Eliza Klein vs Jansen Myrrh

July 19, 2018
Portland, OR

The drive from Tacoma to Portland wasn’t too bad. It was her final night in Imperial Wrestling Federation. She had served out her contract and it wasn’t going to be renewed, which was okay for her. As soon as she had the inkling that was going to be the case, she decided to reach out to Mile High Wrestling. Of course, her weekend went from an all time high to the lowest of lows once again as she lost two more matches that weekend.

She lost in her triple threat match featuring the one woman – some sort of cop gimmick who she held responsible for the fact that her best friend has disappeared from the face of the Earth. Jansen took the fall just to rub salt into her already fresh wound.

She then went to her final match for IWF and lost against Hope Freeman. Quick. She barely had time to blink and she was already being pinned. That loss hurt. It hurt a lot. She thought she’d be able to put up more of a fight even if she did lose, but no. Utterly decimated. She never really fit in there so not being resigned was not as painful as she thought it might be. However.

Her win-loss record was definitely taking a beating.

She flew in to Mile High Wrestling for Episode 10 and was ushered to a front row seat and then during the show, was actually interviewed like she was somewhat important. That was a nice touch. She got to meet lots of the wrestlers in the back who were very nice to her. It seemed very homey to her, similar to the Rose City gang.

Mile High seemed like a very cool place to be.

On her way out, she was given notice that on the debut edition of Thursday Throwdown she was going to be facing… Eliza Klein.

Wait, what?

Who is Eliza Klein?

Jansen had to laugh. “Eliza Klein is probably wondering who the heck Jansen Myrrh is.”

Well, she had two weeks to figure out how she was going to approach the one they call Eliza Klein.

She remembered when she was young, watching her uncle on television parading around as the World’s Champion. She was so enamored with him. When he would come visit, he would shower her with gifts and attention. Later on in life, she would feel badly because she never ever thought of her parents in the light she saw Uncle Dandy Myrrh. He would bring over his championship and she would carry it around the house while the family would drink beer and shoot the breeze during the holidays.

He would let her pin him on the living room floor and dub her the “Champeen of the Woild!”

From day one, she was hooked on professional wrestling.

Her parents did not approve.

When she was a teenager, he would regale her with stories from the road. Who he wrestled. How many cities. Which one were the best and which were the worst. Both in working and payoffs. Of course, the landscape of the wrestling has changed so much since his day.

It was definitely the worst day in her life when her parents came into her room, woke her up and had to tell her the news. Uncle Dandy was gone. He wasn’t old. 48. He was past his prime. His career was in a stand still. Long since he lost his last World Title and he was struggling just to get booked for more than a one off appearance, or to come in to give someone else the rub.

He would come by, but it wasn’t the same. He would tell his stories, but the spark just wasn’t there any longer.

Then he was gone.

Something snapped her out of her reverie.

She’d had a long day of training at Rose City Academy and she was back in her room. She looks around and for some reason, today it looked very small to her. She looked out her small window that looked down into the alley way. She decided to record her promo for Mile High because she was suddenly very much in the mood to do so.

“Eliza Klein.”

“I know we haven’t met, but I’m Jansen Myrrh and I’m going to be your opponent on the first episode of Thursday Throwdown. I don’t know much about you and I’m sure you don’t know much about me but I promise you this.”

“Whether or not I’m meant to be in this business, I’m in it. My uncle was one of the greats in this sport and I’d like to think that perhaps some of that has been handed down to me in some way, shape or form. I’ve been training for nearly two years and only been competing for about six months. I have plenty to learn, but if I have anything to say about it, it won’t be at your expense. I’m not coming to Mile High Wrestling to be someone’s stepping stone. I’m coming to win. Do not let my record deceive you.”

“If you underestimate me, I will surprise you and I will beat you.”

She turns off the feed and then is quiet for a moment. She opens her screen again and scrolls her contacts and hits dial.

“Everything okay?”

It was Paul.

“Yeah, just… feeling it.”

He’s silent on the other end. “Yeah, I get it. It happens to us all. It certainly happened to me when I was starting out.”

“Does it go away?”

Paul laughs. “It did for me, kid. But I figured out what I needed to do. You still gotta do that. I’m telling you, you should take more of a page from your Uncle. He was one of a kind for sure.”

There is some silence before Paul interrupts it.

“Look, kid. I’ve been watching your stuff and you’re good, but you don’t got that killer instinct. Your uncle would do everything he could to keep that strap. It’s okay and all to be nice outside of the ring, but inside you have to do whatever it takes. It’s what I have to do. It’s what most should be doing.”

“I don’t know if I can do that. I mean, are you saying I need to cheat?”

Paul hems for a moment and shrugs, “Hey, call it what you want. I mean, I call it winning. Your uncle was the master.”

Jansen nods her head. “It’s just not — my style. It’s not who I am.”

Paul Banter is quiet for a moment and then clears his throat. “Whatever it is you decide to do, just do what is best for you. But, the nice guys always suffer. Always. Ask around and anyone will tell you. Anyway, I gotta get going. Need anything else, just call. I’m still waiting on word about our next tag match.”

“Okay, Paul. Keep me posted.”

“Will do, kid.”

She hangs up the phone and stares at it for a moment. She brings up her photos and flip through until she finds photos of her uncle. After flipping through a few pics, she shuts it down and falls back on her bed with a big sigh.

“Let the suffering begin,” she mutters under her breath.