His massive forearms slowly tightened like a vise across my head, cutting off the supply of oxygen rich blood to my brain. I tried to break the hold to no avail, and next thing I knew, the gym slowly faded out...
I awoke I don't know how much later, but Zach was gone. I had a pretty good headache going and a bitter taste in my mouth. And not just from losing the match. I figured it was blood, the after-effects of a pretty good forearm shiver he'd given me that caught me a little too flush across the face. I peeled myself up off the mat, grabbed my stuff and headed for the shower. I rinsed out my mouth at the sink, expecting to see pinkish water when I spat, but it was as clear as when I cupped it into my mouth. Odd.
* * * * *
Zach and I ran "92", a flourishing wrestling academy on Chicago's north side. The club was named in honor of the glorious year Zach and I helped bring our college an NCAA wrestling title. I hadn't wrestled much after school, but Zach carried on a while. For a time he even ran in the professional wrestling circuit under the moniker The North Side Strangler. It earned him a little bit of dough and enough notoriety that we were able to turn "92" into a wrestling school of some renown. I ran the business mostly, leaving Zach to do the actual training.
Not that I couldn't take down most people who came into the gym, but Zach was clearly the man. I'm just a hair under 6 feet, and he had a good four or five inches on me. Plus he had to be at least 250 pounds of absolutely solid muscle. I was clearly softer than I used to be when I was competing, but I was well below his weight class regardless. He kept his medium brown hair rather long, whereas I wore mine in a buzz cut for simplicity.
Sometimes when classes or private tutoring sessions were done for the day, he and I would wrestle each other. Mostly Greco-roman style, but of course his career as a pro wrestler left him with a knack of throwing in the odd aerial move or two. Frankly, he'd often try and catch me off guard by reverting to some of his non-traditional moves. No stranger to the WWE myself, I'd try some of the things I'd see on TV right back at him. Though spirited, mostly the matches had always been in good fun. Recently though, he seemed determined to finish me off with a submission move that would knock me out. More and more often these days, I'd find myself coming to, staring at the ceiling.
* * * * *
"Had enough, Ruben?!?" He taunted.
Again I found myself in an uncomfortable, desperate position. He had my arms locked behind my back, while his legs scissored around my neck. As frantically as I struggled to free myself, I couldn't break free. I started to see stars.