Behind The 'Music'

[Deleted]

'With unbridled energy and uncensored passion, he burst onto the wrestling scene like a hurricane.'

Early footage of Blaine Harrison wrestling back before he 'made it' back in '09 appear on screen as a folk-rock song plays in the background. The one time he faced Riflewilly back at the XRW show in Cleveland (Blaine hits a flying crossbody block). A match against JC Cook in Cincinatti (Blaine executing a titl-a-whirl headscissor takedown). A match against Kirsta Lewis at another show for another promotion in Cleveland (Kirsta performing her Hell's Bitch Kick).

"You could tell he was born to be in the ring."

"I've never seen anyone who loved doing what they did as much as he did."

The two quotes come from people who aren't immediately recognisable. In fact you'd be hard pressed to find out exactly who they are. But the footage switches to Saints Haven Wrestling, with clips of Blaine (as Ben Hanson) and his half-brother, Jackson in their various tag matches.

'It wasn't until two-thousand-and-nine that Blaine Harrison could say that he had made it big in wrestling when he signed for Isaac Bronco's new upstart promotion, Saints Haven Wrestling. Suddenly he found himself among some of the biggest names in independent wrestling.'

SHW footage of the fans piling into the arenas in Boston, Pittsburgh and Barrie, Ontario. Signs with 'We Love Ben' and 'Splendid Isolation' written on them plentiful.

More footage from SHW of the Jackson Hanson vs. Kirsta Lewis match, where Blaine (as Ben Hanson) unsuccessfully interfered on behalf of his partner/half-brother.

'But things were about to go terribly wrong.'

Same match. Jackson can be seen throwing a tantrum as Blaine (as Ben) looks on mortified and upset. The camera pans to Blaine's face; you can see visibly fighting back the tears as he watches his half-brother storm away up the aisle, swearing at young children and generally acting in an unacceptable manner.

"I got a call one day from Isaac Bronco saying he wanted me to be in his promotion."

Blaine appears on screen. He's seated in a studio somewhere wearing a black and white horizontally striped ringer tee. His fauxhawk is damn near impeccable and there's a smile on his face.

"I said yes without delay."

'Unaware of his brother's problems, Blaine Harrison found himself sharing the blame for Jackson's behaviour.'

"I didn't realise Jack was as bad as he was at the time. I mean, looking back the signs were all there, but you know what they say, my hindsight is twenty-twenty."

"Oh Jackson was a mess!"

The voice belongs to Papa Zellor, a fifty-plus year old man who's greying at the temples. He has a grey goatee and is wearing a leisure suit. He is replaced on screen by the still image from Blaine's final appearance in Saints Haven: Jackson botching a chair shot, hitting Blaine squarely and firmly on the cheekbone.

'That night, Jackson got released from his contract with Saints Haven. Within a day, Blaine got released as well. It was the last time Blaine wrestled for almost two years.'

"He seemed ashamed of himself after that."

"I just couldn't wrestle again at that moment in time..."

Blaine explains with a troubled look on his face.

"I had gotten into wrestling to be closer to my family and here was brother causing me so much pain. And I couldn't watch him ruin his life like he was doing at the time. So I did what seemed best."

'Now Blaine Harrison bares all as we go Behind The Music.'

Success. Fame. Glory. Passion. Heartache.

DVD footage plays of Blaine Harrison, circa mid-'10, with a shaved head playing the keyboard during a concert at the Santa Fe Opera House. This was during the tour in which he joined Pierre LaFontaine as a replacement bassist/keyboard player for the North American leg.

"He threw himself into his music to try and take his mind of his troubles. You could say it paid off."

'Blaine reinvented himself as a folk-rock musician as he joined former 'Arsenic Monkey Bone' lead singer, Pierre LaFontaine on the North American leg of his 'Les Genoux et Ortiels' tour to promote his new self-titled album.'

Footage of Blaine and Pierre in a small hall playing to approximately three hundred. Pierre has a guitar, Blaine has a bass and both are singing along to the song 'Escargot Mojito'.

"He was having fun. He was enjoying what he was doing."

'While he was expanding his horizons, Blaine's parents grew worried about the change in direction in Blaine's life.'

"I was a wrestler, I brought up my sons to be wrestlers. And suddenly here he was as a folk-rock musician, if you can call it that!"

Neil Hanson, Blaine's father appears on screen with a bothered look on his face. He's well over fifty now and looks remarkably tanned. His face is weathered and leathery, his hair is thin and grey.

"I felt as if I was being who other people wanted to be before that point."

Says Blaine as he recalls his stint on tour with Pierre.

"I became a pro-wrestler because my father was. Because Jackson was. Because it's what people expected me to be, to do. But being a musician was something I wanted to do. It was about the first decision I made for myself in my whole life."

Soft music plays as we're treated to childhood photos of Blaine. At four months old on his lounge floor, looking fascinated with a little plastic duck. Aged eighteen months on his father's shoulders outside in a park somewhere. Aged four years and a trip to a petting zoo with a friendly goat.

'Blaine Harrison was born Ben Hanson on June 5th nineteen-eighty-six, the second of four children in total. Two years younger than his half-brother, Jackson. Seven years older than his half-sisters Laura and Ellen. His parents divorced soon after his birth and Blaine was raised by his father in Akron, Ohio.'

"I enjoyed sports growing up; I was never really any good and the other kids didn't really like me because I was also in the band."

'When Blaine was nine years old his half-brother Jackson came to live with him and his father in the city of Portland, Oregon where they were lviing at the time. This was the first time that Blaine had met his brother.'

"I knew I had a little brother..."

Jackson Hanson is on screen. He appears to have gotten himself clean compared to what was said earlier in the video; his black hair is cut short now, naturally curled in contrast the long bangs he had when wrestling. Jackson speaks with a deeper voice than his brother.

"My mom talked about him like he was the demon child that ruined her marriage and her life. So I never really liked Ben even before I met him."

"He was awful to me growing up. When we were at school together he used to bully me every day."

'But as time went on, the two boys became closer. Their father, who wrestled as 'The Slaying Mantis' in the early 80s began to train them both to become professional wrestlers."

Footage of a ten year old Blaine in the wrestling ring. He was a small child and can barely see over the top rope.

"I remember one time, Ben and I were training with our dad. He was a pipsqueak, only about this tall and our dad just lifted him high above his head. Ben just screamed, it was hilarious."

Says Jackson before being replaced on screen by Blaine.

"We definitely bonded over wrestling. After two years of living together we finally started to get along."

A still photo of the two boys with their arms around each other's shoulders.

'But at the age of eighteen, Jackson left the family home to pursue a college degree. Blaine finished high school and, following his father's wishes, continued training to be a professional wrestler. The family had moved back to Akron and with his father's help, Blaine started wrestling on the independent circuit.'

"By the time I turned eighteen I was just going with the flow. I didn't want to disappoint my father or make it seem like the last eight years had been a waste."

"I had to keep pushing him along, but Ben was born to be a professional wrestler like I was. Whether he wants to admit it or not, it's his calling in life and I had to encourage him to follow that path."

"It was back in '08, I think when I first met Ben. I took him under my wing; we started to team together and I tried to teach him everything I knew."

The heavy-set anonymous wrestler says with a Canadian accent. From the looks of him, his wrestling style differs greatly from Blaine and he probably wasn't a great influence. How he even got in the show is beyond belief.

"But the most vivid memories are of us at the karaoke bar after the shows. He'd seek out any Smiths song they had and he'd croon it, swaggering around the stage like he owned it. If only he wrestled like that hahaha."

He laughs heartily before being replaced by another anonymous wrestler.

"He was always quiet backstage and on the road; he travelled alone, which we all thought was strange. But we went along with it because, well, we liked working with him in the ring."

"I was never a big people person. I mean, I sought solitude when I was on the road so I had time to do my stuff. I was wrestling four or five times a month throughout Ohio for the most part of the year ... '08 it was. I went back to the hotel or home, depending on if I could be bothered to travel, and I'd just write songs or poems. Unless one of the guys dragged me to the bar."

'And his hard work was about to pay off. An old family friend heard about a promotion being started by Isaac Bronco and got Blaine Harrison a chance on the biggest stage of his career. And as luck would have it, he'd be reunited with his half-brother, Jackson.'

"I think that was the happiest day of my life up until that point."

Blaine says with a giant smile on his face.

"At that point I started to take wrestling more seriously. I wanted to be with Jackson, bonded over our love of wrestling and SHW was the perfect place for us. I reunited with Kirsta Lewis who I knew from earlier in my career and some of the best wrestlers around at the time."

"I was extremely happy when the boys signed for Saints Haven. It was everything I ever wanted for them come true."

"I do regret messing things up for Ben. I really do."

Says Jackson with a look of remorse on his face. A photo montage of the two of them wrestling in SHW appears on screen. Again that photo of Jackson, high as a kite, botching a chair shot on his brother can be seen.

'After being released by Saints Haven, Blaine Harrison took a hiatus from professional wrestling as Jackson got caught up in a prescription drugs sting. A few months later SHW went out of business. It was a chance encounter in an Akron park one sunny May afternoon that took Blaine's life in a new direction.'

"I was walking through ze park and I saw heem!"

It's Pierre LaFontaine; a man in his early thirties, head shaved down to a gleaming finish who wears thick rimmed glasses and sports a soul patch.

"He was playing a Warren Zevon song on ze keyboard and he was playing eet so beautifully. As luck would have eet I was looking for some musicians to join me on tour."

"I owned a few 'Arsenic Monkey Bone' albums, I knew who Pierre was."

"So I asked heem if he would join me on ze tour. He said he was not a musician. I laughed and I told heem, if you can make that song sound that good you are a musician! And zen I found out he also played ze bass. Tres bien!"

'Blaine accepted Pierre's offer to tour with him.'

A montage of concert footage and still photos from the various gigs they played during '10 and '11; from open air events in parks to bars, small halls and shows such as the one they did at the Santa Fe Opera House appear on screen. They dressed alike on stage. Blaine playing either the bass or keyboard and even the mandolin on the song 'Je m'en fous'.

'But the good times were soon to end.'

"After we recorded the Santa Fe live album, Pierre disappeared for six days."

'His friend, Pierre LaFonatine went on a drinking spree, ending up with the singer drunkenly driving his car into a tree in Piedmont, Alabama. To escape jail time, Pierre agreed to enter rehab.'

"I felt so low at zat moment. I have said I am sorry to heem a thousand times but eet's not enough for how sorry I am."

"It was like watching a repeat of my brother. He would enter rehab, discharge himself and wreck another car or something incredibly stupid. Thankfully he didn't hurt anyone else."

'Despite the set backs, Pierre and Ben released their 'Live at Santa Fe' album, peaking at number fifty-two on the folk album charts. But with his music career seemingly over while Pierre battled his demons, Blaine returned to his previous passion. Pro wrestling.'

"I guess I was in the right place at the right time again. As I was training one day I got a call from an old friend, Alexander Kraven who I knew from early in my career. He said he was opening a new promotion that was going to air on a national platform. I'd have been a fool to say no."

Alpha Entertainment's logo appears on screen before switching to video clips of Blaine Harrison (as Ben Hanson) in action. The tag team match with Rian Valiant as they defeat the team of Myke Adams and Aaron Blaize. A triple threat match as Blaine submits Chris Jacobs with his scissored armbar, Ken Davison watching on helplessly outside the ring. Some of Blaine's high-flying escapades in a match against Chris Hunter.

"He was definitely going places."

"I was enjoying what I was doing again, everything about that place was great."

'But disaster struck as Alpha Entertainment found themselves embroiled in a vicious legal battle, resulting in the promotion shutting down after only three months in operation. As a result of the ongoing legal disputes, the newly named Blaine Harrison joined a Georgia based promotion, Peach State Wrestling where he reunited with some old rivals, Ascended Supremacy.'

"I'm a sucker for familiar faces."

"When Ben told me he was signing for Peach State Wrestling I didn't think it was a wise move; it's definitely a step down from Alpha."

'In Peach State Wrestling Blaine soon became a fan favourite and success soon followed. After winning a battle royal, Blaine Harrison teamed with Mr. Krinkle to capture his first title belt in professional wrestling.'

A still photo of Blaine and the three hundred pound clown, Mr. Krinkle as they celebrate their victory over Tara and Tristian Michaels.

'And now Blaine Harrison has joined the ranks of a new promotion, FRONTIER Grappling Arts with the hopes of more success.'

"Winning my first title was certainly what I needed to know I'd made the right choices in life. To end up where I am now - I never imagined this day would come. Now I just want to go on and keep doing what I'm doing. Keep on evolving until I reach my final evolutionary plateau when I'll finally know that I am the best I can be.'

A final still photo of Blaine Harrison celebrating his recent success against Evan Bodom can be seen on screen before it fades to black, being replaced by credits and the words.

This has been a mock production of VH1.