What is love?

Jace Parker Davidson’s Home
Miami, Florida
April 2017

What is love?

Serious question; I’m not singing out loud.

The scene of this flashback opens out inside the beachfront home of Jace Parker Davidson. All is quiet for the moment inside as most of the rooms seem empty. Shifting to the second floor of the home, we peer inside the master bedroom. The sound of the television playing fills the room. A quick pan of the room shows Jace sitting up in the king-sized bed inside the room. The comforter on the bed covers his lower half. Jace leans back against the pillows placed between him and the headboard.

Jace has a heavy-duty neck brace around his neck. It had been months since Jace was thrown off of a 20-foot-high steel structure by Scott Stevens. Everyone knows the story by now. Jace protected his wife but ended up breaking his neck. He was forced to retire from professional wrestling while his life was falling apart around him.

I had a significant other. She was my wife, my tag team partner, and my best friend. I was her rock and she was mine. We got together and shared our journey through professional wrestling side by side. The name Ascended Supremacy struck fear in the hearts of tag teams all across the business. From HOW, to Boardwalk, and 4CW.

We collected World Tag Team Championship belts like teenage girls collected Beanie Babies. There wasn’t a tag team out there that could stand against us. Just take a look at the record books.

Was that because of tireless effort and dedication? Was it due to pure talent and ability? Or was it possibly due to the love that we had for each other?

Knowing each other inside and out. A connection that can only be formed through time and closeness with someone who could be considered your better half. I thought that no matter what happened, I would have Tara there to support me through thick and thin.

I had love right there in the palm of my hand.

Or did I?

And there Jace sat in bed. His head is unable to move as he glared at the television screen. There’s a miserable expression on his face as he just looks at the screen blankly. He couldn’t tell you what show or movie was on at the moment. He was staring off into space; the TV had just been in the way of said space.

The door to the bedroom opened and into the room walked Jace’s loving wife, Tara Michaels-Davidson. Tara looked over toward her husband and then forced a weak smile on her face before speaking.

“Are you okay, baby? Do you need anything?” Tara asked, trying to make him as comfortable as possible.

There was dead silence as Tara waited for an answer or some kind of acknowledgment from Jace, but none came.

“Are you hungry? Can I get you something to drink, maybe?” Tara broke the silence and tried to remain smiling and helpful.

Once again, Jace offered no answer to her questions. He didn’t even acknowledge her existence in the room. Tara took a deep breath and then walked over to Jace’s side of the bed. She grabbed a hold of the remote control off of the nightstand. She pointed the remote control toward the television and then turned it off.

People, in general, will lie to you. It’s human nature to lie to someone either because you want the attention or because you want someone to believe you are something more than you really are.

Who is to say that the love that you think you have, isn’t a lie?

Do you trust it with blind faith and devotion, just like others worship a God of their choice? Or do you put that love to the test? Do you go through trials and tribulations to make sure that person doesn’t run to the nearest exit the moment the waters get rough?

Testing love can be like playing with fire.

It’s a skill that not everyone possesses. It takes a delicate touch and a lack of fear when it comes to getting burnt by the flame.

If you give this person everything that you are. If you put a ring on their ring and say the words ‘Til death do us part’ in front of the world and the Heavens above.

Would you just blindly trust that this love will last forever?

Or would you put that love to the test?

Tara placed the remote control back down on the nightstand. She turned and looked down at Jace, who continued to just stare at the blank television screen.

“I know you’ve been through a lot.” Tara started. “However, you’re not the only one that has been through everything here lately. I’m doing the best I can, but you just don’t know how hard this is on me.”

That comment finally causes Jace to take his eyes off the television screen. He cuts his eyes up at his wife as she stands at the side of the bed.

“Hard this is on you?” Jace questioned, in an annoyed tone. “Please, tell me what I can do to make all of this more comfortable and convenient for you, dear.”

Tara placed her hands on her hips due to the obvious sarcasm. “First off, you could at least answer when I’m talking to you.” She shifted her weight from one leg to the other. “And I would really love it if you didn’t always try to invalidate my feelings. I’m an equal member of this marriage and I’m not going to stand for you making everything about you and you alone.”

Jace planted his hands firmly down on the mattress beneath him. He used all the strength he could muster to turn his body slightly. Making it easier to look at Tara without having to use so much of his peripheral vision.

“I never said your feelings weren’t invalid, nor have I tried to make them that way,” Jace said in a fake sincere tone. “You just find a way to say things that don’t have shit to do about anything. You do work of invalidating them for me, but that’s why I love ya.”

What do you do when you get burnt by that flame?

I wonder this question any time I am tasked to wrestle against a man like Darin Zion. How does a sensible human being take the ridicule and the disrespect that someone like him has suffered for years while keeping that smile on his face?

How do all the abuse and repeated failure keep someone like Zion’s love for High Octane Wrestling going strong?

Is Darin Zion co-dependent on HOW?

Does he not have any other options? Lindsay Troy decided to gamble on giving Zion a chance. I wonder how that has worked out for her in the long run. Does The Queen of the Ring, love having Darin Zion wearing PRIME blue proudly for the world to see?

Outside of Scott Stevens, Darin Zion has been the laughingstock of HOW for many years. What gives someone like him the right to walk around with his head held high, preaching that he knows what love truly is?

“This is why I feel unappreciated.” Tara placed her hands squarely on her hips. “You’re not grateful for anything that I’ve done or continue to try and do for you. This is why things are the way they are with us. I’m not happy and things aren’t getting any better.”

“You’re not happy?” The side of Jace’s mouth curled in contempt. “Well, why didn’t you just say so? Let me get right up out of this bed, sweep you off your feet, and head down to the car. That way, I can drive you anywhere you want to go. We can have dinner, go dancing, and I’ll buy you anything your little heart desires.”

Jace’s hands start to tighten into fists as his voice gets louder.

“Then, once you’re all happy and content, I’m sure I’ll forget all about having a broken neck and the fact that I had to retire from professional wrestling before I even turned 30!”

“You keep throwing that in my face!” Tara snapped back at her husband. “I’m the one that should be upset about that. I’m the one that’s suffering because of it. And to make matters worse… you didn’t even talk to me about retiring before you went and made that decision all by yourself!”

“Oh, right!” Jace spreads his arms wide. “I forgot that I needed to discuss it with you. Like I really had a choice in the matter. Let me just make a few calls and have handicap ramps installed as ringside all around the world. That way, I can roll my wheelchair-ridden ass into the ring and get back to work!”

If I have no idea about a certain subject? I keep my mouth shut. I watch, I observe, and I learn.

That concept is too foreign for people like Darin Zion. People like him have to be the loudest person in the room, at all times. They have to make sure their opinions and their feelings are known, no matter how unqualified they are to speak on certain topics.

Love is a topic that Darin Zion is unqualified to speak on. He’s on the same level of unqualified about love as he is being a credible Champion in HOW.

But, he comes out here week after week, preaching the good word of love.

He panders to anyone who will listen like a snake oil salesman making promises that he has no intention of keeping. Promises like defeating me on April 9th to become the new HOW LSD Champion with no substantial evidence to prove that it is nothing more than a pipedream.

The only leg that his claim has to stand on is his whole Love Still Dominates campaign.

So, does love make someone like Darin Zion stronger? Does it give him the ability to do things he’s never been able to do before?

Or is love a false sense of security that will only lead him into doing something dumb? Is love devoid of all logic and common sense?

“Everything is just a goddamn joke to you.” Tara hissed. “I swear if I didn’t have this ring on my finger that I would…”

Jace interrupted her.

“You would what, exactly?” Jace raised his eyebrow. “You want to leave? You want out of this little shitty arrangement we have here?!”

“That’s exactly my point!” Tara cut Jace off. “You see our marriage as a little shitty arrangement!!!”

“That’s not the fucking point and you know it!” Jace pointed his finger at Tara. “All you’ve done is piss and moan. I’m fighting depression and am high on painkillers for 18 hours each day. Yet, all you do is whine in my ear about your petty bullshit!”

Tara stares down at Jace with hatred in her eyes but then begins crying.

“Why don’t you just tell me that you don’t love me anymore?!” Tara raises her hands into the air and wipes away her tears so that it doesn’t ruin her makeup. “I’m not good enough, and I’ve never been good enough for you.”

“Bull-fucking-shit!” Jace spat.

“It’s true!” Tara argued while continuing to sob. “From the fact that you’ve always had a wandering eye. All the way back to the fact that when I won the HOW World Championship belt. You didn’t support me, you didn’t let me have my moment in the spotlight for once. You had to go and take the HOW World Championship belt away from your own wife!”

“Yup, because I booked the matches back in HOW,” Jace responded, condescendingly.

“Just because they booked the match, doesn’t mean you had to do it!” Tara blinks her eyes, fighting the tears, and then folds her arms under her chest. “You’re just selfish; you always have been.”

“Holy fucking Christ!” Jace exclaims.

“I just want you to care about me, and our baby!” Tara sobbed harder. “I gave birth to your child, and you act like you don’t even care! I’m literally posting pictures of her on Twitter all the time. Everyone else is liking the pics and commenting on how adorable she is, but you don’t even bother!”

“I’m sorry, are we talking about tweets right now?” Jace placed his hand over his mouth for a moment. “Are we talking about likes and tweets on FUCKING Twitter?!”

This is where love had gotten me.

This is the same thing that will happen if someone is unfortunate enough to put their love and support behind Darin Zion. The blind faith in the love he preaches will have you sitting in the stands week in and week out with your fingers crossed, only to be disappointed every time.

It will have you buying hideous merchandise that the most flamboyant gay man; wouldn’t be caught dead in.

It’ll have you as a grown man or grown woman, sitting in public honking like a goddamn Goose. It’ll lead you to endless embarrassment and bullying by your own peers. The love that Darin Zion peddles will have you coming up with excuses as to why he didn’t win ‘insert name of a title here,’ to people who aren’t brainwashed by foolishness.

Tara takes her wedding ring off of her finger and throws it at Jace.

“I’m done!” Tara turns around and heads toward the door. “I hope you enjoy being alone and paying child support. I’m taking our daughter with me, and you’ll never see her again!”

Jace begins to chuckle a bit.

“You think I’m going to pay child support?” Jace holds his ribs. “That’s not going to happen. Let me tell you a little secret, sweetheart.” Jace cleared his throat. “I was overjoyed about our daughter, but something didn’t seem right. So, while you were off competing, I had my sister go and get her DNA tested.”

Tara’s eyes widen.

“The Virgin Mary, you are not, but what did I expect? I tried to turn a whore into a housewife. The point is, you can take YOUR daughter with you because I will not be paying child support on a child that isn’t mine.”

Tara marches back up to the side of the bed.

“Clearly, whatever test you ran on OUR daughter wasn’t done properly.” Tara stumbles over her words. “I had your baby because I love you. I’ve wanted to have your child from the moment we met. I even named her Peyton, just for you and–”

Jace cuts off Tara.

“Oh, stop your fucking lying!” He says sternly.

That love will eventually turn on you.

That love will one day stab you right in the back and watch you bleed out. If you don’t believe me, go ask Bobbinette Carey. Ask her about the many times love has left her feeling broken and empty inside.

Ask her about all the times her declarations of love and friendship ultimately rang hollow when she stole the HOW World Championship belt from Shane Reynolds at War Games. Or when she cost Scottywood that title in the match that he had to give up his share of the company to get.

Darin Zion wants to win and promote my LSD Championship as a symbol of love. Zion has dedicated himself to doing anything for love. But trust me, he won’t do that.

Tara stares at Jace, and then her expression turns cold.

“Fine,” Tara says with venom in her voice. “Yes, Peyton isn’t yours, and yes I cheated on you. You didn’t show me the love, affection, and care I deserve. So, I found someone better. Someone happy to be the father of my child. Someone who actually cherishes me.”

“Let me guess.” Jace holds up his hand. “He slid into your DMs, said ‘Yo, bitch, let me stick it between your cheeks’ and then you spread wide like the Red Sea.”

Tara raises his fist into the air like she was going to punch Jace. He cut his eyes up at her and dared her.

“Do it, go ahead and fucking do it!” Jace demanded, but Tara lowered her fist. She turned around again and headed toward the door.

“I’ll have my lawyer send the divorce papers to you to sign.” She said sharply. “You don’t have to worry about me taking anything from you. I already got all that I could ever want and more.”

Tara runs her fingers through her hair as Jace grabbed a hold of his phone off of the nightstand.

“Please, don’t go!” Jace said mockingly. “Look! I’m tweeting, I’m tweeting!”

Tara exited the bedroom and slammed the door behind her as hard as she could. Jace threw his phone at the door as hard as he possibly could, in his condition, out of sheer frustration.

So tell me, what is your true definition of love?

—–

The Kingdom
Denver, Colorado
Thursday April 6th, 2023

“I asked you, what is love, but I’ve yet to receive an answer.”

The voice rang out through the pitch darkness that enveloped the screen. Once the person stopped talking, the only sound that followed was the sound of footsteps. When the footsteps ended, a switch is flipped before the entire scene becomes illuminated.

We find the location to be the newly filled building known as The Kingdom. It was Jace Parker Davidson’s answer to TEN-X Wrestling where he could train, teach, and mold both himself and future students into World Champions. The man himself can be seen standing front and center in front of all the equipment and items found inside the soon-to-be-opened facility. He has his eyepatch over his damaged eye and the LSD Championship belt over his right shoulder.

“It’s fine, though. I’m certain that Darin Zion himself doesn’t even know the answer to that question. For Darin Zion, love is just another failed attempt at having charisma. Something that he has adopted a personality trait, thinking that somehow it’ll be the winning Mega Millions lottery ticket to Championship gold.”

Jace shakes his head slowly.

“That’s not how love really works. But what does Darin Zion really know about love? I guess someone should go and track down Meredith to find out the answer to that question. If memory serves me correctly, didn’t he give her up just to walk around acting like a giant douchebag? When placed on a scale, Zion chose to go around putting the letter Z on every other word that came out of his mouth over the touch of a woman.”

Jace rolls his good eye.

“Maybe, she wasn’t the one? Maybe, she didn’t fulfill his needs, as Brian Hollywood could. And what has he done to fill that void in his life? He’s found a bunch of male friends to ride around in a ‘Love Convoy’ with him. One of them has a woman in his life, and they all live together in this thing. WOW! That’s really awesome, Darin. You got all of this merchandise and ring gear made to promote love. Yet, the closest thing he has to love is listening to his buddy bang his girl through the thin walls of that convoy.”

Jace grimaces as he adjusts the LSD Championship belt on his shoulder.

“Poor shit for brains, Zion. You’ve been kicked and put down for years, but now, you’ve decided to show love to the world. You’ve decided that you need to step up to me and take this LSD Championship belt as your own. You plan on changing it into the Love Still Dominates title. What the fuck are you going to do? Hold matches inside cozy midwestern living rooms, and decided over who has the best heart-to-heart discussion. Maybe, you’ll make a rule that no matter win, lose, or draw, competitors must hug each other and hold on tight, way past the point of it being awkward.”

Jace lets out an exaggerated sigh.

“But see, Darin thinks he’s playing for keeps now. He thinks that he’s hitting me where it hurts by talking about my divorce from Tara. Making jokes about Twitter or my sex life. Like, I haven’t heard anyone do that before. This isn’t even the first time that Darin has tried to throw Tara in my face. How did that work for you, Zion? You spout all this self-righteous bullshit about evolving and how I’m the same guy I was eight years ago. Here is the difference, Darin. I might be the same guy I was eight years ago, but that’s because eight years ago, I was an unstoppable monster. I was one of the most feared wrestlers in HOW. Fast forward to today, I ended last year holding three different Championship belts. I’m a proud member of the HOW Hall of Fame.”

Jace raised his hand with his Hall of Fame ring on it and shows it off.

“If it ain’t broke, why fix it? Why change a winning formula? YOU have had to change or rather ‘evolve’ time and time again because all you do is swing and miss. It doesn’t matter how many times you step up to the plate, Darin. You can’t knock it out of the park. You’re constantly trying to change who are you because you’re the guy that led HOW in losses not long ago. So, what makes you think you have the right to talk to me about how to go about any aspect of my life, inside or outside of the ring? What makes you an expert on anything when it comes to evolving when you haven’t had a Championship belt in years? When you’ve been the one BEGGING me to give you a shot at MY title.”

Jace rolls his shoulders a bit as his nostrils flare.

“Take a look in the mirror, Darin. What you call evolution is nothing more than you ripping off anything and everything that you can get your filthy hands on. Christopher America went and married the HOW World Championship belt. So, what do you do? You talk about being in love with the LSD Championship belt. Lee Best corners the market on 97red, so you decide to market 97purple. All of the incoherent word salad that you vomit would actually mean something if you’ve done anything worthwhile in your career. You want to talk about how I don’t care about the LSD Championship. That I would rather go chasing after the HOW World Championship belt.”

Jace raises his free hand into the air and slaps the gold plate of the LSD Championship belt.

“You’d have a point if I wasn’t the GREATEST LSD Champion in HOW history. This reign will have surpassed 250 days when we step inside the ring in Oklahoma. I’ve held this LSD Championship belt for more days, in total, than every single Championship belt you’ve ever held in your entire career, combined. When you lose in Oklahoma, you’ll switch up and act like another Championship belt is your ‘destiny.’ Which one will it be? Christopher America is the HOW World Champion. I am the HOW LSD Champion, and Dan Ryan is the HOTv Champion. You’re not beating any of us. What are you doing to do? Suck Brian Hollywood’s dick and hope for a reign at the HOTv World Tag Team Champions?”

Jace groans.

“How many times do I have to say it? You are not worthy, Darin Zion. Consider every HOW Championship to be Mjölnir. No matter how hard you try, you’ll never again lift one to place on your shoulder or waist. You’re a bootleg wrestler that copies whatever he thinks is a winning strategy and butchers it, in an attempt to be relevant. We got members of The Final Alliance running around crashing Proms, trying to relive their days of glory when they were actually cool. Darin Zion would have given his left testicle to be one of the hopeless losers that got bullied during that entire shitshow.”

Jace lets out a sarcastic chuckle.

“How long before you come out with your own Letter Jackets, Zion? You’re not a serious professional wrestler, you’re a goddamn fanboy. You’re the fucking NERD that Solex and the rest of them talk about daily. I’ll be damned if I allow you to turn this Championship into a joke. There will be no love when it comes to this belt. There will only be blood spilled and violence. But I know you’re riding high right now. You’re ranked #2 in the standings. Something you said yourself that you ‘can’t believe you accomplished at this point in your career.’ Motherfucker, it’s barely April, there are still eight more months in the year. You ain’t accomplished shit. However, you’re on cloud nine because you’ve gotten praise, and people have been talking about ‘how well’ you’ve done lately.”

Jace scoffs.

“Only losers need pats on the back, Darin. You might not realize it, but someone that needs groups of people to encourage them and praise them. Having their work boasted about when they have fuck all to show for it. That’s not acknowledgment; it’s called pity. People don’t see you as one of the best. No one believes you’re the second-best wrestler in HOW. They praise you because good old Darin ALMOST won that match, or Zion ALMOST won that title that one time. Those same people don’t praise me for being successful because when you’re among the best, greatness is the bare minimum, not a shocking surprise.”

Jace cranks his neck a bit.

“But you need that pity, Zion. You need to chase that hug because it’s the only thing that keeps you going. That keeps you trying. You preach about love, but there is no love inside of your body. You’re not some happy-go-lucky idiot that tries hard. You’re a bitter little man who has an irrational belief that you’re entitled to more than you’re actually worth. It eats you up inside that you have to fight at the last minute just to get on PPV cards. That you’re barely put into main-event matches. You hate that you haven’t won a Championship belt in this era or that no one believes you belong in the Hall of Fame under your own merit.”

A smirk plays on Jace’s lips.

“This is why you went and joined PRIME. This was your middle finger to Lee Best and everyone on the HOW roster. You expected everyone to change their tune, to beg you not to go and promise to value you the way you feel like you should be valued. Sadly, the reality is that everyone enjoyed a Zion-free HOW so much, that no one wanted you to come back. You claim to love, but all you get in return is a burning sense of loathing.”

Jace speaks a little bit louder.

“So, you want to know what love is, Darin? Love is pain. Love is heartbreak. There is nothing tough or real about it when it comes to you. It’s not some hot-button word that you think you can trademark your way into winning Championship gold. Love is that feeling deep in your heart that will cloud your better judgment and make you run at full speed right into a buzzsaw. Even though you’ve run right into that buzzsaw over and over again through the years. Love is thinking that offering people an ugly t-shirt and getting them to honk at you will soothe the pain that I am going to inflict on you Sunday night. Love will tell you a lie about how you’re a contender for my title instead of just being number eight. Love is dumb, blind, and deaf. This is why instead of heeding the warning, instead of avoiding the punishment you’ve experienced firsthand many times. You’ll sit there and come up with a copious amount of depth perception jokes.”

Jace raised the LSD Championship belt high in front of the camera.

“Love hurts, Darin, and I plan on hurting you really badly in the main event of Chaos. It doesn’t matter what the stipulation is. As long as I can take a sledgehammer and crack open that ripe watermelon you call a skull, then you’re going to leave Oklahoma empty-handed. In one fluid motion, my boot is going to drive your skull through the canvas, and I’m going to enjoy watching you plummet further down in the standings. You can call me toxic, you can call me a broken record, and you can call me anything you want to call me. It doesn’t change the fact that you’ll never, ever accomplish 1/4th of the things I have in my career. I am going to shatter the illusions of what you think love is. When I am done, you’ll–”

Jace is interrupted by the sound of someone entering the building. His face scrunches in confusion as he pauses in the middle of his own promo.

“Who the fuck has decided to burst in here unannounced? Don’t you know that I’m a busy man, and I’ve got no time to–”

The words become stuck in Jace’s throat, unable to come out as soon as he lays eyes on the intruder. A knot begins to form, making it difficult to breathe, as the person smiles widely.

“Hello again… son.”