Booking Glory-Chapter 112: Troubles At The Doorstep 1

October 31 would be forever be remembered in the pro wrestling circles as the date when the entire face of the industry changed.

Rob woke up on October 31st quite late. After last night’s show, he had worked late into the night due to Robin’s absence. With Robin absent, some of the after show responsibilities Robin had was shared between Mr. Gibson, Mr. Wolfe, and Rob.

While he was calmly eating his breakfast, an earthquake was happening throughout the pro wrestling industry. Just as he finished the breakfast, Dacey called him.

"Rob, where are you? Have you left home?" Dacey asked urgently.

"No, not yet. I will be leaving in a while. What’s the matter? Anything urgent?"

"I think it would be better if you take leave today," Dacey said seriously. "Haven’t you checked today’s news?"

"No, I just got up half an hour ago. Robin is on leave. So, I was held up last night. And I can’t take leave either. With Robin on leave, there will be more things to do today."

"Fuck Robin! Let that asshole die in hell! You better stay at home today. First check the news. You will understand after that," Dacey said seriously.

"What happened?" Rob asked.

"A lot of things happened. It is hard to explain over the phone. You know what, you stay put. Don’t go outside. I will come over with today’s newspapers," Dacey said, suddenly changing her plans.

"Then I will call Mr. Gibson and tell him I won’t be coming in today," Rob agreed without thinking much.

"Hah, you can try," Dacey chuckled. "But, if he hadn’t called you to explain stuff yet, I don’t think he will attend your call either. Right now, he will be running around with his ass on fire."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, someone did a report on the status of various contracts in LWC. The lack of termination clause in your contract came out as well. There were a bunch of other issues that came out as well. Right now, Andy would be running around to put the fire out in LWC’s backyard."

"I see."

"That’s why I asked you not to go in today. I am damn sure reporters will be squatting at the entrance to get a comment from you. So, it is better you avoid the limelight for now. Let Andy handle things first," Dacey explained.

"Ok, then I will wait for you. I am now curious to know what the news is," Rob replied.

"Well, it isn’t anything pretty. And that’s not the only stuff that came out today," Dacey said in a heavy tone. "I will come over. There is something I need to discuss with you as well."

"Alright, I will be waiting."

*****

"Tell me Andy, tell me you weren’t so stupid?" Mr. Wolfe asked angrily as he stabbed at the newspaper on the table.

"What do you want me to say Des? Did I do it? No. But, was I aware of it? Then yes. I only became aware of it after the kid signed the contract. You know it is Robin who draws up all our contracts," Mr. Gibson sighed wearily.

"Ah Robin! The culprit responsible for this entire fiasco. Quite convenient that he left on vacation yesterday isn’t it?" Mr. Wolfe sneered.

Mr. Gibson didn’t reply. He merely ground his teeth in anger. His fists were clenched. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"We don’t know yet whether the leak is from his side," Mr. Gibson said after some time. "Let’s not jump to conclusions."

"Heh, you still say such stupid things," Mr. Wolfe snorted. "Come on, Andy. You aren’t naive. The details in that article are very precise. Without inside information, they wouldn’t be able to spill those exact information. And not many people know the ins and outs of the contracts of our wrestlers this precisely."

"What do you want me to do? Even if it was him, what can we do? Fire him? That would be even more troublesome," Mr. Gibson retorted.

"So, you are turning a blind eye to his actions huh?" Mr. Wolfe sneered. "He has metaphorically pulled the rug under our feet."

"I will deal with him later," Mr. Gibson growled. "Let’s focus on salvaging this first. Has Rob come in yet?"

"No, and I don’t think he will be coming in today. He should have seen this by now. I think the kid wisely chose to lay low," Mr. Wolfe shook his head and sighed.

"He didn’t even inform me," Mr. Gibson growled.

"Does it matter? Why are you picking fault with that kid when you should be angry with someone? Leave the kid alone. At least this way, the kid wouldn’t open his mouth and make the situation worse for us. Let’s focus on what needs to be done," Mr. Wolfe grumbled massaging his brows.

"Did you get in touch with the guys from Breeze?" Mr. Gibson asked after calming down a little.

"I did. And they aren’t happy at all. They told it outright that they wouldn’t renew the contract unless all these issues are fixed," Mr. Wolfe said worriedly. "And..."

"What is it Desmond? Spit it out!"

"And I think we shouldn’t take Robin’s assurances about Breeze being ready to renew the contract with us seriously. The guy I spoke to didn’t seem very enthusiastic. He was very perfunctory," Mr. Wolfe said frowning.

"You mean, Robin might have lied to us," Mr. Gibson’s eyes shrank. "Why would he do that?"

"Who knows? I don’t think he lied. But he definitely exaggerated their interest in renewing the contract with us. We need to get a clear idea on that front first and foremost."

"Then, I will call them myself and see the truth of things," Mr. Gibson said seriously. "Then, should we wait to have these contract negotiations?"

"I am afraid that ship has sailed, Andy. If not for this report, we might have waited until the end of the extreme PPV like we planned originally, but now it is not possible. If we don’t address the issues quickly, then the atmosphere in the locker room would become stressed. We can’t afford that. Especially not now."

"Damn Steven Rush to seven hells!" Mr. Gibson cursed. "What the fuck is he planning now? Did he need to stir things up this much?"

"And I don’t think this report is accidental either. The timing makes me suspect that it was well planned," Mr. Wolfe stated in a subdued voice.

"You suspect Steven had a hand in this," Mr. Gibson’s eyes narrowed in thought. "What would he even gain?"

"What else? Wrestlers. And probably a prodigy booker," Mr. Wolfe broke the thin window paper. "Look at this article. They are singing praises about that Kid and saying that there is a high chance he would join Steven. On the surface, it looks simple. But, if you look closely, they are making it sound like joining Steven is the kid’s only choice."

"You suspect Steven has his eye on that kid?"

"No, I don’t suspect. I know. Don’t forget who introduced him to you Andy. Steven has liked that kid for a long time."

Mr. Gibson remained silent hearing it. His worst fears were coming true. He really didn’t want to lose Rob. But, now the situation was out of his hands.

"Let’s hope the kid knows how to be grateful then. I don’t know what else to do," Mr. Gibson sighed.

"True. And I don’t think he is the type to bite the hand that fed him. Still, you can ask Dacey to check out what the kid’s intentions are."

"I don’t want to do such a thing, but beggars can’t be choosers, right? Fine, I will do it. Anyway, let’s move to the major headache we have," Mr. Gibson grimaced and turned to look at the list of wrestlers listed on that article.

"Our initial idea was to renew their contracts after we re-signed the deal with Breeze. That way our cash flow will not be too tight. But, now Breeze refuses to renew the broadcast deal without having these contracts taken care of," Mr. Wolfe said worriedly.

"Others are not the priority. But Mark Weathers and Luke Channing must be re-signed at the minimum for Breeze to renew the co-operation with us. After all, they are the most popular wrestlers in our roster and also our champions. Also, Dianna Wharton is important as well. She may not be the champion right now. But, Rob wouldn’t want to lose her either."

"I am confident in getting Luke to re-sign with us. I can easily promise a main event push and get it done. And Luke has earned it as well. Diana too will not be a big issue. Promise of another title run would do the trick. But, Mark..." Mr. Gibson trailed off.

"That would indeed be difficult. We don’t have much to offer to Mark. But, he is the champion. In normal times, it would be easy to extend the contract to half a year or a year and cultivate someone else to replace him. But now..." Mr. Wolfe trailed off.

He didn’t need to spell things out. The other two newspapers on the table clearly showed what the variable was.

"Damn Steven Rush! Damn Willy Wagner!" Mr. Gibson cursed.

*****

A/N: Hey folks!

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