the Asylum

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What is the Asylum?

… perhaps the stupidest question, ever.

Because the answer so sought after, is already staring back at you, right in the face.

Asylum is not "sports entertainment", nor is it "Underground Fighting"… and anyone who feels in a position to call it an "Organized Fighting Promotion", is clearly somewhat mentally impeded.

The Asylum isn't Joe Campbell either, although he would lead you to believe it.

The Asylum, is everything and nothing, its violence… its hatred, its payback, murder… chaos, corruption… and on many occasions, it's the thin line between life and death; and its twisting, spiraling… and plummeting further and further out of control, every day.

And Joe Campbell?

Joe Campbell made it legal.

Believe it or not, there's a story behind it all, albeit a simple one, it leaves nothing more to the imagination, the story of how the Asylum came to be, where it came from, and what lengths people were taken to, to take control.

18th October 1930: Ronald Gianluca Massaro is born at home in downtown Brooklyn, New York, son of respected professional boxer and local club owner Gianluca Massaro, he would be the only child of the Massaro family, following complications during his birth, peventing his mother from having further children.

Ronnie would spend the next ten years of his life growing up and adjusting to life in Brooklyn.

18th October 1942: A day that would change the life of Ronald "Ronnie" Massaro, forever.

Unfortunately for Ronnie, he was born into a time where organised crime was commonplace, extortion, robbery… "protection".

All played a factor in the livelihoods of many families and business owners in Brooklyn, unfortunately, Ronnie's father possessed one of the bigger clubs in town, and as result, was consistently at the center of gang related crime. Gianluca Massaro was a proud man, perhaps too proud, after refusing to pay protection money to one of the bigger criminal organisations it town, Gianluca ignored the warning signs, and was shot dead on the night of October 18th 1942, along with his wife Isabel, and several innocent bystanders.

20th October 1942: Two days after his birthday, Ronnie Massaro is adopted by his uncle, Guiseppe Massaro, for the next six years of his life, Ronnie would become a large part of Guiseppe's life, taking up the responsibiliy of raising Ronnie alone, Guiseppe took up the role, but on Ronnie's sixteenth birthday, Guiseppe chose to introduce him to a secret he had been harbouring for years.

20th October 1946: Smilthy's resturaunt.

A quiet family business located in the heart of Brooklyn, Smilthy's resturant still stands today, preserved as it was all those years ago.

And even then, it served the same purpose as it does to this very day.

From the outside, Smithy's is, and was nothing special, a simple… somewhat dingy looking diner, but what went on on the outside of Smilthy's was merely a smookscreen, for beneath the carpet, down the damp, dank stairwell, and manifesting deep within the foundations of the building, grown men did battle.

Ronnie could remember the rush of excitement as he first set his eyes upon it, lead through what could almost be compated to a "secret door" in Smilthys, he was lead down the dank, dripping stairwell, all along, the sound of cheering, hustling and bustling men coming from within.

And then, he saw it… the very thing which would come to shape and mould his life in an entirely new direction.

The mesh, the enclosure… the bloody, battered men, fists taped, and still in dress pants from a day of work, beating the life and soul out of each other.

And each time they struck, the surrounding crowd would cheer with delight, these men… were their gods.

Ronnie remebered the money, waved in the air as people would place the next bet for the next fight, it was reminiscant of worker ants, the money appeared, several men scuttled around snatching it from their hands and taking it to a hugely built man, who would promptly and neatly put it in order on a tray behind his desk.

This, was fighting.

Underground fighting.

Truth be told, Guiseppe Massaro had always been the runt of the litter, his big brother Gianluca was always seen as the more important brother, better at everything, stronger… faster, Gianluca had it all.

But in times where the only rule was that of the fist, nobody ever really considered intelligence as a factor.

Guiseppe was the brains behind it all, he got Gianluca a professional boxing contract, he was as good as his managed, but there was a side project, an underground syndicate which would keep money in his pocket for as long as he would need it, of course…this syndicate was fighting, and of course… it was illegal.

Guiseppe's original idea was an underground boxing circuit, doubled up as a speakeasy; during a time where heavy restrictions were in place on alcohol, this would be a place where people could take refuge, have a drink, watch a fight, and if they play it smart, make some money.

Suffice to say, it took off, underground boxing was a hit, and a goldmine for Guiseppe.

However, the bar was eventually raised.

20th October 1948: Violence erupts in Smilthy's.

It was an ordinary cold night outside, Smilthy's bustled with activity as the next bout started to take place, Johnny "The Ace", undefeated and renowed for his remarkably quick hands, was taking on a beast of a man, Tony "The Beast" Falcone.

Johnny took early advantage as expected, lashing the slower bigger opponent with jabs, hooks and uppercuts that soon had him dazed, however… this did nothing but anger the Beast, who did something which would change the face of Guiseppe's boxing club, forever.

Tony lost it, first breaking Johnny's nose with a solid headbut, he tore of his gloves and took a grip on "The Ace", before tossing him around like a ragdoll, and generally tearing him to shreds.

Guiseppe and his henchmen raced to the brawl in a furious manor.

But something strange occurred, Guiseppe hadn't heard the crowd of fifty plus workers, who had erupted with glee at the sight of the two boxers breaking every rule in the book, and much to Guiseppe's surprise, he and his men were booed furiously upon splitting up the fight, as was Johnny "The Ace", declared winner through disqualification.

Something in Guiseppe's mind exploded, he'd felt the rush of the crowd, and the true emotion which had been present when the men were fighting for real, with incentive.

Two nights later, Johnny "The Ace" left to persue his professional dream, but it didn't matter, because the crowd had a new hero to follow, Tony "The Beast" Falcone, a below average boxer.

Why?

Because Guiseppe's underground boxing curcuit was announced null and void, the gloves were off; this was underground fighting.

Naturally, the crowd loved it… bareknuckle fighting, with some kicking and biting thrown in, it was ultraviolent, the Guiseppe soon found himself bombarded with new members, new customers, and a hugely new found profit.

However, the Mob, as always; were watching.

3rd April 1955: Another dark day in the life of Ronnie Massaro, as he and his uncle Guiseppe arrived at Smilthy's resturant for another day of business, they were greeted by a blazing inferno, someone had burned Smilthy's to the ground.

Guiseppe was enraged, plagued by the same organisation responsible for his brother's death, Guiseppe had also refused to pay, and be beaten by the heavy tactics, this however was underhand, and worse than any physical torture which could have been placed on Guiseppe's head, three days later, Guiseppe took a firearm and set off on a personal vigilante, this was the last Ronnie ever saw of his uncle alive.

24th April 1955: Police announce the discovery of a mutilated body, left in a dank alley beside Smilthy's, Ronnie's worst fears were confirmed, able to identify the body as that of his uncle Guiseppe, and for the first time in his life, he was alone.

18th May 1955: Following an extensive investigation, funeral procceedings for Guiseppe Massaro took place, in his final will and testament, he left his fortune to the nephew who had been more of a son, Ronnie… Ronnie read over the will, and sparked mass confusion, using his newly found wealth to completely rebuild Smilthy's, why anyone would want to spend such a fortune on a dank resturaunt was hard to comprehend, but Ronnie had alterior motives.

21st January 1956: Smilthy's resturant stands tall once more, Ronnie spends an estimated $10,000 on the revamping of the resturant, completely dispersing the fortune left to him by his uncle, an addition $5000 dollars however, is declared unaccounted for.

1st February 1956: Police announce the finding of seven presumed mafia members, all dead, confusion once again stirs, as the police announce the deaths not to be "under suspicious circumstances"… no one was apprehended for the murders, nor were any suspected witnesses happy to talk, somewhere… Ronnie Massaro smiled.

1st March 1956: Ronnie re-initiates his uncles fighting club to a massive success, Ronnie's means of a living stays true to him over the years, as the interest never dies, underground fighting remained as popular as ever, as Ronnie lived a quiet, peaceful life doing what he loves, in the name of his uncle.

It was only later in his life, that Ronnie encountered problems, problems which he had no knowledge of, nor would he ever.

December 24th 1975: Joseph Campbell comes into the world, born at Manchester Royal Infirmary, and raised in the same town, Joe's early years of life were quiet.

July 14th 1991: Joe Campbell fails basic GCSE examinations, deemed an idiot by the rest of his family, Joe sets off in search of the almighty dollar, one plane ticket later, a young Joe Campbell arrives, taking up residence with his aunt and uncle in New York City.

May 18th 1993: Joe Campbell is hospitalised following a gang assault on his way home from a night at the casino, robbed of his winnings and beaten to a pulp, Joe spends sixty five days in a hospital bed, thirty spent in a coma, days after being released… Joe Campbell purchases a glock firearm.

13th August 1994: An aged Ronnie Massaro prepared to close up Smilthy's for the night, it had been another superb taking, with the new legions of fighters seemingly endless, a young man had particularly taken Ronnie's eye, the kid with the weird name he'd always say to himself… Angel… the Dalton kid.

While Ronnie counted his money and eyed up the prospects however, he was oblivious to the danger immeidiately surrounding him, set in his ways, Ronnie's had was stuck in the past, leading to him not thinking twice about cutting through a dark alley in order to reach home quicker.

Ronnie wasn't sure where they'd come from, or how many there were, but several youths were on him like a rash, the first strike felt like that of a baseball back hitting him up the side of the face, before what seemed like an endless reign of kicks ensued.

They stopped much to Ronnie's surprise, somewhat abruptly, as a voice broke the silence.

"Fucking yanks, always killing and robbing each other… go on, you lot… fuck off!" Ronnie heard, before what sounded like the clicking of a clip into a gun occurred.

The gang fled, as Ronnie found himself dragged to his feet by an individual with an accent he didn't recognise.

"You a cop?" Ronnie said, coughing heavily.

"Nah, I'm not with the filth…" The voice fired back.

"So what's with the gun?" Ronnie enquired.

"This is America mate, if you don't have one of these… there's summat wrong with you." Was next to greet him.

"So who are ya kid? What's yer name." Ronnie once again enquired.

"Campbell."

"Just Campbell?" Ronnie said with a smirk.

"Joe… Joe Campbell, now can we stop with the questions and get a beer? Fighting crime isn't really my thing, pal." Joe replied, the two went on to a local bar, where Ronnie sought medical attention at the bottom of a whisky bottle, he had a new friend.

24th December 1994: Ronnie waits for Joe's birthday, giving him a present he'd never forget, Ronnie showed Joe his organisation, Joe's eyes lit up, and Ronnie was proud, he finally had someone to pass the torch too, but little did he know, that the light burning in Joe's eyes was green.

18th November 2000: Ronnie is admitted to general hospital, complaining of chest pains, Ronnie goes into cardiac arrest and dies, Ronnie is later revived, but Doctors later confirm that he doesn't have long left.

23rd November 2000: Ronnie Massaro dies under suspicious circumstances, and autopsy later reveals irregularly high levels of anphetamine to be in his blood.

25th November 2000: Following enquiry, Ronnie Massaro is buried, a will later reveals that all of his possesions are to be given to a young englishman by the name of Joe Campbell.

28th November 2000: Joe Campbell receives word of his attainment in a letter left to him by Ronnie.

Joe,

If you read this, then I am truly sorry, for I leave you on your own now… I cannot profess how much I owe to you, perhaps my life… but you have been a son to me, and this is something I will never forget.

I leave you my Legacy Joe, as you know, Smilthy's is now legally yours, but with it, I leave you the responsibility of managing the rest of the business. I know you will do me proud.

My one dieing wish, is that the fighting remains behind closed doors, Joe. We have something very special with Smilthy's, and I hope that you will keep with it the honor, the nobility and the reputation that it has come to receive.

God bless,
Ronnie.

"Honor? Nobility? Reputation… bah, what a stupid old wanker." Joe uttered, whilst emptying a half empty bag of anphetamines down the lavatory. Less than two weeks later, the Asylum was born.

Ronnie Massaro would have rolled in his grave.

Television deals, sponsorship, superstars… Joe had taken the legacy and turned it into a money-making gimmick, the honor, nobility and reputation that Ronnie had mentioned, were no more, and Joe Campbell set on top of the empire, pissing on the dieing words of Ronnie Massaro.

And where one story ends, another… begins.