Educating Shane - Part 1 tonywrestles2

    Shane returned from his afternoon workout to find a note taped to his bedroom door: "See me. D."

"D," of course, was Damien, the president of Gamma Tau. And since Damien was fastidious to the point of religious mania, Shane knew it would be a Bad Idea to go to see him without showering first.....

Fifteen minutes later, clean in thought, word, and deed (or at least in body), Shane tapped lightly on Damien's door. A muffled "Come!" was his response.

Shane opened the door and stepped into the room. Damien's room was immaculate, scrubbed to military-perfection. Probably not by Damien himself, Shane thought privately, because Damien took his privileges as chapter president very seriously.

Damien himself was working on his computer "Shane," he said, "good to see you. Have a seat." He indicated a chair near the far wall and turned his desk chair around to face it.

"This must be quite a culture shock for you," Damien began. "How are you holding up?""Pretty well," Shane replied. "You and the other guys have been terrific."

"Especially Mike, right?" Damien grinned.

Mike grinned back. "Especially Mike. He's a great bloke. One of the best mates I've had."

Damien nodded. "I sort of figured that would be the case; that's why I had Kaya put you two together." He ran his fingers through his silky hair, then continued "I want you two to tag team together this year."

Shane was surprised. "Sure, I'm up for it," he said, "but I thought I'd be romper stompin' with you?"

"Plans change," Damien told him. "I'm gonna be working on something else this year, and I won't have time for a tag team. Besides, Mike's a better match for you personally, and even though he's not as strong as you, he's much faster and more experienced.

"Which brings us to the point. You've seen how we fight on this campus. You've never done this before, right?" Shane shook his head. "Okay. Then we've got to get you started. Meet me in the Wreck Room tonight, nine o'clock. I'll get you started, and Mike can help you with the rest."

Shane gave the Gamma salute. "Nine it is, sir."

Damien got to the Wreck Room at a quarter to nine, and was pleasantly surprised to see Shane already there, warming up. "You're early," he noted.

"Habit," Shane replied.

Damien nodded. "Good one to get into." He looked critically at Shane's full-body warmup suit. "Lesson number one: no one wears all that in a fight. Strip down." Shane, after a moment of surprised hesitation, complied, revealing a red, white, and blue Australia singlet. "Keep going," Damien commanded.

Shane flushed momentarily, then peeled off the singlet to stand in tight black briefs. Damien nodded appreciatively. "Nice," he said. He removed his own shirt and shoes and slipped out of his jeans, revealing pale green briefs underneath.

"Okay," Damien said, gesturing for Shane to come forward, "come for me."

Shane started. "I thought you were going to show me some moves first," he protested.

"Best way to learn's by doing. Come on!"Shane shrugged, and stepped forward to meet Damien in the center of the mat. They circled, Shane looking for an opening, Damien content to stay in a defensive stance. They locked up, and Shane forced Damien's head down to his chest and slapped on a front facelock.Damien let Shane move him around the mat while he got his legs into position. Suddenly, he exploded forward, driving Shane backwards and down to the mat. He jerked his head free, and snaked his left arm underneath Shane's neck and his right arm under one of Shane's legs. "Down!" he cried.

Shane obediently went limp. Damien released the hold and Shane sat up, rubbing the back of his neck. "What happened?" he asked


"You didn't have any weight on me," Damien told him. "There wasn't anything behind your hold. Get up and let's try again."



    This time, Shane rushed Damien and drove him down to the mat. Shane wrapped his arms around Damien's neck, driving his face into the mat.

And stopped. Now what? He wasn't sure, and Damien wasn't about to tell him......not in words, anyway. With his attention divided, Shane's arms involuntarily relaxed slightly, and Damien was ready to take advantage of the Australian's lapse in concentration.

Damien's arms snaked upward to wrap themselves around Shane's head. He worked Shane's head for a minute or two, then shifted his weight so that Shane was lying on his back. Quick as a flash, Damien spun behind Shane and pulled his head and neck into the air. To complete the hold, Damien adjusted his body and rested his knee under Shane's neck, arching the rookie's back even further.

Shane clawed at Damien's hands, prying them apart to release the pressure on his neck and back. However, just as he succeeded in freeing himself from the chinlock, Damien spun again until was fully on top of Shane. Damien pinioned Shane's wrists with his hands, and forced his powerful legs between Shane's.

Damien slid his legs up Shane's, forcing them farther and farther apart. Shane suffered in the grapevine for as long as he could, but in the end he submitted.

Damien immediately released the hold and rolled off the defeated wrestler. As soon as the physical assault was over, the verbal one began "You had the headlock. Why didn't you do anything with it?" he asked sharply.

"I couldn't think of anything to do," Shane admitted with a grimace.

"I thought you couldn't," Damien said. "Lesson number two: always think at least three moves ahead, with at least two backup plans.

"Once you're on the mat, you become a general; you have to be able to plan effectively, to anticipate your opponent's plans, and to change them on the fly if something happens completely out of the blue. Go get a drink, then get back here."

Shane circled Damien slowly, trying to find a weak spot in the other man's defenses. Damien kept one hand low, to block any attack on his legs, and one high, ready to intercept anything aimed at his head. Shane took a last look, then made a decision.

He feinted a shot at Damien's legs, and grinned as Damien reflexively threw his legs back out of harm's way. Quick as a flash, Shane changed direction, and secured Damien's head in a firm grip. Shane adjusted his body, and hauled Damien bodily into the air and over his body to come crashing down to the mat, all the while holding the headlock.

Damien recovered quickly from the impact, and scissored Shane's head to convince him to release the hold. Shane leaned forward, putting more pressure on Damien's neck. Damien released the scissors.

Shane had already planned several moves, and chose the one that seemed to have the best chance of success. He reached for Damien's legs with one arm, while the other still held Damien's head.

Damien, however, realized what Shane was up to, and exploded into action. He allowed Shane to grab his legs, then jerked them away hard, throwing Shane off-balance and making him lose the headlock. Damien got behind him and clamped on a full nelson, then leaned back and scissored Shane's middle.

The intense pressure on his neck and ribs left Shane with no options; he submitted quickly. Damien released both holds, but didn't roll away this time. Instead, he simply lay on the mat, and allowed Shane to collapse on top of him.

"Comfy?" he asked, grinning.

Shane was breathing hard. "I am now," he gasped. "A couple of minutes ago...."

"Lesson number three," Damien said. "You seldom get second chances. If at first you don't succeed, don't try, try again. You tell me why."

"Because the second time, the guy will know it's coming and will be ready to screw you over?"

"Exactly. Actually, if he's any good, he'll know it's coming the first time, but then it's just a matter of being faster than he is, and that's something that I can't teach you." He stroked the Australian's chest. "Mike's gonna be a lucky guy," he murmured softly. "I think that's enough for tonight. Let's hit the showers. Tomorrow, I'll start teaching you some moves and counters; if you're a good boy and do all your homework, by the end of the week I'll have you working out with Mike."


Shane grinned as he and Damien climbed to their feet and left the Wreck Room.