Post by Gaia Galanos on May 22, 2015 21:36:46 GMT -6
SAVIOR OF THE SPARTAN SHEBA
I am Gaia Galanos. I am from Sparta, Greece, and I am a professional wrestler. My in-ring debut was August 10th, 2014. A few weeks beyond that, I won my first championship; a title which ultimately became known as the UWL Queen of Wrestling World Championship, but it wasn’t until winning the GPW World Championship that I really felt my wrestling career had become a success.
I defeated a woman who had held the GPW World Championship since the second episode of GPW Explosion. Many believed she would never lose the title as their were so many that chose her over me in the contest yet I persevered because I was on the hunt. When I am hunting, I will not be denied my kill. In the wrestling world, I am known as The Spartan Sheba because, in the ring, I have the cunning of a lioness. That woman who found out first hand was Jo McFarlane, who originally was a champion of the people, but opted to turn on them for the promise of who knows what. Protection of her title reign perhaps?
As you can see, that didn’t work very well as I stand over Girl Power Wrestling as only its second World Champion in just over a year. Half of that time, I held the UWL Queen of Wrestling World Championship. Despite not holding that title any longer, I have yet to be defeated in UWL competition as GPW withdrew from the League and I relinquished my title. Now, I have the opportunity to be more focused than ever, but as I cross the United States from Las Vegas, the locale of GPW’s last episode of Explosion, I find myself thinking of a man who made me the woman I am today.
When I came to the United States, when I was eleven, I was a foreign exchange student. My relationship with my parents in Greece was shoddy at best. I felt no connection to them as I hardly ever saw them each day as it where. Regardless, despite my objection to moving in with a family in the United States, I later found that there was a family out in the world who understood me. A family who was quite prominent in the wrestling world; I had yet to learn that, though.
I won’t lie to all of you. I didn’t growing up as a fan of professional wrestling. In all honesty, I just didn’t have any interest in pursuing a professional career in anything sports related. When I came to the United States, I quickly learned that amateur wrestling was something I thoroughly enjoyed yet I was a bit shunned by my peers due to the fact that I was the only girl on the wrestling team. Seldom would parents allow their boys to wrestle me; using such claims as it would be vulgar for their child to touch me in such ways or that they didn’t want their son to be responsible for hurting a girl. Nothing angered me more, and Pat Gordon, Senior, along with his son, Patrick, understood that.
Regardless of how the boys and their parents felt, I continued to train, not to be deterred by their short-sightedness. There was one particular man who was always there for me while I was training. A specific man who truly cared about my well-being; my progress whether it was in the ring or, most importantly, in the classroom. Pat Gordon, Sr.; The man I came to truly consider my father. Not that deadbeat that was nothing more than a sperm-donor in Greece.
Pat Gordon, Sr., though. That man was my savior…
A LONG TIME COMING
December 20, 2014
Boston, Massachusetts
[/i] [/span][/p]My eyes settled upon the nursing home, as I could feel my heart sink a bit. The very thought of Pat, Sr. being in a nursing home killed me. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much I could do about it. The man didn’t want to leave Boston, especially not to live in California so we had no other choice. Despite my issues with him being in a nursing home, the place seemed nice enough, I suppose. As I walked to the receptionist desk, everyone seemed to be nice enough yet it seemed so odd as I glanced around and saw so many lonely elderly people. A sickly feeling gathered in my gut, but I took solace knowing that Patrick was always nearby. Knowing Patrick, Pat, Sr. wasn’t alone too often.
As the caretaker walked me to his room, I felt butterflies gathering in the very pit of my stomach as I shifted my black dufflebag uneasily upon my shoulder. I couldn’t meet anyone’s gaze because, in all honesty, seeing their eyes when they realized I wasn’t their daughter, or loved one of some sort, completely broke my heart. As my icy hues searched for something to fixate themselves upon, I spied the glint of gold in my dufflebag. A smile crept across my face as I thought about how proud Pat, Sr. would be of me when he saw that I accomplished what I had initially set out to do: become the UWL World Champion.
Slowly, my blue eyes ascended to look upon a single door as the caretaker came to a halt. I felt more nauseous than when I was waiting to enter during my match at UWL Bedlam on the Bayou.
As I stood there, I can only assume I had fallen into some sort of nervous trance because suddenly I heard the caretaker’s soft voice, addressing me and noticed her eyes staring at me.
CARETAKER: ...alanos? Miss Galanos? Are you alright?
After a succession of rapid blinks, my head shook and I found myself staring into her dark, brown eyes.
GAIA GALANOS: Oh, yes. I’m fine… Excuse me, I must have zoned out.
A nod and a smile is all I received before she pushed open the door before me. I took a single step toward the door before looking over at the caretaker as if looking for reassurance. Another nod then I stepped across the threshold as my eyes locked onto the old man’s silhouette before the sunny window at the end of the room. He was so hunched over, and seemed… sad almost. My lips trembled as I fought with my urges to cry. I can feel that lump in my throat even now, but I forced it away as quickly as possible by swallowing hard. It hurt not only emotionally, but physically to see such a powerful, respectable man to be in such a state. His voice caught me off-guard.
P. GORDON: Well, are ye gonna’ jus’ stare at me ‘til I die ‘r are ye gonna’ come talk to me, lass?
GAIA GALANOS: O-oh…
My words were caught in my throat. It was so amazing to just hear that old Irish bastard’s gruff accent. Despite my lack of communication skills at the time, I finally stepped forward; dropping my dufflebag on bed as I passed by.
P. GORDON: So what brings ye ‘ere?
An incredulous look crossed my face.
GAIA GALANOS: You, old man.
My words were flat, but he knew I was being a smart ass. An unamused look crossed his weathered face.
P. GORDON: . . .
A long moment of silence ensued as he watched me as if waiting for something, but I knew better as a wide grin replaced his stare.
P. GORDON: Come ‘ere, me girl.
I found myself leaping into his large arms as if I were still an eleven-year-old girl. I swallowed the lump in my throat again, but tears forced themselves from my tear ducts. The smile on my face was bolstered by the joy in my heart over seeing the man I had come to know as my real father. Come to think of it, I couldn’t even tell you the last time I have spoken to my biological parents, and I couldn’t care less to be perfectly honest.
P. GORDON: Ye look good, lassie. Look like ye been really takin’ yer job seriously.
Pulling away from him, I looked at him with my eyes blurred by the tears in my eyes yet there was an uncontrollable smile on my face.
GAIA GALANOS: Why would I not? Have you met my mentor?
P. GORDON: Flattery’s cheap, me dear Gaia.
The smile on my face turned into an intrigued smirk.
GAIA GALANOS: Not if the one you’re flattering has earned such flattery. Just accept the compliment, old man.
My eyes narrowed at him as a rare smile crept across his aging features. His eyes turned to the dufflebag as if he was inquiring what I had in the bag.
P. GORDON: What’d ye bring me, Gaia?
The smile broke into an all-out grin which made it impossible for me to hide the stupid smile I had across my face the entire time I had been standing there with him. I pushed the dufflebag closer to him so he could remove my championship strap from the bag. A grin covered his face.
P. GORDON: Ye shouldn’t ‘ave, Gaia. ‘Fraid I’m no longer in shape t’ defend such a t’ing. After all, ain’t cha’ gotta’ be a woman t’ compete fer t’is anyway?
I shook my head and rolled my eyes at his corny joke at the expense of my UWL World Championship. Ladies and gentlemen, the only man I would allow to do such a thing. Fact is, I know he holds anyone who works their ass off in the ring in high regard provided they conduct themselves with dignity and respect.
GAIA GALANOS: Are you sure you don’t want to defend the UWL Ladies World Championship?
A chuckle exhausted from my lungs which I attempted to hold back, but failed in doing so.
P. GORDON: Oh, right. Junior ‘ad told me somet’in’ ‘bout ye competin’ elsewhere. What’s t’at about?
GAIA GALANOS: Well, Da...
I received a smirk for my words as I called him “Da,” which was a random occurrence at times.
GAIA GALANOS: GPW, the company I am signed with, is apart of an umbrella organization which holds its own events. I will be defending my UWL title against, ironically, a woman from GPW known as Magdalena Waechter… She won her opportunity to try her luck at my title in the Women’s Ascension Match recently.
P. GORDON: Luck? Is she Irish?
GAIA GALANOS: No, she was, uh, German, I believe.
P. GORDON: Regardless, I know you’ll do what ye do in t’e ring. T’ere’s a reason ye ‘ave t’is after all, isn’t t’ere?
As he asked the question, he displayed my own title to me with a confident smirk on his face. Something made me feel so warm, but it all ended so abruptly as suddenly Pat, Sr.’s eyes stared off across the room as if I was no longer sitting there. I paid it no mind at first as I continue speaking.
GAIA GALANOS: I also recently was announced as the number one contender to the GPW Wor-
My UWL World Championship fell from his grasp; silencing me. As my eyes looked down at the golden faceplate which shone back up at me, I heard Pat’s voice.
P. GORDON: No…
My eyes rose once more to see his still staring off toward the corner of the room.
P. GORDON: NO! Stay t’e fuck away! Fuck off!
Pat never raised his voice. This outburst was excessively uncharacteristic of him. It abruptly pulled tears out of me, but I fought to keep my vision clear to no effect. He suddenly leapt to his feet and backed away. I did the only thing I could think of which probably wasn’t the best of ideas, but I embraced him with tears streaming down my cheeks as I whispered into his ear.
GAIA GALANOS: I… love you, Da.
Despite my embrace, he attempted to fight me off. In his state; however, I was much stronger than him and I was able to hold on for dear life. It killed me when the caretakers came in to sedate him. After scooping up my title belt, I slowly walked back toward the door, holding back sobs as I did. With the title clutched to my chest, I backed through the threshold before the door closed in front of me…
FINAL WORDS
That was nearly five months ago. I knew I needed to swallow that lump in my throat once more so I might visit him at least once more. So I went to visit him where I knew he would be resting his old bones. As the sun set in the background, my blue eyes looked upon the hard stone which said “PATRICK GORDON SR.” across it. Once again, I had that black dufflebag with me, but a different, more important payload this time.
I dropped to a single knee, bowing my head just slightly before lifting my gaze once more as my vision blurred. I didn’t even bother to wipe the tears away.
GAIA GALANOS: Hey, Da. I’m sorry I couldn’t be around as often as I should have been… I feel as if I failed you as a daughter when I know you never would ha…
My emotions forced me to pause what I was trying to say.
GAIA GALANOS: ...I know you never would have failed me as a father…
Maybe I am insane, but I swear I heard him speaking to me. I could have sworn I heard that Irish accent in my head telling me: “And ye never failed me as a daughter. I knew ye loved me and I loved ye so quit bein’ so down on yerself.” Somehow, this voice in my head caused me to smile. Had he really contacted me?
GAIA GALANOS: Last time we spoke, I was the UWL World Champion and the number one contender to the GPW World Champion. Well, I am no longer the UWL World Champion due to GPW no longer being apart of UWL, but now… now, I am the GPW World Champion…
As I spoke, I pulled the GPW World Championship belt out of the dufflebag and set the title down before his gravestone as if I expected him to be sitting atop his own tombstone looking down at my championship. “Not too shabby. Ye musta’ been workin’ on yer hammerlock, eh, lass?” I chuckled while the tears continued to run down my cheek yet my lips trembled once more as I remembered the harsh reality.
GAIA GALANOS: In j-just a few days, I’ll be contending in a place known as Visionaries of Wrestling, representing GPW as their World Champion, against VoW’s World Visionary Champion and GPW’s own West Coast Champion with VoW’s Xcel Champion by my side…
“Ain’t t’at interestin’, lass? Comes down to a tag team match, eh? Weren’t ye t’e one who had so many issues bein’ apart o’ a tag team?”
GAIA GALANOS: I have gotten much better since the first time I attempted to team up with Patrick, you know that. Work aside, I miss you so much. I wish I could have been here more often, but with how often GPW tours now, it has become much tougher to do any sort of personal traveling. Mainly I just wanted to come here and show you that I had reached the very top of the mountain in GPW as I had set out to do…
“Lovely, Gaia. Ain’t gettin’ complacent, are ye?”
GAIA GALANOS: Of course not. I defended my title successfully against the winner of the Gift Exchange Battle Royal.
If anyone were watching me at that moment, they probably would have thought me to be insane. In all honesty, though, I didn’t quite mind. It was nice to talk to him whether or not it was something real or something my mind was making up to keep me from breaking. His voice came to me once more: “Well, I believe ye ‘ave a match t’ be gettin’ ready fer so get outta’ this depressin’ place and kick some ass.”
GAIA GALANOS: I’ll do my best to make you proud.
“Ye don’t need to do yer best to make me proud. Ye already ‘ave. Besta’ luck, lass.” His voice echoed through my head as he grabbed my title belt, feeling a bit stronger despite my feelings toward the death of the only father figure I had ever known. My eyes examined the GPW World Championship for a long moment. For a short minute or two, I thought I could see him looking back at me in the reflection of the gold before I placed it back in the dufflebag, stood, and walked back to my rental car.
KRYPTONITE
This trip to New England has been emotionally draining needless to say, but I am the GPW World Champion for a reason. For a long moment, my eyes were focused on the locker room floor as I thought back to my most recent conversations with one of the most important men to ever be apart of my life. A knock at the door brought me out of my thoughts.
GAIA GALANOS: Come in…
Not a moment later, the door opened and in-walked a camera crew.
CAMERAMAN: Are you ready, Miss Galanos?
GAIA GALANOS: Of course…
I watched as the camera crew set up before me. Within moments, the cameraman was giving me a countdown followed by a finger point, signifying that I was on air. As the camera began rolling, I slung the GPW World Championship up over my shoulder.
GAIA GALANOS: VoW, I am Gaia Galanos; the GPW World Champion. Over the past couple months, I have gone from successfully defending my title against the very woman who ousted the GPW West Coast Champion, Artemis Kaiser, from the Gift Exchange Battle Royal. What I find rather humorous is the fact that Artemis would have everyone believe that the facts don’t bother her. She’s just as delusional as Jo McFarlane when she believed that Head Office would be effective in saving her from being dethroned by me. I stand here before all of you today as the GPW World Champion so you can clearly see how much that helped her.
I patted the golden faceplate as I glanced upon it then returned my icy gaze to the camera lens which stared at me; waiting for my words.
GAIA GALANOS: Artemis Kaiser is one of the very best. I have no doubt, but she isn’t trustworthy, and I am quite sure Casanova English will find that out soon enough. You see, Artemis and I, until recently, for obvious reasons, were training partners. I am well-aware of her greatest weakness. She puts on a strong front, and she wants everyone to believe that Artemis Kaiser is a lone wolf, but this whole answer and solution talk reminds me of one thing, Artemis. You, like everyone else in GPW, formed a group. Welcome to the status quo, Kaiser.
A pause for dramatic effect.
GAIA GALANOS: As for English, he very well may be the perfect tag team partner for little Arty because he may be just as delusional as her. He seems to believe that he forced me into a match for him. As if he had complete control over this situation. Well, news flash, Casanova. I came to Breakthrough expecting to be booked in a match for Fate of the Gods. Ironic, huh? Especially after you made such claims about playing me like a game. Cute, but now you find yourself stuck alongside a selfish tag team partner who will likely only cause you more harm than good.
I wet my lips with a gentle swipe of my tongue.
GAIA GALANOS: So, here is exactly how this scenario is taking place. You two walk to the ring against myself and Stacy Jones, but this match will not end happily ever after for the two of you. As I said, Artemis, I know your weakness. You fancy yourself to be a Superwoman of sorts, but I am your Kryptonite. In this sport it isn’t enough to just make random claims, though, Artemis. You should be familiar with such things because you do it regularly. Like making claims that your title has prestige even remotely close to my own. It is quite clear that the women who have reigned as World Champions have been more dominant than West Coast Champions. Count how many West Coast Champions there have been since its inception. Now count how many World Champions there have been since the World title’s inception at Explosion #2, but, Artemis, I am not here to have a debate about which title holds more weight. That answer is quite clear in the fact that you feel you need to even try to make an argument of all of this. The fact that you needed to step up and try to call me out when really all you had to do is ask just like your partner. All Casanova English had to do was ask. “Hey, Gaia. Care for a match?” I would have happily accepted and kicked your ass. Regardless of your antics, you two will be staring up at the lights tonight as Stacy and I put an end to all of that confidence that you two seem to allow to cloud your judgment. That is precisely why you, Artemis, are your own weakness. Hell, I could stand across you in the wrestling ring and make short jokes so I can just wait for you to run directly into my knee yourself. I wouldn’t expect English to give a damn, Arty. He doesn’t really care about winning this match. The only thing he cares about is pissing on as many people as possible at once.
A smirk appeared on my face as I shifted the GPW World Championship on my shoulder.
GAIA GALANOS: Here’s the fact of the matter, once you two implode because of a massive ego clash, that will be the end. By the end of the match, I will stake my claim on that VoW ring. My VoW ring. Tough luck, i̱líthioi.
My eyes narrowed as the camera lens zoomed in on my icy glare.
GAIA GALANOS: This… is… Sparta.
With that, I walked out off of the set, leaving my locker room behind to head out to get warmed up for my match later tonight...[/span]