Post by styg on May 19, 2018 18:39:16 GMT -5
JAY PRIDE
PERSONAL INFORMATION
REAL NAME: James Iain MacMillan.
GENDER: Male.
PICBASE: Kimi Räikkönen - short hair version, and minus the forearm tattoos.
RACE: Caucasian.
NATIONALITY: Scottish.
D.O.B./AGE: 28th October, 1985 (age 32).
HOMETOWN: Dundee, Scotland.
RESIDES: Manchester, England.
PROFESSIONAL INFORMATION
RING NAME: Jay Pride.
NICKNAMES: "The Crème de la Crème of Catch-as-Catch-Can".
BILLED FROM: Dundee.
HEIGHT: 6'2" / 1.88m.
WEIGHT: 235lbs / 106kg.
TRAINED BY: The Superstar Factory, under Kieron Querns and Garry McCandlish.
CROWD AFFILIATION: Face - respectful and honourable, but arrogant.
PROFESSIONAL DEBUT: February 2006.
EXPERIENCE: 11 years, due to taking 2013 out to recover from nagging injuries. And for the last couple of those he's mainly been part time.
ACCOLADES:
* 2 x GFC World Heavyweight Champion
* 2 x wUc British Openweight Champion
* 1 x GCW Television Champion
* 1 x CWF Tag Team Champion [with Evangelista]
* 2 x WCC Intercontinental Champion
* 2 x WCC United Kingdom Champion
* 1 x LUKWS United Champion
* Fight Club UK Kieron Querns Memorial Shield 2016
* GFC Tag Team of the Year 2011 [with Evangelista]
* KMKZ ELITE Fight of the Night Award - World Grand Prix 2016 Night 2 [22/06/16]
* Co-owner and head trainer of Caledonian, with several students who've gone on to be successful champions in their own right.
CONTRACT TYPE: Full time.
STATISTICAL INFORMATION
STRENGTH: 7 - Jay will struggle a bit with the true superheavyweights, but he's as strong as you'd expect a 6'2", 235lb professional fighter to be - which is to say, very.
SPEED: 2 - His actual *SPEED* is fine, as is his dexterity when it comes to mat technique. But he's not a flier in the slightest. His idea of an aerial move is a double axe handle off the middle turnbuckle.
TOUGHNESS: 5 - Jay's willing to participate in hardcore matches if he needs to, and his pain threshold is respectable.
INTELLIGENCE: 8 - Probably Jay's most valuable asset is his mind. He's alert and methodical, and thanks to his history as a rule-breaker, he knows the tricks opponents might use against him.
CHARISMA: 6 - Although not exactly known for having a gregarious, life-of-the-party nature, Jay's perfectly comfortable on the mic and has been known to cut fire promos on occasion.
STAMINA: 8 - Jay has outstanding conditioning. He often prefers to make matches go long, since he expects to have the endurance advantage over many opponents.
SPIRIT: A - Jay understands that discretion is the better part of valour sometimes, and that it's no use getting your arm broken and missing three months of ring time because you were too stubborn to tap out. But the fighting spirit is still strong in him and he'll keep going as long as he can.
HONOR: A - Honour is kind of Jay's thing, after vowing to turn his old heeldom around and build his legacy the right way. What keeps him from the full S is the fact he's totally willing to manoeuvre himself into title shots he may not really have earned.
MALEVOLENCE: C - The struggle is real. Jay's determined he doesn't want to be that evil bastard he used to be. He tries so hard. Sometimes though, with some opponents, it just kind of... slips out a bit.
TALENT: A - Jay's one of those people who's just a born wrestler. He's got one huge glaring hole in the form his lack of flying ability, but otherwise he's a natural.
VIOLENCE: D - Jay's had some epic street fights, ladder matches and the like in his career, but you won't see him in a deathmatch. Even in no-DQ matches, his natural inclination is not to reach for weapons.
POTENTIAL: A - Jay's still younger than people often assume, with a lot of gas left in his tank - particularly as he's worked such a light schedule over the last few years. It's hard not to feel his window for being on the elite level is closer to closed than open, however.
WRESTLING INFORMATION
WRESTLING STYLE: Classic British technical grappling, heavily influenced by the catch-as-catch-can style of the turn of the 20th century and the World of Sport style of the 60s to 80s, and to a lesser extent the "all-in" style of the 30s and 40s. He also has some boxing training and can throw a mean punch.
MATCH TACTICS: Jay is an intelligent, confident, focused fighter who identifies and exploits his opponents' weaknesses and rarely loses his cool. He does his homework before a match, but he stays adaptable enough to modify or even completely shift his tactics mid-match if need be. Like his heroes of eras past, he can transition into just about any hold from any position. His ability to do this is greatly helped by the fact he stays in fantastic shape, meaning his conditioning and core strength are phenomenal. He definitely prefers to be in the centre of the mat, grappling, transitioning and employing holds. Like the most popular stars of World of Sport, he uses a few misdirective tricks (think Lady of the Lake, Russ Abbot, pendulum strikes, roll-ups) to gain positioning advantages or rattle opponents' minds. However if things devolve into a slugfest, he can handle himself fine, thanks to his boxing background. On the other hand, he absolutely cannot handle himself in an aerial battle. He knows this full well, and will do all he can short of actually breaking the rules to make sure the match never takes to the air, or if his opponent manages to take flight, to ground them again. Should he find himself truly needing to go to the top rope, he'll do what he can, but it's the one place his confidence falters and his hesitancy in such a situation can easily get the better of him.
That aside, his biggest flaw is that he can be, if anything, TOO patient and methodical; he focuses so much on outwrestling the opponent that he can overlook opportunities for victory. His arrogance can also leave him overextended against opponents who know how to take advantage of it, for example via baiting him into showing off how slick he is. As noted above, against opponents whom he reckons he has the stamina advantage over, he might tend to try to draw the match out long and wear them down.
CHARACTER PERSONALITY: You know the guy who wants to be woke but struggles too much with ingrained concepts of masculinity? That's Jay. He was raised to believe that men don't talk about their feelings; that men should silently bear the burdens of those around them; that seeking external help is weakness. He knows those things are wrong, but it's hard to fight how deep they are in his psyche, meaning he's often quite tense and stand-offish these days. His trainees know him his as gruff, reserved and rather authoritarian. Yet he cares about his students deeply, even if he doesn't always express it as well as he could, and he would do anything for them.
In his younger days he was louder, cockier, showier, more hedonistic; more of a jock, basically. He's grown up since then. Perhaps a little too much if anything, as he no longer seems to have any fun. He used to go clubbing; he used to be a devoted sports fan; he used to enjoy reading science journals; he used to practice stage magic as a hobby, even working it into his promos. All of that was in the past. Now, all of his time is spent running Caledonian, and his idea of relaxation is playing half an hour of Football Manager with a couple of beers between getting home and going to bed. It's fine. He can handle the stress. Definitely.
CHARACTER ANALYSIS: Jay's core motivation is, and has always been, for future generations to remember his name. Once upon a time, that meant trying to rack up titles and other accolades by any means necessary. Which meant supplementing his natural talent with ruthless sneak attacks, cunning rule-breaking, backstage politics... basically the full checklist of heelshit. He presented an uncommon combination of physicality, intellect and technical acumen - but was let down by hubristic arrogance, and never did quite achieve the glory he was after. A feud with a couple of genuinely sadistic monster types he'd wronged, and a period out not long after that to heal up some minor but mounting injuries, did a lot to change his perspective. Ever since then, Jay's still been focused on building his legacy, but as a good guy who does things the right way, having realised that a legacy earned through shortcuts and chicanery is no legacy at all. That might not sound like he's actually contrite in his heart, but he is.
Although Jay is no longer a villain, he retains his arrogance, though these days it's not so pronounced. He's still not shy about making his case for main events and title shots, and hasn't always been above using the positions of authority he's held to manoeuvre himself into title contention. Worried that his obligations as head trainer of Caledonian are consuming his prime years as a competitor, he comes to Arcadia to prove he's still right at home among the some of the world's best.
Jay is openly gay, and makes reference to this fact in his ring name, entrance theme, finisher name, and attire (with purple always being the dominant colour), but does not factor it into his ring identity outside of these superficial elements. He wants to inspire LGBTQ youths in sports to be proud and open, but at the same time, he doesn't want to trade on his sexuality as a gimmick. You certainly won't see him pulling any Goldust-esque shenanigans.
GIMMICK DESCRIPTION: A devotee of the long and storied history of pro wrestling in the United Kingdom, Jay wants to keep alive the spirit of the World of Sport and catch-as-catch-can styles in particular. Formerly a bit zealous in proclaiming the superiority of the style, he's now adopted a live-and-let-live attitude to promoting his favoured form of wrestling - much the same way as he now wants to cement his legacy in the sport through being a figure to look up to and via his work as a trainer, rather than through acquiring titles by any means necessary.
MOVESET INFORMATION
FINISHERS
PRIMARY FINISHER: "Pride Eater" - over the shoulder sitout belly to belly piledriver.
SECONDARY FINISHER: "Tannadice Scrambler" - butterfly driver onto his knees.DESPERATION FINISHER: Bicep slicer.
FINAL FINISHER: Avalanche [second rope] Pride Eater.
SIGNATURES
1. "Before a Fall" - Canadian rack backbreaker.
2. "World of Sport Special" - Pendulum lariat.3. Double wristlock monkey flip, often as a counter and transitioned into a submission hold.
4. Russ Abbot Special into double leg takedown.
5. Shoulder claw.
REGULAR MOVESET
1. Boxing punches, in all the classic forms (hook, cross, jab, uppercut).
2. Positioning control holds (e.g. snapmare, hammerlock, wristlock, grounded head~ or bodyscissors).3. Spinning arm/leg breakers/holds.
4. Suplexes (basically all the suplexes; whatever's most appropriate for the given situation).
5. Abdominal stretch.
6. Armhook sleeper.
7. Atomic / Manhattan drop.
8. Bow and arrow stretch.
9. Double axe handle.
10. European uppercut.
11. Front chancery.
12. Full nelson.
13. Hangman's neckbreaker.
14. Inverted facelock backbreaker.
15. Japanese armdrag, frequently transitioned into a grounded hold.
16. Japanese stranglehold.
17. Lady of the Lake.
18. Pumphandle backbreaker.
19. Running high knee.
10. Samoan drop.
21. Scoop powerslam.
22. Standing dropkick (definitely no missile!).
23. Standing knee drop.
24. Superman punch.
25. Surfboard stretch.
ENTRANCE INFORMATION
ENTRANCE THEME: Faith No More - "Be Aggressive"
ANNOUNCER INTRODUCTION: | ERIN LAMBERT: From Dundee... weighing two hundred and thirty-two pounds, he is "The Crème de la Crème of Catch-as-Catch-Can"... JAY! PRIDE!
ENTRANCE DESCRIPTION:
Purple lights pulse around the entrance as ominous organ music plays, heralding the start of Faith No More's "Be Aggressive". The fans begin to cheer in anticipation as it builds, and after seven or eight seconds, it breaks into the song's dirty, distorted opening proper. Shortly after that, Jay Pride steps through the entrance, looking around the arena with a small but confident smile on his face. He's got a T-shirt on in addition to his ring attire. The cocky Scot pauses for just a moment, nodding to himself along with the beat, then begins a measured stride to the ring. He's not dawdling, but he's certainly rushing either. He pauses every so often to high five or fist bump a group of fans stretching their arms out to him, but for the most part, his eyes stay on the ring and the fight ahead of him. A purple-tinged spotlight follows him, moving at the same steady pace as Jay is himself.
Upon reaching the apron, Jay grabs the middle rope and quickly pulls himself up, ducking through between the top two ropes and then hustling to one of the far corners. He climbs to the second turnbuckle, where he poses with one arm raised into the air. He casts his eyes around the arena, taking in the reaction he's getting, before turning and stepping back down to the mat. Then Jay crosses to the next corner along, the other one on the opposite side from the entrance, where he pulls off his T-shirt and tosses it into the crowd. At last he then drops to the mat and begins rolling his neck, hands and other joints to loosen up for the forthcoming match.
> The T-shirt Jay wears to the ring will usually be either his own merch, or that of Arcadia. On rare occasions it might be that of a vintage British wrestler or wrestling company, a classic rock or metal band, or the jersey from a Dundee United strip. If his opponent is already out, he'll keep one eye on them, just in case they try something funny.
CHAMPIONSHIP ENTRANCE DESCRIPTION:
Purple lights pulse around the entrance as ominous organ music plays, heralding the start of Faith No More's "Be Aggressive". The fans begin to cheer in anticipation as it builds, and after seven or eight seconds, it breaks into the song's dirty, distorted opening proper. Shortly after that, Jay Pride steps through the entrance, looking around the arena with a small but confident smile on his face. He's got a T-shirt on in addition to his ring attire, and above that, strapped around his waist, his title belt. The cocky Scot pauses for just a moment, nodding to himself along with the beat, then begins a measured stride to the ring. He's not dawdling, but he's certainly rushing either. He pauses every so often to high five or fist bump a group of fans stretching their arms out to him, but for the most part, his eyes stay on the ring and the fight ahead of him. A purple-tinged spotlight follows him, moving at the same steady pace as Jay is himself.
Upon reaching the apron, Jay grabs the middle rope and quickly pulls himself up, ducking through between the top two ropes and then hustling to one of the far corners. He climbs to the second turnbuckle, where he unhooks the belt from his midriff and raises it into the air with one arm, smirking and mouthing a couple of words about how he'll still be the champion when he leaves the ring. Then Jay turns and steps back down to the mat and passes the belt to the referee with total confidence that he'll get it handed back to him soon enough. After this he quickly pulls off his T-shirt, crosses to another corner, and steps up to the middle rope before tossing it into the crowd and then raising high in the air the same arm he threw it with. At last he then drops to the mat and begins rolling his neck, hands and other joints to loosen up for the forthcoming match.
BIOGRAPHY
Raised in a pretty generic middle class household, Jay was always a sporty youth, on practically every A team in his school. He got to Cardiff University on an athletics scholarship, but quickly managed to change his course from sports science to marine biology. However, he never completed it, as his commitment to the university's wrestling team grew ever larger until finally he dropped out to wrestle full time, moving to Manchester to train at The Superstar Factory, owned by renowned British veteran Kieron Querns. Jay has since completed a BSc in Evironmental Science via the Open University.
For the first few years of Jay's career he tended to quickly rise up the ranks to become a major main event player wherever he went, most prominently CWF Ignition and Pro Wrestling FRONTIER. However, he never managed to capture a world championship, earning title matches but failing to make good on them. During his time in CWF, Jay settled in upstate New York with a fellow Scot, mixed martial artist Jackie Boy Warner, with the two opening a gym named Caledonian. Jay also took under his wing a young, hungry, but rather directionless rookie by the name of Leanne Evangelista, a fellow Superstar Factory graduate from a few years after Jay himself, becoming her mentor. Jay manipulated the naive youth into carrying out his dirty work for him, from interfering in his matches to attacking his enemies backstage. Circumstances eventually saw the fans warm to them slightly, as they were the lesser evil in a rivalry against the team of Bobby Mercer and Christian Cross a.k.a CrossBones, but they were still definitely not honourable.
Not long after this, during a collective year out to deal with mounting injuries, Jay, Leanne, Leanne's flatmate Laurel Anne Hardy, and Jay's business partner Jackie Boy all decamped back to the UK - to Manchester, to be precise, to take over The Superstar Factory following then-owner Garry McCandlish's retirement, rebranding it as the new Caledonian (Kieron having died in 2007). Around the same time, Jay, Leanne and Laurel also had a series of frank dicussions about their status in wrestling as ruthless villains and collectively agreed to turn things around and start fighting with honour, promising to support each other in this attempt.
This change in attitude was vindicated when Jay returned to FRONTIER and finally captured his first world title, ending Gabriel Gambino's record-setting reign as GFC World Heavyweight Champion. He went on to lose the title in an epic feud with Chandler Scott, one of the defining feuds of Jay's career, which lasted a full year and saw the two men trade numerous victories with each other. This ended with Jay's arm getting broken in a freak accident in the ring, towards the end of an hour-long iron man match. When he returned to FRONTIER after healing up, it was as a talent liaison rather than an in-ring competitor; instead he signed a contract with Global Championship Wrestling, where once again, Jay quickly established himself as a main event name, although he failed to capture either the World or Global Championship.
Much of Jay's time in GCW was spent feuding with Adrian Waters, who stopped at nothing to try to provoke Jay into giving in to his dark side and regressing into the villain he used to be. He almost came very close to it too, and although in the end Jay triumphed and stayed in the light, the rivalry left clear psychological scars, enough that one might say Adrian turned out to be the real winner in the end.
Aside from these endeavours, Jay's gotten more into the business side of things, particularly when it comes to promoting his beloved British wrestling. His most significant projects here include backing Shooting Star Wrestling Association as an early investor, being one of the key driving figures in Northern Pride Wrestling (no, it wasn't named after him!), and serving as the talent liaison in Fight Club UK.
Between these enterprises, and his duties with the expanding Caledonian, Jay's spent less and less time in the ring in the last couple of years. But he's not getting any younger, and he's realised if he's going to get that list of in-ring accolades he feels he deserves, he's got no time to waste.