Post by dave on Nov 22, 2022 0:47:31 GMT -5
Coming out from a blank screen, the picture fades in to the look of the living room of Amy Harrison’s apartment. The camera pans onto a shelf, showing several pictures of Amy from several different part of her life and career, from her most recent big win, all the way back to a picture of her with her father, Greg. After showing the final picture, the camera turns to show Amy sitting on the couch looking at some more pictures.
“The funny thing about being a professional wrestler is that usually all you can really do is focus on the now and the near future. You have to think about who your next opponent is in a few days or a week, and then think about how you’re going to get ready for that match now. You’re always moving, whether it would be going to the gym or going to the next city or venue that you’re competing in. Because of all of this, you don’t really get a lot of time to just sit down, to relax or to reflect.”
“I’ve been given a rare chance to just be able to sit back and look back at what I’ve done in the ring and in my life, and it just makes me realise just how much time has passed. Looking at where I am now compared to when my career started, I realise that I have been wrestling in one way or another for more than half my life. I’ve done a lot of things in my life and my career that I can be proud of, and I’ve definitely done a lot of things in my life and my career that I am ashamed to say that I have done. A lot of professional business that I look back on and make me shake my head, and a lot of personal stuff that I look back on with regrets.
Amy stops for a second, picking up a picture of herself from when she was around 18 years old.
“I know that a lot of people only see the parts of me that I put out on TV, the wrestler, the shit talker, and all of the other stuff that I do, but not everyone sees what happens off screen. The behind the scenes business, the personal struggles and all of the road blocks that are thrown in our directions on a daily basis.”
“My young adult years were nothing but a roller coaster for me, and at the time, I didn’t know how bad of a situation I was putting myself in until I was finally able to get out. I was a wild child, I did every bad thing you can do to yourself, I was hanging around with the wrong crowds, not giving a damn about anyone around me, or even about myself, and to top it off, I ended up hooking up with the wrong people”
“I didn’t know at the time, but when I found someone I thought I loved and married that person, it ended up being the biggest mistake that I could have ever made in the long run. It lead me down a very bad road, one that I didn’t think was any bad, or thought it was the only one that I could take. It took me hitting rock bottom to see that I had made a mistake. I needed to get out, I needed to change, I needed new surroundings, and needed new people around me. I’ve done what I can to shed the past, and in some cases, that’s going to be impossible, but I can do what I can to shed as much of the toxic baggage as I can to make myself a better person”
“That’s when my current husband comes in. After a while of getting away from all of that madness, I met Johnny in a……. Let’s call it a private function, there isn’t any need to go into any more details than that here. He helped show me that I can be a better person, a different person. Johnny showed me that there is good inside me, even if I didn’t see it. He gave me belief that I can get out of the dark shadows that I had put myself in and I can get away from all of the bad shit that I was taking part in. He even showed me that I had a future outside the ring when he told me that he was a father. When I met him and I met his daughter, one of the first things I thought to myself was “So this is what it’s like…”. I always wanted to have a family of my own, but I could never have the chance to do it, and might never get the opportunity. He showed me that even with the troubles that I can go through, good things can still happen.”
“Johnny also showed me that labels are just that: labels. They don’t define who we are. We’re not locked down to just one thing because of a certain choice that we’ve made in life, at work or anywhere else. We can be more than one thing. I can be a bad bitch on screen but be a good person off. The two sides don’t have to blend together. I can be who I am today but not have to be burdened by who I was in the past. He helped me get out of the darkness and help me reshape who I was and helped me see that things can get better, and I’m truly thankful to him for that.”
Amy looks down at her left hand, and seeing the wedding ring on her finger, smiling at the thought that she married the man that helped her through a lot of troubles. She then stands up and walks over to the shelf with the pictures.
“One other thing that he helped me see is that this definitely isn’t a one person show. I was blind to see that there were a lot of people around me that have helped me get to where I am now, and a lot of people in my past that have helped set the path that I ended up taken that led me to this point now”
Amy then walks up to the end of the shelf and picks up the picture of herself with her dad.
“My father has been a very important person in my life. Obviously, he was someone that helped raise me as a child, and helped me become the person that I am now. Not sure in growing up, but also in getting me to where I am now. He has been a big inspiration to me and to everyone else in my family. Watching him wrestle in his prime in the 60s and the 70s, seeing him getting success in Europe and in the United States, and seeing just how tough of a man he is made me admire him not just as my dad, but as one of the toughest people that I have ever known.”
“My dad helped me get my foot into this business, he helped teach me the basics of how to act and move in the ring, taught me basic moves, and even showed me a few things that only someone like him can show me. He is the reason why I’m here right now.”
“I’ve always been looking for ways to repay him for everything that he has done for me, and for the rest of my family. We all wouldn’t be here without him, quite literally. That is why if I actually end up winning the big prize of the custom Axtgriff car, I would give it to him.”
Amy takes a second to try to compose herself, her eyes starting to water up a bit, thinking about everything that she has said and everything that has happened between the two.
“It’s a way for me to tell him ‘Thank you’ for everything that he has done, but also a way to tell him ‘Sorry’ for being such a fuck up as well. At the same time, I’ve made him proud, but also disappointed in what I have done in the past and who I was. I hope that what I have done over the last few years has helped him forgive me for who I was but now show him that I’ve changed my ways, I’ve sorted my act out and now I can be someone that he can proudly call not just a wrestler that he helped train, but also his daughter.”
Amy sits back down onto the sofa, holding on tightly to the picture as she continues to look at it.
“I’m thankful for him and everything that he has done for me and for everyone else that has been able to connect with him in one way or another, whether it’s family, friends, wrestlers he’s competed with or against and everyone that had a chance to watch him, either back in the day, or even today when you can go back and watch some of the older shows. He is a great guy, he’s given everything that he can to everyone around him, and even though he was the baddest bad guy on screen, he is one of the sweetest people outside the ring. My dad deserves everything good that can come his way, and I hope that this can be something that can help pay him back for everything that he has done.””
Amy smiles before she puts the picture down onto the table in front of her, which is shown to show a collage of more pictures of her career, including some of her standout moments, some pictures of her in matches, including a few of her in bloody battles, teaming with her sister and finally her title successes.
“If there is one thing that I have learned over the last few years is that you should be thankful for everyone around you. The people that you stand with help determine the person that you can be. It took a while for me to notice this, but once I did, I knew that there are people out there that love me, and that always have. They know that I’ve been through hell and back but know that even at my lowest, there’s still something inside me that is worthy of praise. Those people helped me get back on the right track, help improve who I was, and helped me wake up.”
“At 18 years old, I was a young girl that didn’t give a fuck, wanted to live fast and not care about what damage I was doing to myself or to others. At 33 years old, I’m an older, wiser woman, forged by the triumphs and mistakes that I have made in my life. Not everyone is perfect, and I’m far from it, but I know who I am now, I know who I want to be, and who I want to be with. In a weird way, I’m thankful to myself for living the life the way I have, because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”
“I’m thankful for being alive, I’m thankful for the experiences that I have been through, good and bad. I’m thankful for the people that I have known and am connected with. I’m thankful for being a wrestler, thankful for being a wife, a mom, a friend, a co-worker, a daughter”
Amy then takes one deep breath, taking in everything that she can see and what she is saying.
“I’m thankful for being Amy Harrison”
Amy smiles and wipes a tear off from her cheek as the camera pans back, showing a wider shot of the room as she looks back down at the photos as the camera fades to black.
“The funny thing about being a professional wrestler is that usually all you can really do is focus on the now and the near future. You have to think about who your next opponent is in a few days or a week, and then think about how you’re going to get ready for that match now. You’re always moving, whether it would be going to the gym or going to the next city or venue that you’re competing in. Because of all of this, you don’t really get a lot of time to just sit down, to relax or to reflect.”
“I’ve been given a rare chance to just be able to sit back and look back at what I’ve done in the ring and in my life, and it just makes me realise just how much time has passed. Looking at where I am now compared to when my career started, I realise that I have been wrestling in one way or another for more than half my life. I’ve done a lot of things in my life and my career that I can be proud of, and I’ve definitely done a lot of things in my life and my career that I am ashamed to say that I have done. A lot of professional business that I look back on and make me shake my head, and a lot of personal stuff that I look back on with regrets.
Amy stops for a second, picking up a picture of herself from when she was around 18 years old.
“I know that a lot of people only see the parts of me that I put out on TV, the wrestler, the shit talker, and all of the other stuff that I do, but not everyone sees what happens off screen. The behind the scenes business, the personal struggles and all of the road blocks that are thrown in our directions on a daily basis.”
“My young adult years were nothing but a roller coaster for me, and at the time, I didn’t know how bad of a situation I was putting myself in until I was finally able to get out. I was a wild child, I did every bad thing you can do to yourself, I was hanging around with the wrong crowds, not giving a damn about anyone around me, or even about myself, and to top it off, I ended up hooking up with the wrong people”
“I didn’t know at the time, but when I found someone I thought I loved and married that person, it ended up being the biggest mistake that I could have ever made in the long run. It lead me down a very bad road, one that I didn’t think was any bad, or thought it was the only one that I could take. It took me hitting rock bottom to see that I had made a mistake. I needed to get out, I needed to change, I needed new surroundings, and needed new people around me. I’ve done what I can to shed the past, and in some cases, that’s going to be impossible, but I can do what I can to shed as much of the toxic baggage as I can to make myself a better person”
“That’s when my current husband comes in. After a while of getting away from all of that madness, I met Johnny in a……. Let’s call it a private function, there isn’t any need to go into any more details than that here. He helped show me that I can be a better person, a different person. Johnny showed me that there is good inside me, even if I didn’t see it. He gave me belief that I can get out of the dark shadows that I had put myself in and I can get away from all of the bad shit that I was taking part in. He even showed me that I had a future outside the ring when he told me that he was a father. When I met him and I met his daughter, one of the first things I thought to myself was “So this is what it’s like…”. I always wanted to have a family of my own, but I could never have the chance to do it, and might never get the opportunity. He showed me that even with the troubles that I can go through, good things can still happen.”
“Johnny also showed me that labels are just that: labels. They don’t define who we are. We’re not locked down to just one thing because of a certain choice that we’ve made in life, at work or anywhere else. We can be more than one thing. I can be a bad bitch on screen but be a good person off. The two sides don’t have to blend together. I can be who I am today but not have to be burdened by who I was in the past. He helped me get out of the darkness and help me reshape who I was and helped me see that things can get better, and I’m truly thankful to him for that.”
Amy looks down at her left hand, and seeing the wedding ring on her finger, smiling at the thought that she married the man that helped her through a lot of troubles. She then stands up and walks over to the shelf with the pictures.
“One other thing that he helped me see is that this definitely isn’t a one person show. I was blind to see that there were a lot of people around me that have helped me get to where I am now, and a lot of people in my past that have helped set the path that I ended up taken that led me to this point now”
Amy then walks up to the end of the shelf and picks up the picture of herself with her dad.
“My father has been a very important person in my life. Obviously, he was someone that helped raise me as a child, and helped me become the person that I am now. Not sure in growing up, but also in getting me to where I am now. He has been a big inspiration to me and to everyone else in my family. Watching him wrestle in his prime in the 60s and the 70s, seeing him getting success in Europe and in the United States, and seeing just how tough of a man he is made me admire him not just as my dad, but as one of the toughest people that I have ever known.”
“My dad helped me get my foot into this business, he helped teach me the basics of how to act and move in the ring, taught me basic moves, and even showed me a few things that only someone like him can show me. He is the reason why I’m here right now.”
“I’ve always been looking for ways to repay him for everything that he has done for me, and for the rest of my family. We all wouldn’t be here without him, quite literally. That is why if I actually end up winning the big prize of the custom Axtgriff car, I would give it to him.”
Amy takes a second to try to compose herself, her eyes starting to water up a bit, thinking about everything that she has said and everything that has happened between the two.
“It’s a way for me to tell him ‘Thank you’ for everything that he has done, but also a way to tell him ‘Sorry’ for being such a fuck up as well. At the same time, I’ve made him proud, but also disappointed in what I have done in the past and who I was. I hope that what I have done over the last few years has helped him forgive me for who I was but now show him that I’ve changed my ways, I’ve sorted my act out and now I can be someone that he can proudly call not just a wrestler that he helped train, but also his daughter.”
Amy sits back down onto the sofa, holding on tightly to the picture as she continues to look at it.
“I’m thankful for him and everything that he has done for me and for everyone else that has been able to connect with him in one way or another, whether it’s family, friends, wrestlers he’s competed with or against and everyone that had a chance to watch him, either back in the day, or even today when you can go back and watch some of the older shows. He is a great guy, he’s given everything that he can to everyone around him, and even though he was the baddest bad guy on screen, he is one of the sweetest people outside the ring. My dad deserves everything good that can come his way, and I hope that this can be something that can help pay him back for everything that he has done.””
Amy smiles before she puts the picture down onto the table in front of her, which is shown to show a collage of more pictures of her career, including some of her standout moments, some pictures of her in matches, including a few of her in bloody battles, teaming with her sister and finally her title successes.
“If there is one thing that I have learned over the last few years is that you should be thankful for everyone around you. The people that you stand with help determine the person that you can be. It took a while for me to notice this, but once I did, I knew that there are people out there that love me, and that always have. They know that I’ve been through hell and back but know that even at my lowest, there’s still something inside me that is worthy of praise. Those people helped me get back on the right track, help improve who I was, and helped me wake up.”
“At 18 years old, I was a young girl that didn’t give a fuck, wanted to live fast and not care about what damage I was doing to myself or to others. At 33 years old, I’m an older, wiser woman, forged by the triumphs and mistakes that I have made in my life. Not everyone is perfect, and I’m far from it, but I know who I am now, I know who I want to be, and who I want to be with. In a weird way, I’m thankful to myself for living the life the way I have, because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”
“I’m thankful for being alive, I’m thankful for the experiences that I have been through, good and bad. I’m thankful for the people that I have known and am connected with. I’m thankful for being a wrestler, thankful for being a wife, a mom, a friend, a co-worker, a daughter”
Amy then takes one deep breath, taking in everything that she can see and what she is saying.
“I’m thankful for being Amy Harrison”
Amy smiles and wipes a tear off from her cheek as the camera pans back, showing a wider shot of the room as she looks back down at the photos as the camera fades to black.