“You don't adjust. You just dominate.” - Al Davis
{Unnamed Studio - Lesvos, Greece - “More.”}
[on-camera]
[Monday 8 a.m]
Standing in front of a microphone and a camera; wearing jeans, black boots, and a white “Dominate” Sin City t-shirt, I glare at the camera.
“In case you hadn’t noticed, this is not the face of a happy man right now.” I almost yelled it but caught myself.
I shook my head mostly in anger at the outcome of the match with Fenris.
“This was not the ending we wanted was it, K?”
Shaking my head indicating that it wasn’t and mouthing the word, “No”, I grabbed the podium with both hands tightly.
“Like you and I, the fans wanted more. I don’t feel like they got what they paid for. We may have gone just a bit overboard in trying to kill each other.”
Releasing the podium, the force causing it to rock a little, I spread my arms out wide.
“It’s who we are as competitors though. We are men who are passionate about the fight and to hell with everything else.”
I allow my arms to come back down and rest on the podium.
“So, now the tag team match is set. You and Ben against myself and Chris Page. This is a match that should be on a super show or pay per view, not on a weekly show.”
Leaning forward and testing the weight allowance of the podium I continue.
“This is the go-home show for Into The Void, there will be a lot happening, and the chaos will be legit. So will the violence as we face off again.”
Straightening back up slightly.
“It will be unapologetic and visceral my friend because that is our way. I feel like I can still call you that, despite your opinion of what I’ve done lately. Despite the reason for my making Knox the number one contender. This is not a Twitter beef my man. This is something much deeper and far more personal.”
My facial expression never changes, I’m angry right now and I just can’t let it go.
“Do you remember how angry you and the roster were, when Mercer knocked Aaron out?”
My intensity and hatred are showing much more now as I continue.
“What if I told you that Knox did something far worse. He talks a good game, but he was never going to take this ass whippin he has coming for him without a title on the line. He will not risk anything unless there is the pursuit of a championship involved. That is the unadulterated, unapologetic truth. Period.”
I shrug in indifference, still feeling very angry and I was sure it showed.
“A lot of people had a lot to say about that selection. You, Ben, and he who shall not be named. All talked about a loss of respect and how I had ruined the reputation of this belt.”
I snort in derision.
“But I’m supposed to forget all that right? Not fucking hardly. See the man who cut you off from facing Knox. He couldn’t even score a clean pinfall victory, and don’t even act like that win wasn’t contriverseal. No wonder he’s not running his mouth this week about it.”
I shake my head in disgust.
“Douchebag.”
Fade.
{The offices of Chris Page - Las Vegas, NV - “Putting things in motion”}
[Off-camera]
[6:30 PM]
A few days ago
For a guy with a reputation for his partying, the one thing I could always say is that his office always smelled clean and crisp. I don’t know who did his cleaning, but damn they did a good job. I was seated in the “visitors” seat across from him, nursing a glass of scotch. He offered me a cigar from his collection. I accepted it and ran it under my nose, smelling the fragrance of the stogie made me smile. I bit the end off and lit the cigar. I dipped the butt end in the scotch, adding to the smokey flavor. “You know, Mac, we’ve already done a lot together. Having you in this group is one of the smartest things I’ve done so far.” I barked a laugh at Page, shaking my head, I responded to his comment. “I think that works both ways, Chris, collectively we are driving each other's net worth up at a crazy fucking pace. I mean all of us within the enterprise.” He accepted that as the compliment it was meant to be. One of the things that I had been taught very early on in this business was that no matter how big a star you think you are. You should always be respectful of the men and women who came before you. So, with Chris, I was very deliberate in the compliments and the level of respect I gave him.
“I wanted to follow up on the phone call we had the other day about this event.” He raised his right eyebrow, obviously curious about it. “Okay?” I chuckled at his confusion. “It’s nothing bad, I can assure you.” He seemed to relax and the last thing you want to do is make your tag team partner uneasy. “Shit, Mac, you know you don’t have to have a reason to swing by and talk to me. What’s on your mind?” I nodded knowing it to be true. Chris had been a good friend to me, getting me in positions to succeed and make far more money than I had in a long time. “You know I get amused at people calling CCPE a stable. They’d better count themselves lucky that we are not. We could take over this industry without all that much effort.” He looked thoughtful about that, “That’s not really anything we want to do though,” he said in his nonchalant Chris Page way. “No,” I shook my head, “Not at all my man. That’s what other people think we’re doing though. Just like when I formed the group here in Sin City. Everyone was accusing me of trying to remake the company in my own image.” Page smiled at the comment but prompted me forward. “Very similar to what they accused you of in XWF, ya know?” He nodded again and sighed. “Gets old after a while doesn’t it?” I laughed lightly, “Yeah, just a bit.” I paused for a moment, “That is one of the reasons that this match feels so personal to me.”
Another sip of scotch goes down all too smoothly. I set the tumbler back down on the coaster. That’s when I noticed that just about everything in here is branded with the CCPE logo. He does go all out for everything he pursues. “The other reason is because of the all-out attacks on my integrity when I chose Knox.” He clears his throat, “Which begs the question, of why did you choose him?” Looking up from the tumbler, I leveled my gaze on Chris, “Because he has much to answer for, and I owe him multiple receipts, and let’s leave it at that.” Getting the intent of my tone, he backed off and changed the subject.” When is your flight to Greece?” I gave him a half-smile, “Later this afternoon, which means I need to get going, I still have a few things to do before I leave.”
Fade
{Unnamed Studio - Greece - “Moving the needle and raising the bar.”}
I found myself in front of a camera and microphone set up once again. Dressed down today, no suits, just jeans, t-shirt, sneakers, and Mac Bane t-shirt, along with my usual skullcap. The studio itself smelled for the lack of a better word, “clean”. In the world of Covid-19 and the pandemic, I supposed that was a good thing. At least they were trying to follow protocols. I looked down at the index cards that I had in my hand. I had written out some talking points the night before. Now that I was here though, something inside my brain snapped into place. I stuffed the index cards back in my back pocket.
“There’s a lot of talk in our industry about moving the needle these days. Some, think they know what that means, while others just assume they do. They all want to be that person, but the vast majority don’t know how.”
Inhaling deeply, I pause for a moment but then I dig into the subject.
“This is something that varies from company to company. It will vary depending on who you talk to. People like Chris and I are needle movers. Men and women with mindsets similar to ours have been the catalyst for change in this industry, time and time again. Every place we go, we are the standard-bearers for success. There are others we area aligned with that have a similar mind set. That’s what CCPE represents.”
A short pause before continuing.
“People have accused Page of making money off the backs of younger talent. What they don’t tell you is the younger talent makes money off the road he had already paved. The business contacts that he has, have made a serious impact on all of our paydays and net worth. Mine has done nothing but climb since day one. Our contracts with the Enterprise are really very simple. Any of us can terminate the relationship with Chris at any time. It wouldn’t ever require a buy-out and a lawsuit if we decide that what he brings to us isn’t satisfactory in our opinion.”
I pull the skull cap off and stuff it in my back pocket. I remove the sunglasses and hang them from the pocket of my shirt. My sense of smell is filled with my own cologne and I smile, mostly because my wife loves this stuff.
“At the end of the day, we all benefit from the relationship.”
Now that the baseline is established for what I want to say, I take it a step further.
“That brings me to this match. For those that don’t know, Ben Jordan and Fenris are icons in this company, and I have viewed them that way since day one. Unfortunately, I’m sure that Ben doesn’t think so.”
I give the camera a small smile.
“Poor Ben is over there thinking about all the disrespect I threw his way when I was trying to drag his ass out of retirement. Sometimes all you have to do is mention someone’s name a single time and they get word of what you said. I didn’t have to keep talking about him as he suggested that I did. Just enough to bring the Cockney King back to American soil.”
I allow the smile to grow a bit before I continue.
“See, it was never about me trying to do anything to this company that was derogatory. I was never out to insult Ben Jordan or attempt to make him less than what he is to this company.”
A full-blown smile appears now as I continue.
“There were and still are far too many mid-card specialists on this roster. Some have left and others are clinging to life support. When they aren’t clutching their pearls that is. They don’t say much anymore and that is by design. You see Gents, I hate mediocrity. I called Ben out as I did get exactly the result I wanted. The more of the roster that is full of elite competitors, the more entertaining the shows become.”
Stare down at my shoes briefly before shifting my gaze back to the camera.
“By getting more 4 and 5-star talent, active on the roster, and fighting for titles, what does that do? It runs the one and two-star talent off to parts unknown. There shouldn’t be any room for the curtain jerkers of the world in Sin City. The payday on this match will be off the charts. That’s what we are supposed to be doing. Making money for ourselves and this company. That is after all that they pay us to do.”
The smile slides into a predatory grin. I feel the muscles ripple under my clothes as my intensity grows.
“And, Yes that is one of the reasons that I tried to lure Matt Knox here. He is a high-level competitor and deserves respect for his complete body of work. Not just the things he has or hasn’t done in Sin City. Many won’t agree with that but I don’t care.”
My facial expression never changes as I take a deep breath and allow what I’ve said to sink in.
“Too many times, I hear the same old genric b.s. about people having not earned their stripes because they hadn’t done it here. That’s crap and you both know it. Stuff like that is such a generic heel promo.”
I shake my head in disgust.
“That would be like me saying that the MMA background that Fenris has, doesn’t mean shit, no matter how many or how few matches he had won. Or that my own service to my country doesn’t matter. The things they taught me to have no bearing on anything that I do. Things like being taught Krav Maga as par of my forward operations training.”
My intensity continues to grow as I continue to fire on all cylinders.
“So, how does any of that make me a needle mover in Sin City?”
I smirk openly now.
“First and foremost, it’s what I’ve always been. All you have to do is take a look at what I’ve done since I’ve been here. Most of you already know what I did by becoming a triple crown champion in this company in a little over ten months. I am now a two-time champion, which has finally brought credibility to this title again. I have raised the bar, I mean, let’s be real here. When was the last time a Sin City World champion successfully defended the title more than twice? It’s been a minute.”
The smirk remains.
“The last time someone defended this strap for over one hundred and twenty days? The same answer, it’s been a while. So, yes I can make the claim that I am the most dominant champion in recent history and will continue to be that going into the future.”.
I allow the smirk to slide away, my poker face takes over from there. It reveals nothing, no anger, no joy, just business.
“The evidence is all right there for all to see. It’s not brag, it’s simply fact. I’m not Knox, I don’t have to talk a lot of shit on social media in order to garner attention. I’ve been one of the constants in this business for nearly two decades. People know who I am.”
Fade.
{Hotel - Lesbo Greece - The season of settling scores}
As I made my way through the hotel lobby, my sense of smell was assaulted by suntan lotion and swet fru fru drinks. “Disgusting.” I continued on through the lobby to the hallway that I knew Kat’s room was in. I started to muse about the situation. I wasn’t amused by it at all. It was just another receipt I owed Knox. I take these transgressions very seriously, I thought to myself, When you have a little brother or sister, someone that you’d trust with your own life. That is when things will go sideways when they start behaving erratically. Their pain, real or imagined will trigger this quite often. Kat is like a baby sister to me, our connection was very real in more ways than one. We were connected through Hell’s Gate and Whisper, sure. It was a deeper connection than that. We understood each other at a far deeper emotional level. When I called her my sister in arms and heart, that has a much deeper meaning to me and to her. I knew she was struggling with the things that Knox and Amber said to her. That’s the game people play though, they’ll say anything to unnerve you or make you look foolish in the eyes of everyone. The problem here is that Kat took the bait, hook, line, and sinker. I knew this from talking to Cy a few days ago. He had to pull her back from a cliff’s edge so that she didn’t fling herself off that mountain. That is how deeply their words cut her, some cuts are nothing more than papercuts. The words of Amber and Knox had taken chunks of her soul. As her brother, I felt the need to try and patch her soul up. She would have to figure out how to force the pieces back together. In this case, I was nothing more than a battlefield surgeon, trying to stabilize her. If only for just long enough for her to get her head straight.
So, I did what any brother would do, I knocked politely on the door. I could hear her talking to someone on the other side. She hung up with them and came to the door. She opened it and her first words to me…
“Fuck.”
I shrugged, “Well, I’ve received worse greetings before.” I smiled at her, she frowned and tried to close the door. I stuck my foot in the door, thank goodness for thick boots. With flip-flops, there would have been enough force to do some real damage. “Katarina…” She finally gave up after a moment and I pushed my way into her room. “What the hell?” I began and her eyes flashed angrily. “You tell me, Mac? What the hell would possess you to align yourself with The Game Changers?” I held up my hands in mock surrender and took a step back. At least her anger made a little more sense now. Not too long ago, over in level up, the Game Changers had viciously attacked Kat during a tag team match. The attack on Kat had literally no bearing on their beef with Lord Raab. Larry Tact called it collateral damage as I recall. Because the big man was foolish enough to care something about her, they used it to torment him. Most recently, one of them had used a briefcase to get themselves disqualified in order to keep from losing a title to her. She was angry and as she talked, she poked me in the chest to emphasize her point.
“These are the same people who beat my ass not long ago, remember?” (she slammed her index finger into my chest.
I gave her a soft smile, I remember very well, considering I was the one that carried you to the back sometime later.”
Shouldn’t have said that I thought to myself as she began poking me in the chest again, this time harder of course.
“They also got themselves disqualified to keep from losing to me!” The point was emphasized again by slamming her index finger into my chest.
“Feel better?” I asked her in my smart-ass way. “No! I don’t fucking feel better, you asshole!” I smiled at her and then asked a question, “Kat, if you are going after badgers, what is the time-tested strategy to get them?” Her nostrils flared and she started to walk away. I had asked her this question on purpose, because one, I know she knows the answer, and two, it will engage the rational side of her brain. She really needed to reconnect that right now. I folded my arms, “I’ll wait.” She glared at me as she thought this through, likely trying to detect any kind of deception. “You send the dogs into the hole.”
I smiled again.
“Whoof”
The laughter was genuine, but the pain behind her eyes was as well. I softened my own look, “Spill” I said to her softly. She shook her head, no in an emphatic way. I embraced her in a tight hug because let’s face it, I give the best hugs. She began to cry, softly at first, but then the flood gates opened. “The things that were said to you by Knox and Amber?” It was an easy conclusion to jump to. First and foremost is that my wife and Kat had been like sisters for a long time. I knew that what had been said to her had gotten under her skin. Knox though, that was a pain that would literally take years to heal. I started to whisper in her ear the tenants of the Arch Angels of Hell’s Gate, much like Cy did with her on that mountain top. She was simply one of the toughest and most fragile women I’d ever known. “You ARE my sister of heart and arms,” I whispered to her. “You are the only woman on this roster that can say that they have beaten Masque DeLuna.” The last part I whispered much more fiercely to her. Not only to turn her confidence up a notch but to reinforce that she is a badass and deserves to not only be here in Sin City but that she had earned her spot in the Saviors. After the sobbing had receded, she began rubbing away the streaks the tears had left on her face. I grabbed a nearby box of kleenex and handed it to her. “I think this will be a bit more effective.”
Fade
{Limelight Studios - Lesvos Greece - “The final cut”}
The studio had been set up for me, I entered the booth with the sound of denim rubbing on denim. The Sin City World Title was slung over my shoulder and a smile on my face as it drew closer to the tag team event. I took a seat on the stool that had been set up for me. I put the headphones on and the producer said in my ear, “We are ready to begin when you are.” I nodded acknowledging what he had said. I signalled to him to begin rolling. The recording light came on over the door out of the studio, and the session began.
“And here we are boys, just days away from a match that features legends in their own right. On one side you have two gentlemen that have made their legacy and their reputation in Sin City Wrestling. They are respected, liked and one could say even revered.”
Pausing their for a moment, I take a sip of water to fight off the dryness I was feeling in my throat.
“On the other side of the ring, you have two men, who have made their legacy, virtually everywhere else in the world. Don’t get it wrong, I’ve made a name for myself here in Sin City. I’ve been champion here for right around one hundred and thirty days as of this show coming up.”
I pause and smile at the camera.
“Where Ben and Fenris are both men who held it longer, not in recent memory but they are a huge part of the company legacy. Fenris held this title for two hundred and forty-give days. One of the longest reigns in this companies history. Ben Jordan? Less than that but not by much at two hundred and thirty days. Both impressive runs. Only Kris Ryans came close to either of them.”
I hear a low whistle in my headphones and I laugh.
“The producer was impressed as well. Of course, it’s not recent history, it’s just history. Things that happened in 2018 and 2019 are worth mentioning but not relevant in 2022.”
I heard the producer in my ear, “Ouch, that’s a bit savage.”
His comments unheard to anyone else amuse me. “I think I’ve got a new fan.”
“Respect? Yeah, I got a ton of that for both of you. Sadly, that only goes so far. As you know, Fenris, when I look across that ring and see you. I’m not looking at a respected peer in this industry. I’m simply looking at the next guy I’ve got to beat the shit out of.”
I shake my head, then get another sip of water.
“It’s just the way I am, even under friendly or normal circumstances. I’m not in that ring to win a match. I’m there to win a fight. That’s why, and even SuMa would tell you. Every punch, kick, slam that I deliver is intended to take you out of the fight. Or, to take the fight out of you.”
I level my gaze at the camera.
“I know before we faced each other last time, I had asked you to not make this personal. You decided for whatever reason to ignore my request. You chose violence. That’s the reason the match didn’t end when the bell rang. That about right?”
My gaze never falters, I set my jaw and continue.
“There are so many factors that make the results of this match far more important than they should be. See, when I was younger. I made people pay the consequences for things they said to me. Then I spent some time receiving the adulation of the crowd and my peers. None of that mattered before.”
I shake my head in disgust.
“I am back to where I was almost a decade ago. I tune out the crowd, their cheers or boos have zero effect on me or for me now.”
Holding the belt up and off my shoulder.
“This is what matters, defending it with everything I have. Not just for the sake of my own legacy or reputation. It’s a central theme to the things I’ve said. It’s about this company and making it a place that people want to come to. In order to do that, I’ll continue to run the curtain jerkers out of here as fast as I can.”
Setting the belt back in place, I continue.
“So, now…every match I’m in is about defending this strap and my own honor. My integrity was questioned. Now someone has to pay the consequences for those words. I only accept payments in blood.”
Fade.
