Its Time.

[Salem Shepard]

(4 weeks ago)
You always gotta get a look at the fine ladies when you go to the beach! I mean, why not!? I had some time to kill beforehand and thought I would spend the day on Padre Island before I headed back to Corpus Christi to take in my first day of ZT wrestling school. Now, let’s get it correct before we go any further…I don’t go peelin this shirt off anywhere or for just ANYONE, cause the ladies all love them some Salem Shepard and it draws a crowd. And you know what happens next - they men get mad at me for no reason!! …like it’s my fault God blessed me with this A-mazing physique!! I can’t help it if they find me more attractive than the wanna-be douchebags they hooked up with wearing Affliction shirts! …Ok, ok, Im just playin. There were no ladies surrounding me at the beach, in fact, they thought I was fuckin creepy or some shit. Maybe it’s the blackout contacts, maybe it’s the tattoos or maybe it’s the bright blue hair. Hell, it could be my old funky crooked teeth …they are kinda yellow. I did see this one girl and she was fine as hell! I walked up to her with a walk that said I was the most confident man on the beach; walked up to her and said “Sup girl? …how bout letting me nibble on that cookie!?” …Usually that works. And I like I said, I wasn’t surrounded by beautiful girls after I peeled, but that shit about the douchebags in the Affliction shirts? That shit was real! Next thing you know Im surrounded by Affliction shirts and they lookin at me like Im a Freekshow. They surrounded me like I was the kid that got picked on in middle school, …except I didn’t make it to middle school. Then this big asshole, the one that does get to nibble that cookie took great offense to my comment. I don’t know why he was mad, I was just complementing his side piece. He didn’t take it real well though. This big idiot started running his mouth, and when I was kicking his ass from Padre Island to Dallas and back, I glanced at the girl and I thought she was impressed. My mind was tricking me because she wasn’t impressed at all – she was scared! She was afraid I was going to kill that big bastard! Its funny how these idiots in their Affliction shirts thought they were soo tough until they watched one of their own go down in a matter of seconds. They underestimated me just like everyone else has in my life, and like everyone else, I put them in their place. That wasn’t the only ass I kicked that day. My first day of Zero Tolerance wrestling school was a huge success. I turned heads that day and made a name for myself. It was the opportunity that I needed, the one I’ve been waiting for my whole life. And I would kill just to wrestle with the guys of the greatest stable in professional wrestling history, Zero Tolerance.



The camera comes alive inside of a massive white building with screams and shouts echoing off the walls. Bodies hitting the canvas of the ring in the middle of the building sounded like explosions in the ZT Wrestling school. There was an older man in the ring giving orders to two men, who weren’t doing as they were told and the older man, the Coach, looked very frustrated. Several other wrestlers stood around and watched, some snickering at the lack of talent the coach was trying to instruct inside the ring. There was a second level above where several more men ran around the track that circled the huge building. Above that was one more level to the building, and all we could see of that was glass windows with the curtains pulled. Moments later, Salem Shepard appeared from the lockerroom door with his bag slung over his shoulder. He wore long blue shorts that came down past his knees, a Dallas Stars hockey jersey and his hat, which he always wore backwards. His bright green hair peeked from the sides of his hat; he had black paint around both his eyes that made the red contacts in them really stand out. He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and read the last text he had received as he motioned for the cameraman to follow him. He walked across the building and though a set of doors that led to the stairwell. He passed the 2nd level entry for the track and continued to the third level. He slowly pushed the door open and stepped inside. The hallway floor was made of marble and there were massive pictures that lined the walls, along with memorabilia and Title belts in glass boxes. Salem saw the door at the end of the hall and headed that way, but he paused at every picture in awe. Some of them were Crazy J winning Universal Titles, Erik Black celebrating in victory, Jaymz holding people high in the air for his patented “Silence” finishing move that had destroyed some of the best in the business. 

Next to that was Jaymz’ GWA Global Title, the Title he won at the last show the GWA aired. Salem had a huge smile on his face, and even though he wore contacts, you could see the excitement in his eyes. He pointed at the picture of Jaymz and mouthed the words “holy shit” to the camera. As he walked he saw more pictures of Zero Tolerance Superstars on the walls and he recognized every face. These were the guys he grew up idolizing, the guys he watched on TV every week and now he was here in the same building with them!!! He walked up to the door with a name plate that read “Erik Black” and reached for the knob. He let in a big breath of air and exhaled as he walked in the office. It was everything he had expected of an Erik Black office as it was filled with the best leather furniture that money could buy. More pictures of ZT wrestlers and their accomplishments lined the walls. There was an extremely large gentlemen in a cowboy hat leaned up against the glass windows looking down at the wrestlers below in training. Salem looked at the other end of the office and he saw Crazy J kicked back in Erik Blacks chair with his feet on the desk, like he owned the place. And well, he did. It was Crazy J, after all. Crazy J and Salem had gotten close over the past few weeks as he trained and Salem had started to respect J like a brother. Turns out, they had a lot in common but was their sense of humor that brought them close. Crazy J stood up in the chair and gentlemen in the cowboy hat turned around to face Salem, it was Jason Cash - another one of his ZT idols. Jason greeted him with a nod and a half smile, as he turned and looked back out the glass. ..Something down there had caught his attention. Crazy J stood up, with intricate black and white face paint on and motioned for Salem to take a seat across from him at the desk. As he did, Crazy J sat down behind the desk again and tossed Erik’s name plate across the room. It clanged against the wall and Jason Cash turned around at the sound and started to walk over to the desk.

“Im glad you made it, brother.” Crazy J said as he swiveled back and forth slowly in the big leather chair. 

Jason Cash sat on the edge of the desk facing Salem with a beer in hand, “So…Ya been here four weeks now. ..And I gotta say, yer killin them boys down there. Were impressed. Erik wanted us to meet with you cause he’s been at another school scouting someone else…I know J told you we were lookin for two people to bring up to fight for ZT. Erik’s talkin to the other guy, and—“ …Crazy J cut him off, “..and you didn’t make the cut. ..Sorry bro.”

Salem’s face sank, he lowered his head a little bit in disappointment. He had worked his ass off to get here, he had dominated everyone at this facility and they didn’t think he had what it took!? Hell, they were the ones that brought him here to begin with!! They told him he had real talent, and after all that they were gonna shoot him down just like that!?

“No, Im just kidding!!” Crazy J laughed and spun around in the chair several times!

“Oh man..” Salem sighed and a huge smile crossed his face, “You scared the shit out of me!”

Cash got up off the desk and paced around the room, "Give the man his contract." Crazy J reached into Erik’s desk and pulled out several pieces of paper as Shep fidgeted in the chair with excitement. Crazy J spread the papers out across the table, "Ok we’ve been signed to the WCF and they are ready to stick us in a match right away. So this contract says that you'll fight under the Zero Tolerance name, and the other is a WCF contract. Once you sign the ZT contract, your in. We'll have to fax over your WCF contract and it might be a few days before we hear from them...but you should be good."

Salem, who’s left handed, started to initial the paperwork when an odd look came over his face, "So uumm...On this medical background part. Im a schizophrenic...Do I have to add that? or can I lie?" Cash shook his head, "Naw, don’t lie. We all got some issues, no reason to be ashamed of it."

"So you’re a schizo, huh?" Crazy J said as a smile formed over his painted face. "You never told me that! ....I have an idea!!!!! Let’s call you: Salem "Schizo" Shepard...sounds good?" Shep returned the smile and nodded his head, "Sounds fan-fucking-tastic!"

Cash went back over to the window watching the wrestlers train below. Whatever had his attention previously, had it again. Shepard finished filling out the paperwork, stood up and shook Crazy J's hand. He liked Crazy J, they had talked a lot over the past few weeks while he was training here. And they both had more in common than they knew. He thanked Crazy J several times before walking over to the window to thank Jason Cash. He extended his hand and Cash only looked at him and said, "Moon them guys down there." And without thinking twice, Shep lifted his jersey, unbuckled his belt and pressed his ass cheeks against the glass. He slid up and down and twerked a little. Cash laughed as several guys down below flipped him off. Cash returned the one-finger salute, "Alright man, ya got no shame. Get yer ass off my winder."

Crazy J jumped up from the desk, "Fuck did you say, hillbilly!? Did you say winder? The fuck is a 'winder'!?!?" Cash glared at Crazy J as Salem pulled his shorts back up and laughed, "I know what he’s trying to say, Crazy J. Im from Houston so I speak some hillbilly, and some Spanish...shits basically required now. A 'winder' is a window, aint that right cowboy?"

“Fuck else would it be!?” Cash said as he took the last drink of his beer and tossed it toward the trashcan by Erik’s desk, missing badly. He turned around and looked at the wrestlers below again. Shepard was about to let himself out when he looked at Cash, then looked at Crazy J and a sick smile formed over his face. Crazy J liked this smile, he had no fucking idea what Salem was thinking, but he knew Salem’s mind was just as fucked up as his own. Salem picked up his bag and slowly walked over to Cash – trying to be as quiet as he could. He came up to his right ear and flicked Cash’s earlobe a couple of times saying “Doodle doodle doodle!!” in a high pitched voice! Cash slapped his hand away and he looked pissed! “Fuck you doin!? Don’t touch me!”<p>

“I was just flicking your clitoris!!” Salem smiled as he ran out the office door. Cash and Crazy J looked at each other in shock before Crazy J busted out laughing, but Cash didn’t find this funny. “Yo Cash, I think he’s saying you’re a vagina!...I like this kid!!” Cash didn’t reply, he just shook his head in amazement as the scene faded out…

So..Im sure you guys want to know a little bit about me. Well let’s see…I’m 25 years old, Im a Libra so that means I like lesbians. Im also a member of the “above average penis size” club. Im circumcised, and yes, I AM single!! Hard to imagine, right? Ladies, you can find me on Facebook - so don’t be afraid to hit me up with those digits! Alright, alright, Im sure that’s not the shit you guys wanted to hear. But for real though, professional wrestling has always been my dream and now Im getting that chance with Zero Tolerance and the WCF. I was raised on the mean, hard streets of Houston and we didn’t have an easy life. I quit school before I even got to the seventh grade because we had to make ends meet, …thanks to my pops who offed himself with a .38 Special when I was in the fifth grade. Im the second oldest of four kids, and Im the only male of the group…Have you ever lived in a house with four other girls all bleeding at the same time of the month?? Shit, no wonder my old man blew his brains out, these girls are like wild savages for about twelve weeks of the year. So I had to grow up quick and be the man of the house; but I had never worked before and I was too young to get a real job. My mom worked as hard as she could to support us but it wasn’t enough. My oldest sister was a professional thief and after my dad died she taught me all the tricks of the trade. Sometimes we would walk into the shoe store and take our old shoes and put them in boxes, wearing the new shoes on our feet right out the door. Usually we would take my youngest sister on these trips and buy her a cheap pair of sandals or something, as to not look too suspicious! Me and my sister were like a team, we could steal whatever we wanted when we wanted….I think our mom knew, but given the fact we were dirt poor, she never said anything. I could always tell that she was disappointed in us; but that wasn’t going to stop us from helping her provide. My stealing days came to a halt when I broke into a used CD store one day, ..I didn’t know that little fucker slept in the back of the store and called it home!!!!! I also didn’t know that he had a gun until he fucking shot me! And of course, the pigs took me to my little cell that I called home for nine months as soon as I got out of the hospital. It was my first stay in jail, and damn sure wouldn’t be my last, but I learned a lot while I was in there. I learned new ways to steal and I learned a lot about heroine. I learned more in there than I learned in six or seven years of school. Doing time doesn’t make you a better person like most people believe, it doesn’t change you in ways that the average person thinks it does. It makes you a worse person, you take on traits of the losers around you and learn their bad habits. The best thing about jail was the fights!! I love to fucking fight and people saw that on my second day, and it wasn’t long before I earned my respect and people started betting on me to win, rather than get my ass kicked. I never lost a fight in jail. The only fight I did lose was with heroine…..But that’s a story for another day.

(current day)
The moon hung low in the sky like a droopy testicle; and the only noise to be heard was the waves breaking on the shore of the Galveston coastline. The breeze coming off the ocean felt great as Shep sat on the deck of his condo looking out at the dark, vast ocean. He struck his lighter, illuminating the black and red contacts in his eyes as the flame hit the end of the cigarette dangling from his mouth. The only thing to be seen was the cherry from the cancer stick as he took a pull, exhaled and spoke…

So here I am…After all these years of people telling me I would never amount to anything, telling me that Im white trash and nothing but a piece of shit born to a whore mother. They laughed at me when I told them all that my goal was to be a part of Zero Tolerance and go to battle with them across the globe. “Not a chance in hell” they always told me as they laughed. ..Yeah, but who’s laughing now? Who’s the newest member of Zero Tolerance? Who fought his way through the ZT wrestling school and got noticed!? ..Not those junkies on my block. Not my so-called “friends” in Houston. None of those guys ever believed in me, but to be fair, I never really gave them much of a reason to. When you steal and spend a fraction of your life addicted to heroine, most people say you don’t have much of a future. But I got off the shit, changed my ways...a little...and started to fight for a living. After a few stints in jail I thought: Why am I doing this? Why am I stealing for money? I realized there was a better way to get that paper, and that was kicking people’s asses. And it wasn’t just a better way to live; I found that fighting was my passion!! So I started to set up fights in the streets or in people’s back yards and I earned more money that way than I EVER did being a thief. And that’s what I’ve done with the last eight years of my life; ..beating the shit out of people all up and down Houston. Some assholes didn’t take it well; they didn’t like losing to this little white peckerwood, ...especially the Chicanos.

I’ve only been shot once and that was robbing a CD store, but some of those Chicanos pulled guns when they lost - and that’s some weak ass shit man. People off my block didn’t know who I was until I did that first stint in jail and came back as a street fighter. I made my name known across town and it was great for a while cause we had food, we could pay the bills....But some people hold grudges man, and they took out the frustration of losing to me on my family. ..It’s tough to talk about right now.. I miss them. But that made me who I am, and it also took away any ounce of empathy I had toward any opponent after that. I showed them no mercy, and I plan on taking the same course of action here in the WCF as a part of Zero Tolerance. Over the last 4 weeks I’ve been working specifically with Kira, Cash and Crazy J. I’ve been in the ring fighting against them trying to better myself; getting to know their styles, their strengths - and if they had weaknesses, I would know them too. But so far, I aint seen a goddamn weakness from any of those guys!!! I’ve gotten to work with my idol, Jaymz, the biggest most powerful man in Zero Tolerance history. That seven foot Russian dominated everywhere he went and I’ve watched him wrestle for years....ZT won’t be the same without him, and yall in the WCF are lucky you didn’t have to face him.

He claims to be the best singles wrestler in the history of the business, and he’s been showing me some of his moves, how to tolerate pain...shit like that. Jaymz will still be around, just not in the ring...And I wish I had the opportunity to fight on his side at least one time. But hey, I get to fight in the same corner with Kira, Cash and Crazy J this week and Im excited for this match like a little kid gets excited on Christmas fuckin Eve!!!! Im ready, Im ready to bring the new era of Zero Tolerance to the WCF and show the world that while the roster may change, the dominance does not. Zero Tolerance only takes the best of the best, and that’s why Im still kinda shocked they signed me!! Now I have to go out and prove it. Yeah, I still have a lot to learn, and Im going to take my bumps and bruises - but Im gonna try my hardest to not let these guys down. Im not the most technically skilled wrestler, Im more of a street fighter and a hardcore kind of guy. I do have some of awesome wrestling moves I learned on my own, and a few more that Cash and Crazy J have taught me..But I still have a long way to go. I love the sight of blood, my own blood, and that’s why I consider myself a hardcore kinda guy.

You can bust my face open, but that’s only gonna give me extra motivation...That’s gonna send me to a whole different level of crazy. You have to be kinda crazy if you wanna do Hardcore matches, and ever since I was a little kid watching my idols - like Jaymz - fight in hardcore matches, it motivated me to be a professional wrestler. Even back then, I knew my cheese had slid off its cracker, and the doctors diagnosed me with all kinds of mental health issues when I was younger. So it was no surprise to my homies when they saw I always got hyped to watch the hardcore matches on TV. So after I got out of jail the first time and organized backyard fights, I always wanted to add rakes, or shovels, or bricks...ANY FUCKING THING!!!! Most these chumps just wanted to fight me without all the extras, and I was cool with that cause I knew I was going to win anyway. And is Zero Tolerance going to win this week!? You bet your sweet ass we are!!!!! Maaaannnn, I couldn’t even sleep last night just thinking about this match! Im ready to get in that ring and put these bitches down and it’s all I’ve thought about lately. Shit, yesterday I was on my morning run and I was soo fucking focused on this match and playing out scenarios of how this match could go in my mind; that I ran right out in the road and damn near got hit by a truck! That guy came within a foot of ending my life and mushing me into the asphalt!!! ....That would have been some bullshit, right!? I FINALLY get to wrestle with ZT and I get smacked by a truck and left for dead like I was roadkill. See, that’s how focused I am on this match. I know Im gonna get my shot in that ring this week, and I'll have Cash and J standing on the outside coaching me up until I tag one of them!

Am I nervous? Naw, Im not nervous to step in the ring for the first time in my life...Im confident in my abilities even as raw as they are. I am a little nervous that those two guys will be watching me and DEPENDING ON ME to help them win the match. And Kira too, were in the same boat this week as the new guys. I’ve never had to fight with anyone on a team, I’ve always done all the fighting on my own; with my homies at my side in case it wasn’t a fair fight. So yeah, it makes me a little nervous that these two established superstars are depending on two new guys to help them win this match. But ya know what? I aint gonna let them down and they have my word on that. This is all new territory for me because I don’t know my surroundings in the WCF and I don’t know much about the competition. Yeah, I see these guys on TV…I see the merch around town, but I’ve been busy trying to make my own success – not watch someone else’s. …But those are the big dogs in the WCF, not these guys they’ve matched up against Zero Tolerance this week!! And to be honest, I’ve never heard of any of these guys – so they can’t be that good, right? Im willing to bet on it. I watched a promo the other day and I saw the Dion guy fighting a bunch of scubs in some kind of hole. He called it a pit or something….not that it matters. The thing is, he’s out fighting people in the street. …At this point in his career? Man, I was doing that years ago when I was trying to get in this business. What you fighting a bunch of no-talent losers in the street for, Dion? Is that supposed to intimidate us? …You won’t be catching my ass out in the street fighting people anymore..Hellllllll NO!!! I’m getting PAID now, Im doing my thing in front of millions of people around the world.

You talk about that streak that you’re on but don’t anybody care about that. You can beat up all the people you like, but if it aint between the ropes it doesn’t fucking matter at all!!! You won’t even have the energy to do that after you step in the ring with us; so beat up everyone while you still can…Cause it’s gonna be hard to do when ZT puts you in the hospital next week. Ya know, it might be embarrassing for yall to lose to ZT at first, …to suffer a defeat from the new guys. But there’s really no shame in it, because after a few months you guys can look back and say “Damn, I didn’t know they were gonna take the WCF by storm.” ..And we are, and you four just happen to be a speed bump on our way to WCF greatness. Our goal here is to take all the gold that we can and prove to you all that Zero Tolerance is on top of the world. You don’t have to like us and you don’t have to respect us – but you will have to come to accept that we are the greatest stable ever assembled. Kira and I have to take over for Jaymz and Erik Black, and I don’t know if there are bigger shoes to fill than those two. It won’t be this week and it probably won’t be the following week either; but Kira and I will grow into those shoes and continue the path of domination that Zero Tolerance has taken. I hope that you four are ready and you’re not blowing off this match and taking it easy just because were the “new guys” and I have absolutely no experience in the ring. The more that you doubt us, the worse the beating is going to be. It’s time that the WCF takes notice of Zero Tolerance because we’re here to stay. We’re here to destroy this place and make it our own….And there will come a time when several of you have to understand that we bumped you down a rung on the ladder and we take the top spot. Because it will happen, ..it’s only a matter of time…