Journeyman

By Brad G. Moore

Marc Fleming wanted the same thing that every other wrestler in the business wanted. He wanted to be the World Heavyweight Champion. If he ever got a shot, he'd beat the champion, Nick Warren. That was the problem. Every time Warren came to town, he defended the title against Matt Murphy, while Marc was stuck in meaningless, mid-card matches. He was tired of being overlooked by the promoter and fans as he had worked hard over the years to build his reputation. To the fans, he was The Magnificent Marc. it was about time that he showed everyone how magnificent he really was.

Journeyman is the story of Marc Fleming, a Scottish born wrestler fighting to regain his stardom in Brighton Championship Wrestling. Written in kayfabe, Marc's story is reminiscent of those found in the popular wrestling magazines of the 70s and 80s. Journeyman takes you beyond the characterization seen on TV. It is the story of one man's struggle to accomplish his goals in the world of professional wrestling, while trying to balance a normal life with his family outside of wrestling.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brad G. Moore
• Release date: Sep 27, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311892768

Brad G. Moore

Brad Moore gained his love for reading at an early age when his older sister introduced him to Margret and H.A. Rey's classic character, Curious George. After watching re-runs on late night television of the Perry Mason series, he began reading the novels by Earl Stanley Gardner. His love for mysteries grew as he read classics from Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler.Although he is an avid mystery fan, his greatest influences as a writer are John D. Fitzgerald's The Great Brain, Keith Robertson's Henry Reed, and Beverly Cleary's Ramona. To him, these books and characters exemplified the innocence and enjoyment of childhood. It is with this tradition and spirit that he developed Serina K., a character brought to life by the real life exploits of his daughter, Serina K.

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Journeyman

Copyright 2014 Brad G. Moore

Published by Brad G. Moore at Smashwords

Smashwords Edition License Notes

Thank you for downloading this ebook. This book remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be redistributed to others for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy from their favorite authorized retailer. Thank you for your support.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

About Brad G. Moore

Other books by Brad G. Moore

Connect with Brad G. Moore

Acknowledgements

Thanks to all of the wrestlers on local and early cable TV who graced my television screen as a kid. Special thanks to Kay Fabe and Mark Smart.

Chapter One

Barely awake, Marc casually passed by his co-workers in the hall. Another day at the office, he thought as he opened the door to his lavish dressing room. The room was hardly lavish, but at least he had room to transform into a superhero in private. Superman he was not. In less than twenty minutes, however, he would be playing one on TV.

The dressing room in which Marc transformed into The Magnificent Marc was actually a walk-in closet inside the rehearsal room of the local television studio. The studio produced local news, a morning children’s program, an afternoon talk show, and a weekly cooking show for Brighton, Georgia’s independent station, WMEM. On Saturday mornings, it was the home of wrestling.

In a matter of minutes, Marc had changed from his Levi’s into his wrestling gear. His gear consisted of maroon tights, elbow and knee pads, and boots. He considered his getup stylish for a wrestler, but often wondered why wrestling tights couldn’t be more like boxing shorts, or anything more athletic looking. Instead of Muhammad Ali dancing around the ring, he often felt like Peter Pan in his Underoos. It didn’t help that it was the middle of winter and the heat in the old studio didn’t work. He’d thought about switching to longer tights, but his short, maroon tights with the small lightning bolt across the back had become his trademark. Fans wouldn’t recognize him in anything else.

He thought about not wrestling today. He could just do an interview in his street clothes to promote his upcoming match against Predator, but the fans didn’t want to see plain, old Marc Fleming. They wanted to see The Magnificent Marc. He would go out there, wrestle some new kid for about five minutes, shake his fanny, and then tell the studio and television audience what he was going to do to Predator. It’s what the fans want. More than that, it’s what the promoter, Nick Hensley, expected.

Marco, greeted fellow wrestler, Stu Harding. How’s it hanging?

Marc had teamed with Stu on occasion. He didn’t really consider him a friend, but then again he didn’t consider any of the other wrestlers as a friend either. He’d rather be left alone to do his own thing. That wasn’t the way the wrestling business worked, though. When Johnny Handsome’s men were beating you down 3 on 1, you needed an ally. Here lately though, it seemed like he had been stuck in meaningless partnerships on the top of the cards.

It’s not right now. It’s freezing in here, Marc replied sarcastically.

Who pissed in your Cheerios? Stu asked.

No one. I guess I’m just not fully awake yet. It was 4 a.m. when I got home from the show in Gainesville last night. Then I had to listen to Alexis yell at me for an hour for getting home so late. Did I mention that I’m freezing my ass off?

Yeah. You’d think that the station could afford to fix the heat. Cheap bastards. You’d think it’s enough that we provide free labor for their highest rated show. Oh well, maybe the FCC fine will teach them a lesson, said Stu.

FCC fine? What the hell are you talking about?

Live TV, baby. It’s gonna be hard to censor my frozen, hard nipples, Stu joked.

Jackass, sneered Marc.

Free labor. Marc had never really gave it much thought, but it was true. Tickets to the wrestling program were free. Hensley rationalized that the Saturday morning program was essentially an advertisement for their upcoming shows. Gotta get them in the houses, the promoter would explain. That all sounded reasonable, but free admission meant that there was no gate percentage to pay the wrestlers with. Marc had shed a lot of blood in the studio ring for free.

Whatever kind of funk you're in, I hope you get it straightened out by Wednesday night, said Stu.

Marc's upcoming match with Predator was Wednesday night at the Brighton City Arena. It wasn't going to be an ordinary match either. It would be a loser leaves town match. Marc wasn't too worried about