Here Comes The Pain

Chapter One - Opportunity

"Welcome to a whole new world of opportunities for you", they told me. Luckily, at that moment, rather than giving them the finger like I wanted to, I saw the opportunity they were talking about. In reality, I was already in that world the whole time – they just hadn't noticed me yet. That was going to change.

24 years old, Jarrod Maeda sat in Mr. McMahon's office, feeling like he was in high school all over again. Vince, in his business suit, was intimidating in person, having an unseen presence about him.

"I heard you've been complaining a lot lately about your future in this company, Jarrod." Mr. McMahon spoke in a simple tone of voice. This was the first time Jarrod had ever talked to him face to face, and every word he said was nerve-wracking, as it could make or break what little of a career he had.

"It isn't as bad as it sounds." Jarrod smiled weakly. He ran a hand through his short black hair, and even though his six foot two height and his 240 pounds probably made him the bigger man, he certainly didn't feel like it.

"Then explain the reasons behind the 'incident' on Heat." Jarrod knew Mr. McMahon was going to bring up the issue – that was why he was there.

"There are only a certain amount of times I will willingly job for you." Jarrod replied, and knew what he was saying was absolutely honest. Mr. McMahon spent a moment looking into his eyes, sighing, before continuing the discussion.

"Let's cut to the chase, tell me your story." Mr. McMahon was direct, and commanding even if his tone didn't seem so.

"Two years ago I was in OVW, and a couple of months ago I was told I was getting picked up by the WWE." Jarrod explained. If Mr. McMahon's body had moved in just the slightest bit, he had not seen it. "But ever since then I've been on and off Heat, and I've been given a row of excuses on why I have to job and not be allowed to utilize any of my main skills. I'm beginning to wonder if my career's going anywhere."

Mr. McMahon tried to remember the last rookie wrestler who had approached him to put him in the main promotions, as all the other times he went to them. He stared across at the tanned, young man, and began to wonder whether it was a good thing or not that he was the first in a while. "I see your predicament. It's alright to want your time in the spotlight. But let me ask you this, if we had put you in one of our main promotions and had given you the task of jobbing to one of our more prominent superstars, would that have given you a good reputation or had a good effect on your character for a future time?"

"Are you trying to say you were saving me for a bigger moment?" Jarrod replied cynically, adjusting himself in the chair.

"It isn't as good as it sounds." Vince smiled for once, before continuing. "Persistence is a good thing, but don't think that and stubbornness will get you what you want in this business all the time, Jarrod."

"So does that mean what I think it means?" Jarrod asked. "Good news?"

"It all depends on you."

"Where does that put me for the next few weeks?"

"Maybe a couple of dark matches, and then we'll see." Vince replied. "No promises."

"No promises?"

"Enjoy your match."

--0--

"Hey, check out the new guy!"

"Where do you think he's from?"

"I think I saw him losing on Heat once."

"Wait, was he that guy who – "

Jarrod turned around from where he was sitting in the locker room, preparing himself for his first dark match during RAW. He looked over to see Charlie Haas walking over to him, inviting himself to sit next to him. Whoever Charlie had been talking to had left.

"What's your name, kid?" Charlie asked, with a smile on his face. A genuine smile, Jarrod noticed.

"Jarrod Maeda." Jarrod replied.

"Where do you have to be from to get a name like that?" Charlie asked, talking as if the two were old friends. Charlie was in his normal wrestling outfit, while Jarrod was in his blue trunks, in the middle of strapping on his knee and elbow pads.

"My dad's from Japan, mom's from Cleveland." Jarrod said briefly.

"Oh." Charlie stopped talking, though Jarrod was happy that he at least had tried. Jarrod decided to keep quiet till Charlie could figure out that they actually would be having a match that night and that Jarrod was just about to find him to get in some practice. "Wait, what's your ring name?"

"Madrox." Jarrod smiled at him, and Charlie's eyes widened in surprise.

"Of course, I feel like an idiot now. You're the guy I'm supposed to be losing to in tonight's dark match." Charlie said, and for a moment Jarrod felt embarrassed. "Don't worry, I don't mind losing to a new guy. I mean, the only reason I'm still in this business is to wrestle for fun and help out the next generation – like you guys. If it was for anything else, why the hell do you think I would be using that weird mask gimmick?"

"Why is Jimmy Wang Yang a cowboy?" Jarrod answered his question with another question.

"Jimmy's a strange guy – a great wrestler, but a strange guy." Charlie laughed and began to stand up. "Why don't we get out there and work out some stuff before the match. Most of the other guys got their stuff worked out in the house shows, so we've got the ring for an hour or so till we get kicked out."

--0--

That night, Jarrod found himself in the middle of the ring, waiting for Charlie Haas the wrestler, not the man he had recently established a friendship with. Like Charlie, Jarrod had changed into Madrox, which he hoped he could keep as his ring name, as the last time he had a full-fledged gimmick it involved him being the non-English speaking younger brother of a much older Pirate wrestler.

No joke.

He tried to ignore the various shouting and chants of the crowd behind him, as he had entered the ring without an entrance, as he and Vince had not discussed that or a gimmick yet, as he was still unsure of whether he would make it.

Charlie Haas's music instantly snapped Madrox out of his day dream, as he awaited his opponent. Haas was going to act, in his words, as 'more of a dickhead than usual' so the fans would hopefully get on the side of Madrox.

Haas walked towards the ring, glaring at Madrox with a look of anger and loathing on his face. The fans could see it up on the large screen, and began to wonder whether Madrox was worth cheering for.

As soon as Haas entered the ring the bell was rung, and he immediately began laying into the rookie. The referee eventually had to pull them apart as Haas continuously punched into Madrox, who was holding his arms up in a futile way to block himself.

The moment the referee stopped holding Haas back, Haas ran straight for Madrox, though Madrox retaliated with a clothesline. Haas got back up almost instantly, and the two locked arms on each others shoulders. Haas proved to be the stronger, pushing Madrox away, before drawing him back towards him and placing his head under Madrox's shoulder. Madrox had no time to try and counter, as Haas lifted him up and hit an Inverted Atomic Drop. Madrox instantly fell to the ground, clutching his groin in pain.

Haas moved around to Madrox's feet, with his back facing the ropes. Haas attempted to grab Madrox's legs as he laid on the ground, but Madrox kicked back into the standing Haas's chest. Madrox stood up while Haas was grabbing his chest in pain, and Haas was brought back to his senses just in time to catch Madrox's foot in mid-kick. Haas shook his head and grinned at Madrox, throwing his foot to the side. Madrox used the momentum to do a full spin and use the same leg to kick Haas in the head and force him down to the mat.

Once again, Haas stood up almost instantly, but this time Madrox was prepared. He unleashed a drop kick into Haas's head, and jumped up again, yelling and taunting at Haas to stand up. Once Haas did, he was met with a second drop kick, followed by more taunting. The third time Haas stood up, Madrox was already in crouching position. Madrox leapt up and hit another dropkick to Haas's head, though this time instead of landing on his shoulder or back, he did a full back flip, landing on his feet to the surprise of the crowd, standing over Haas.

Madrox grinned and turned around, holding his hands up towards the crowd, though the time he took in glory hogging was enough for Haas to get on his knees and score a low blow. With Madrox's back to him, Haas executed a German Suplex, and with Madrox's shoulders down he attempted a pin.

"ONE, TW –"

Madrox managed to roll out, and became weary of Haas. Madrox ran towards Haas, though Haas caught his arm and threw him into the corner turnbuckle. Haas followed up by running towards Madrox and jumping into him while he was in the corner, letting Madrox's body fall to the ground. Haas then dragged Madrox's body out a bit, climbing onto the top turnbuckle. Yelling out incoherently to the crowd, Haas, with his back to the ring, executed a Moonsault, though he failed to notice that while his back was to the ring and he was yelling out to the crowd, Madrox had stood up silently, waiting for him. As Haas's body flipped in mid-air, he was caught by Madrox who shifted positions till he was holding Haas in a modified fireman's carry, with Haas's head under Madrox's shoulder, and his legs across the opposite shoulder. Madrox then began turning, picking up speed and letting go of Haas's legs, getting him in a bulldog position and driving his head into the ground.

He quickly turned Haas over and applied a pin, and the referee reacted instantaneously.

"ONE, TWO, TH –"

Haas broke out and pushed Madrox off him, while cradling his head in his hands. As both men got up it was obvious that Haas was now dazed from the blow to his head. Haas waited a few moments, regaining his composure as Madrox moved towards him. He kicked Madrox in the gut when he got close, grabbing his arm and throwing him into the ropes.

Madrox dodged the first clothesline, and bounced off the ropes of the opposite side of the ring, only to be met by Haas's foot to his chin. Haas then ruthlessly moved towards Madrox's body, stomping on him repeatedly. Called off by the referee, he grabbed Madrox's arm and yanked him to a standing position viciously. Haas then attempted to throw Madrox into the opposite ropes, but Madrox had learned of his tricks already. Madrox reversed Haas's attempt, using his weight and strength to draw Haas back and out over the ropes behind him.

Haas fell out of the ring with a thud, lying on the ground outside of the ring. Madrox looked down at Haas from over the ropes, and then looked around at the crowd. With one last glance, he ran to the opposite side of the ring, bounced off the ropes and ran to the other side, jumping over the ropes with surprising height, and landing an Atomic Leg Drop on Haas's still body much to the amazement of the crowd, who instantly cheered.

"ONE!"

The crowd was still cheering, as Madrox's foot still laid on Haas's body.

"TWO!"

Both men laid there with their eyes closed, as the referee continued counting.

"THREE!"

The crowd was now almost silent, waiting for one of the two of them to get up.

"FOUR!"

Suddenly, a small chant started in the crowd, "New Guy! New Guy!"

"FIVE!"

The chants spread and began getting louder, and Madrox knew it was time to get up. He made a big deal out of standing up, reducing himself to a crouching position, regaining himself.

"SIX!"

Madrox finally stood up, and picked up Haas's body and threw him back into the ring. Madrox rolled into the ring and went to apply the pin.

"ONE, TWO, THR –"

Haas found will left inside of him to kick off, and Madrox looked around in amazement. And then he came up with an idea.

Knowing that for some reason Haas still had life in him, Madrox decided he would try to take him out the best way he knew how. Madrox turned Haas's body over, and placed Haas in a sleeper hold. As Haas tried to struggled, with Madrox sitting on his back, Madrox took it one step further by placing a knee on Haas's spine and pulling his head up.

Haas began screaming and yelling, stuck in Madrox's deadly submission move. With one final yell of pain, he tapped out and Madrox stood up to the cheers of the crowd. Taking one look at Charlie Haas's still body, Madrox left the ring to the cheers that was his only music.

--0--

As soon as Charlie Haas, the man, not the wrestler, had arrived backstage, Jarrod had a look of utter worry on his face.

"I am so sorry about that Spinning Bulldog." Jarrod said, though Charlie just smiled back at him.

"It's okay rookie, it's okay." Charlie said, rubbing his neck absent-mindedly.

"I'm absolutely sorry if I hurt you." Jarrod reiterated. "It's been so long since I had the opportunity to use my favorite moves, and even though we practiced it I –"

"Rookie, you're a whiny bitch." Charlie laughed. "And a rather talented whiny bitch at that. This is the main promotions, and if you don't think you can dish out or take high-impact maneuvers like the ones you were pulling off, than there is no way you're ever going to make it."

"Thanks, man." Jarrod said with a sigh of relief, turning into his normal, joking self once again. "I was worried that my supreme talent might've been too much for your old body."

"Watch who you're calling old, otherwise next time I'll be the one doing the leg drop outside of the ring." Charlie playfully punched Jarrod.

"If you can even make it over the top rope." Jarrod laughed, and they were interrupted by Paul Levesque, better known as Triple H, who was getting ready to introduce RAW for the night.

"Good work out there kid, you impressed a lot of people backstage." He smiled, in a way Jarrod could only describe as very characteristically cool.

"Thanks, Triple H." Jarrod replied in a way that sounded like one of the eight year-old fans. He immediately cursed himself for his choice of tone.

"Hah, you're a funny one, rookie." He said, as he began to leave. "But next time, just call me Paul."

"One year, and I'll be as popular of a wrestler that he is." Jarrod said wishfully, before being brought down to Earth by Charlie.

"Have fun trying." Charlie replied, as the two went off to take their showers.

--0--

"Well, well, well, Jarrod Maeda." Vince McMahon had a strange smile on his face, as Jarrod found himself once again facing the big boss.

"When's my next dark match?" Jarrod asked, and Vince laughed straight in his face. It didn't feel good.

"Hopefully, never!" Vince said, and Jarrod's heart sank. Maybe all of the other wrestlers were actually being sarcastic when they said they liked his match.

"Well, it was great working here." Jarrod sighed, but Vince continued laughing.

"You're on ECW next week." Vince said.

"On as in when the camera's are rolling?" Jarrod asked excitedly, before realizing the question was stupid.

"Yes. We were impressed, the crowd was impressed, Charlie gave you a good recommendation." Vince replied. "We usually get Charlie to work with the new wrestlers so he can evaluate whether their good enough."

"I'm in?"

"You're in." Vince said. "So, if you want to keep going as Madrox, let's discuss your gimmick and future."

"Great." Jarrod smiled, before his face changed. "As long as I have no random pirate brother."

A/N: I've been playing a lot of Smackdown: Here Comes The Pain! lately and it inspired me. It's a little outdated, but still fun. This is my attempt at an original wrestler, who had to himself climb to the top. I've been inspired by the few other original wrestler fics out there, especially (as everyone else should have already guessed by now) QPython's "Can I Ask You Something".

I hope you enjoy it, and I'll have the next chapter up soon.