[London Underground]

Life comes at you hard and fast sometimes, it's not just a saying, it happens and sometimes, you just don't know what to think. Few months ago, that was one hundred and ten percent me cause life chucked me more then a few unexpected turns that I wasn't my calm self about and might have given people cause to worry. I'm not making excuses for me and my people almost disappearing from the wrestling world, that was already in motion, but something happened that make me have to sit back and take stock, take notice and be force to take a little time in my life for reprioritization. It's not uncommon for that to happen, people do it all the time, a new friend replaces an old friend and priorities change naturally because the new friend is the flavour of the month and the old friend is forgotten, but sometimes in life, things force your hand, force you to change the way you think, change the way you act, change just what you put first in life. This is what happened to me recently and I'm sure you all wanted a lot of answers, especially after Christina Rose being put in control of my baby, the Golden Ring Casino, and soon to be hotel.

Bit of a mad move, don't ya think? Not something that was on your 2024 bingo card. I heard it a million times that I should have had someone else take over, but there's a reason I did that and you probably think you're all owed an answer or two to explain my madness?

Actually, I don't owe you anything, but I wouldn't be much of a storyteller if I didn't fill you in and let you know what happened. Kenz said the other week that this was my story to tell, to fill in the blanks about why Christina was in charge of a million dollar business, on why we ended up in London and what has changed. So being as it's my story to tell, I might as well tell it...

... But like I said, life comes at you hard and fast sometimes... - Daniel.


A few months ago.

It was like any other day in life of Daniel J Morgan and his empire that laid before him and he sat in one of his crown jewels, the center of everything, where the money flowed like cheap wine at a bacholorette party, The Golden Ring Casino. He stood looking over proceedings from his office, through a huge hidden window, watching people party with their money. Osbourne, his huge bodyguard walked up behind him, holding a glass of whiskey in his hand before handing it to his boss.

Daniel: Thanks Os.

Os, a man who didn't talk, nodded his head in appreciation as Daniel looked about.

Daniel: Who would have thought it when we came here those years ago that we would have built all this? For what started out to get a foothold in this country put the money back home to help to people back in the East End, push some dodgy deals through, clean some money and meet new people and instead, this place has almost become legit on its own without us doing much.

A proud smile moved across Daniel's face as his eyes looked around, without seeing Os nod his head in agreement behind him.

Daniel: Now after years of trying, the hotel is finally seeing the light of day soon, honestly that's our money spinner to the point we could just sit back here and watch the bank account constantly go up and up without doing too much.

Daniel was a smart businessman, always has been from a kid with various ventures as he rose to the top of the East London underworld, always bringing in more money then anyone else as he rose to the top.

Daniel: Everything feels peachy.

His moments of self satisfaction was soon cut off by the ringing of his office phone. Daniel moved away from the window and back to his desk, placing the glass of whiskey down and picking up the phone.

Daniel: Daniel Morgan...

He waited to listen to the voice on the other end of the phone, but his face instantly changed.

Daniel: Sorry, say that again?

His face has instantly dropped, his skin turning pale, and it did not go unnoticed by Osbourne as he moved to the side of the desk, sensing his bosses mood dropping.

Daniel: When?

Again, Daniel listened to the words coming back towards him but his face stayed the same.

Daniel: Ok, give me time to sort some stuff out and I'll be back as soon as I can.

Daniel didn't wait for another word to be spoken towards him as he placed the phone down, sharing a silent look with Osbourne as the big man waited for his boss to speak. It took him a few seconds to regain his composure.

Daniel: Os, I need you to get Mackenzie and Charlotte, tell her to get Christina in here.

Osbourne nodded and left the room as Daniel picked up his glass of whiskey, draining it without even a second thought. It didn't take Osbourne long to return with Charlotte, Mackenzie and Christina. Os stood back as the others stood in front of Daniel.

(You've all seen what happens here, but in case you haven't, you can click right here to see what that meeting was about. It might help if ya did!)

Christina had left the room, and Mackenzie narrowed her eyes as she looked towards Daniel.

Mackenzie: Wanna tell me what in fuckery that was about? Putting her in charge of this place. Are you high?

Daniel looked around the room as Osbourne joined the girls in front of the desk, looking at their boss for answers.

Daniel: Look, we need to go back to London, all of us right now and we need someone in charge. She's done well here and she will keep people coming in.

Charlotte: London, why?

Daniel looked down at his desk before looking up. His eyes bouncing between all three of them.

Daniel: It's David....

Mackenzie: Your brother?

Daniel: Yeah....


Three weeks later.

The rain snaps down in East London Cemetery as the group of four stand dressed in black, looking down at a tombstone reading the name of "David Morgan". Daniel keeps his eyes pressed firmly on his one year older brothers name as the others sound silently around him. His usual neat appearance was not on show as he had clearly not shaved for a while and his eyes was red and swollen, sleep not being his friend recently. He stood silently as the other looked at the same thing he did, reflecting back on many things before turning around, without saying a word and walking away. The others took the hint and followed him.

Daniel: We need to go talk business.

Those words alone were enough to draw strange looks from the other three.

Charlotte: Right now? We just, you know.

Daniel didn't look at her at all to respond, he just kept walking towards a shiny black car.

Daniel: Right now. we need to deal with things as quickly as possible because we need to work out where to go from here. If we sleep too long, we know what's gonna happen.

It wasn't long before they were all back in the car and on their way back to a small office, overlooking Bethnal Green road. There was an uneasy feeling in the air as Daniel took a seat at the head of a small table, with Mackenzie to his left, Charlotte and Osbourne to his right. He looked around before putting his head down for a few seconds, thinking about what he was about to say.

Daniel: Well...

He rose his head to look around.

Daniel: Now I never thought I'd be sitting here in this position. It was always me and him, us running the American side for a while, him running this side but now we're in a bit of a pickle. It was easier just funnelling stuff off from America to here and letting him get on with it but now we need to work out a way to move forward with everything and we have four options.

The others didn't want to interrupt their boss just yet.

Daniel: One, we go legit. We have the money, we can just run everything as a legit business and not worry about anything other then the bottom line from everything.

Daniel gauged the interest in the room, but quickly saw there was very little interest in that.

Daniel: We can sell the lot. Casino, bars, restaurants, garages, every business we own to people slightly below us who wanna be sitting in the big seat, we can pay off people who want out and we take the money and go sit on an island somewhere in the sun as stinking rich retired people who have nothing better to do then sit on our arses all day spending money.

Mackenzie: I'd get bored.

Daniel looked at Mackenzie, then Charlotte and Osbourne, the latter two nodding in agreement.

Daniel: We can keep plodding on as we are and split our time between here and America, keep pulling the money back to make our area better for the people.

This suggestion was met with nodding heads.

Charlotte: And option four?

Daniel: Nuclear...

The word alone drew strange looks from the other three members in the room, each knowing that Daniel might not be in the mindset he usually is.

Mackenzie: Come again?

Daniel: You've all seen the film The Warriors, right?

Charlotte, Mackenzie and Osbourne nodded towards Daniel.

Daniel: Well Cyrus was on to something and the state of this country right now with all the knife crime and the bullshit little teeny gangs, people scared to go out at night, we can change all that. They do it cause they have no leadership, no control, wanna make a couple of quid quick and don't care who suffers. They all wanna take food off the next man's plate and not give a shit that they're starving, but what if we oversaw it all?

Charlotte: You mean unite every mob in East London?

Daniel: To an extent. We are the most known in East London, we are the ones every other little outfit in every area fear, so why not use that? We start moving in to Limehouse, Mile End, Whitechapel, Poplar, Hackney, The Isle of Dogs. Get rid of the little street rats, buy more businesses in that area and get those two bob gangs working for us. We use the money from the casino to expand around East London, and make it that we're the only game in town and everyone else works for us, keeps their areas clean.

Mackenzie looked at Daniel with lower eyebrows.

Mackenzie: You think other East End families are just gonna let us waltz up and take over?

Daniel: Yeah, because they have problems with the little drug dealing street rats and we have the resources to get rid of them. I don't want people in the East End scared to walk the streets cause these phone snatches and knife wielding wannabe gangsters, when we can help them clean up their streets and they'll see that working for us is their best option.

Charlotte: And if they won't work for us?

Daniel: Then we move them on, but they will work for us.

Mackenzie: What makes you so sure?

Daniel: Because their top boys will still be top boys, they'll just work for us, make more money out of it and money is the root of all evil. This ain't like linking every gang to go after the old bill, this is to clean the streets of the rats and unsavoury characters. Let Londoners be free again, do what this dipshit mayor can't. The more they feel safe, the more they will spend in our fine establishments.

Mackenzie: Well, I'm all for taking over. I think it's something your brother would have wanted. He always was the mad one out of you two.

Charlotte: Surprised he didn't try and do that already.

Daniel: I think he did, but he was doing it the wrong way. I know a lot more people and on good terms with them all. I'm pretty sure I can build an army here and get rid of the undesirables.

Mackenzie: And make a shit ton of money to boot.

Daniel nodded towards her.

Daniel: Everyone good with that then?

Daniel looked around the table at the three nodding heads towards him.

Daniel: Alright good. I want you to keep your ears to the ground, try and figure out what's going on all over East London, see if you can sniff out anything business wise, things for sale, dirty little rat gangs, the lot. I wanna know what's going on around here and we'll plan for that.

Daniel stood up and looked around the room.

Daniel: Have at it.

An opportunity did arise not too long after as you can see here but that's a story for another day.


Jump forward to today, the wind whistled outside the Old George pub on Bethnal Green road, but the sun tried to break through the murky London sky. Daniel Morgan sat in the corner, a pint of Guinness in front of him as he took a quiet half an hour to himself to talk about the weekend. The face hair had gone, the sharp suit once more covered his body and not a hair was out of place.

Daniel: You know the good old saying never go back?

He looked away from the camera with half a smile before looking back.

Daniel: I don't believe that rubbish for a second. When you go back to somewhere, you don't go back like you was before. You don't go back without that little bit more experience then before. I mean you've seen much more, you've learned much more, you've come back with a wiser head on your shoulders then you had the first time around and that is me. Everyone and their dog thought I was done with wrestling, and at one point, they might have been right but you've all probably heard, a lot has changed for me. I need an outlet where I can just do more then what I do. Wrestling on the odd occasion feels like a good enough outlet for me.

He nodded to himself, his eyes still not looking down the camera.

Daniel: I didn't think dropping myself back in the ring, sitting there telling the boys in the office yeah, I'll get over for a bit this close to Christmas would have got me in the ring with a champion though. I mean I'm more then up for the challenge and I know there's no belts on the line but I'm ok with that. I don't have much of an interest in that belt. A lot of people would sell their granny for a championship in any place but I'm not that guy, I'm a guy who will target something and go for it, and your championship Aiden, well mate, that is not in my sights, but there is something in my sights and that's the win.

He finally turned his head to look down the camera.

Daniel: We could have all been at home with our friends and families with this holiday season up, and I get you have a longer way to travel home for Christmas then I do, but I'm not dragging my arse halfway across the world to lose Aiden, dragging my arse halfway across the world to win and end this year on a high. Recent events have soured by year, put a lot of things in to a perspective I didn't want to see and I wanna end this on a high. You might be a champion, and a damn good one at that, I've seen your stuff, it was only a matter of time, but I'm coming back full of piss and vinegar as the old saying goes. full of heart and fire because I need to end this year on a high.

A serious look appeared on his face.

Daniel: This is a game of highs and lows, one minute you're walking on clouds and the next you're in a puddle but I'm not coming back to give you a Christmas present here, I'm coming back for me. I'm not ever gonna be on Santa's good list, I know this, and me coming back and beating you, well, that's probably just another reason for the man in red to dislike me, but I'm doing it anyway.

The serious look turned in to a smile. 

Daniel: I know it's the season for giving but I'm not overly in a giving mood, more in a taking mood, more of getting what I want and 2025 is going to a be a year I'm gonna be spoke about a lot in every circle of my life and this is a bit of a preview Aiden. I'm not exactly coming back the same as when I left, unfortunately, I will be coming back far from the person you might have heard about. I'm not having a mental breakdown like most, I'm not hitting that downward spiral, but I am coming back a little bit more determined then I've ever been. I am coming back with a little more about me then when I left. Remember what I said earlier about going back with experiences? I've had a lot of horrible ones since I last stepped in the ring, and what they've made me see is not to half arse anything, go in there and put in one hundred percent and take everything you can. That's what I'm gonna do with this match, cause I am not one of those people who come back to lose, not one of those people who are fine with that thing. I'm not happy being second best to anything.

He slowly shook his head.

Daniel: When you get comfortable being second best, because you're ahead of all but one in the race, that's when you've lost everything in life. I am not that guy Aiden, I can't be that guy, I can be that guy who pushes for everything and I will push you beyond what you've got. Champion or not, loveable goofball or not, you're a body in front of me that I need to be better then and will be better then. There's no point swimming backwards Aiden, there's no point regressing in life and going back to being just some guy on the roster. I was that some guy on the roster, fill in when needed and I'm not going back to that. I'm here to be better then I was before and that's exactly what I plan to do and beating the Roulette champion isn't a bad way to start.
 
Daniel picked up his pint in front of him, taking a mouthful before putting the glass back down.

Daniel: And this is very much a lesson you can learn from. I'm coming back from a long time out and when I beat you, you will have to sit there and take it on the chin. You will doubt yourself, you will wonder if you're good enough to hold that belt you hold and it might just eat away at you, but look at it from the other side. Look at it from the side that you need to push yourself to be better, get it in your head that you can't afford any more slip ups or that championship you hold won't be  yours much longer. Use the fact that I will beat you as a way to push on and be better yourself because I'm not coming to lose, so everything that happens in that ring, learn from it.

He tapped the side of his head.

Daniel: It's all about being that level of smart Aiden, learn from everything, take defeat like a man cause it will happen, understand you can't win them all and come back much stronger in the new year.

Daniel raised his glass.

Daniel: Until then, all the best to you and yours for the holiday season, I'll see you on Sunday.

Daniel took a sip of his drink as the camera faded to black. >