[Audio Promo]


“Godly” Ken Davison stands in front of one of professional wrestling’s classic backdrops, the legendary brick wall. He is wearing a gray t-shirt and sweat is dripping down his shiny, bald scalp.

“Being a Policeman is a mental game. If you allow the nerves and the pressure to get away from you, that is when you crash and burn. That explains… a lot when it comes to Liam Davies. He couldn’t handle the pressure of being a police officer and from the looks of things, from the things he said on his Twitter account that he could not handle the stress, the rigors of being a human being, let alone a professional wrestler.”

The camera zooms out, revealing Davison wearing navy blue shorts on some light gray concrete. Above Davison’s head is the Baltimore City seal and metallic silver letters that read “Public Safety Training Facility.

“I wanted to understand what makes a man like Liam Davies tick. Since I wasn’t able to get into the Orlando Police Academy to ask what really happened to Liam, I used my status as a pillar of the community to get an inside look at the Police Academy.”

“Now would be the perfect time to place some kind of cheesy 1980’s martial arts movie training montage of what I experienced today. But the fact of the matter is, there isn’t anything in there that I can’t show you in the ring. Running, jumping, climbing… hell, when I have my match against Liam, I can even show you what dragging a dummy looks like. Hell, Kyra and I already know how to use handcuffs, but you don’t get to see that either. No. What I want to do is give you a look into the mind of a police officer. I want to give you a look inside the mind “The Order of Authority.” I want to give you a look inside the mind of one Liam Davies.”

Davison lifts up his shirt, wiping the sweat off his brow.

“I’m not going to drone on and on about police officers, but one thing I need to mention is the sheer amount of stress police officers are under. I know in his head Liam Davies thought it was going to be cops and robbers. The cops show up and get the bad guys. I get that, everyone wants to be the hero. The question is, how did Liam deal with the constant disappointment of failure? In this country, crimes such as motor vehicle theft are only solved about 12 percent of the time. Burglary, 14 percent. Robbery, 30 percent. The one saving grace for your Liam, is that despite murders only being solved 54.4 percent of the time, you won’t be an episode of Dateline because I am going to murder your ass on national television.”

“I think that still doesn’t answer the question, how was it that you dealt with the stress of constant failure? You claim to have been some famous police officer down in Florida. Famous doesn’t equal good. Famous doesn’t equal efficient. If nothing else, a good cop is about as effective as a good weatherman. How did Liam Davies cope with coming up short on case after case after case as a police officer? He decided to learn how to come up short week after week, take a week off, then come back and lose again as a professional wrestler.”

Ken claps his hands on his cheeks, making a look of fake shock.

“At least your sister has joined the police force so you can both keep up the family traditions of mediocrity and failure.”

Davison allows a sly smile to cross his face, knowing full well that he is poking the proverbial bear in hopes that Liam Davies will have a fire lit under his ass.

“It’s difficult to get through life without having a goal. I am sure that you had the goal of being a professional wrestler in mind when you gave up law enforcement. I would say wrestling gives you confidence. It gives you strength. It helps you learn discipline, and to know that you have to love the process and respect the process, and if you just keep going, you can accomplish anything. Wrestling has given you strength, but not discipline. You do not respect the process and do not respect your peers. Do you think that talking down to your peers, which in the business is understandable, means anything when you are incapable of backing it up. What happens when you inevitably fall short of your goals? What happens when your dreams become nightmares? You find yourself in the ring with the GKD, “Godly” Ken Davison.”

“I know you are going to have a lot to say about me. That’s fine, after all these years, I can guarantee that I have been called worse things by better people. Be that as it may. I know you can hear me. Shut up and listen. You don’t realize that you are in the presence of a God. The reality is that you are nothing more than someone who hoped and dreamed you could be a wrestler, and congratulations! You’ve done that. Stop while you’re ahead. The reality is, you will never accomplish any of your dreams, not at my expense. So, you can spew whatever bullshit comes out of your mouth. It will not make a difference because you are not on my level, not today, not tomorrow, not on your best day while I am having my worst day. Dreams are not reality. The reality is you were a failure as a police officer and you are a failure as a wrestler. When all is said and done and this match is over, it will be the GKD, “Godly” Ken Davison standing victorious in the ring because when you are God, you don’t have to break the rules. You make them!”

Davison motions over the crew to cut the cameras and walks away from the building. The cameras stop recording and Ken walks over to the crew, thanking them for their time and their hard work. He makes his way over to his ‘89 Grand Am and gets in, sitting for a minute to wind down and slip out of character.

“Godly” Ken Davison was a part of who he was, yes. But that was not the man he was when the lights were off. For a long time, 24 years of his career, he as THAT guy. It was his social armor that allowed him to keep his walls up and keep other people out. Then came Kyra Johnson. The story of how Ken and Kyra became one was the stuff of soap operas. Ken had stopped short of murder, but did attempt to cripple and end the career of Kyra’s ex. A smile crosses Ken’s lips. ’That was a good day,’ Ken thinks to himself as he remembers.

Ken reaches over and grabs an old cup of coffee from his cup holder. Though the coffee is cold, it’s still good. Now, starting to unwind, he picks up the phone and calls home.

“The fuck do you want? I mean, hey, babe!”

“Love you, too. Listen, I finished up at the academy and I figured I’d stop and get something to make for dinner at the store on the way home. Anything in particular you want?””

“Maybe some chicken. That would work.”

“Alright, let me go. I’m about to start driving.”

“Sounds good. See you soon.”

“I love you.”

“Love you, too.”

Ken sits there until his phone beeps at him, letting him know that Kyra had dropped off the line. He hated letting go. Still, life goes on. It gives Ken something to look forward to. The chorus to ‘Hate Me Now’ fills the car shortly after Ken has started driving. He hit the screen of his cell phone a couple of times so the call coming through is on speaker.

“Hey, Vinnie. What’s going on?”

Vinnie was one of Ken’s students, at least on a part time basis. He was working for a company based out in Seattle, but came to train with Ken when time allowed.

“Well, I wanted to pick your brain. You got a few?”

“For you, of course.”

“So, I’m trying to figure out what I am doing wrong.”

“Story of my life. Want to be more specific?”

“I’m getting ready for a World title shot,”

“Congrats, man,” Ken interrupts excitedly. “So what about that says you’re doing something wrong?”

“Well, the current champ, he’s got this whole Oracle thing going on. Uses Tarot cards and all sorts of gimmicks like that. I’m just, well, me.”

”The Oracle” was a name Ken had not heard in a while. He was a former opponent of Ken’s and one he looked forward to facing again.

“So, you’re doubting yourself?”

“I mean, I’ve got nine inches on him… and I’m taller.”

The two men share a laugh for a few moments before Vinnie continues.

“I guess what I’m saying is, I don’t know what I can do to stand out.”

“The question here is not what do you want to do to stand out. You do that naturally. The question is “why are you going to stand out? You’re six foot nine, three hundred and fifty or so pounds. You already stand out.”

“Yeah, you said that.”

“Because I am trying to really get that through your skull. You stand out not just because of your size. In this industry men your size are normally one of two things. You’re either a giant joke or a giant monster. This is where you stand out. You have chosen to just be a man of moral and virtue. You just happen to be the size of a sasquatch.”

“So, you want me to be just another guy?”

“No. I want you to be yourself. You are an anomaly and that is a great thing. I’ve always stood out because I’m something of a ‘the ends justify the means’ type. Physically speaking, I’m very average in this business of ours. So, that is how I chose to stand out. SHIT!”

“What’s the matter?” Vinnie asks as the tires on Ken’s Grand Am squeal on the pavement.

“I’m okay, but I’ve got to go.”

“What happened?”

“There was something in the road. I swerved to get out of the way and now I have to see if hitting the curb did any damage.”

“Alright. Be safe.”

Ken hangs up, puts the emergency flashers and steps out of his car. He walks over to the passenger’s side and checks the rims.to find there’s only a few cosmetic scratches. He stops, looking up at the tree above after hearing some rustling.

“Son of a…” Ken continues looking up, locking eyes with the evil beast that caused him to swerve in the first place: a two pound ball of fur. While Ken is looking up the tree at the stray gray kitten, a policeman rolls up behind him.

“Davison, is that you?”

“Yeah, Wozniak. Animal in the road. I swerved to avoid it and bumped the curb.”

“Why not just climb up and get it?”

“Why? So it can attack me or I can fall out of the tree? No thanks.”

“That sort of thing only happens in sitcoms.”

“With my luck, I’m not taking chances. I’ve got work on Monday. Can you call the fire department for me?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Literally every other scenario that played out in Ken’s mind ended up with him getting hurt. You need him to climb a steel cage? Sure. You think he can climb a tree? Not so much. Eventually, the fire department comes and brings down the kitten. Ken takes the kitten and holds it for a moment. It’s fur is matted, it’s ribs are easily seen, and there are cuts around it’s mouth. The kitten is obviously a stray.

“Hey, Woz, thanks for the help. I appreciate it.”

“Want me to call animal control?”

“Nah. I’ve got a five year old and home that’s going to love this little guy.”

“Alright, Davison. Take care.”

“You too, Woz.”

Ken takes the kitten and gets in his car, allowing the kitten to settle on his lap.before driving away. He presses the screen on his phone and the ringing fills the car until Kyra answers.

“Where the hell are you? You should have been back half an hour ago.”

“Well, have I got a story for you.”

And that is the story of how Roger came to join the Davison family.