Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Author's Note: I was just thinking last night it probably isn't always easy to be a wrestler, and I wrote this. It's sad and I think it's also very important for any fan of any wrestler to read. It's not just Alex, all our favorites sacrifice so much for our entertainment and sometimes I don't think people appreciate it, lol. Enjoy!
It wasn't easy being Alex Shelley. Everyone always wanted to be a wrestler, but they don't know the pain that comes with it. People expect an easy ride, a job to pay the bills, and a million people who adored them. Yeah, right.
Sometimes even seeing the ones he loved couldn't make up for the exhaustion and pain wrestling put him through. Ever since he was a little kid, he dreamed of being a pro wrestler, and now living it, it wasn't all it was supposed to be. It wasn't easy, how it seemed when he was a kid. It was really hard to leave everyone behind and work for a dream that wasn't always giving in return to him. It was really hard when he fell to the mat and a pain ripped through his body that wasn't supposed to. It was really hard when little sleep left for a day of haze and coffee, leaving for restless nights of aching bones and sore bodies.
A memory worth keeping and remembering was always stuck in with a thousand he'd wish to forget.
Yeah, the cheering fans were nice. And hey, he did get a decent paycheck for it. Even a world tag title or two. Some admirers, people who wished to be him… but they didn't know what it was like. He hated his theme for it said lies. He never saw wrestling for fame and fortune. He never wanted to be that guy, the one who sold out for the money, who didn't really care about his job. He saw it as a childhood dream that wasn't perfect, but was still his. A job and a way to make a living for the ones he loved. Someday retiring and having a family, a little Alex Shelley running around.
Many didn't even bother to look beyond his character, beyond the "Alex Shelley" they all knew and loved; his sarcastic expressions and words, and charming smile. When you did look behind all of that, you saw a sometimes broken and moody man, aching for a break.
And then he'd win a match. He'd see a fan's face in the crowd, he'd want to smile. He'd try and smile. After all, it was those fans who decided to see a show, pay for a live event, wait in line for hours, sometimes just for one match. His match?
Maybe that one fan would look past him as a wrestler, look deeper into his soul.
It was always for the fans. For sometimes, it was only the fans that kept him going and made his sometimes broken dream a worthwhile reality.
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