curtains hanging in front of the sides of a window, before hitting the carpet and illuminating the area about it. A new day, another chapter in someone's life. The beginning of change always starts the morning after the decision...and Ronnie McNeil had committed himself to change just the night before.
With a yawn, Ronnie stretches out in his bed.
With a grunt, he rolls over to shield his eyes.
With a thump, he hits the floor--having successfully fallen off of his bed.
What a way to set your day off right.
Cursing wildly under his breath, Ronnie rubs the small bump forming on his head in disdain as he glares at the bed with a sense of betrayal. The same bed which had just cast him aside from his intended path, his pillow. Rather then burying his face into the softness that his head rested upon all night, he found himself crashing hard into the not-so-soft carpeting below.
Carefully, he grabbed a hold of the side of the bed and pulled himself up, shaking off the proverbial 'cobwebs' as he did so. A sideways glance brought his eyes to the cause of his sudden fall from comfortable bedding, the sunlight drifting into the room. Groggily, he made his way over to the curtains and grabbed a hold of them, shutting them with a grumble.
As he stumbled his way towards his bed, Ronnie could hear the curtains laughing at him like two young children who just saw him fall on his face. Oh wait, he just DID fall on his face.
'####ing curtains...'
Once again he fell, this time on his much softer-then-the-ground bed. His pillow didn't fail him this time, allowing him to land safely. So tired was he that he that he felt himself slipping off into dreamworld rather quickly this time around. Of course, as if his day hadn't been bad enough...he was denied his happy journey back into the world of dreams.
"THIS IS K-JAH RADIO! PLAYING YOU ALL THE HITS OF THE 80S AND 90S! I'M YOUR HO--" sounded the radio alarm, only to be unceremoniously silence by the pounding fist of a frustrated McNeil. Ronnie had nearly lunged from his bed to perform the dirty deed, and soon found himself unstable as he supported himself on the stand which held the radio alarm. His groggy state wasn't helping either, and soon he found himself crashing back to the ground.
He could hear the dust mites chuckling, the little bastards.
"Ronnie?" called a female's voice from outside the door, as Lyntoria Evans stepped through to see him in his state and put a hand over her mouth, struggling to suppress her laughter as she spoke with a strained voice, "Are you...okay, honey?"
"Yeah, Toya..." Ronnie groaned, sighing and resting his forehead against the carpeted floor,
"I'm fine. Annoyed and tired...but I'm just fine."
Not able to help but giggle, Toya shook her head and turned, walking back to the kitchen as Ronnie slowly pulled himself back to his feet to prepare for the every-day ritual of getting dressed. Off with the sweatpants and on with the jeans, on came the shirt and on went the socks and shoes. The necklace resting on the cabinet top was quickly fastened around Ronnie's neck, and he picked up his comb whilst looking into the mirror. Moments passed and his hair was done, combed just the way he preferred. More footsteps, the sound of a door opening, and Ronnie was on his way into the new day. Sure, it seemed as though everything was perfunctory...but there was something different, the morning was strongly contrasting the night before. No-longer was there a melancholy atmosphere about him and, despite the mishaps in waking up...he truly did feel happy.
I can't let this drag me down anymore...it's time I step up and do what I need to. Last week I was a completely different person...and this week I'm another different person--a better one. Somehow, I'll overcome this...I'll better myself from it and I'll finally do what I've wanted for so long now. With Toya and with wrestling...the change starts this week.
Little, however, did Ronnie know that the change was already beginning...because change always starts in the most subtle ways.
I don't know how, and I don't know why. I don't know what it was that somehow made me manage to lose to Hans, to turn the tides on me seemingly out of nowhere...but I did, and I'm glad, because now I'm one step closer to my dreams then I ever thought I would be. My loss to Hans's brought forth something inside of me I've not felt since Acadian...a sense of unsurity. I honestly don't know anymore who I can and cannot beat, just like back then, because in the HWA anything can happen. I made that statement loud and clear when I BEAT Hans, and he just did the same right back to me.
Such sudden revelations always bring about some sort of a change in a person, no?
Nevertheless, I've began to see that the HWA really hasn't seen my best. They've not seen what I was like in Acadian, and they sure as hell haven't seen me put forth everything into my matches. I always thought I was, always thought I was going out there and giving it my all for those fans...but if that was the case, I would have beaten Hans again. No...I've been slacking, and I've been slacking because I thought I realized that the man I had beaten before would be the man who was standing before me the other night.
Maybe I was wrong after all.
Even so...it's time that the HWA really starts seeing who I am. My name is Ronnie McNeil. I'm on a mission to accomplish my dreams, and I'll be damned if a simple stone in the road is going to stop my journey. All Hans's victory was to me was just that--a stone in the road. Of course, he earned the victory...he really did beat me fair and square. However, I wasn't giving it my all, and therein lay my tragic downfall.
Right now I really am just another face in the HWA--sure, the fans recognize my name and they cheer for me every single time they see me, but that just isn't enough. I could easily drop off the program next week and no one would care. If either Hans or Butch were to suddenly vanish, people would go ballistic. I need to realize that, unlike in Acadian, they and I aren't on the same status level any longer. He's an established legend in HWA, and hell, Hans even is--though to a lesser extent.
Before I start thinking the challenge isn't there, I need to establish myself again as a true champion. I need to put the past behind me--and not just my career in Acadian either. My whole relationship with Gia needs to be left behind as well. I've let that love I had for Gia keep me from giving all of my love to Toya...and while I'll never let myself forget Gia, I have to let her go. It's taken so many years...so many damn years to finally get the strength to do this, but it has to be done.
If I can do this, then who knows what I'll be capable of? I could be the next hall of famer in the HWA.
Or...I could be the next Bryan Deas.
It all starts this week though...at least as far as wrestling is concerned. At Declarations, I'll show the world that I'm ready to give them what I'm able to give, show them everything that I'm capable of doing. In a way, this is like my debut match all over again...just with a lot more on the line.
Hans von Richtoven.
This man has proven himself in the HWA as a worthy champion, there's no denying that. I can say without a doubt that, after watching how much he's improved since we last faced off one on one, that he has my respect. However, no amount of respect will make me hold back in the ring--if anything, it makes me work harder.
Because to earn my respect, to truly impress me, is to make yourself an actual threat. If I take Hans lightly this week then he'll easily beat me, there's no doubt about that.
I need to win this week...to show the world that change is beginning. My loss to Hans last week was a mistake, it wasn't supposed to happen...but I allowed it to. I won't allow it again.
Hans has had his week...and at Declarations, I'm getting my answer.
Now, as far as change outside of the ring...well, that's a different story. A story to be told another time, I guess.
Either way...the future's looking much brighter now, and I can say without hesitation that my time in the HWA is about to get a whole hell of a lot better.
See you at Declarations, Hans.
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