Adam Ellis
Gristmill Restaurant
New Braunfels, Texas
Saturday December 17th, 2022
“Enjoy your meal, y’hear!”
The perky waitress with the distinctive Texas drawl flashes her pretty smile before turning and leaving. As she hurries off in order to seat the next batch of people waiting at the front, Adam Ellis and Ginny Van Lear seat themselves and get settled in.
It’s a busy Saturday night at the Gristmill Restaurant in New Braunfels, Texas. Very loud. Very noisy. Located next to Texas’s legendary Gruene Hall… Texas’s oldest dance hill… the restaurant bursts with people, some of them just there visiting in the historic Gruene district looking for a meal to cap off their day while others get dinner before going to Gruene Hall for the evening’s concert attraction.
“Th’ was a good idea,” Ginny says in her distinctive Appalachian accent after she gently puts her coat on the seat next to her. She’s dressed up for the occasion in a nice blouse and new pair of jeans. Ginny also broke out a pair of cowboy boots she’d bought for the occasion.
“Honey, we shure needed this.”
Adam places his heavy jacket on the seat next to him. He, too, is all cleaned up tonight in an equally nice shirt and jeans with tennis shoes. “Yes,” he agrees. “With your dad passing and all and us having to go to Kentucky for a couple months, we definitely needed to do something like this.”
“Yeah.” Ginny says, her smile suddenly disappearing.
Dammit.
Adam kicks himself internally. From one look at her, he knows Ginny’s heart is still grieving for her father. He knows he probably shouldn’t have brought the subject up in the first place- especially when the heaviness hangs over her like a dark cloud. Adam had hoped for at least this weekend, she could put all that to the side and they could get back to being newlyweds.
“Sorry about that.”
Ginny shakes her head. “No. Yer right. We could use some you n’ me together time.”
Cue awkward pause. Then…
Adam pipes up. “I’m really looking forward to the Aaron Watson show tonight.”
“Ah never heard of him so it’ll be interesting,” Ginny replies. Ginny grew up listening to Southern Gospel music… JUST Southern Gospel music. Her father wouldn’t even let her listen to contemporary Christian artist like Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, or any of the current stars in the Christian music industry.
“No?” Adam seems genuinely surprised.
“No.” Ginny leans forward and puts her elbows on the table, setting her chin down on her hands. “Tell me ‘bout Aaron Watson.”
“Aaron Watson has been a fixture of the Texas independent music scene for the past twenty years and he’s built up quite a following. He’s put out a ton of records. And… and…” Adam tries to think of something else to add. “…oh. And he’s one of the few people who has actually scored a number one country record as an independent country artist.”
Ginny listens and nods.
“And… and… he’s great with his fans, too,” Adam keeps going on. “After the show, he goes to his merch table… signs autographs… and takes pictures until there’s no one left in the line. Love Aaron Watson.”
“Okay. If you say so.” A thought pops into Ginny’s head. “Does this mean you and me gonna two-step or whatever they call that dancing,” she asks.
“Well… I guess I would if I knew how to,” Adam sputters back, slightly embarrassed. “Um… dancing… not really not my thing?”
“But I’m glad we’er here,” Ginny says, placing her hand on top of his to reassure Adam. “You’ve been wonderful. I just want to thank y’all fer everything you’ve done thuh past couple months. You didn’t have to take off work, especially since y’all just started at PRIME but you told me not to fret and you were there fer me every step uh thuh way.”
“Of course, I would do that for you,” Adam replies. “Isn’t that what love is all about?”
Adam put his wrestling career to support Ginny after her father passed. He ended up missing the Colossus pay-per-view and he wasn’t scheduled to return to PRIME until after the Christmas break. The couple went back to McDowell, Kentucky for the funeral and Ginny’s father was interned at the Lucy Hall Cemetery off Kentucky 680- next to her momma’s gravesite. Adam and Ginny would spend much of the next couple of months in Kentucky tying up loose ends and wrapping up her father’s estate. The big decision Ginny had to make was what to do with the large palatial house she grew up in. She found herself torn between selling the house and keeping it. As they exited the long driveway that snaked its way up and over a hillside away from the house to the road, she still hadn’t made up her mind about what to do.
It didn’t help that Adam and Ginny now lived hundreds of miles away in Texas either.
So with Ginny struggling with what to do with the house, Adam had his own internal tug-of-war going on. On one hand, he did the right thing by taking the time off from PRIME to be the supportive husband he needed to be to his wife at a time where she needed it the most. On the other hand, taking the time off- especially in the infancy of Adam’s wrestling career- meant his progress would be held up a bit.
Adam’s last PRIME match took place against Sage Pontiff back in October- a match he lost when Pontiff tagged him with a ring hammer- the day after the news came down that Ginny’s dad had taken ill.
However, Adam did come back and wrestle early in December. Lindsay Troy called him out of the blue and let Adam know High Octane Wrestling’s Lee Best…who by the way is still steaming over the fact that Adam signed with PRIME instead of HOW after all these months… was offering him a match against GREAT SCOTT for the HOTv title. LT gave Adam the option to accept or decline- she really didn’t offer up any opinion on whether he should do it or not. Adam still felt a little irked at Lee’s reaction to Adam signing to PRIME- especially since Lee never offered him a HOW contract. He thought he could show Lee what he missed out on by upsetting the HOTv champion on HOW’s Chaos show.
So Adam impulsively accepted the match and he really looked forward to taking on GREAT SCOTT.
Big mistake.
Thirty seconds into the match, Adam realized he was nowhere even close to being ready to do battle against the HOTv champion. Unfortunately, He didn’t have enough time to prepare nor was he able to train nearly as much as he should have for the match. Out of in-ring shape and rusty from the lack of action, GREAT SCOTT overpowered him and won the match… easily.
A night that he’d have to learn the hard way from.
But nothing else mattered at this particular moment of time… inside the Gristmill Restaurant… on a mini-vacation-slash-long weekend… as Ginny looks into Adam’s eyes and squeezes his hand tightly.
“We definitely needed this.”
She leans over for a quick kiss.
“I love you, Adam.”
“I love you, Ginny.”
Following the nice dinner- both had a 10-ounce Top Sirloin steak entrée that filled them up- Adam and Ginny paid the cashier and left a more than generous tip on the table. Since the night was cool and temperatures continued to drop through the 40s, the original plan was to wait in their car in the parking lot across from Gruene Hall before getting in line for the concert.
However, by the time the couple exited the Gristmill and reached the sidewalk in front of Gruene Hall, they noticed a pretty good line had already formed along the white wooden fence along the property.
Adam made a command decision and the couple decides to get in line now instead of going back to their car. Fifty minutes later… the gates were actually opened five minutes early… Adam and Ginny get their ticket electronically scanned and the couple file into Gruene Hall for the Aaron Watson show.
***
(All right, Adam Ellis’s big-time pro wrestling adventure… take two.)
(The black and white ‘scene marker’ snaps down and the scene begins.)
Take two.
My name is Adam Ellis. Pro wrestler.
Four months ago, I was twenty-two years old, wide-eyed, and rarin’ to go… ready to embark on my first big-time wrestling adventure after signing my first big-time pro wrestling contract with PRIME. I had spent three months holding the Missouri Valley Wrestling’s Men’s title after a run in High Octane Wrestling as one-half of the tag team champions along with John Sektor.
Signing with PRIME was a dream come true for me. This is what I’d worked for the past four years. Then somewhere along the road, I met and married my girlfriend Ginny Van Lear and we moved to Texas.
New career.
New wife.
New home.
The future appeared bright.
And then disaster struck.
My father-in-law suddenly became ill. Ginny just got back to Lexington, Kentucky in time before he passed away. On that day, I effectively put my wrestling ambitions on a temporary hold and went to Kentucky with Ginny to be there for my wife.
Yes, I came back a few weeks later… sooner than anyone thought… sooner than I really should have… and challenged GREAT SCOTT for the HOTv title. That didn’t go well at all. It is quite the true statement that I was overwhelmed in every aspect of the match. The time off hurt me more than I imagined it would but GREAT SCOTT’s freakish strength is what did me in that night. Total overpowering performance by GREAT SCOTT. Foolishly, I thought I could simply step right back into the ring after six weeks of not training and I wouldn’t miss a beat. Nope. Boy, was I surprised. I lost to GREAT SCOTT in much the same fashion that France got steamrolled by Germany in World War II.
But as legendary French General Charles DeGaulle said in those dark hours following France’s surrender to the Germans. “But has the last word been said? Must we abandon all hope? Is our defeat final and irremediable? To those questions I answer – No!”
A crushing defeat… no matter how distasteful it may be… is still an opportunity to learn. A humiliating loss doesn’t have to be the last word. Hope doesn’t have to be abandoned. I know the best of my wrestling career still lies ahead of me. The last word has not been uttered yet.
There’s always a lesson to be learned whenever you step into a wrestling ring.
Real life may have taken me out of my game plan but here’s the good news- Adam Ellis does not stand alone. Working behind the scenes with me is Charlie Blackwell- a legend in the lower levels of the independent pro wrestling world who is in the process of creating his own wrestling empire at Texas Championship Wrestling. Charlie and I both have a common cause we’re working for. For Charlie, his aim is to train the next batch of wrestling stars. For me? My goal is to BE one of the next batch of wrestling stars. Working with Charlie, I have access to an immense wrestling resource, his reservoir of wrestling knowledge, and can draw from his experience inside the squared circle. That’s the biggest reason Ginny and I moved to just outside Dallas- so I could work out of Charlie’s gym at the New Sportatorium in downtown Dallas and work with Charlie on a daily basis.
The game plan is to come back stronger than ever in 2023. Adam Ellis will become a better pro wrestler. Adam Ellis will maximize his talents. Adam Ellis will win more titles. Charlie’s made it clear in order to do that, I will be required to put in a lot of work… a lot of sweat, and a lot of sacrifices. Because I had to take three months off, I am essentially starting right back at ground zero again. Except, I will restart with the experience gained from wrestling Ria Lockhart, Sage Pontiff, and GREAT SCOTT.
My high school wrestling coach… Coach Linfield… always preached that we should always take our chances whenever we get the opportunity. Starting on January 27th… at the Amalie Arena… in Tampa, Florida… when I step into a PRIME ring for the first time since October and take on Jonathan-Christopher Hall… that’s exactly what I intend to do.
As for Jonathan-Christopher Hall, I am very well aware of who he is and I’ve heard all about the Love Convoy over the past few months because… who hasn’t?
Jonathan-Christopher and I got acquainted at the HOW’s Dead or Alive pay-per-view last August when I defended the MVW Men’s title against Darin Zion in the opening match of the show. Darin came to the ring escorted by Jonathan-Christopher’s wife Vickie Hall. I had Ginny in my corner-we’d just been married just over a week. I overcame my inexperience and a couple of unfortunate mishaps with Ginny to retain the title in a tough, tough match with Zion.
Post match, Referee Davey Keels had come over to hand me the title belt…
(Replay from HOW’s Dead or Alive)
…Zion dives in. He traps Ellis’s arm and yanks back on it.
Thunderbolt Smith: ZION’S NOT DONE YET!
Zion pulls Ellis towards him and puts tremendous pressure on his back and shoulders.
Thunderbolt Smith: ZION’S SNAPPED AND HE’S GOT ELLIS IN THE LOVE HANDLE LOCK!
On the floor, still dazed from the fall off the apron, Ginny tries to stumble towards the ring apron. She’s tackled by Vickie Hall and another man who’s suddenly appeared on the scene dressed in a divine purple-pink ensemble.
Rick Hall: Who the hell is that?
Joe Hoffman: That’s Darin Zion’s 2Become1 tag team partner Jonathon-Christopher Hall… Vickie Hall’s Amazing Life Partner… and they are making sure Ginny Van Lear can’t come to Adam Ellis’s aid.
Staring into each other eyes and sharing expressive statements of pure love to each other, Vickie and Jonathan-Christopher lay the boots to poor Ginny on the floor and celebrate their continuing Hallmark Journey of love that has brought them to Tombstone-
AC/DC’s “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap” blares from the speakers…
Thankfully, John Sektor interrupted the Hall’s never-ending declarations of love toward each other-slash-beatdown of Ginny and ran the Hall’s and Zion off.
So, yeah. Despite the fact that Lindsay Troy was there that night and offered me a contract based on my performance against Darin Zion at Dead or Alive, there still might be a LITTLE saltiness on my part about what went down after the match. There might be a LOT of saltiness on Ginny’s part about what went down after the match.
I mean, Jonathan-Christopher… did you think I’d forget what you and Vickie did that night?
Did you think you could get away with it?
Did you?
Nope. There will be a price to pay and I will make that happen soon because is there any better way to jump-start my PRIME wrestling career by taking down Jonathan-Christopher Hall at ReVival 21?
Is there a better way to start the year than by puncturing the tires of the Love Convoy and bringing it to a screeching halt?
No. No, there isn’t.
The Hall’s attacked my bride… my wife at ringside in August. And I’m going to use what happened in Tombstone, Arizona that night as my primary motivation… let it fuel me as I systematically take you apart inside the ring… make your worst nightmares come true with the worst possible outcome. I will make sure you and your wife leave Tampa next Friday night with a big giant ‘L’ for your efforts.
Is there any better way to restart my PRIME journey than by turning the tables on the Halls and leaving Tampa, Florida with a resounding win?
Nope.
Is there no better way to start 2023? I think so.
***
3005 W. San Antonio Street
New Braunfels, Texas
Very Early Sunday Morning
December 18th, 2022
After parking his new Volkswagen Jetta, Adam trudges forward across the paved parking lot of the Comal County Sheriff’s Department towards the one-story complex in front of him.
It seems as if Ginny found herself in the middle of a ‘slight’ altercation at Gruene Hall earlier in the night which resulted in her and a few other people being hauled away in the back of a Comal County Sheriff’s van.
All Adam knew is he’d just gone to the bathroom located right behind the main stage after the opening act Kimberly Kelly wrapped up her set. He walked to the right of the stage and through a small room where a sound guy was located and turned left into the bathroom.
Nothing askew.
Everything seemed normal.
Sure, there were a couple of men ahead of him (the bathroom is not expansive by any stretch of the imagination), but Adam had no idea… completely clueless… about the sudden tension and flare-up that erupted in a flash in the area where Ginny sat.
So when Adam came back out five minutes later, he was quite surprised to see Ginny… and a few other people in handcuffs and being led out of Gruene Hall.
Adam enters the Comal County Sheriff’s Department.
“Can I help you?” says a deputy located at the front desk.
“Yes sir,” Adam replies. “I got a call to come here to pick up Ginny Van Lear.”
The deputy chuckles.
“The one who caused all that ruckus at the Aaron Watson concert.”
“Yes that’s her,” confirms Adam.
“I see. And you are?”
“Her husband,” Adam states. “Adam Ellis.
“So you missed out on all the fun, then,” the deputy says.
“I really… don’t know what happened, sir,” Adam says. “All I know is I went to the bathroom and when I came back one of your deputies was hauling Ginny and a few other people away.”
“I can tell you what happened,” the deputy responds. “We interviewed a few people at the show and they confirmed that a drunk group of people kept bumping into your wife and generally invading her space. Your wife politely asked them to stop. They didn’t. Words were exchanged. One of the men got into your wife’s face in a threatening way so she kneed him in the groin…”
“Oooh,” Adam remarks.
“…and then took him… and pretty much half the group… out with what they call a spinnin’ heel kick.”
“Yes, sir.” Adam nods his head. “That sounds like her… um… sir.”
“So, the witnesses confirmed that Ginny was defending herself. She’s not going to be in any trouble. We just had to bring her down here while we sorted out what happened.” The deputy smiles at Adam. “She’s free to go.”
Relieved, Adam lets out an exhale. “Thank you-“
“ADAM!”
His head jerks around. Ginny’s running at him down the hall.
“ADAM!”
Reaching the lobby, Ginny springs up into the air and jumps on Adam.
“Ooof,” he says, taking a couple steps backward.
A long hug follows and after several seconds, Adam puts her back on the ground.
Still smiling, the deputy tells them: “You two have a good night.”
“Thank you, sir,” Adam calls back as hand in hand, he and Ginny take their leave and exit through the door into the chilly early morning air.
“Well?” Adam says.
Ginny mischievously winks at him and squeezes his hand tightly.
“Best night ever.”
***
ADAM ELLIS’S CELL PHONE
1/20/2023 3:00 PM
Adam?-
-Ginny?
-What are you doing?
I’m not sure-
-Then why are you texting me?
The Halls text each other all the time-
-We’re not the Halls.
I know-
-The Halls have this weird co-dependency thing going on.
I know-
But some couples like doing this-
Me? Not so sure.-
And what’s a bae?-
-I have no idea.
-were you actually going to type that?
bae?-
-Yes
I tried to but I couldn’t quite bring myself to type it-
-Good
I think we’re doing just fine the way we are-
-Me too. But hey…
-I’m not done training yet
-And Charlie’s giving me a look
-I will be home soon.
Let’s go to a movie tonight… or something.-
-We can do that. Dinner too?
Yes.-
-Okay. Charlie’s yelling at me now
-need to go
-see you in a little bit
Adam, I love you-
-Love you too Gin.