๐ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐๐ง'๐ญ ๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ง๐
๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ญ #๐: ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐จ๐๐ค '๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐๐ง ๐๐๐ญ๐ญ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ค๐ก๐๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ฌ
"๐๐๐ข ๐ก๐ฉ๐๐๐ ๐ค๐'๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ก๐ฉ๐๐ก?"
It was a question that even now, so many years and so many miles later, stuck with Matt Jackson. At the time, it had been so innocent. They were just Nick and Matt Massie when Nick had first posed the question. It was before the glitz, the glamour. It was even before the early days of the wrestling ring in the backyard.ย They had just been children the first time Nick had asked that ever present question.
Ten-year-old Matt and six-year-old Nick sat side-by-side on the floor of their small family home, a giant bowl of popcorn between them. It was a weekly ritual on Monday nights. After dinner was bath time and then a snack before they were sent to brush their teeth and then to their rooms promptly at ten for bed. Any other night of the week what they watched while having that snack changed. But Mondays?
Monday was for wrestling.
On the sceen was one of Matt's favorite tag teams, Owen Hart and Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart. Matt had always liked Owen. He was small, but he was quick. If there was any wrestler he wanted to be when he grew up, it was Owen Hart. The fact that he tag teamed with a family member was just icing on the cake. It proved that one day, if Nick's dreams were the same, they could also be a viable tag team together.ย
A popcorn kernel crunched under Matt's teeth as Owen Hart bounced off of the ropes, attempting to land a move on Fatu of The Headhunters. "C'mon! That shoulda worked, Matty!" Nick shouted as Fatu quickly caught Owen, wincing when he saw the subsequent slam, "They're real good, huh? You're right, Owen is the coolest!"
"Right?" Matt beamed in agreement at his little brother.
"You think we could do that one day? Be wrestlers? You think we'll ever be like that?" Nick moved to lay on his stomach, cheeks propped up on his hands and feet kicking in the air.
Matt leaned back on his palms, the skin pressing into the carpet behind him. His eyes were still glued to the screen, where Owen was laying on the mat, being pinned by one of the giants on the other side of the ring. "No, no, we're not gonna be like them, Nicky."
Nick looked over his shoulder at his brother, a confused look on his face, "Why not, Matty?"
Matt's brown eyes shone with confidence, "Cause when we wrestle? We'll be better."