The latest video uploaded to FWrestling.com on the lead-up to their biggest-ever event, Battlemania, has an inspiring title: 'Living The Dream'.
Viewers who click through, enticed by the original title if nothing else, are faced with a somewhat unexpected opening scene, depicting a run-down gym. As the camera pans over all the sparring and bodybuilding equipment to slowly reveal a boxing and wrestling ring set up in the centre of the room, the only soundtrack to the entire piece is scattered, excited shouting. Only when tiny, fast-moving figures begin to be visible inside the ring does a voice-over track make its presence known:
'Who am I? You sure you wanna know? The story of my life is not for the faint of heart. If somebody told you it was a happy tale...if somebody told you I was just your average ordinary guy, not a care in the world...somebody lied.'
As the indistinguishable figures continue to spar inside the squared circle, the footage - which looks not only outdated in terms of video quality, but also clearly home-made - shifts to a shot of an attractive blonde teenage girl, sitting next to a boy roughly her own age.
'But let me assure you, this story...like every other story worth telling...is all about a girl. This girl. The girl next door. Jenny Lindberg. The woman I loved since before I even liked girls. I'd like to tell you that's me next to her.'
The shot pans away slightly in order to bring a third person into the proceedings - another boy, who's excitedly standing up, fist-pumping and yelling 'Get 'im, Gary!'
'Heck, I'd even take him.'
All of a sudden, a lumpy, free-falling form obscures the camera view, landing on the floor with an audible THUD!
'Get up, ya goddamn Vanllla Midget!'
'...that's me.'
The shot is suddenly dominated by the bloodied, bruised face of a young man, his entire expression contorted in pain, spittle flying out of his mouth along with what appears to be a tooth. It is on this appealing image that the frame freezes, as the narrator chuckles:
'No, I'm not Spider-Man. My name is Jason Orion. And this...is my life.'
At this point, the feed cuts to even older footage, this time of a tiny baby flailing its arms and legs wildly in the throes of a crying fit. The narrator's voice takes on a slightly playful tone as he continues:
'There I am as a baby. As you can see, I wrestled my way out of my Mom's womb, and then never stopped!'
More old footage, this time of two small children riding a scooter around someone's back yard. One is the blonde girl from earlier in the video, except ten or so years younger. The other is a shorter-than-average boy with brown hair.
'That's me and Jenny in Nana's back yard. We've known one another since we were kids. Which is why I should have seen the friend-zoning coming.'
As the two children run inside, beckoned - one assumes - by an inaudible voice, the narrator sighs. No time to dwell on past occurrences, however, as the next shot is of the same small boy excitedly pointing at an old cathode-ray television. On it, the shapes of famous wrestling superstars are just barely discernible. As the boy turns his attention back to the TV, he chomps at a chocolate chip cookie.
'There I am watching wrestling. At this point, I already knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. The only problem? I didn't have the body for it. Didn't stop me from dreaming, though.'
The shot changes again, this time to a shot of the same small boy, still roughly the same age, holding up a replica wrestling belt to the camera while shouting 'WORLD CHAMPION!!!'
'See?'
At this point, a quick montage takes over the video. We see our protagonist, in the gawky, awkward pre-teen phase, locking horns with several other boys and performing something resembling wrestling moves. It is obviously play-wrestling, however, and no one is getting hurt; clearly just a group of friends emulating their televised role models.
'Dreaming wasn't enough, though. I wasn't happy just doing armdrags to my friends and wondering 'what if' the rest of my life. I knew if I wanted to live this dream, I'd have to do something about it.
So I did.'
At this point, rousing music begins to play, in what is this video's fanciest production trick thus far. Underneath the epic track, a slideshow begins, showing seemingly unrelated photos of the video's subject punching a sandbag, wearing a uniform for a popular fast food chain, and graduating. The narration helps viewers make sense of all this, simultaneously tying all the loose ends together:
'It started in middle school. I tried to join the wrestling team, but Coach Wilkes wouldn't let me. Not big enough, he said. Everyone would run me over. So I waited. I waited three more years, scrimping and saving, storing every penny my grandmother gave me. I didn't drink, didn't smoke, didn't buy a car. I didn't spend any money I didn't absolutely have to spend. I knew what my dream was, and I knew what I had to do to get to it.
And eventually, I did.'
Here, the video cuts to a photo of the same young man, now virtually an adult, wearing a classic wrestling singlet, raising a closed fist to the camera as he gives a thumbs-up with his other hand.
'It wasn't easy, though. It didn't happen right away. When I first scoped out wrestling schools in my area, I found out I couldn't afford any of them. It took me another whole summer before I had the money. A whole summer of flipping burgers instead of hitting the beach. Of picking up extra shifts and overtime instead of playing sports or going to the amusement park. Of my grandmother and my friends barely seeing me because I was too busy making sure my dream could happen.
And eventually, it did.'
Back to video footage, in time to watch the protagonist take all manner of painful falls and landings, as he gets loudly berated by a grizzled older man in a branded t-shirt. Rather than sound angry, however, the narrator humorously quips:
'That's when I found out dreams could be painful.'
More bumps, as the voice continues:
'Still, I didn't quit. I didn't give up. I'd come too far, worked too hard. I survived everything that wrestling school had to throw at me. Every spirit-breaking trainer. Every larger, meaner, stronger opponent. Everything. I knew how far I could go, and I wasn't about to let a few bruises and setbacks stop me from getting there.
Which, eventually, I did.'
Cut again, this time to a far more professionally-filmed video. A watermark on the bottom right-hand corner informs viewers that these are televised matches they are watching, as Jason Orion takes on a variety of different opponents, most of them bigger than himself. At length, the match footage is replaced by a shot of a referee handing the protagonist a belt, which he then holds up triumphantly.
'See that? That's me in the big leagues. United Wrestling League, to be exact. And I've just retained my UWL American Championship against not one, but two opponents. By the time you see me fight at BattleMania, I may have defended it again and become the longest-reigning UWL American Champion of all time. Or I may not, and still hold my head up high knowing I tried my hardest and made that title relevant again. I'm a valid, fighting Champion, I got signed to an actual, up-and-coming company and I shut up everyone who ever made fun of me for being a smaller wrestler. Clearly, this is the end of the road. I've reached my goal. I've made it. Right?
Wrong.'
Here, the feed once again changes, transitioning to a webcam close-up of the same young man whose life path viewers have been following. He has a title belt around one shoulder, a small monkey perched on the other, and he is staring a determined hole into the camera as he continues to talk:
'You see, for a Champion, there is no end of the road. True Champions keeps perfecting themselves, perfecting their craft. And their journey never ends. They're always a work in progress. You know why? 'Cause the only way the journey would end would be if they were perfect. And nobody's perfect.'
Jason grins at the camera briefly before continuing:
'So no, my journey is not complete. Far from it. In fact, I'm about to take my next step on it. And that step...is BattleMania.'
A pause for effect, then:
'Why BattleMania, you ask? Well, because I've never been in a Battle Royal yet, and it's that one thing every wrestler wants to do, isn't it? Everybody wants to be the one to win it, the one to last the longest, the one to eliminate the most people. Me? I just want to put on a good show. I'm honored that I even get to participate in something like this, to be honest. Me, with my four matches in the big leagues, facing off against guys like Mr. Rottentreats, guys I grew up watching and respecting? How could I be anything less than honored about something like that?'
Another brief pause, then Jason resumes his address:
'Now, am I gonna win it? I don't know. Probably not. I mean, have you seen the level of talent going into that thing? Not just the legends like Rottentreats, either - I've heard good things about a bunch of those guys. Men and women. People like Reya Serra. MJ Bell. Stacy Jones. My own fellow ACE rep Dexter Anthony. These are all great wrestling talents, regardless of how much experience they have. I may not respect everyone in that Battle Royal for their personality, but I respect every single one of them for wrestling ability.'
There is another split-second respite before the ACE up-and-comer moves on to appraise himself:
'And then...there's me. Five-foot-six-inches, 150-pounds of unknown quantity. Most of you had never heard of me before now. Some of you will probably never look me up again. To many of you, I'm probably just a little half-pint who's way out of his league and dreaming too big. You'll probably not even focus on me. I'm sure you'll have someone in that ring you'll be gunning for. Someone you may have beef with. A rival. A fellow roster member. A friend. Me? I don't have anyone I'm aiming for. I don't know anyone, and I don't have beef with anyone. I'm going into Battlemania to compete. And compete is what I'm good at doing.'
A longer pause, as Jason once again flashes his confident grin towards the camera. Then, his expression once again becomes intense and focused, as he concludes:
'I've dedicated the better part of my life, at least fifteen years, to becoming a respected professional wrestler. Last year, I finally made it. Now, the only way to go is up. On March 18, at BattleMania, win or lose, I'm going to show everyone in that ring what a UWL Champion and ACE star can bring to the table. I'll show every single fan in attendance that dreams can come true as long as you work towards them. And most importantly, I'll prove to everyone - in the ring, in the stands, in the back - that a little dog can put up a big fight.'
Jason stands up, leaning in towards the camera as he returns to the motif from early in the video for his sign-off line:
'Who am I? Are you sure you wanna know?
I'm Jason Orion!'
And with this, the UWL American Champion and up-and-coming superstar walks off-camera, apparently leaving the video to wrap itself up on its own.
Viewers who click through, enticed by the original title if nothing else, are faced with a somewhat unexpected opening scene, depicting a run-down gym. As the camera pans over all the sparring and bodybuilding equipment to slowly reveal a boxing and wrestling ring set up in the centre of the room, the only soundtrack to the entire piece is scattered, excited shouting. Only when tiny, fast-moving figures begin to be visible inside the ring does a voice-over track make its presence known:
'Who am I? You sure you wanna know? The story of my life is not for the faint of heart. If somebody told you it was a happy tale...if somebody told you I was just your average ordinary guy, not a care in the world...somebody lied.'
As the indistinguishable figures continue to spar inside the squared circle, the footage - which looks not only outdated in terms of video quality, but also clearly home-made - shifts to a shot of an attractive blonde teenage girl, sitting next to a boy roughly her own age.
'But let me assure you, this story...like every other story worth telling...is all about a girl. This girl. The girl next door. Jenny Lindberg. The woman I loved since before I even liked girls. I'd like to tell you that's me next to her.'
The shot pans away slightly in order to bring a third person into the proceedings - another boy, who's excitedly standing up, fist-pumping and yelling 'Get 'im, Gary!'
'Heck, I'd even take him.'
All of a sudden, a lumpy, free-falling form obscures the camera view, landing on the floor with an audible THUD!
'Get up, ya goddamn Vanllla Midget!'
'...that's me.'
The shot is suddenly dominated by the bloodied, bruised face of a young man, his entire expression contorted in pain, spittle flying out of his mouth along with what appears to be a tooth. It is on this appealing image that the frame freezes, as the narrator chuckles:
'No, I'm not Spider-Man. My name is Jason Orion. And this...is my life.'
At this point, the feed cuts to even older footage, this time of a tiny baby flailing its arms and legs wildly in the throes of a crying fit. The narrator's voice takes on a slightly playful tone as he continues:
'There I am as a baby. As you can see, I wrestled my way out of my Mom's womb, and then never stopped!'
More old footage, this time of two small children riding a scooter around someone's back yard. One is the blonde girl from earlier in the video, except ten or so years younger. The other is a shorter-than-average boy with brown hair.
'That's me and Jenny in Nana's back yard. We've known one another since we were kids. Which is why I should have seen the friend-zoning coming.'
As the two children run inside, beckoned - one assumes - by an inaudible voice, the narrator sighs. No time to dwell on past occurrences, however, as the next shot is of the same small boy excitedly pointing at an old cathode-ray television. On it, the shapes of famous wrestling superstars are just barely discernible. As the boy turns his attention back to the TV, he chomps at a chocolate chip cookie.
'There I am watching wrestling. At this point, I already knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. The only problem? I didn't have the body for it. Didn't stop me from dreaming, though.'
The shot changes again, this time to a shot of the same small boy, still roughly the same age, holding up a replica wrestling belt to the camera while shouting 'WORLD CHAMPION!!!'
'See?'
At this point, a quick montage takes over the video. We see our protagonist, in the gawky, awkward pre-teen phase, locking horns with several other boys and performing something resembling wrestling moves. It is obviously play-wrestling, however, and no one is getting hurt; clearly just a group of friends emulating their televised role models.
'Dreaming wasn't enough, though. I wasn't happy just doing armdrags to my friends and wondering 'what if' the rest of my life. I knew if I wanted to live this dream, I'd have to do something about it.
So I did.'
At this point, rousing music begins to play, in what is this video's fanciest production trick thus far. Underneath the epic track, a slideshow begins, showing seemingly unrelated photos of the video's subject punching a sandbag, wearing a uniform for a popular fast food chain, and graduating. The narration helps viewers make sense of all this, simultaneously tying all the loose ends together:
'It started in middle school. I tried to join the wrestling team, but Coach Wilkes wouldn't let me. Not big enough, he said. Everyone would run me over. So I waited. I waited three more years, scrimping and saving, storing every penny my grandmother gave me. I didn't drink, didn't smoke, didn't buy a car. I didn't spend any money I didn't absolutely have to spend. I knew what my dream was, and I knew what I had to do to get to it.
And eventually, I did.'
Here, the video cuts to a photo of the same young man, now virtually an adult, wearing a classic wrestling singlet, raising a closed fist to the camera as he gives a thumbs-up with his other hand.
'It wasn't easy, though. It didn't happen right away. When I first scoped out wrestling schools in my area, I found out I couldn't afford any of them. It took me another whole summer before I had the money. A whole summer of flipping burgers instead of hitting the beach. Of picking up extra shifts and overtime instead of playing sports or going to the amusement park. Of my grandmother and my friends barely seeing me because I was too busy making sure my dream could happen.
And eventually, it did.'
Back to video footage, in time to watch the protagonist take all manner of painful falls and landings, as he gets loudly berated by a grizzled older man in a branded t-shirt. Rather than sound angry, however, the narrator humorously quips:
'That's when I found out dreams could be painful.'
More bumps, as the voice continues:
'Still, I didn't quit. I didn't give up. I'd come too far, worked too hard. I survived everything that wrestling school had to throw at me. Every spirit-breaking trainer. Every larger, meaner, stronger opponent. Everything. I knew how far I could go, and I wasn't about to let a few bruises and setbacks stop me from getting there.
Which, eventually, I did.'
Cut again, this time to a far more professionally-filmed video. A watermark on the bottom right-hand corner informs viewers that these are televised matches they are watching, as Jason Orion takes on a variety of different opponents, most of them bigger than himself. At length, the match footage is replaced by a shot of a referee handing the protagonist a belt, which he then holds up triumphantly.
'See that? That's me in the big leagues. United Wrestling League, to be exact. And I've just retained my UWL American Championship against not one, but two opponents. By the time you see me fight at BattleMania, I may have defended it again and become the longest-reigning UWL American Champion of all time. Or I may not, and still hold my head up high knowing I tried my hardest and made that title relevant again. I'm a valid, fighting Champion, I got signed to an actual, up-and-coming company and I shut up everyone who ever made fun of me for being a smaller wrestler. Clearly, this is the end of the road. I've reached my goal. I've made it. Right?
Wrong.'
Here, the feed once again changes, transitioning to a webcam close-up of the same young man whose life path viewers have been following. He has a title belt around one shoulder, a small monkey perched on the other, and he is staring a determined hole into the camera as he continues to talk:
'You see, for a Champion, there is no end of the road. True Champions keeps perfecting themselves, perfecting their craft. And their journey never ends. They're always a work in progress. You know why? 'Cause the only way the journey would end would be if they were perfect. And nobody's perfect.'
Jason grins at the camera briefly before continuing:
'So no, my journey is not complete. Far from it. In fact, I'm about to take my next step on it. And that step...is BattleMania.'
A pause for effect, then:
'Why BattleMania, you ask? Well, because I've never been in a Battle Royal yet, and it's that one thing every wrestler wants to do, isn't it? Everybody wants to be the one to win it, the one to last the longest, the one to eliminate the most people. Me? I just want to put on a good show. I'm honored that I even get to participate in something like this, to be honest. Me, with my four matches in the big leagues, facing off against guys like Mr. Rottentreats, guys I grew up watching and respecting? How could I be anything less than honored about something like that?'
Another brief pause, then Jason resumes his address:
'Now, am I gonna win it? I don't know. Probably not. I mean, have you seen the level of talent going into that thing? Not just the legends like Rottentreats, either - I've heard good things about a bunch of those guys. Men and women. People like Reya Serra. MJ Bell. Stacy Jones. My own fellow ACE rep Dexter Anthony. These are all great wrestling talents, regardless of how much experience they have. I may not respect everyone in that Battle Royal for their personality, but I respect every single one of them for wrestling ability.'
There is another split-second respite before the ACE up-and-comer moves on to appraise himself:
'And then...there's me. Five-foot-six-inches, 150-pounds of unknown quantity. Most of you had never heard of me before now. Some of you will probably never look me up again. To many of you, I'm probably just a little half-pint who's way out of his league and dreaming too big. You'll probably not even focus on me. I'm sure you'll have someone in that ring you'll be gunning for. Someone you may have beef with. A rival. A fellow roster member. A friend. Me? I don't have anyone I'm aiming for. I don't know anyone, and I don't have beef with anyone. I'm going into Battlemania to compete. And compete is what I'm good at doing.'
A longer pause, as Jason once again flashes his confident grin towards the camera. Then, his expression once again becomes intense and focused, as he concludes:
'I've dedicated the better part of my life, at least fifteen years, to becoming a respected professional wrestler. Last year, I finally made it. Now, the only way to go is up. On March 18, at BattleMania, win or lose, I'm going to show everyone in that ring what a UWL Champion and ACE star can bring to the table. I'll show every single fan in attendance that dreams can come true as long as you work towards them. And most importantly, I'll prove to everyone - in the ring, in the stands, in the back - that a little dog can put up a big fight.'
Jason stands up, leaning in towards the camera as he returns to the motif from early in the video for his sign-off line:
'Who am I? Are you sure you wanna know?
I'm Jason Orion!'
And with this, the UWL American Champion and up-and-coming superstar walks off-camera, apparently leaving the video to wrap itself up on its own.
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