Booking Glory-Chapter 40: Dacey’s New Shirt

The buzz from the Evelyn-Selena match lasted until the midpoint of the show. While the fans have seen wrestlers taking fall from what looked like dangerous places, all the wrestlers they have seen until now were male ones.

This was the first time people in this world have seen female wrestlers taking such a nasty fall. The fans always had a soft spot for female performers. To see them see take such a fall was a nasty surprise to them.

The impact of that fall was really something else as the crowd just couldn’t stop talking about them. LWC’s ratings shot through the roof at that point. And the live audience was also unusually excited for the next half an hour or so.

By now, half the show was done with and the commentators did a good job of discussing Evelyn and Selena’s situation. Irvin often provided some updates on the situation keeping the interest going on the subject.

Rob was pretty happy with the overall response he was getting for that segment. News came from backstage that apart from some bruises, both Evelyn and Selena were fine. This eased Rob’s heart and allowed him to be happy with what the women’s division had accomplished.

The idea going into the match was to establish bad blood between these two women. Rob didn’t want anyone to have the upper hand in the feud. He wanted it to be like a fight of the equals.

So, he made sure to protect both wrestlers in the altercation. Evelyn had been dominant for the most, but her arguing with the officials had distracted her. In that moment of distraction, Selena had struck.

As a result, both of them were now in hospital.

This made sure that both of them were relatively protected from a booking perspective and had good reason to continue this fight for at least a few more weeks of programming.

And the aim to generate more interest in their program was also accomplished. That fall off the stage was still being discussed by the crowd despite it happening early in the show.

The Evelyn-Selena match was the opening act. So, its impact could still be felt halfway into the show. Rob knew that if the social media was active now, he would be able to garner more eyeballs just by relying on the footage of Selena crashing into Evelyn and sending both of them flying off the stage.

Unfortunately, this was an era where the marketing for wrestling was more word of mouth and consistent great shows. So, Rob had to create new ways to bring people in by piquing their interest in the show.

Rob decided to shelve this thought about marketing the product for later and focused on the next segment. As this was a pre-taped segment, he didn’t need to worry about the performance.

But, he would have to put over Dacey after the segment airs. And he was sure Dallas will try very hard to nail Dacey to the pillar of shame after this segment. He needed to bring his A-game to the table next.

Just then, the titantron went blank and everyone in the crowd knew what it meant. They were going to show a pre-taped segment. Curiously, the crowd turned their attention towards the titantron.

Dacey’s figure appeared on the titantron causing the crowd to start booing. Dacey was on the phone, talking to someone, as she was idling in the backstage area.

"Yeah, yeah, I can hear your excuses fine. But, you know what? I don’t give a single fuck whether you were able to spend the weekend with your kids. I hired you for a job and you need to deliver it," Dacey was in full-on bitch mode as the segment began.

The crowd booed more as they identified with the other person on the phone more. Dacey’s attitude reminded them of unreasonable customers and bosses they had to deal with.

"What!? You call what you sent over finished work? Don’t joke with me. I am not in the mood for your jokes. I want it redone. Only then, I will you will get your money," Dacey scoffed and threatened the other person over the phone.

The crowd was really into booing Dacey by now. They realized that Dacey was just being mean and not easy to deal with.

Just then, someone wearing a white T-shirt walked in and crossed Dacey heading inside. Dacey paused in the conversation and turned to look at the person passing by her with a displeased face.

"Shut up! Shut up! I will only pay you when you deliver what I asked for. Now I gotta go. And you need to head back down to your nerdy basement and do your job as well," Dacey yelled into the phone and cut the call.

Before the crowd could respond to that, Dacey was already walking toward the person who had just walked by. Dacey hollered at her to stop. And the person stopped and turned around.

It was Joselyn Rivers, who had debuted last week. She was wearing a white shirt with black words <Why Dacey Why!?> written on it. The crowd cheered seeing her shirt.

"What in the hell are you wearing?" Dacey demanded getting into Joselyn’s face.

"Oh this, this is the new merchandise LWC put out. I just grabbed it while walking. I heard that this will be available after tonight’s show. If you want, you can grab one as well," Joselyn said showing off the T-shirt.

Dacey looked as if she couldn’t believe what was happening in front of her. She spluttered a bit before rounding on Joselyn.

"You can’t wear this!" Dacey said vehemently.

"Why? I just bought it!"

"You can’t wear it because I said so. I am going to get this T-shirt banned and I don’t want to see anyone running around wearing this."

The crowd booed upon hearing Dacey’s statement.

"I already banned the other one. There must be some dork in the marketing department trying to earn some quick buck. Unfortunately, you fell for his scheme. I am sorry, but you can’t wear this." Dacey asserted once more.

"Oh, I knew about the banned T-shirt. I asked the guy, he said you only banned the original design. So, this is fair and legal to produce. And from what he said, LWC had taken precautions so that you can’t get your lawyer to ban this one as well," Joselyn said chirpily.

"What!?" Dacey asked aghast.

"If I were you, I would get accustomed to seeing people in this. I hear that this is all the rage in the town these days," Joselyn smirked at Dacey showing off her T-shirt happily.

Out of nowhere, Dacey punched Joselyn in the face. She started attacking Joselyn viciously yelling that she was not allowed to wear that T-shirt. As no one expected Dacey to fly off the handle like that, it came as a huge shock to those watching in the arena.

Gasps could be heard around the arena as Dacey laid into Joselyn. Backstage personnel soon rushed into the scene separating Dacey from Joselyn. Dacey left the area shouting that she would get these shirts banned and no one better wear those hideous things in her presence.

The titantron went black and Rob could hear the crowd whispering in the arena about Dacey, Joselyn, and most importantly the T-shirt with the new design.

"That was the most repugnant thing I have seen in my entire career. Someone has to put a stop to this. Dacey Surestone is off the deep end and it is imperative that someone puts a stop to her," Dallas said heatedly after watching the clip.

"It is no one’s fault but Joselyn’s, Dallas," Rob said backing Dacey up. "She should have known better than to poke a lion. The Goddess had expressed clearly that she doesn’t want anyone to wear those hideous T-shirts. All would be well if these morons listened to the Goddess and did as she commanded them to."

"Well, tough luck there. I have a good scoop for you, Rob. It is true that Dacey Surestone’s lawyer banned the production of that first design. However, LWC had learned from it and they have made sure that they can’t ban this one as well," Dallas crowed happily.

"Those T-shirts will be on sale immediately after the show. LWC has confirmed that there will be no shortage of the T-shirts as well," Irvin said officially.

"This is an outrage!" Rob cried in apparent anguish. "You are offending the Goddess for what? Those measly T-shirts? You saw what happened to Joselyn. I assure you, the Goddess wouldn’t take kindly to anyone wearing those T-shirts!"

"Well, you Goddess can throw tantrums all she wants. But, no one is going to listen to her demands, whether it be fans or the LWC. She better watch her back as well. We have news ladies and gentlemen. Diana Wharton will be back on <Fyre> next week," Irvin announced Diana’s return and started hyping it up.

"I can’t wait for Diana to get her hands on your precious Goddess, Rob. Word is that she is eager to see your Goddess bleed," Dallas taunted.

"Hmmph, if she doesn’t learn her lesson and gets in the Goddess’ way, I am sure the Goddess will teach a far stronger lesson to her," Rob snorted. "If anyone needs to be careful, then it is her."

"Brave words for a man supporting a woman, who sneak attacks others," Dallas quipped.

"Mind your words, Dallas. Lest the Goddess hears your disrespect and teaches you a lesson as well."

"I am not afraid of some sneak-attacking coward, Rob. I have been in this business for a long time to be afraid of some sneaky coward," Dallas shot back.

"Well, I hope you say that when the Goddess leaves you bleeding, just like what she did to Diana," Rob shot back equally.

"Guys, guys, we have an announcement from the back here. Next week, Dacey Surestone will face Joselyn Rivers one on one on <Fyre>. Apparently, Joselyn demanded Mr. Gibson a shot at Dacey and Mr. Gibson was only gal to oblige," Irvin interrupted their spat with an announcement.

The crowd roared in approval hearing that.

"Ha ha ha, that is the biggest joke I have heard since I joined LWC. Does Joselyn really thinks that she has a chance of defeating the Goddess? She is delusional. It is what it is. This match is a huge joke," Rob once more played the devil deriding Dacey’s opponent.

"Whether it is a joke or not, we will see next week. Who knows? She might even score an upset," Dallas said in reply backing up Joselyn.

"Not in a million years, Dallas," Rob disagreed vehemently. "Tonight the Goddess left Joselyn Rivers crying for her mommy back there. Next week, the Goddess may not be so merciful. And there won’t be anyone who could separate the Goddess from her either."

"And you Goddess wouldn’t have a chance to sneak attack Joselyn either," Dallas quipped.

"It was a legitimate attack, Dallas. The Goddess punched her right in the face. Have you no shame to change white and black?" Rob asked aghast.

"Speaking of white and black, the new design has the inverted color scheme of the original one. And our team has made sure that fans would be able to buy them when they walk out of this arena." Irvin piped in putting over the new T-shirts.

"You will all pay for this!" Rob groused from the side.

Just then, the music of the next competitor hit causing the attention to be diverted from the topic. Rob breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed a little. There was one more important segment left in the show. After that, his work would be done for the day.

He can’t wait to head back and hear what numbers Dacey’s new shirt sold out for. Rob had high hopes for this one as the T-shirt was just an inverted color scheme of the original. And it also had a story attached to it as well.

After today’s segment, this new T-shirt would be red hot. This would also increase the demand for the original a lot. Rob knew that if he played this right, then he would be able to make Dacey a larger-than-life character.

It would really work wonders and pay dividends. He really can’t wait for next week’s show to air. That is when the storyline will truly start to pick up. With Diana returning, Dacey and she were bound to cross paths. And just like fans, Rob was eager to see both of them go at each other on the mic and in the ring.

*****

Todd stood in the crowd and couldn’t help but marvel at the storytelling that LWC was putting out. They were making a single T-shirt look so much bigger. When Rob had told him that he had good plans for the new T-shirt, he hadn’t imagined that Rob would use such a method.

Being one of the people in the know, Todd realized how easy it was to spin a tale out of nothing. Rob Williams looked like once in a generational talent in the storytelling aspect of this business.

He now completely understood why Nelson was so confident about Rob Williams. With such great storytelling abilities, it would be no surprise if Rob Williams soon became the most sought-after booker in the near future.

The character development was not too abrupt and the story had some sense to it. And most of all, this was brand new for wrestling fans like him as well. Using such a simple T-shirt to showcase the characteristics of an on-screen character was truly brilliant in his opinion.

Now, he was eager to see what direction Rob Williams was going to take this story in. With Diana Wharton returning next week and Dacey Surestone having a match next week as well, there is bound to be some crossover. The duo will have to meet next week.

He can’t wait to see what happens when the two meet. He knew that Rob Williams will have another crazy idea to make it more impactful. With such a talented booker booking them, the women’s division of LWC will soon become a force to be reckoned with.

As he started thinking about how Rob was going to impact LWC, an idea popped into Todd’s mind. He wondered if an interview with Rob Williams will have any traction with the fans. If he could pick some things from that talented mind of Rob Williams, Todd was sure he would be able to write a stellar article.

The idea took hold in Todd’s mind the more he thought about it. Maybe, he would do a column interviewing different bookers for the next few months. Steven Rush, Patrick Garner, Sergio Rodriguez, and Rob Williams. Todd smiled as he started listing the names he wanted to interview.

He didn’t even notice that he had already included Rob’s name among the list of most prominent bookers in the industry.

*****

A/N: Hey folks!

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