[Mac]

The Bulldog and the Gentleman Wolf

“You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson

{Where We Were}

The question I get most is, “Where are you at, Mac? Where do you go from here.” I always smile and acknowledge the question; my answer is always the same. “I’m right where I’m supposed to be. I’m supporting my wife as any husband should and looking forward to whatever the future brings. It’s not the answer most want to her hear, to be fair and honest about it. The simple truth is, that I simply don’t know the answer to the question. I’ve done everything that there is to do in Sin City. I’ve been a three-time world champion, and I’ve won all the other singles titles that they offer here. I’ve built a dynamic group of stars and watched them flourish. Now my oldest and closest friend is the world champion after beating me. Goth is still one of the top hands in this company. Kat has retired but has taken on duties with The Chronic Chris Page Enterprises as an agent. Miss Melissa is a force to be reckoned with. For right now, my top priority is my wife and what comes next for her.

I’ve also been involved in other things recently, such as helping Fenris through a friend of mine. Well, a couple of friends of mine actually. I was really happy to see that he was cleared for competition after a long road. Spending time with doctors and specialists I know was likely wearing what little patience the man has very very thin. Fenris is another close friend of mine that has been put through hell over the past several months. All thanks to Bill Barnhart and his wife Bea. If I know these two at all, the only thing you’re going to get out of them before this match is deflection and denial. While not terribly bright or original they are consistent. They have told the lie so many times that they believe they’ve done nothing wrong. That Bea did not spray Fenris in the eyes, just like when she tried to spray me in the eyes not so long ago. She missed and I ran her out of the arena.

Bill likes to call himself the bulldog, but it’s more like bullshit. Every time he opens his mouth that’s what everyone smells, bullshit. They’ve labeled this match as the battle of the Brahma bulls or some such crap. The truth is there is only one Brahma Bull in this match and the other is someone's neurotic pet chihuahua who’s addicted to a thunder shirt because it’s the only way he won’t shit his pants when he’s in the ring with me again. If your wife should decide to make her presence at ringside felt, I got a little something for you and her. You should probably have her stay in the locker room Bill, what she’s going to see is not for the faint of heart or the squeamish. I should have demanded this match long ago, after what happened, I feel a little bad about that. That’s why I doubled down on helping Fenris and Aron as much as I could. While others were offering help, you and your wife were celebrating, thinking it was the end of him and his career. Guess what, Slapnuts? He’s not done and he’ll get around to you when he has time. What I’m going to do is make sure you regret every laugh you had at his expense.


{The Bane Home - Las Vegas NV - “Roll Call”}

As expected the news of Kraton’s death circulated quickly. Every single member of our support group for veterans was scared and confused by what they were hearing on the news. When they were in the service, all of these folks were involved in an op of some kind. They all had the same common denominator, Frank Spatharos. The news was saying a lot of things about Krayton, but only ten percent of it was actually true. The ten percent that they got correct was around the fact that he was put on medical, and much to the chagrin of his family it was never upgraded to honorable.

When he was in Afghanistan, he had been in a hot zone with me. He had seen his best friend’s life flash before his eyes. Once back on the ship he was still shaken to his core. He sat on the flight deck with his back against the bulkhead watching planes take off and land. He rocked back and forth and was really close to completely losing it. He had been approached by Spatharos and was asked if he was okay. Spathoros got exactly the answer he was looking for when Krayton stood up. Kray yelled at him in his face at the top of his lungs. “NO!!!! I’M NOT OKAY! MY BEST FRIEND JUST DIED BECAUSE OF YOUR INCOMPETENCE!!!” Frank signaled a nearby marine who took Kray down forcibly and managed to zip tie his hands behind his back. He was then loaded on a backboard with a psyche hood over his face. It had been one of the ugliest scenes I’d ever witnessed as an adult. Let’s just say they were not gentle in making sure he didn’t make a move against our executive officer. Unfortunately for everyone involved except for Spatharos, Castello caught wind of it too late. They quickly got him off the ship on a medical evac back to the states. When I would catch up to him years later, he definitely was not the same man I knew. I was actually surprised to find him at all. There was no length that Spatharos wouldn’t go to to protect his own name.

So, now those of us that remained were gathered together to try and piece it together. I started to talk to them to address the situation. “Okay, so scrap what they are saying on the news. Obviously, someone has fed them information that isn’t accurate.” I started ticking the items off on my hand. Starting with my thumb, “First, the woman they show on television has never even been around the man, so how could that be his wife that he supposedly abused, repeatedly?” They all nodded their heads acknowledging that as fact. “Kray was never in Cuba, and certainly wasn’t trained in torture techniques.” I touch my index finger and move along. “He sure as hell was no war criminal.” I touch my middle finger as I look around at them all. It was still tracking with them. Next, I dismiss my ring finger for the next point, “He and his wife molly had no kids together, she passed away shortly after we got back to the states. The final piece was more heartbreaking than the rest, they had claimed that this man had been selling top secret information to Argentina. “As for the story about him selling information to Argentina? He could have sold them his mom’s carrot cake recipe but he never held a top-secret clearance.”

I hear someone clearing their throat and turn to see Jeff Castello, our old Commanding Officer standing there. “Right on all counts, Mac.” To say that I was shocked was beyond an understatement. I honestly didn’t think his bosses would allow him to associate with me at all anymore. Too much bad blood between myself and those people. They’d tried to kill me so many times it was ridiculous and they knew I was still pissed about that. I shook Jeff’s hand, “Welcome to our little meeting, chief.” He smiled nodding at everyone in greeting. Every person had worked for him at some point in their career. Well, I should say they were all under his command. He didn’t know them as I did, but he knew them. As Navy COs go, he was a good one, but when you have that many people you simply cannot commit to everyone’s sob story and do something about it. My case was different from Jeff, because of how public the transgressions were. It was always with a ton of witnesses around. Every single time, my own personal villain attacked me in a way that made him look like an asshole. The power behind him was the scary part. The “Triad” for lack of a better name was the real power behind him. He was doing their bidding and being rewarded for it every step of the way.

“Have you told them about the real power behind him?”, Jeff asked me. I shake my head, “No, skipper, I haven’t. Go ahead, you have the floor and far more knowledge than I do.” He nodded, one of the few times the man had ever agreed with me, causing me to smile. “Fair enough,” he began speaking as I lit a cigarette and tossed the pack on the common table in the middle of the group. One by one they each grabbed one and listened intently as Jeff described the three members of this power base for Spatharos. “The first man on this list is the son of Alexander Van. Joshua Van is the current commandant of the Marine Corp.” He waited for any questions or comments. To a person, the jaws hung open in looks of shock. “Don’t panic yet, it gets worse.” They all slowly clamped their mouths closed. Spatharos is better connected than any one individual I’ve ever seen. It’s bad enough that Van has his back but there are two others. A former four-star General in the Air Force, Jack Maclan was a highly decorated general who fell in disgrace after it was discovered that he had been sexually harassing young cadets. Even now, he has close ties to the government through his vendor contacts such as Boeing. That’s far from the only one. Finally last but certainly not least is the former head of the central intelligence agency, Jake Sporos. He was removed from his position by a former president and still holds a grudge against that man and all of his supporters around the globe.”

Jeff pauses again waiting for comments, but all he gets in return are looks of helplessness. Well, except for me. “I know that Kray was making a lot of accusations and he wasn’t quiet about it and that’s what drew the attention of Spathoros. I’m hoping that if you guys don’t talk about it, he will go away.” He shakes his head, “or at least not draw his attention.” The group quietly nods along with him, accepting that may be their only hope for survival. I shake his hand, “Thanks Jeff, I know you took a huge risk by coming here and I won’t forget it.” He smiled, “Yes you will,” he chuckled, “All of our well beings may count on that.” I agreed, “All too true.” He sighed, “Don’t go after him, Mac.” I nodded, “Understood, I’ll keep my nose down and attend to family things.” He clapped me on the shoulder, “Good man.”

Fade


{The Bane Home - Las Vegas NV - “Comparisons”}

The scene opens with me sitting in an office chair.  The same office chair that fans and foes alike have seen a dozen times or more. I had noticed lately that I was spending too much time in my own head. It was one of my many flaws, I was critical of others but more so when it came to myself. I knew that my confidence was lacking these days. I also know that as a wrestling talent I was appreciated here. It wasn’t about that at all, it was about this losing streak that I was on.

Right about now, Bill is full of confidence, and why wouldn’t he be? He knows that I’ve been on quite the losing streak as of late, and based on that he should be confident. See, a lot of people think I’m coming into the twilight of my career. They believe that I’ve lost a step and that my joints and bones are starting to ache. In terms of my health, no I’m not at one hundred percent and probably haven’t been since the day before my first match. October will mark my nineteenth year in this business. Hard to believe that I’m still doing this, isn’t it? Regardless of that fact, I could be coming up on my last match at some point in the near future, but it sure as hell won’t be against you.

The sound of starch rubbing against starch can be heard as I stand up, dragging the microphone up with me as I do.

Bill is one of the old-school guys who like to talk about comparisons. It makes him feel better about himself when he gets to try and flaunt that to the younger guys. The problem here in this match for him is that he is not only outgunned but outclassed. It really doesn’t take much to be honest, he’s got no class to begin with. Wanna talk about stats Bill? Okay, you’re six foot four and two hundred and forty pounds. I’m six foot six and I weigh two hundred and eighty pounds. You’re losing on reach and weight class. Those are not the only stats we should talk about though. I am a three-time sin city world champion, and a former internet and roulette champion. I’ve been a world champion fifteen times in my career if we’re talking about the complete body of work. What do you have to talk about? Well, you’re really good at taking care of your wife’s purse dog. That thing would be a light snack for my dogs, not that I would allow that to happen though. I wouldn’t want them to be near anything that is contaminated with your stench.

Maintaining my calm, and yelling at someone like Billiam is a waste of time and serves no purpose.

But what I have to say about Billiam is not all bad, he’s a hell of a fighter when he’s cornered. He has great ring awareness as any good veteran should. He’s held titles here in Sin City, mostly midcard to low card titles but shit that’s more than some have done. We get people that come in here all the time, the show-up, they lose and they go somewhere else. That’s not who Bill is, I’ll give him credit for being resilient as hell. He doesn’t give up and he keeps coming back for more. I find that admirable to be honest, not many old-school guys are left around anymore. I find that no matter how terrible of a person someone is, they always have some redeeming qualities. Even I have a few, whether it’s recognized by Bill or not. He’s quite the talker though, isn’t he?

I smirk, then shake my head and finally sigh as I go on to the next topic.

So, Bill here’s a little free help for you. My match with Ken, left an additional weakness for you to try and exploit. I have soft tissue damage in my abdomen. I know a number of people just rolled their eyes at my supposed arrogance and stupidity. Why tell someone about an injury? Well, telling them is one thing, them capitalizing on it is another story. I could send him a freaking email with a list of all my injuries and it wouldn’t make a bit of difference. He’s too stupid to figure out a way to attack them. Now, I know that was rather unkind for me to say that. As Fenris would tell you, that is tied too closely to emotion and that in and of itself is weakness. You see, I disagree about emotions. Strong emotions are what drive us, and the passion of wanting to be the very best in the industry is what drives me. It has always been my motivation is that, love of the game so to speak.

Looking directly into the camera, a look full of intensity.

My passion for this industry is unrivaled. I don’t care who you are or who you think you are, you won’t match mine for what we do. See, I’m an old-school guy too. I care about the direction this industry is headed. When you look out at the stands at the people cheering at their favorites or booing the ones they hate….that’s what drives me, that is their passion on display for what we do. I’ve heard people laugh at the fans and call them stupid fucking marks. Not me, even during my darkest days, I never referred that way to the people who pay our bills and make it possible for us to earn a living doing something we love. So when we see each other, you’ll know this Bill. You’ll know that I’m bringing all of my passion with me, supported by theirs. Our fans are among the best in the world and I will not let them down.

I wink at the camera

See ya soon bitch.

Fade

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