The scene opens up to an office building that surely looks familiar to many of those who have seen prior promos from Nick Jones'. The building in question is that of the publisher's for Nick's upcoming autobiography. The scene then moves inside, where a small conference room is seen, seated within are two of the representatives from the publisher's office, along with Nick Jones and his agent, Jimmy Mason, as they are picked up to be in the midst of a conversation.
Publishing Rep #1: Thanks so much for making it out here today Mr. Jones.
Nick: Not a problem and please, call me Nick.
Publishing Rep #2: Well Nick, we don't want to take up too much of your time, but there was just a couple of things we wanted to go over with you as we get closer and closer to getting this thing wrapped up.
Nick: Sure. What's this all about?
Publishing Rep #1: Nothing bad I assure you, not at all.
Publishing Rep #2: Quite the opposite actually, we have some great news to share with you.
Nick: Really?
Jimmy: Of course, baby, what am I always telling you? You're money!
Nick just looks and Jimmy and shakes his head while chuckling, before turning his attention back to the two publishing representatives.
Nick: So what's the news?
Publishing Rep #2: Well given our investment in this project, we've been keeping tabs on everything that's been going on with your wrestling career, especially as we get closer to some of these deadlines.
Publishing Rep #1: And we have to tell you, what's been going on lately has just been fantastic for everyone. For us, for you... this is just great stuff.
Nick: What are you talking about?
Publishing Rep #1: Well please don't take this the wrong way, but we see there has been a bit of a change in your... attitude.
Publishing Rep #2: Your demeanor.
Publishing Rep #1: Right... exactly.
Nick: You've noticed that, have you?
Publishing Rep #1: We certainly have, and clearly we're not the only ones. The fans have obviously noticed it, and they're loving it.
Nick: Well sure, I'm getting more cheers than ever before, but I don't see what that has to do with my book.
Publishing Rep #2: Oh, it has EVERYTHING to do with your book. More fans means more sale, more sales means more money... for all of us.
Jimmy: Now that's what I'm talking about, baby!
Nick: Don't me wrong, that all sounds great, but how can you be so sure about that?
Publishing Rep #1: Because it's already started, Nick. The amount of interest we've had in your book has gone through the roof over the past few weeks. Pre-orders have started coming in like mad, it's unlike anything we've ever seen before.
Publishing Rep #2: He's not kidding, it really is unprecedented stuff we're seeing here. And it's not just the fans either, it's the media too.
Nick: What about the media?
Publishing Rep #1: Our phones have been ringing off the hook with different talk shows and things like that getting in touch with us to see about booking you for some appearances.
Nick: That's great and all, but this isn't really unheard of, after all I just did Leno a few weeks ago.
Publishing Rep #2: And don't get us wrong, that was great, but we were hoping to do more than just that, and now these are places coming up to us who rejected our offers for you to appear when we first contacted them back when we were first starting to book your media tour.
Nick: Whoa, whoa... what? What the hell are you talking?
The first publishing rep shoots a dirty look over to his co-worker, clearly displeased that he said a little too much, before then trying to talk his way out of it to Nick.
Publishing Rep #1: Don't mind my associate here. All he's saying is that we usually have to reach out to the media types to get these things booked, but now they're calling us up.
Nick: Yeah, but your buddy here said you already made those calls. And you mean to tell me, these shows were telling you no, they didn't want me on? Do I have that right.
Publishing Rep #2: Well, um... the thing about that is... you see... uh...
Publishing Rep #1: Listen, don't worry about that. That's in the past now. The bottom line is that they want you on their shows, and are willing to chase you down to make it happen, and that's great!
Nick: Yeah, I guess you have a point there. So is that the whole reason you called me in here, to tell me that?
Publishing Rep #1: Not exactly.
Nick: Ok, so what's the deal then?
Publishing Rep #2: Well we do have one piece of what could possibly be considered "bad news".
Publishing Rep #1: But we really don't think you should take it that way at all.
Nick: Oh really? This should be good.
Publishing Rep #1: It's just that with the recent changes in your behavior lately, and you know we all love it, but a few of the executives here are a bit... concerned.
Nick: Concerned? About what?
Publishing Rep #2: Well they feel it's just a very dramatic change in a short period of time. To be so different over the course of a few weeks, some are questioning how that came to be.
Nick: Ok, so what's the point of all of this? Do you want me to go back to being an asshole to everyone?
The two representatives can't help but respond with nervous laughter to Nick's comment before continuing on.
Publishing Rep #1: No, nothing like that. They just want to be sure there's nothing for them to be worried about. You know, for insurance purposes.
Nick: Why don't you just cut the crap and tell me whatever the hell it is they want from me.
Publishing Rep #2: They'd like you to take a psychological evaluation.
Upon hearing that, the calm look Nick managed to keep on his face disappears as he jumps out from his seat.
Nick: What?!? Are you kidding me with this load of crap?! I ought to...
Before Nick can finish his sentence, Jimmy immediately leaps up onto his feet and grabs Nick, trying to calm him down.
Jimmy: Nick, baby, I get why you're upset, and trust me, I'll be having some words with those executives. But you've got to understand, there's nothing here to worry about. Me and you know that. We know there's nothing for you to be worried about, so if it will get this deal continuing on without any trouble and help us all make lots more money, just do it baby and shut these folks up.
Nick looks at Jimmy, seeming to understand what he's saying while clearly not liking it. He then glares over at the two reps, who are slouched back in their seats and seem to be somewhat intimidated as they sit there quietly. Nick then turns back to Jimmy as he lets out a deep sigh.
Nick: Fine.
Jimmy: That a boy. You're doing the right thing.
Nick then turns his attention back to the reps.
Nick: Get this thing scheduled and give Jimmy here the info. Anything else you two need from me before I get the hell out of here?
Publishing Rep #1: Nope, that would be it, Nick.
Publishing Rep #2: And we just really want to thank you for coming out here and doing this. We understand this cannot be easy, but it's greatly appreciated.
Nick: Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just get this thing booked as soon as possible so I can just get it over with.
Publishing Rep #1: Will do. You have yourself a great day.
Nick simply rolls his eyes and gives a quick wave goodbye before turning and walking out of the conference room, leaving Jimmy behind to talk to them and work out the necessary details as the scene fades.
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The scene fades back in, inside of an office seems to be the psychologist appointment that the publishers had arranged for Nick, as he is seen sitting on a small leather couch as the doctor sits across from him, with a pen in his hand and a pad of paper on his lap. Just then, he begins to speak.
Psychologist: Before we get started, let me just say something. I understand that many times someone's first visit with a psychologist can be a very difficult situation, particularly when it was not that person's own idea to have this visit. With that said, I hope you understand that I have no negative intentions and am only here to help. I simply ask you try your best to keep an open throughout this process.
Nick: I suppose that's a fair enough request.
Psychologist: Ok great, I'm glad to hear that. Now before I get started, was there any questions you had for me?
Nick: Yeah, how long is this going to take?
The doctor cannot help but to laugh at Nick's comment, which Nick seems to appreciate.
Psychologist: I assure you, I'll try to make this as quick and painless as possible.
Nick: That's the spirit, doc.
Psychologist: Ok, well before we start diving into any of the specifics that brought you here, why don't you give me a little bit of background about yourself. Tell me about your life, your work, friends and family, things of that nature.
Nick: Ok, sure. My name is Nick Jones, I'm from Los Angeles, California. I'm currently a professional wrestler for the Las Vegas-based Sin City Wrestling. Before that I worked for an international wrestling company by the name of Generation-X Wrestling, which is the reason for being known as well as I am outside of the regions that my current company works. My only real family would be my parents who live just outside of LA, and my cousin, Bernard, who actually works with me at SCW.
Psychologist: Well what about his parents?
Nick: They're the ones who convinced me to give him some work many years back, but I have sort of lost touch with them over the years. However, since I'm always around Big B, he keeps me up to date on everything going on with them.
Psychologist: Big B?
Nick: Yeah, that's my cousin, he hates being called Bernard. Like, he gets some serious blind rage if you do it.
Psychologist: Perhaps I should setup a little meeting with him.
Both Nick and the doctor chuckle at that before continuing on.
Nick: Probably not a horrible idea. Beyond that, I have a girlfriend and a number of my friends who I am closest to these days would be the ones I spend the most time around, meaning my co-workers at SCW. When you're traveling around with these people all day every day, that's sort of the way things just happen.
Psychologist: I see, that's certainly understand. Tell me a little more about both your girlfriend and your close friends.
Nick: Well my girlfriend is named Diana, we have a long term relationship, been together for many years.
Psychologist: And do you plan on moving that relationship any further along in the future?
Nick: Geez, you sound like my parents now.
Psychologist: Well you said yourself it's a long term relationship and while I don't know much of your girlfriend, you are already into your 30s and it begs the question of if you have any interest in moving forward to take that next step in your relationship.
Nick: As far as I'm concerned, the both of us are perfectly happy with the exactly the way things are, so why change it?
Psychologist: That's a fair mindset. And what of your friends?
Nick: Well the guys I spend the most time with would fall into two categories. For starters there's the guys that have come to be known as my "entourage".
Psychologist: Oh really? Why is that?
Nick: Well they really spend all of their time following my lead. I mean, I guess they are technically my employees, but...
Psychologist: Your employees? And yet these are the people you consider your closest friends?
Nick: It's not as bad as it sounds. When you live the kind of life a professional wrestler does, you need a lot of help along the way. I made an effort to get some of the best guys I could to help me and sure, at the start, they were just hired help. But we've now all been working together for nearly 10 years now. We share hotel rooms, they stay at my home when we're in town. Sure, I keep paying them because they still do their job and I can afford to keep us all employed and happy, but it's more than just that.
Psychologist: Ok then, and what of the other category of friends?
Nick: Well that would be the other SCW guys. The most obvious example would be that limey...
Psychologist: Excuse me?
Nick: Sorry, force of habit. Anyway, my buddy Mark. He's the co-owner of SCW and...
Psychologist: So other than your employees, your other friend is your boss?
Nick: Now hold on a second, it's not like that. Mark and I have been friends since long before SCW even existed. He's the one who got me into the wrestling business, me and him wrestled side by side when he was still an active talent back in GXW and yeah, now that he's got his own business we decided it was the perfect opportunity to work together again. But it's more than just a business relationship.
Psychologist: There's no need to get defensive, I'm simply asking questions.
Nick: Yeah, whatever. Can we move along with this?
Psychologist: So my understanding is recent changes in behavior is why you're here, and that it's directly related to your work. Why don't you tell me how that all began?
Nick: Well it all started a couple of months back when I was getting ready for this big match that saw a couple of guys who weren't exactly my biggest fans serve as the special guest referee and enforcer. So about a week before the match, I end up down in Miami to promote my book and I ran into this guy I used to work with and who was close friends with my upcoming opponent. So I'm talking to this guy Billy James...
Psychologist: You don't mean "Beautiful" Billy James do you?
Nick: That would be the one. You know him?
Psychologist: Of course! I wasn't going to say this before, but I'm actually a pretty big wrestling fan myself. Billy was always my favorite, that guy was the best.
Nick: Yeah, he's alright I guess.
Psychologist: Did he tell you if he has any plans to make a return?
Nick: What?! No. Can I get back to my story now?
Psychologist: Right, my apologies. So, you were saying...
Nick: Right, so I end up talking to Billy and he gives me some advice, telling me if I don't want to worry about getting screwed over by these guys in my match, that I need to stop acting the way I was. Cut out the underhanded tactics and more than anything, stop pissing everyone off. He said, as long as I didn't give anyone any justification for trying to cost me my match, I was going to find myself in a lot better shape. At first it sounded like a complete load of crap to me, but just out of curiosity I started trying the "nice guy" schtick here and there, and I'll be damned if it didn't actually seem to work.
Psychologist: And how exactly did this transfer over into other areas of your life?
Nick: Well it seemed like a pretty logical step. If being nicer to people in SCW was going to help earn me less enemies, then doing the same in real life should help me avoid as many conflicts in my day to day life. So slowly but surely, I went from forcing myself to be nicer to people even when they pissed me off in order to get treated better in return, to suddenly just finding myself getting along with more and more people on a regular basis.
Psychologist: That seems like a completely healthy determination for me. I don't understand what issue there is with this.
Nick: There might have been a small hiccup along the way.
Psychologist: Oh?
Nick: In the process of trying to be a nice guy, I refused to take a tainted victory that I had in my hands, choosing instead to make sure I won it legitimately. My opponent didn't seem to feel the same and in the process, managed to walk out with the victory and my SCW Heavyweight Championship belt.
Psychologist: I see, and that didn't go over to well with you I take it?
Nick: That's putting it mildly. I was ready to start treating people worse than ever after that little fiasco. It basically seemed to me like a giant announcement from the world reminding me why I was right to act that I used to all along. As it turned out though, I had a couple of people help me work my way through that.
Psychologist: How exactly did that come about?
Nick: I'm not exactly proud to admit this, but my cousin was upset about the idea of me going back to my old ways, so he got me to go to this "Mr. Self-Help" seminar thing. I thought it was a complete joke at first, but in the end it kind of got me back on the right track.
Psychologist: That's very interesting, I have never heard of that before. Who ran that seminar?
Nick: Well um... it was these two guys. Named Despayre and Angel.
Psychologist: I'm sorry, who did you say they were?
Nick: Um... nobody?
The doctor is now staring at Nick in a state of shock for a moment.
Nick: Yeah, I forgot you said you were a big wrestling fan. Crap.
Psychologist: So you mean to tell me you attended a self help seminar run by a former mental institution inmate and a teddy bear?!?
Nick: Hey, it wasn't my freakin' idea, alright? I've done everything in my power to stay as far away from that nutjob Despayre since the day I signed on with SCW, but that idiot cousin of mine has a little man crush on the kid or something, and so forces me into crap like this. The point is, regardless of the situation, it caused me to do some self reflection and it worked out for the better. Isn't that's all that really matters?
Psychologist: I mean, I guess... but still, I really cannot be recommending you taking any sort of psychological advice from someone in such great need of help themselves.
Nick: I'm not going to argue with you there. Regardless of what may have happened there, I really don't plan on spending much time with that looney tune again in the future. So what else did you want to know about?
Psychologist: Why don't you tell me more about what you currently have going on in SCW now after all of this?
Nick: Well I'm heading into this big 6-man match in a couple of weeks, and have a tag team match with those same guys this weekend too, and there's plenty revolving around what's going on there.
Psychologist: And I take it this has been the most recent focus of your change in attitude?
Nick: It's certainly been where the change has caught the most attention. Most specifically, regarding the guy who I faced off against the last supercard, Jordan Williams. Me and Jordan have known each other for a long time and were never best of friends, but typically managed to get along for the sake of our mutual friend, Mark. Well with Jordan getting his shot at my title, things quickly went down hill from there heading into that match. After that match, it was a hell of a contest that really opened some eyes throughout the wrestling community about what was really going on in SCW, and gave me and Jordan a whole new level of respect for each other. Since then, we've put aside our past differences and have been kind of helping each other out. We've both even gone out of our way to save each other from attacks at the hands of some mutual enemies, even in spite of the fact that we'll be facing off again, both this week and two weeks after that with the title on the line.
Psychologist: Well that's very admirable, and it's good to see that you've learned to put differences aside and if nothing more, gain some respect for others. Not to mention, a willingness to get yourself in a situation that you believe is wrong is a great sign of not just a change in behavior, but showing that you are doing it for more than just selfish reasons.
Nick: Well I think that's what really caught people off guard the most. At the beginning people thought sure, I was being nicer, but I was just doing it because I thought it would help me pick up some wins. And yeah, that was probably true at first too. But when I took a chair shot to the head for Jordan, I'm not sure people knew what to think. Especially now since this is a guy who's set to be an opponent of mine two times over in the coming weeks.
Psychologist: What about these other men who have been involved with all of this? How do they fit in?
Nick: Well there's the real piece of human trash who goes by the name of Kain. If anything, I probably owe him some thanks for helping show me the error of my ways, as I sit here and watch him and realize that if the way I used to act was really as bad as this guy, that's a really frightening thought. He's spent weeks now trying to do nothing more than cheap shot guys like me and Jordan in order to be able to weasel his way to a title victory. It's pathetic.
Psychologist: And you feel this is a reflection of the way you once acted?
Nick: I try to convince myself I was never that bad, but I'm not really sure if that's what I truly believe or simply what I want to believe. Beyond him though, things get real interesting with the "good guys" in the match. Sure there's Jordan, but beyond him there's three more guys in Bo, Rage and Lucas. Lucas is the new kid who I've got no problem with and my only issues with him have been in the ring and I see no reason for that to change. As far as I'm concerned, he's just one more person who it's my job to beat. The other two? That's a different story. You've got Bo, who I have a very interesting past relationship with. For starters, he was trained and managed by a guy who I have a very sorted history with, and then there was a little butting of heads the two of us had with each other a couple of months back. It started off as some pranks back and forth, but might have gone a bit too far when my last retaliation to him cost him his Roulette Championship.
Psychologist: Does that sound to you like something this Kain person has been doing?
Nick: Yeah, yeah doc... I get the point. I was an ass. Well it got even more interesting from there as Bo was the one who was the special guest referee in my match against Jordan. I thought he was going to be looking to screw me over as revenge for what I did to him, but to his credit the guy called a fair and even match, and as much as I'm sure it pained him, he counted the three and gave me the win when all was said and done.
Psychologist: Sounds like not such a bad person to use as a model for your behavior on the job.
Nick: You'd think so, but then of course you have the flip side. Then there's this other guy Rage, who is also another so-called good guy, but as much as he'd hate to admit it, he and I aren't so different.
Psychologist: Well why do you say that?
Nick: The guy is a hot head for sure, and he won't let anything stand in his way to victory. He'll do whatever needs to be done and in our business, that's not always the nicest of tactics. And yet in the end, after over 5 months of reigning as champion, he was the only guy able to finally pull off the win over me.
Psychologist: I see, and how does that make you feel?
Nick: It tells me that sometimes you can be a nicer guy without being a complete sucker. I learned that the hard way by not taking the win over Rage when I had it in front of me for trying to be TOO nice, but that mistake won't be made again. I beat Rage once before when doing things my old ways and while I don't want to go all the way to being that person, I also can't let a desire to do the right thing interfere with doing my job to the best of my ability. I can be done with the cheating; the low blows, interference, illegal weapons, all of it, and yet still be the same unstoppable champion I was not long ago. While some of these guys opened my eyes as to how I needed to be a better person, Rage is the one reminded me that sooner or later you have to draw a line.
Psychologist: Well then...
The doctor looks down at his notepad as his eyes go wide looking over some of his own notes.
Psychologist: There's some very... interesting... items here. I have to be honest, while I think there's some definite bright spots in the way you've chosen to change your behavior, I can certainly see why there may be some areas that would be a cause for concern. I'm not exactly sure what the best method of reporting back on this would be.
Without saying a word, Nick simply stands up from his seat on the couch and pulls a wad of cash from his pocket. He then takes a big handful of it, pulls it off from the wad and drops it right down onto the doctor's lap with a big smile on his face. The doctor looks up at Nick, seeming not quite sure how to react.
Nick: I think you know exactly how you need to report back.
The doctor looks down at the large wad of cash and then back up at Nick before a smile crosses his face.
Psychologist: I must say, you seem to be of tip-top psychological health to me.
Nick: That's what I thought. Thanks for your time, doc.
Psychologist: No, thank you for... um, your time.
Nick: Yeah, right.
Nick laughs in response to the doctor's comment as the doctor stands up. The two men shake hands before Nick turns and walks off as the scene fades.
