Post by DGX on May 23, 2021 18:37:53 GMT -5
April 15, 2021
New York City, New York
Just like riding a bike.
Victorious, the man known as Unicron reveled in his victory. The roar of the crowd, the daunting clash of physical wills with an adversary intent on vanquishing you before the masses. The bloodthirsty cries for blood, violence and spectacle. The Reverend had accounted well for himself, a worthy adversary of considerable WFWF lore and prestige. But in the end he found himself like every planet that stood in the path of Unicron’s destructive force. Devoured, consumed, another meal in the long inevitable chain of conquests. At least until eventually some faggy car got a shiny McGuffin and went through some empowering transformation to the musical stylings of Stan Bush.
But that’s how stories for showbiz go, the villain loses eventually. That’s not life though which is why as far as he’s concerned his reign of terror on the WFWF was merely beginning!
DGX: Ow! Not so hard there!
Exasperated Cynthia the physical therapist by day, stretch guru by night shakes her head.
Cynthia: Look, you have to get used to it. The tendons are going to resist at first because it’s not what they’ve come to see as “natural.”
Laying on his back with his hands by his sides and his right leg straight up in the air, which the blocking assistance of Cynthia’s body to stay elevated he winces.
DGX: Who the hell thinks this is a natural position?!
Cynthia rolls her eyes.
Cynthia: You. Six years ago.
And the reality of age’s ravages returns him at least temporarily from the bliss of his victory. He’s stayed in shape in his time away, living out in the rough, hunting and preparing his own food, removing himself from the society he’d spent his intervening years becoming more and more disgusted by. But that was what fitness freaks called “functional” fitness. Wrestling had shown, somewhat rudely that allot of it has foundation in flexibility. Thus, why when he’d returned to the States he made for his and Carmen’s old loft and contacted Cynthia who had personal trained the pair.
Cynthia: Oh that reminds me, I talked to Carm a couple of days ago. She said to tell you to go to hell.
Sigh. Poor kid, she’s still grieving.
DGX: That’s nice. Ow! Damn girl, did she tell you to punish me to?!
Moving away from his leg Cynthia pulls DGX to a sitting position and sits across from him, bracing his feet with her own and taking turns on pressure. God this age thing sucks! The light groans of agony and torture are split with the sound of a ringing phone. With a wince DGX turns to this cell phone on the table.
DGX: I’ll take this…
Cynthia: Just put it on speaker, I have other appointments later.
Denied his reprieve he sighs as he answers the call on speaker and returns to the rack.
Weinstein: Good job out in England D!
DGX: Yeah. Ugh, how’d the payout go?
Weinstein: Not bad. The gate turned out to be pretty good. You’re welcome.
DGX: Yeah yeah, so what’s next?
Weinstein: Kash was really happy with your performance, I guess with the controversy on the bet deal allot of eyes are on WFWF right now to see the fallout. You accounted well for yourself against Reverend Shadow, he wants to put you in the main event next.
There’s really no other place appropriate for a man of his stature, of his acclaim, of his imperious…
Weinstein: So next up is Detroit, you have a headline bout against Scarlett Quinn.
What the f*ck?
DGX: Wait…are you saying I’m wrestling a woman?
Weinstein: Yeah, former WFWF champion. I think it’s the kid daughter of the McGurks or something.
DGX: So I’m wrestling a girl.
Weinstein: Its 2021 D. Women can fight also.
DGX: Yeah, each other. Like even in MMA dude, weight classes exist for a reason...
Weinstein: Look, as much of a boon as your controversial reputation and the eyes you’re bringing to the product we’re really not in a position to say no to much right now and we DO need to meet those dates.
DGX: But how does it look when I, a headhunting barbarian murder wrestler has a fight with a ninety-pound girl? You can see how that might look…inappropriate no?
There’s a predicable sigh on the other end. Probably because Weinstein knows he has a point. And what’s more that he’s right. Like always.
Weinstein: It’s not ideal. But you can see how it could be construed as a good thing. She’s a former world champion, she’s a second-generation star, and this is her big return to American wrestling. To get a bout against you, a hall of famer and former champion yourself it’s a big opportunity and shows respect and appreciate for the level both of you are on. Just you know…maybe try to have a clean wrestling match.
DGX: Define “clean”? What am I supposed to limit myself to gentle suplexes and Greco Roman takedowns? Let her up every time she gently taps my arms?
Weinstein: You’ve been out of wrestling a long time D, women have been going blow for blow with the men and blazing trails. They’re more capable than you give them credit for.
DGX: I don’t doubt it Weinstein, but it’s a bullsh*t double standard I’ll be held to. Look are there female athletes that’ll be more talented and gifted than men? Absolutely. There are female hockey players who can make some of the greatest all-world male goaltenders look like clown babies they’ve got those kinds of hands, but the media firestorms aren’t on them being amazingly great when they get lined up and popped by an open ice hit by an average male defensemen. It’s about what the hell is wrong with the guy that laid her out and how he should never play again and be in counselling and jail for the rest of his days.
Weinstein: I know! I get it, we just have a responsibility out there you know? You have to exercise restraint.
DGX: That in a nutshell is what’s wrong with it man. Because I know across the ring, she won’t. She doesn’t have to.
Weinstein: Again! Not ideal. But it’s what we’ve got. You’re right to be conscious of optics though, it’s an admirable if frustrating trait I’m happy to see you’ve acquired. It may not be fair but we don’t need more bad press. You just have to ride out this next short run and we’re both in the clear. Kash is being pretty reasonable in his payouts too. We’ve got a real opportunity here to get out with enough to skate to retirement.
He closes his eyes in frustration. All these calisthenics to not upset people, it was exhausting. He’d gone the distance in some of the most violent contests known to the civilized world and he never felt any older than he did when he was edited and forced to explain what this and that “meant” in the face of faux outrage. To be forced back into dealing with THIS just because some failed former exec thought he’d “get the last word” by trying to screw a performer out of money that WASN’T EVEN HIS. Behind him Cynthia straightens his arms and pulls backwards…
DGX: I guess that’s it then. Detroit, Main Event, Kid McGurk. Got it.
Weinstein: You’ll do good man. Just have a good match. That’s all we need. I’ll contact you with details when I have them.
DGX: Right.
The sound of the call terminating leaves the Essence of Greatness flustered. But in a subdued sort of way. He really IS getting too old for this sh*t…
Cynthia: It’ll be fine you know. Just treat it like a match with anyone else and…
DGX: Cyn?
Cynthia: Yeah?
DGX: I appreciate the stretch but in matters of my career, if I don’t ask for your opinion…don’t give it.
Cynthia: Hmph! Fine. That’s probably good enough for today anyhow.
Unbelievable. DGX moves to the kitchen and grabs himself a coffee as he looks out over the Manhattan skyline and sips his drink quietly as he hears Cynthia gather up her things and exit. He remembers years ago, with Carmen staring at this same skyline. A much younger man with the violent upheaval of uncertainty in him. And now he stands in this same space, an older man without a woman and the same violent upheaval. Just now it’s less of uncertainty and more of a certainty of his inability to win here. This is why he got the f*ck out.
DGX: Alexa.
A ding/chirp acknowledges his voice command.
DGX: Search ‘Scarlett Quinn’ and display results on kitchen tablet.
Taking a sip of his coffee he takes the tablet displaying the search results. He had homework to do.
=================================================================================
February 20, 2021
Los Angeles, California
The dinner had been a disaster. The fish fillets had kept fine of course but in the casual ebb and flow of polite dinner conversation it had transpired that Werner had been a witting harbinger of ill tidings. When he had casually handed him this envelope explaining it had been given to him by some flunky associated with Hector Perez it had come to pass it was a Summons. Which now he found himself here, pulled away from his restful and relaxing retirement overseeing his own kingdom on the planet to return to this fetid society he had chosen to leave years ago. It was a gross injustice, one that had no business being visited upon one such as he. He’s a tragic figure.
Charles Schwartz: My client and I are uncertain as to the merits of these proceedings’ councilor…
In a legal arena a man who represents himself has a fool for client. And the man known as Unicron is no fool. Chuck is a bulldog, it’s what you want in the ring. He just wished this particular bulldog’s treats wouldn’t be so f*cking expensive…
Julio Swarez: We understand Mr. Schwartz however my client and I have called you to this meeting to discuss the matter of your client’s contract with my client Mr. Perez’s former employers the Xtreme Wrestling Alliance.
We feel that your client has not in the last several years of the contract term been meeting his contractual obligations and as such are seeking an annulment.
Charles Schwartz: Respectfully your client is no longer under the employment of the Xtreme Wrestling Alliance or Rated X Enterprises. The contract in question is between my client and those two entities, your client no longer being an authorized agent of either of those has no legal standing to negotiate regarding any of those particular deals.
DGX finds himself staring daggers into the man across from him. Hector Perez was a disgraced, failed former wrestling executive who had been behind the revelations of the head-hunting scandal between E and himself. Being honest D had never liked him, he was always a snakey f*ck. To be completely fair to him though most wrestling executives are however DGX always believed even with those standards he took those kinds of things too far.
Julio Swarez: We can definitely leave that to a court of peers to determine. We’re here to talk settlement however if you feel you want to go to the mattresses, we’re quite convinced we can find a judge who will see the merits of our case. Bear in mind we would be forced to also file a civil suite for Mr. Perez’s reputational damage following the Rated X contract situation. We understand your client was personal responsible for certain media that aired on national television slandering my client.
This was the world we lived in now in 2021. Tell the truth, the person the truth hurts gets to sue you for some legal gobbledygook reasons.
Charles Schwartz: You could certainly do that. Of course, we would have to counter-sue for the actions of your client slandering mine with the release of this head-hunting fiction.
Julio Swarez: Mr. Perez’s statements have been validated by your client’s named co-conspirator in this betting scandal.
Charles Schwartz: Heresay. Have any ledgers or documentation been produced to support it? As it stands it’s those two individuals’ word against my client’s.
It appears if Swarez is about to make a retort when Perez raises his hand. He pulls his representative close and exchanges a few hushed words before turning to meet the gaze of the former wrestling superstar.
Hector Perez: Listen D, you and I are reasonable people. I know we could just sit here and allow our representatives to posture and bargain wasting time and money. I know you will never agree to an annulment of your deal. You would be a fool to do it and for everything else you are, a fool you are not. However, this deal has marked me. I’m blacklisted in the industry, I can’t get a job booking a carnival wrestling show.
DGX coolly regards Perez.
DGX: I’ll be honest Hector, I’m not seeing how that is my problem.
Hector Perez: It’s your problem D because I’m a desperate man. I’m ruined and unable to earn a living and my supports are running out. And I would be happy to spend to the last time of it taking you on a ride through the court systems that would cripple you just as much as it does me. I know your type, you Rated X boys got your money but you’ve either spent it or undertaken expenses that make it impossible for your to sustain yourselves without it. Then it just becomes a race to see who can hold their breath the longest: my moneys on me.
Though it pains him to admit it, DGX knows he’s right. While the investments he had Weinstein set up had been steady in the last couple of years they’d dipped. He was still above the expense line but his margin for error had shrunk uncomfortably these last few years. A pointless pissing contest in the judiciary is the last thing he needs right now.
DGX: So, you know I won’t annul and you tell me you’re ready to take us on a ride to see who runs out of gas first. Not hearing an alternative in there however I assume your coming to a point?
Hector Perez: I can see an avenue that I’d discussed with Mr. Swarez that may help restore my reputation and help me back into the business. If you were to honor the contract by meeting a certain number of dates…that would reflect well on my negotiating skills. Plus I’m sure there’s a group of people who would probably hail me as a hero for returning the great DGX to the business.
DGX: Dates? You mean like wrestle?
Hector Perez: That IS what your contract pays you to do.
Instinctively DGX shakes his head. The thought of getting back in now? Performing for todays audience? No. There’s no way, he got out and left everything because he couldn’t stand the bunch they’d become. He feels a hand on his forearm as he turns to Schwartz.
DGX: No…I can’t go back…
Charles Schwartz: D, listen. Maybe it’s a good thing. I can hammer out the exact details of how many dates you need to meet get everything lined up. Meantime you can get back in touch with Weinstein and see if you can secure some bookings. It’s not an unreasonable ask and as your lawyer I’d be remiss if I didn’t council you to accept a deal like this. I’m quite certain I can take this down in court no problem but that’ll take years and the process will be very untenable for you and eventually me.
Julio Swarez: I’d be happy to work out the details with Mr. Schwartz. All my client wants is the ability to earn his livelihood again.
Outrageous! Just because this loser can’t handle his own business he turns around and tries to come back on a man like him. Try to tear down everything he’d spent his adult life building just because he feels some kind of way about it. It’s f*cking deplorable! Even as rage and indignation swells within DGX knows that there’s only one way forward. He turns to Schwartz…
DGX: Yeah, I guess figure it out.
Customary handshakes are exchanged; the legal team retire to hammer terms. DGX is thankful for the inclusion of hand sanitizer in most locations today. This particular handshake in addition to being oily and disgusting was also odious for its circumstance.
DGX: Really think getting me to suit up is going to open doors for you in the biz?
Alone now Perez finally fixes DGX with his serpentine smile. His beady eyes glint as he grins…
Hector Perez: I don’t really care to be honest. Personally I’m really looking forward to seeing the public’s response to your act in 2021. I’m hopeful you’ll find it…enlightening…
=================================================================================
You know…even though I’ve never spoken a word to you in our whole lives kid I feel like I’d like to like you.
These last few days getting to know you by the internet and its assorted nanny state tools of social media and option columns I feel like I have a solid picture of Scarlett Quinn the person. I can respect that even though you were born into the business and practically raised by it you want to make your own legend. I understand that by going by your middle name as your surname you’re not embarrassed or ashamed of your family you just don’t want to be defined by their accomplishments. And in the world of WFWF those accomplishments are too numerous to list. Wouldn’t be a stretch to say the McGurk Dynasty is the First Family of the WFWF federation.
You came out strong too, a world champion in your rookie year? I know what that’s like. I did it twice. Once in my actual rookie year back in XWA and in my WFWF “rookie year” also. Winning a championship isn’t easy, ask Alex Sean about that. But people like you and I? We make it look easy because to us, it IS. Competition is in our DNA, we’re born winners. Ironic when you consider the path we both took to get here couldn’t have been more different. I was not born into the business, I found it at my lowest point. It’s not a stretch to say that wrestling saved my life and when I committed to it, it unlocked something in me that was beyond understanding. Inside a ring with four sides and ropes everything done to contest a wrestling match is as natural to me as breathing air. It’d be a simple narrative to say I came from nothing in this business and worked my way for everything I got but that’s dishonest. My ability carried me to this point, not my ethic.
I’ve tried to reconcile my reservations and trepidations of our upcoming match. You know I’ve even tried to see it from your side of things and I find myself empathizing with how hard it must be. As bad as I think I have it being in a position where to do anything less than giving you less than everything in the hopes that you don’t get hurt that must be so infuriating and insulting to you. You’re a former world champion this is NOT your first rodeo. You have fought all over the world, won at the highest level and you need someone to go EASY on you?! But those are the narratives that are written, you win and its heroic victory of Amazonian glory! You lose and you’re victimized twice, first by the actual loss and then by the narrative that you were defenseless and overmatched. I’m honestly insulted for you the more I think about it.
This match will happen. We’ll stand in the ring across from one another than ply our trades. And at the end of it all do I see a scenario to where I could like and respect you Scar? The short answer is no. Now I know, it could be construed as some kind of misogynistic sexism bias at work and that’s the easy answer. The complete answer is a bit more complex. Like the late Frankie Vincent once said on the Sopranos, “let me tell you a couple of three things”:
You’re a McGurk. Now I know in the long illustrious chronicles of your Dynasty there have not been many if any situations where your paths crossed with DGX. But you see I was collateral damage on one of your father’s conquests. The match where your father choked E the f*ck out and set him on that collision course that resulted in your family’s sweet retribution for his transgressions against your mother was the redemption story of my Dynasty. Whether we’re called Rated X or the XWA Remnant or the Anointed or whatever other word Alex picked out of thesaurus those men are the only family I’ve ever known in this business. I carried us to victory and acclaim in that match and because of your father’s actions E was weaponized into a ticking time bomb that eventually detonated on all of us. That match, that victory was supposed to be our defining moment. Like Lufthansa was supposed to be for the Goodfellas crew before it went sideways. An unfortunate but apt analogy since thanks to your daddy that ended with our own montage of self-destruction set to “Layla” piano strokes. Because of the sins of your father, I’m already predisposed to not liking you. Nobody’s ever paid for that and now thanks to circumstance, you will.
I resent you for being positioned as your return match opponent. I mean sure, what’s to complain about? It is a main event slot on an event so what’s the problem? The problem is I’m just returned to the WFWF myself and starting my journey and I’m rolled out as an obstacle for some brat kid’s return? The fact that you’re a former world champion somewhat softens this insult but ultimately what do I gain from this match? Either I beat a hundred-pound girl who hasn’t wrestled in six years or I get upset by one. How does either of those scenarios help me in my quest to ascend in the WFWF? You know I know it’s indelicate to talk about and allot of us are supposed to just quietly compete until it’s arbitrarily decided that we’ve done enough to earn a shot at a championship but honestly? It just is an uncomfortable feeling walking out in front of a crowd of thousands of people and not having a belt. I feel nude and exposed before them every time there’s nothing around my waist or over my shoulder and I don’t like it. So, what is fighting you even worth to me?
Lastly, even looking passed all of that there’s one thing you are that I can’t respect. I know, it’s puzzling right? What could I, a self-confessed headhunting piece of trash that hurts people on purpose for his own warped ideals and enjoyment what could someone like THAT draw the line at? The one thing you are that will always preclude my respecting you…is a liar. My sadism, the lengths I go to in order to win and progress my goals and agendas, all the horrible things I do and indeed relish are affronts to society and affronts to humanity. But I’m not a liar Scar, because lying is an affront to yourself. Everything about you in this business is lie girl. You say you want to make your own way and not be defined by your family but you call yourself the Princess of Wrestling. I know, it’s a loving wink and nod to your family that still honors them. That’s the line you feed yourself and everyone who asks about it anyhow. Truth is you still want to tie yourself proudly to that legacy because it feels like it’s yours. You want to be the second-generation inheritor of the legacy, you want all the perks and accolades and positioning it affords you but you have to keep up the image of that “did it myself earn it” iconography your generation loves so much. It’s very slick honestly. But in the end, it just really fundamentally messes with me internally to be put in a position in this match to where I have to go against my nature as a competitor and winner in order to propagate the telling of a lie. Between you and me, I know you can’t thank me or any other man you wrestle for restraining our natures or instincts because the societal expectation stands firm that to do so is completely and utterly wrong. I wonder though, do you even know? You’re so young and your generation has come up so differently than mine. Your mother would know what I’m talking about, she learned the hard way when E taught her that lesson. Here’s the moral of the story Princess, if I get tired of your little antics and your little taunts and goads and decide to take these grown man hands and inflict a case of rollercoaster face on your precious countenance…that’s the end of your night. Shocking I know. Former world champion, heiress to the industry, the future of wrestling and your night can be ended with that particular trip to Six Flags. Don’t feel bad, I’m not saying it’s just you. The little hundred-pound firecracker who cuts off a guy in a truck and gives the challenge mean mug of “whatchu gonna do bout it?!” With your generation I’m increasingly convinced you legitimately think nothing CAN be done about it. Little do either of you realize that guy is fully capable of doing a police cut off of your car with his truck, punching through your window like the Terminator, dragging you out of the car and then having full reign to decide what happens next to you. The uncomfortable truth in both that situation and ours pumpkin is just like a SEAL sniper: the decision is mine.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not out to brutalize you kid. I’m not that f*cked up. Fortunately for you and the rude c*nt who cuts people off society has done a pretty good job of raising us guys to be decent human beings who aren’t entertained by and encouraged to batter women. It just twists me up inside you know? Because I know what it really is between you and I even if you don’t. That there’s this expectation, I’d even go as far as to say obligation on my side of things to take special care when it comes to your well-being in the ring. It goes against my very nature as a cutthroat competitor. Which is why fundamentally I lean towards the idea that you should fight your girls and I should fight my guys. Maybe one day we’ll see a world where you and I can really fight. Where you can really and truly give me everything you have, and in turn I can give you all of it also. If on that night you barely with your last ounce of effort manage to get that final cover and defeat me, I’d accept it with the same pride and dignity I’ve accepted victory earned the same way. Sadly, we’re in a society and a time that loses their shi*t over the fact that your biological sex organs are on the inside and mine are on the out. So where does that leave us? I’d love to say it’ll be a fine match and may the best person win, let’s play by the rules and see where the night takes us. But I’m a winner Scar, even though I know what poor optics going as far as I need to go to beat you is for me right now like the scorpion who stung the fox half way across river thus committing suicide my nature is my nature.
You’re in my Court now Princess, it’s customary you genuflect to your Sovereign…
New York City, New York
Just like riding a bike.
Victorious, the man known as Unicron reveled in his victory. The roar of the crowd, the daunting clash of physical wills with an adversary intent on vanquishing you before the masses. The bloodthirsty cries for blood, violence and spectacle. The Reverend had accounted well for himself, a worthy adversary of considerable WFWF lore and prestige. But in the end he found himself like every planet that stood in the path of Unicron’s destructive force. Devoured, consumed, another meal in the long inevitable chain of conquests. At least until eventually some faggy car got a shiny McGuffin and went through some empowering transformation to the musical stylings of Stan Bush.
But that’s how stories for showbiz go, the villain loses eventually. That’s not life though which is why as far as he’s concerned his reign of terror on the WFWF was merely beginning!
DGX: Ow! Not so hard there!
Exasperated Cynthia the physical therapist by day, stretch guru by night shakes her head.
Cynthia: Look, you have to get used to it. The tendons are going to resist at first because it’s not what they’ve come to see as “natural.”
Laying on his back with his hands by his sides and his right leg straight up in the air, which the blocking assistance of Cynthia’s body to stay elevated he winces.
DGX: Who the hell thinks this is a natural position?!
Cynthia rolls her eyes.
Cynthia: You. Six years ago.
And the reality of age’s ravages returns him at least temporarily from the bliss of his victory. He’s stayed in shape in his time away, living out in the rough, hunting and preparing his own food, removing himself from the society he’d spent his intervening years becoming more and more disgusted by. But that was what fitness freaks called “functional” fitness. Wrestling had shown, somewhat rudely that allot of it has foundation in flexibility. Thus, why when he’d returned to the States he made for his and Carmen’s old loft and contacted Cynthia who had personal trained the pair.
Cynthia: Oh that reminds me, I talked to Carm a couple of days ago. She said to tell you to go to hell.
Sigh. Poor kid, she’s still grieving.
DGX: That’s nice. Ow! Damn girl, did she tell you to punish me to?!
Moving away from his leg Cynthia pulls DGX to a sitting position and sits across from him, bracing his feet with her own and taking turns on pressure. God this age thing sucks! The light groans of agony and torture are split with the sound of a ringing phone. With a wince DGX turns to this cell phone on the table.
DGX: I’ll take this…
Cynthia: Just put it on speaker, I have other appointments later.
Denied his reprieve he sighs as he answers the call on speaker and returns to the rack.
Weinstein: Good job out in England D!
DGX: Yeah. Ugh, how’d the payout go?
Weinstein: Not bad. The gate turned out to be pretty good. You’re welcome.
DGX: Yeah yeah, so what’s next?
Weinstein: Kash was really happy with your performance, I guess with the controversy on the bet deal allot of eyes are on WFWF right now to see the fallout. You accounted well for yourself against Reverend Shadow, he wants to put you in the main event next.
There’s really no other place appropriate for a man of his stature, of his acclaim, of his imperious…
Weinstein: So next up is Detroit, you have a headline bout against Scarlett Quinn.
What the f*ck?
DGX: Wait…are you saying I’m wrestling a woman?
Weinstein: Yeah, former WFWF champion. I think it’s the kid daughter of the McGurks or something.
DGX: So I’m wrestling a girl.
Weinstein: Its 2021 D. Women can fight also.
DGX: Yeah, each other. Like even in MMA dude, weight classes exist for a reason...
Weinstein: Look, as much of a boon as your controversial reputation and the eyes you’re bringing to the product we’re really not in a position to say no to much right now and we DO need to meet those dates.
DGX: But how does it look when I, a headhunting barbarian murder wrestler has a fight with a ninety-pound girl? You can see how that might look…inappropriate no?
There’s a predicable sigh on the other end. Probably because Weinstein knows he has a point. And what’s more that he’s right. Like always.
Weinstein: It’s not ideal. But you can see how it could be construed as a good thing. She’s a former world champion, she’s a second-generation star, and this is her big return to American wrestling. To get a bout against you, a hall of famer and former champion yourself it’s a big opportunity and shows respect and appreciate for the level both of you are on. Just you know…maybe try to have a clean wrestling match.
DGX: Define “clean”? What am I supposed to limit myself to gentle suplexes and Greco Roman takedowns? Let her up every time she gently taps my arms?
Weinstein: You’ve been out of wrestling a long time D, women have been going blow for blow with the men and blazing trails. They’re more capable than you give them credit for.
DGX: I don’t doubt it Weinstein, but it’s a bullsh*t double standard I’ll be held to. Look are there female athletes that’ll be more talented and gifted than men? Absolutely. There are female hockey players who can make some of the greatest all-world male goaltenders look like clown babies they’ve got those kinds of hands, but the media firestorms aren’t on them being amazingly great when they get lined up and popped by an open ice hit by an average male defensemen. It’s about what the hell is wrong with the guy that laid her out and how he should never play again and be in counselling and jail for the rest of his days.
Weinstein: I know! I get it, we just have a responsibility out there you know? You have to exercise restraint.
DGX: That in a nutshell is what’s wrong with it man. Because I know across the ring, she won’t. She doesn’t have to.
Weinstein: Again! Not ideal. But it’s what we’ve got. You’re right to be conscious of optics though, it’s an admirable if frustrating trait I’m happy to see you’ve acquired. It may not be fair but we don’t need more bad press. You just have to ride out this next short run and we’re both in the clear. Kash is being pretty reasonable in his payouts too. We’ve got a real opportunity here to get out with enough to skate to retirement.
He closes his eyes in frustration. All these calisthenics to not upset people, it was exhausting. He’d gone the distance in some of the most violent contests known to the civilized world and he never felt any older than he did when he was edited and forced to explain what this and that “meant” in the face of faux outrage. To be forced back into dealing with THIS just because some failed former exec thought he’d “get the last word” by trying to screw a performer out of money that WASN’T EVEN HIS. Behind him Cynthia straightens his arms and pulls backwards…
DGX: I guess that’s it then. Detroit, Main Event, Kid McGurk. Got it.
Weinstein: You’ll do good man. Just have a good match. That’s all we need. I’ll contact you with details when I have them.
DGX: Right.
The sound of the call terminating leaves the Essence of Greatness flustered. But in a subdued sort of way. He really IS getting too old for this sh*t…
Cynthia: It’ll be fine you know. Just treat it like a match with anyone else and…
DGX: Cyn?
Cynthia: Yeah?
DGX: I appreciate the stretch but in matters of my career, if I don’t ask for your opinion…don’t give it.
Cynthia: Hmph! Fine. That’s probably good enough for today anyhow.
Unbelievable. DGX moves to the kitchen and grabs himself a coffee as he looks out over the Manhattan skyline and sips his drink quietly as he hears Cynthia gather up her things and exit. He remembers years ago, with Carmen staring at this same skyline. A much younger man with the violent upheaval of uncertainty in him. And now he stands in this same space, an older man without a woman and the same violent upheaval. Just now it’s less of uncertainty and more of a certainty of his inability to win here. This is why he got the f*ck out.
DGX: Alexa.
A ding/chirp acknowledges his voice command.
DGX: Search ‘Scarlett Quinn’ and display results on kitchen tablet.
Taking a sip of his coffee he takes the tablet displaying the search results. He had homework to do.
=================================================================================
February 20, 2021
Los Angeles, California
The dinner had been a disaster. The fish fillets had kept fine of course but in the casual ebb and flow of polite dinner conversation it had transpired that Werner had been a witting harbinger of ill tidings. When he had casually handed him this envelope explaining it had been given to him by some flunky associated with Hector Perez it had come to pass it was a Summons. Which now he found himself here, pulled away from his restful and relaxing retirement overseeing his own kingdom on the planet to return to this fetid society he had chosen to leave years ago. It was a gross injustice, one that had no business being visited upon one such as he. He’s a tragic figure.
Charles Schwartz: My client and I are uncertain as to the merits of these proceedings’ councilor…
In a legal arena a man who represents himself has a fool for client. And the man known as Unicron is no fool. Chuck is a bulldog, it’s what you want in the ring. He just wished this particular bulldog’s treats wouldn’t be so f*cking expensive…
Julio Swarez: We understand Mr. Schwartz however my client and I have called you to this meeting to discuss the matter of your client’s contract with my client Mr. Perez’s former employers the Xtreme Wrestling Alliance.
We feel that your client has not in the last several years of the contract term been meeting his contractual obligations and as such are seeking an annulment.
Charles Schwartz: Respectfully your client is no longer under the employment of the Xtreme Wrestling Alliance or Rated X Enterprises. The contract in question is between my client and those two entities, your client no longer being an authorized agent of either of those has no legal standing to negotiate regarding any of those particular deals.
DGX finds himself staring daggers into the man across from him. Hector Perez was a disgraced, failed former wrestling executive who had been behind the revelations of the head-hunting scandal between E and himself. Being honest D had never liked him, he was always a snakey f*ck. To be completely fair to him though most wrestling executives are however DGX always believed even with those standards he took those kinds of things too far.
Julio Swarez: We can definitely leave that to a court of peers to determine. We’re here to talk settlement however if you feel you want to go to the mattresses, we’re quite convinced we can find a judge who will see the merits of our case. Bear in mind we would be forced to also file a civil suite for Mr. Perez’s reputational damage following the Rated X contract situation. We understand your client was personal responsible for certain media that aired on national television slandering my client.
This was the world we lived in now in 2021. Tell the truth, the person the truth hurts gets to sue you for some legal gobbledygook reasons.
Charles Schwartz: You could certainly do that. Of course, we would have to counter-sue for the actions of your client slandering mine with the release of this head-hunting fiction.
Julio Swarez: Mr. Perez’s statements have been validated by your client’s named co-conspirator in this betting scandal.
Charles Schwartz: Heresay. Have any ledgers or documentation been produced to support it? As it stands it’s those two individuals’ word against my client’s.
It appears if Swarez is about to make a retort when Perez raises his hand. He pulls his representative close and exchanges a few hushed words before turning to meet the gaze of the former wrestling superstar.
Hector Perez: Listen D, you and I are reasonable people. I know we could just sit here and allow our representatives to posture and bargain wasting time and money. I know you will never agree to an annulment of your deal. You would be a fool to do it and for everything else you are, a fool you are not. However, this deal has marked me. I’m blacklisted in the industry, I can’t get a job booking a carnival wrestling show.
DGX coolly regards Perez.
DGX: I’ll be honest Hector, I’m not seeing how that is my problem.
Hector Perez: It’s your problem D because I’m a desperate man. I’m ruined and unable to earn a living and my supports are running out. And I would be happy to spend to the last time of it taking you on a ride through the court systems that would cripple you just as much as it does me. I know your type, you Rated X boys got your money but you’ve either spent it or undertaken expenses that make it impossible for your to sustain yourselves without it. Then it just becomes a race to see who can hold their breath the longest: my moneys on me.
Though it pains him to admit it, DGX knows he’s right. While the investments he had Weinstein set up had been steady in the last couple of years they’d dipped. He was still above the expense line but his margin for error had shrunk uncomfortably these last few years. A pointless pissing contest in the judiciary is the last thing he needs right now.
DGX: So, you know I won’t annul and you tell me you’re ready to take us on a ride to see who runs out of gas first. Not hearing an alternative in there however I assume your coming to a point?
Hector Perez: I can see an avenue that I’d discussed with Mr. Swarez that may help restore my reputation and help me back into the business. If you were to honor the contract by meeting a certain number of dates…that would reflect well on my negotiating skills. Plus I’m sure there’s a group of people who would probably hail me as a hero for returning the great DGX to the business.
DGX: Dates? You mean like wrestle?
Hector Perez: That IS what your contract pays you to do.
Instinctively DGX shakes his head. The thought of getting back in now? Performing for todays audience? No. There’s no way, he got out and left everything because he couldn’t stand the bunch they’d become. He feels a hand on his forearm as he turns to Schwartz.
DGX: No…I can’t go back…
Charles Schwartz: D, listen. Maybe it’s a good thing. I can hammer out the exact details of how many dates you need to meet get everything lined up. Meantime you can get back in touch with Weinstein and see if you can secure some bookings. It’s not an unreasonable ask and as your lawyer I’d be remiss if I didn’t council you to accept a deal like this. I’m quite certain I can take this down in court no problem but that’ll take years and the process will be very untenable for you and eventually me.
Julio Swarez: I’d be happy to work out the details with Mr. Schwartz. All my client wants is the ability to earn his livelihood again.
Outrageous! Just because this loser can’t handle his own business he turns around and tries to come back on a man like him. Try to tear down everything he’d spent his adult life building just because he feels some kind of way about it. It’s f*cking deplorable! Even as rage and indignation swells within DGX knows that there’s only one way forward. He turns to Schwartz…
DGX: Yeah, I guess figure it out.
Customary handshakes are exchanged; the legal team retire to hammer terms. DGX is thankful for the inclusion of hand sanitizer in most locations today. This particular handshake in addition to being oily and disgusting was also odious for its circumstance.
DGX: Really think getting me to suit up is going to open doors for you in the biz?
Alone now Perez finally fixes DGX with his serpentine smile. His beady eyes glint as he grins…
Hector Perez: I don’t really care to be honest. Personally I’m really looking forward to seeing the public’s response to your act in 2021. I’m hopeful you’ll find it…enlightening…
=================================================================================
You know…even though I’ve never spoken a word to you in our whole lives kid I feel like I’d like to like you.
These last few days getting to know you by the internet and its assorted nanny state tools of social media and option columns I feel like I have a solid picture of Scarlett Quinn the person. I can respect that even though you were born into the business and practically raised by it you want to make your own legend. I understand that by going by your middle name as your surname you’re not embarrassed or ashamed of your family you just don’t want to be defined by their accomplishments. And in the world of WFWF those accomplishments are too numerous to list. Wouldn’t be a stretch to say the McGurk Dynasty is the First Family of the WFWF federation.
You came out strong too, a world champion in your rookie year? I know what that’s like. I did it twice. Once in my actual rookie year back in XWA and in my WFWF “rookie year” also. Winning a championship isn’t easy, ask Alex Sean about that. But people like you and I? We make it look easy because to us, it IS. Competition is in our DNA, we’re born winners. Ironic when you consider the path we both took to get here couldn’t have been more different. I was not born into the business, I found it at my lowest point. It’s not a stretch to say that wrestling saved my life and when I committed to it, it unlocked something in me that was beyond understanding. Inside a ring with four sides and ropes everything done to contest a wrestling match is as natural to me as breathing air. It’d be a simple narrative to say I came from nothing in this business and worked my way for everything I got but that’s dishonest. My ability carried me to this point, not my ethic.
I’ve tried to reconcile my reservations and trepidations of our upcoming match. You know I’ve even tried to see it from your side of things and I find myself empathizing with how hard it must be. As bad as I think I have it being in a position where to do anything less than giving you less than everything in the hopes that you don’t get hurt that must be so infuriating and insulting to you. You’re a former world champion this is NOT your first rodeo. You have fought all over the world, won at the highest level and you need someone to go EASY on you?! But those are the narratives that are written, you win and its heroic victory of Amazonian glory! You lose and you’re victimized twice, first by the actual loss and then by the narrative that you were defenseless and overmatched. I’m honestly insulted for you the more I think about it.
This match will happen. We’ll stand in the ring across from one another than ply our trades. And at the end of it all do I see a scenario to where I could like and respect you Scar? The short answer is no. Now I know, it could be construed as some kind of misogynistic sexism bias at work and that’s the easy answer. The complete answer is a bit more complex. Like the late Frankie Vincent once said on the Sopranos, “let me tell you a couple of three things”:
You’re a McGurk. Now I know in the long illustrious chronicles of your Dynasty there have not been many if any situations where your paths crossed with DGX. But you see I was collateral damage on one of your father’s conquests. The match where your father choked E the f*ck out and set him on that collision course that resulted in your family’s sweet retribution for his transgressions against your mother was the redemption story of my Dynasty. Whether we’re called Rated X or the XWA Remnant or the Anointed or whatever other word Alex picked out of thesaurus those men are the only family I’ve ever known in this business. I carried us to victory and acclaim in that match and because of your father’s actions E was weaponized into a ticking time bomb that eventually detonated on all of us. That match, that victory was supposed to be our defining moment. Like Lufthansa was supposed to be for the Goodfellas crew before it went sideways. An unfortunate but apt analogy since thanks to your daddy that ended with our own montage of self-destruction set to “Layla” piano strokes. Because of the sins of your father, I’m already predisposed to not liking you. Nobody’s ever paid for that and now thanks to circumstance, you will.
I resent you for being positioned as your return match opponent. I mean sure, what’s to complain about? It is a main event slot on an event so what’s the problem? The problem is I’m just returned to the WFWF myself and starting my journey and I’m rolled out as an obstacle for some brat kid’s return? The fact that you’re a former world champion somewhat softens this insult but ultimately what do I gain from this match? Either I beat a hundred-pound girl who hasn’t wrestled in six years or I get upset by one. How does either of those scenarios help me in my quest to ascend in the WFWF? You know I know it’s indelicate to talk about and allot of us are supposed to just quietly compete until it’s arbitrarily decided that we’ve done enough to earn a shot at a championship but honestly? It just is an uncomfortable feeling walking out in front of a crowd of thousands of people and not having a belt. I feel nude and exposed before them every time there’s nothing around my waist or over my shoulder and I don’t like it. So, what is fighting you even worth to me?
Lastly, even looking passed all of that there’s one thing you are that I can’t respect. I know, it’s puzzling right? What could I, a self-confessed headhunting piece of trash that hurts people on purpose for his own warped ideals and enjoyment what could someone like THAT draw the line at? The one thing you are that will always preclude my respecting you…is a liar. My sadism, the lengths I go to in order to win and progress my goals and agendas, all the horrible things I do and indeed relish are affronts to society and affronts to humanity. But I’m not a liar Scar, because lying is an affront to yourself. Everything about you in this business is lie girl. You say you want to make your own way and not be defined by your family but you call yourself the Princess of Wrestling. I know, it’s a loving wink and nod to your family that still honors them. That’s the line you feed yourself and everyone who asks about it anyhow. Truth is you still want to tie yourself proudly to that legacy because it feels like it’s yours. You want to be the second-generation inheritor of the legacy, you want all the perks and accolades and positioning it affords you but you have to keep up the image of that “did it myself earn it” iconography your generation loves so much. It’s very slick honestly. But in the end, it just really fundamentally messes with me internally to be put in a position in this match to where I have to go against my nature as a competitor and winner in order to propagate the telling of a lie. Between you and me, I know you can’t thank me or any other man you wrestle for restraining our natures or instincts because the societal expectation stands firm that to do so is completely and utterly wrong. I wonder though, do you even know? You’re so young and your generation has come up so differently than mine. Your mother would know what I’m talking about, she learned the hard way when E taught her that lesson. Here’s the moral of the story Princess, if I get tired of your little antics and your little taunts and goads and decide to take these grown man hands and inflict a case of rollercoaster face on your precious countenance…that’s the end of your night. Shocking I know. Former world champion, heiress to the industry, the future of wrestling and your night can be ended with that particular trip to Six Flags. Don’t feel bad, I’m not saying it’s just you. The little hundred-pound firecracker who cuts off a guy in a truck and gives the challenge mean mug of “whatchu gonna do bout it?!” With your generation I’m increasingly convinced you legitimately think nothing CAN be done about it. Little do either of you realize that guy is fully capable of doing a police cut off of your car with his truck, punching through your window like the Terminator, dragging you out of the car and then having full reign to decide what happens next to you. The uncomfortable truth in both that situation and ours pumpkin is just like a SEAL sniper: the decision is mine.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not out to brutalize you kid. I’m not that f*cked up. Fortunately for you and the rude c*nt who cuts people off society has done a pretty good job of raising us guys to be decent human beings who aren’t entertained by and encouraged to batter women. It just twists me up inside you know? Because I know what it really is between you and I even if you don’t. That there’s this expectation, I’d even go as far as to say obligation on my side of things to take special care when it comes to your well-being in the ring. It goes against my very nature as a cutthroat competitor. Which is why fundamentally I lean towards the idea that you should fight your girls and I should fight my guys. Maybe one day we’ll see a world where you and I can really fight. Where you can really and truly give me everything you have, and in turn I can give you all of it also. If on that night you barely with your last ounce of effort manage to get that final cover and defeat me, I’d accept it with the same pride and dignity I’ve accepted victory earned the same way. Sadly, we’re in a society and a time that loses their shi*t over the fact that your biological sex organs are on the inside and mine are on the out. So where does that leave us? I’d love to say it’ll be a fine match and may the best person win, let’s play by the rules and see where the night takes us. But I’m a winner Scar, even though I know what poor optics going as far as I need to go to beat you is for me right now like the scorpion who stung the fox half way across river thus committing suicide my nature is my nature.
You’re in my Court now Princess, it’s customary you genuflect to your Sovereign…
