High Stakes Fatal Four-Way vs. Vinnie, Miles and Hilton
“To believe in 'the greater good' is to operate, necessarily, in a certain ethical suspension.”
Joan Didion
The more things change the more they remain the same. We have a new champion, but what has really changed? Nothing, nothing at all. His new challenger is a two time world champion, going for his third reign. No fresh faces, no catalysts to give this place a kick in the ass that it so desperately needs. No, because they are comfortable with the status quo. The company is still banking on the backs of the existing talent. I use the term loosely, talent, such as it is. There are so very few men on this roster who even qualify as talent, it’s really quite funny to me. I’m one to talk though right? I mean, I had the world title and lost it on my first defense. As I’ve said before, Alex was better than me on those nights. Whether he can be better than Jack is another story altogether though. I mean, it was Jack that took the title away from him the last time he wore that strap. Will history repeat itself? I guess we’ll get to find out, one way or another it won’t matter much. By the end of the year, I will have that world title again. I don’t care who wins at High Stakes, your time as champion is marked. The countdown to your demise has already begun. I know it, the fans know it, you’re the only ones who haven’t realized it yet.
So, although currently things are much the same as they were when I first arrived on the scene a little over a year ago. Take a deep breath, in through the nose and out through the mouth. What you’ll both taste and smell is change. A change in my approach and the way I handle my business in Sin City. The company has to be saved from itself as my brother from another mother said in his debut on Sin City Television. Yes, I’m the reason that “Godly” Ken Davison is here in Sin City. He is the one of the absolute best to ever lace up a pair of wrestling boots. We are brothers to the bone, where one is, it’s only a matter of time before the other follows. We never let the other ride alone, that is our mantra and that’s who we are. We are two of the founding members of the Suicide Saints along with Myke Adams. That’s not even the most important aspect of this, the most important aspect is that when I put out the call, family follows. They are my family not only in wrestling but in life. People I trust to have my back. Their loyalty is beyond question, our word is our bond. We are an acquired taste, the paint where there isn’t supposed to be paint if you will. The biggest majority of this roster are considered the In-Crowd.
We’re the other ones. We are cut from a different kind of cloth than the rest of you. Popularity was never a part of our agenda or the goals we are trying to achieve. We freely let our colors show without fear or regret. Our loyalty is to each other and our brand. If you’re one of us, you already know, you were branded a long time ago. We were branded by the blood, sweat and tears of paying our dues the hard way. No shortcuts, no calling in favors on Daddy or Mommy’s name. We don’t kiss the promoters ass, we treat them with respect if they deserve it. If they don’t, we tear the company down as we did all those years ago. A promoter once lied to me about a match that I was owed. Ken and I, being who we are, bought out our own contracts and walked out the door. Before the end of the week, that company was left with five employees that were actual in-ring talent. I had nothing to do with the rest of them walking out, it just shows you the kind of leadership I have that I can influence others without saying a word to them. It’s a matter of loyalty and being there for your brothers and sisters. You don’t need labor unions when you are united in a common cause. Our cause revolves around elevating each other and those we care about. Everything we do is for the greater good of each other and the company we work for.
[Knowledge is Power Part 5 - Unnamed title company in Port Arthur, Texas]
One of the things that I had discovered throughout my life is that you have to know your worth. The same can be said of land that you own. I knew that on average the cost of an acre of land was just below four grand per acre. When you factor mineral rights, livestock and buildings into things that price can go up quite a bit. My home place was over four thousand acres. Over the years I had built it up, increasing its value over time. So, just the land itself was worth about sixteen million. When you added in the livestock, one hundred head of cattle, including ten horses and the supporting infrastructure for an efficient ranch. That would raise the price by approximately one hundred thousand dollars. The offer that had come from Thomas Mixon, had blown me away. He was offering me one hundred and fifty million dollars, approximately ten times it’s value. No matter how hard I had tried, I couldn’t find anything that was shady about this deal. So I sat at the title office, getting ready to sign the paperwork that would transfer everything to him. The half-acre of land that had my longtime home and family plot were included in this much to the chagrin of my children who had hoped I might negotiate it where they could hold onto the small plot of land.
His lawyer was flanked by the latino gentlemen I had met with before, Senor Delgado, who sat there with a genuine smile. The smile of a man who had accomplished something or just killed someone, I wasn’t really quite sure to be completely honest. The smile was almost like that of a feral predator that you would see in television based documentaries. I’ve often wondered if I looked like that when I stood across the ring from someone. I had to assume the reaction was similar to the one I was having now. Any time I was about to make a mistake, I got this sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. The Delgado was an apex predator when it came to business. That much I was sure of, his family was known to me because of my time spent on the east coast, in and around Atlantic City. “Mr. Bane, how good to see you again.” he said to me, full of confidence and bravado now. I looked back up from the envelope that I had been studying. I gave him the same kind of smile, “Senor, it is always a pleasure, sir.”I responded to him in the same false way that he had addressed me. That wiped the smug look away from his face quickly. Which in turn caused mine to blossom as I removed the contents of the envelope onto the table surface before me. I looked over at the title company manager, “Are we ready to proceed?” I asked in my most polite manner. She nodded and I began signing away the ownership of my place to Thomas Mixon.
Moments later, the paperwork had all been signed. The notification from my bank chimed, this let me know that the transfer of funds had completed. “Fast and efficient, what’s not to like about that?” I remarked in a rhetorical way. He inclined his head in agreement as we stood up. I shook the hands of both men as I made my way out of the title company offices. Once outside and clear of the entrance, I lit a cigarette as I made my way to my truck. It didn’t take long for Delgado to follow me out to the parking lot. He lit one of his turkish blended cigarettes and approached me. I knew he would, mostly because his type always liked to gloat when they felt like they had won the war. “Mr. Bane, if I may?”, he asked politely this time. “Of course I said” just as politely, and he continued to approach. “I was wondering if I might be so bold as to offer you one last piece of advice before we part company.” I paused for a moment, but then nodded my head. this should be good I thought to myself. “Now that the transactions are completed, my assumption is that you’ve removed all of your personal belongings from the property, yes?” I knew where this was going, “I have, and I have no reason to ever come back to the property if that’s your concern.” I told him and I wasn’t lying, I had no intent of ever stepping foot on that land again. This seemed to satisfy him, “Very good, I was going to suggest that you clear out of Port Arthur altogether, since there is nothing here for you to really stick around for.” He added. The thinly veiled threat did not go unnoticed by myself. I smiled, “I suppose you’re right about that, but I’ll have to take it under advisement. I still have family in the area and so I might want to visit them from time to time.” I said flatly.
Now it was my turn and I was never one to back down from a fight. “I would like to return the favor Senor, don’t ever think you can threaten myself or my family without consequence.” He returned my smile, “I will also take that under advisement, Mr. Bane. Just remember what I said, nothing for you here anymore.” The threat was real, I knew that in my heart and in my brain. This man was no one to trifle with, his reach was long. He had influence in a lot of places including the state capitol. There had been many pictures published of him and our current governor, state representatives, and members of congress. He was a big fish, but not the biggest. There was someone else that he reported to and that was the person that I wanted to take down. My son, Jimmy, had found an excavation site that was actually an operation to dig a tunnel. That tunnel ran from an inlet near Port Arthur that wasn’t on any map, mind you. He had investigated the tunnel system as much as he could. One tunnel leads to a distribution center’s underground garage. In part we knew they would be using this to move goods, avoiding highways and severely congested roadways from the port to their endpoint. There was another tunnel that branched off the main, that tunnel appeared to lead to the old home place. He had told me about an underground complex that was tightly guarded. Armed guards at that. Senor Delgado then made his way away from me to his waiting limo. The driver quickly popped out and opened his door for him. Before ducking into the limo he said to me, “Should you ever want a tour, I’m sure that Thomas would love to show you the new facility and give you the rundown on the complete operation that you helped make possible.” I only nodded in response as he ducked into the car. “Or maybe I’ll give myself a tour and skip all of y’alls horseshit.”
Fade
[Knowledge is power Part 6 - Unnamed location near Port Arthur, Texas]
“So, we closed on the sale today, right?”my son, Jimmy, had asked me. “Yep”, was my one word response to him. “So, we’re trespassing now.” he said, letting the sentence trail off as he watched me strap the desert enable to my right side. “Great”, was his one-word response to what I said. “Ain’t it?” I smiled at him but was pretty sure he couldn’t see my smile in the dark. In the same respect I couldn’t see him roll his eyes at my nonchalant way of looking at this. “What exactly are we hoping to accomplish out here tonight?” he asked more calmly this time. “Well, son, what we are looking for is nothing more than the truth.” I said. “I want to know how badly I got played and what the real plan was for the lands that he bought up.” “Alright pop, let’s get this over with.” he said with a bit more urgency in his voice. Most of the equipment that we were using tonight was mine, a collection of military gear that I had accumulated from my time as a forward operations specialist. Night vision, firepower, grease paint and black clothing to help us hide from eyes. We approached the top of the rise that would ultimately lead down to the wharf that Mixon had built. To the public he had presented it as a way to move dry goods and other merchandise to his distribution centers more easily. It was that uneasy feeling that returned as we reached the top of the rise. I pulled Jimmy down low out of instinct more than anything as a light swept the ridge.
“Pretty strange procedure for something that is supposedly nothing more than a shipping operation, don’t you think?” I said to my son as we slowly came back to the ridge. Using the goggles that we had, we scanned the area. I saw a lot of private security, armed with AR style rifles and sidearms. Sidearms ranged from p380 to 9 millimeter pistols. We continued to scan the area again and had to lay flat as the light swept over the area again. Then we resumed our observation. The first hour, there was really nothing out of the ordinary. A flat bed truck rolled out of the fences, it wasn’t loaded with freight of any kind but with people. “How many kids are on that truck, Jimmy?” I asked quietly. “I count twelve elementary aged, six teenagers and another 7 adults, all female.” He said in an emotionless voice. “I’d be willing to bet we already know where that truck is going.” I heard him sigh, “The ranch most likely.” he said softly. We carefully picked our way back to my Chevy Silverado on the main road. Two armed men were there, dressed much like the others we had observed from the ridge at the main hub. I grabbed Jimmy’s arm to stop his progress and he saw them as well. There backs were to us and we moved slowly and quietly. In unison we put the two men in rear naked chokes and before long they were both unconscious.
We drug them away from the truck laying them up against the nearby pine trees. We got in the truck and eased back onto the main road. “That was a little too close a call for my tastes” Jimmy remarked. “Me too, son”, I replied as we headed out into the night. Investigating the ranch would have to wait for another night. There was a match for me to get ready for and I wouldn’t risk one of my kids again. That was not nearly as easy as I had thought it would be, and I certainly wasn’t expecting armed security all over the place like that. There was a duck blind that only Jimmy and I knew about and his men likely hadn’t had enough time to scope out all of our collective places of peace as we liked to call them. Mine specifically was the duck blind but the boys each had hiding places of their own from their youth. I would have to scope them out and see what had been disturbed and what had not.
Fade
Okay, so this fatal four-way will pit me against Vinnie, Miles and Hilton. Two of the three I’ve already beaten and the third has been embarrassed on social media so regularly I feel like I’m already inside his head as it is. Living rent free if you will. I could be kind, because he’s a rookie and all but it’s time he learned an important lesson. Kid, if you can’t respect your elders, you’re going to learn to respect your betters. You were born into a wrestling family, a family with champions and a championship history. My biggest problem with you, Hilton, is that you don’t act like it. You don’t want to work your ass off like other people in your family have over the years. You want the easy path and to have everything handed to you. That’s not gonna fucking happen kid. Fuck that and you. No one ever handed me shit and you won’t be treated in a way by anyone that would give anyone a sense of you having some kind of advantage. This sport is a what have you done for me lately kind of thing, and to be blunt about it, you haven’t done shit. The matches you’ve won, have strictly been because of your sister interfering in your matches to give you said advantage. You’ll want to make sure that you leave her in the back for this one. If you should win this match, make sure you do it on your own. For the first time, have some self-pride and accomplish something on your own, not due to the interference of family members.
That’s the thing, you won’t see me having anyone at ringside who would interfere on my behalf. Do you know why? It’s because I’m so damn good at what I do, I don’t need it! If you’re not good enough to get it done, go find something else to do. Go finish college, I’m sure that you would do well with a Liberal Arts degree or something….What’s becoming apparent to everyone involved is that you are not cut out for this industry. You have to be tougher, stronger and more importantly, smarter than everyone else. You are none of those things kid, if you were even close you’d get the respect that you believe you deserve. I’m going to enjoy breaking you down physically, watching and hearing you cry out for help and no one will be able to do that. Especially not those who are sharing the ring with us. They don't care about your dilemma or how much pain you’ll be in. Like me and you, they are just trying to figure out how to be the first man to score the pinfall. I can assure you, it won’t be you. Anyone else but you. You haven’t earned the right to challenge for a world title. Hell, Vinnie at least has earned the right to be in the conversation.
See, Vinnie and Bea had this great plan on how they were going to beat yours truly. A plan that involved manipulation of the referee through misdirection and fabrication of the truth. I’m sure they will have some excuse for what happened along with denying these accusations. I mean, it was a lights out match, right?
Right.
Obviously the ref could see her, so I could see her and what she was trying to do. It wasn’t enough for her to try and spray god only knows what in my face.
No, no, no.
She distracted the referee again and tried to crack me in the knee with a baseball bat.
How’s the knee big fella?
You’ve got some unique friends don’t you? She’s so fucking incompetent that she can’t even hit the right person with a baseball bat. Why would she insert herself in our match...I can tell you why. I was kicking the shit out of you, that’s why!
Fucking knucklehead!
Oh, wait, that’s right, Vinnie doesn’t like it when I use profanity. Sorry Amigo, I had completely forgotten about that, or I should say, your promo was completely forgettable. I can assure you, little man, seeking your love, brotherly or otherwise is the last thing on my mind. What I gave you at Climax Control was not tough love. No, it was in part to make sure I had your attention. If you truly believe that I’m scared of your anger, well that’s amusing, because there is not a man or woman walking the earth that I fear. You did have some interesting perspective though, and if patience is a virtue, I guess it’s just another one I’ll have to do without. See, kid, I’m a lot of things and honest is one of them. One of the things I’ve noticed recently about you is how you are trying to sound like the leader of a cult.
Or was it Bill that was the leader? Meh...doesn’t matter, a cult or a faction makes no difference to me, I treat them with an equal amount of vitriol. Especially when they believe that they can get in my head about past losses. In case you missed it, I took ownership of my losses to Alex. Unlike you and others like you, I’ve always congratulated my opponents when they’ve beaten me. I don’t make excuses. Unlike you, I didn’t pack my shit and go home when I lost the title. Unlike you, I am a man, I’m not a bitch that goes off to ponder the true meaning of life with Bill Barnhart. I know you’ll bring it up again when you record that horseshit you call a promo for High Stakes, so let me address it for you right here and now. The reason I’ve said anything at all about David is a little thing called respect. He earned mine when he beat me. He’s actually relevant when it comes to title opportunities. As a former world champion, you should aspire to be more like him and less of whatever the hell this is you’re trying to sell. Other than Bill and Bea, I don’t think anyone is buying but that’s just my opinion.
You know what I am buying though?
Milo, the kid has chops, I’ll give him that much. I mean, let’s think about this for a minute. Does anyone believe for a second that Alex and Austin would tolerate his presence if he didn’t? I don’t believe they would, but I could be wrong about that. Maybe it’s pity or sympathy. One of the areas that the young man really excels is in these matches to get to a title match. Sadly where he fails is when it comes to the actual title match itself. I know this first hand, because when I held the Internet Title I defended it against Milo. It wasn’t really a very competitive match. At the end of the day, young man, you have to figure out where your head's at. You have to figure out how to get out of your own way. That is one of the hardest things to learn or figure out in our industry. We’ve all enjoyed watching you grow into a damn good wrestler. This match however has extremely high stakes indeed. Should you win, you would become number one contender to the world title. Then there is that whole performance when it counts though isn’t it? You don’t do well when challenging for titles. I on the other hand have only lost once when challenging a champion for a title. That of course was against Alex. Prior to that, I was undefeated in title matches.
What these things always come down to is who’s the hungriest? Who wants this shot at the big strap the most? Vinnie? Milo? Hilton? Me? I already know the answer and I invite you all to prove me wrong. You’ll all try and all fail. The end will be the same, regardless of this fatal four-way, I’ll be standing in the middle of the ring, victorious and looking forward to seeing who wins between Jack and Alex. I look forward to seeing who I get to take the title off of this time. The problems are obvious here, and sometimes you have to use a less than ethical approach to do what’s needed. The paradigm here is about to shift. The fuse has been lit, the only thing left is the impending carnage.