How I Won My First World Championship, Part I: In the Beginning...

Voice: Kids, I'm going to tell you an incredible story. The story of how I won my first World Championship.

The scene fades up on to two teenagers, a boy and a girl, sat on a leather couch in the family room of what seems like a decent sized house.

Boy: Are we being punished for something?

Voice: No.

Girl: Yeah, is this going to take a while?

Voice: Yes.

The kids both slump back on to the sofa, dejected.

Voice: Twenty years ago, before I was Papa, I had this whole other life. It was way back in 2011, I was 30, just starting to make it as a wrestler in America, and living in Houston, near to my girlfriend, who would later go on to become my wife and your mother. My life was good. And then a guy called Nick Ridicule went and screwed the whole thing up...



The scene switches to a crowded office. About 20 angry looking men and women are crowded round a desk, behind which is sat a smug looking Nick Ridicule. He is leaning back in his big leather chair, with his hands behind his head, his feet up and crossed on the desk, and a huge shit-eating grin on his face. The people gathered around are all trying to talk to Nick at the same time, creating an indecipherable wall of noise. One of the men, Corey Casey, steps forward, turns around and raises his arms.

Corey Casey: OK, OK. Everyone just shut up for a second.

He turns back around to face Nick, who has started eating an apple.[/color]

Corey Casey: Nick. We're not mad with you.

Random Voice: I am!

Corey spins around and shoots a glance at the crowd. He turns back to Nick.

Corey Casey: As I said, we're not mad at you. If anything, we were worried about you. None of us heard anything from NLWF or from you for weeks, we just wanted to make sure everything was OK, and wondering when we would get some news about Ultimate Glory.

Nick Ridiculel: You'll get it when I'm ready to give it to you.

Corey Casey: What is that supposed to mean?

Nick Ridiculel: It means, Corey, that I have had the show information prepared for weeks. It has been ready all this time. I was just keeping it back from you to see how truly grateful you all were of what I do for you. See how long you would be willing to wait. And here you all are, nearly a month later, still champing at the bit to get your fix of this place.

Corey Casey: With respect, Nick, just because you own this place doesn't mean you can go around treating us like the shit on your shoes.

There is a chorus of agreement from the crowd of wrestlers.

Nick Ridiculel: With respect, Corey, I don't own this place, I AM this place. Without me NLWF is nothing. Not one thing. Just look at what happens when I disappear for a few weeks. No shows, no news, nothing. This place would die a slow and painful death if it wasn't for me.

Corey Casey: You can't just fuck with peoples lives like that! Some people need their jobs here to earn a living, to feed their family. To...

Nick takes his legs down from the table and leans forward in his chair. He laughs, interrupting Corey.

Nick Ridiculel: Am I getting a lesson on morals from Corey Casey?! Well, now I have seen everything.

Corey Casey: I may have done some fucked up shit in the past Nick, but there's such a thing as principals.

Nick laughs again.

Nick Ridiculel: This is PRICELESS. You are all pathetic. You should all be throwing yourselves at my feet with gratitude for what I do for you. I dedicate my entire life to making your lives better, more fun, by being a part of NLWF.

At this point, another man, Chuck Matthews, steps forward.

Chuck Matthews: And we are grateful for what you do, but that still doesn't give you the right to treat us like...

Nick Ridiculel: ...INGRATES! Every single one of you! I am Nick Ridicule. I own this company and so I am your GOD. Anyone who wants to continue working for this company should treat me with the respect I deserve!



Boy: So did you carry on working for NLWF?

Voice: I'm getting to that.

Girl: How much longer are we going to be here?

Voice: A while. The quicker you let me get on with the story, the quicker you can go.

Boy & Girl: Fine...

Voice: Good. Well, your Uncle Chuck...actually, you know what, don't ever call him Uncle Chuck. That's a bit creepy. Anyway. Chuck and Corey decided that enough was enough, and took matters in to their own hands. Now I wasn't there so I don't know if this is exactly how it went, but discussions with Corey and Chuck later on gave me this understanding of what happened next.



We now see Chuck Matthews and Corey Casey in a corridor. They are walking quite quickly and both look furious.

Corey Casey: That piece of shit Ridicule. Who does he think he is?

Chuck Matthews: You heard him. He thinks he is God.

Corey Casey: I oughta fucking kill him.

Chuck Matthews: Calm down, Corey. Think of Jessica and the kids.

Corey Casey: You're right. His arrogance just pisses me off.

Chuck Matthews: I know. But I have an idea.

Corey Casey: What kind of idea?

Chuck Matthews: What would kill Nick, deep inside, what would hurt him more than anything we could physically do to him?

Corey Casey: Beat him in the ring. But we can't do that. We're sort of persona non grata around here now, seeing as how we were the 'ringleaders' of this whole rebellion. Anyway, you haven't been involved in NLWF for a while and are in no state to compete.

Chuck Matthews: We can't beat him in the ring, but we can beat him another way.

Corey Casey: What are you talking about?

Chuck Matthews: We can compete with the NLWF. Start a new promotion, get all the guys to jump ship. I know it's possible. It could be so much better, everything that NLWF is and more.

Corey Casey: Interesting...

Chuck Matthews: I... I can't believe I'm going to say this, but... Corey, if I'm going to do it... I'm going to need your help. It's too much work for me to do alone, especially seeing as how I'm still meant to be recovering. I really believe we can do it. If we work together.

Corey stops walking, and is soon followed by Chuck. The two men stare at each other for a while.

Corey Casey: I don't know, Chuck...

Chuck Matthews: Come on, what's the worst that can happen?

Corey Casey: He tracks us down and crucifies us.

Chuck Matthews: The worst that can happen is that we don't manage it, and that at least we can say we tried. We gave it a shot.

Corey Casey: Or, he tracks us down and crucifies us.

Chuck Matthews: That won't happen Corey. ME has a private security army. Nick won't be able to touch us. Look, we have to try. If we fail, no big deal, we can walk away and all we will have done is stroked Nick's ego a bit more, but think about if we succeeded. Nick would flip his shit. It would be such an embarrassment for him, particularly after his little outburst just now. He would be publicly humiliated, and if I know Nick, which, unfortunately, I think I do, that would hurt him more than anything else we could do to him.

A wry smile begins to play out over Corey's lips. He laughs, pointedly.

Corey Casey: I have to agree with you on that one. Look, I'm not 100% convinced about this, but I'll go along with it for now. If I think it's going to tank at any point, I am out, though.

Chuck Matthews: That's better than nothing.

Chuck holds out his hand, for Corey to shake. Corey looks down at it for a few seconds, contemplating the step he is about to take. Eventually, he grabs Chuck's hand and shakes it.

Corey Casey: Well I never thought I would do that.

Chuck Matthews: Today is just full of surprises, isn't it?



Chuck Matthews is sat behind the desk in his office at Matthews Tower in Chicago. He is fiddling with a Rubix Cube, trying to solve it, but seemingly not getting very far. There is a look of deep concentration on his face. There is a knock at the door. Chuck stops what he is doing, places the Rubix Cube in a desk drawer and raises his head to look at the door.

Chuck Matthews: Yeah?

The door opens and an attractive woman in a blouse and a pencil skirt, with her brown hair tied back in a bun, walks in clutching a clipboard to her chest.

Chuck Matthews: What is it, Mary? I said I didn't want to be disturbed.

Mary: I know, very important business, but there's a man here to see you.[/color]

Chuck Matthews: Well tell him he has to come back later when I'm free.

Mary: He said you would probably want to see him right now.[/color]

Chuck Matthews: Alright, fine. Send him in.

Mary nods, and leaves the room, closing the door behind her. Chuck resumes his previous puzzle based activity. A few seconds later there is another knock at the door.

Chuck Matthews: Yeah?

The door opens again, but this time, the person that walks through the door is Brandon Macdonald. Chuck looks up and spots him, a confused look on his face.

Brandon Macdonald: Working hard on that 'important business' I see, Chuck?

Chuck Matthews: The hell are you doing here? I thought you were off in the Middle East or something?

Brandon Macdonald: It's a long story, and I'm not really able to talk about it. Let's just say my mission finished early, OK?

Chuck Matthews: OK, but what I meant was, the hell are you doing here in my office?

Brandon Macdonald: I got back in to the country a few days ago, and yesterday I spoke to Ashley and found out that the NLWF had tanked, Nick had gone schizo and was declaring himself a God and that it was all Chuck and Corey's fault. Under those circumstances, wouldn't YOU want to come here and find out what the fuck happened?

Chuck Matthews: Good point. Well, it's simple. Nick pushed us too far and we snapped. He fired Corey on the spot, probably put some Voodoo curse on me, and then tried to threaten the rest of the already pissed off roster in to staying on the books. Funnily enough, none of them were too keen to stick around, so they all jumped ship as well, leaving him to basically find an entirely new roster or cease operations.

Boy: Wait.



Boy: Who is Brandon Macdonald?

Voice: Who is Br...Who is Brandon Macdonald? Did you kids WATCH that holodisk of my career highlights?

Girl: Umm...

There is a sigh out of shot.

Voice: Brandon Macdonald was a former UFC fighter, turned professional wrestler. He was a thorn in my side for the first six months of my career in the States. He had the better of me at every turn. Just couldn't seem to get one over on him.

Boy: Did you ever beat him?

Voice: That isn't relevant right now.

Girl: That's a no, then.

Voice: I never said that, it's just not relevant to this story. When things are relevant, I will talk about them. Anyway...



Brandon Macdonald: OK, fair enough, but what's going to happen to everyone now? None of the other national promotions are hiring at the moment, everyone will have to drop down a level or move abroad.

Chuck smiles, broadly.

Chuck Matthews: Oh, there is ONE national promotion that is hiring...

Chuck grabs his computer monitor and turns it around, revealing the website for the Insurgency Wrestling Federation. Brandon looks puzzled.

Brandon Macdonald: I don't understand?

Chuck Matthews: Corey and I have, well, temporarily at least, put aside our differences and are working together to start up a new fed. Bigger and better than the NLWF ever was, and run the right way. Fairly. Not a one man power trip like how Nick was doing things. The two of us making decisions together. We want to show Nick up so bad that he can never show his face in public again.

Brandon Macdonald: With all due respect to you and Corey, I don't think leaving the two of you to try and agree on important decisions is the most sensible idea you've ever had. Did they get all the lead out of your body after you were shot or did some of it make its way up to your brain? If you and Corey disagree on anything, you think it will stay to that? You hate each other, you will fight, and it will turn in to a civil war.

Chuck Matthews: A reasonable point. But that's the way it is, it's me and Corey right now, there's no other way around it.

Brandon Macdonald: Yes there is.

Chuck Matthews: What?

Brandon Macdonald: Let me help you.

Chuck Matthews: What? Why? Not long ago you were working against me to destroy NLWF with Nick, why do you suddenly want to help me run a wrestling federation?

Brandon Macdonald: To get back at Nick. He pissed me off too. He pretended to crucify and burn my wife on national television. I want to fuck him up as much as you and Corey, maybe more.

Chuck Matthews: I don't know if you're remembering it correctly, but Corey was part of that too.

Brandon Macdonald: That's a different issue. All I'm saying is that with three of us running things, there will always be a majority decision, and as long as whoever is shot down is mature enough to accept it and get on with things, then we can make it work. It's a hell of a lot better than letting you and Corey butt heads every time there's a decision to be made.

Chuck thinks about this for a moment.

Chuck Matthews: You're right, but I'll have to check all this with Corey.

Brandon Macdonald: No need. I spoke to him about it already.

Chuck Matthews: Well, it seems like you've thought of everything. Wait. So you knew all that stuff about the NLWF and IWF already?

Brandon Macdonald: Yep, was just checking that you and Corey had your stories straight.

Brandon and Chuck both smile.



Voice: So, Chuck, Brandon and Corey went in to business together, as the three co-owners of the Insurgency Wrestling Federation. It took them a little while to get things running, and to start with, they needed a roster. Now, Chuck and I had been pretty good friends for a while, and they were going through all the old NLWF guys to see if any of them wanted to come over to the Insurgency now that was dead and gone. So, of course, eventually he came round to me.

Boy: Wait. We've been listening to you talk for a good hour and you're ONLY just getting to a part with you even in the story?!

Voice: That's not true. I was in the big crowd of people at the beginning.

Boy & Girl:

Voice: At the time I had gone on holiday for a little while with your mother to get away from it all. I had hit a bit of a low point in my career, I was convinced I was finished. Washed up. A disappointment. I needed some time to think. Before the end of the NLWF I kept almost making it to the top, but never breaking that glass ceiling. I just wanted to give it all up and retire, but your mother wasn't having any of that, and hatched a plan to get me back in the ring. She's a smart one, your mother. Don't ever try and get anything past her. If you need to trick anyone, try me, I'm much easier to get. Anyway, I was lying on a beach in Argentina when I got the phone call.



We see Ruben Ricardo León and his girlfriend Maria, lying on a beach. Ruben is wearing his mask and some shorts, whilst Maria is wearing a bikini. She looks really hot...

Boy & Girl: PAPA!!!

Sorry. There is a game of beach volleyball going on in the background, and the couple appear to be asleep. After a few seconds a digitised version of La Ultima Hora by Breed 77 begins to play. Ruben starts to stir and fumbles around in the pocket of his shorts, before producing a telephone, which he answers.

Ruben Ricardo León: Hello?

The screen slides over to a split screen, with Ruben on the beach on one end of the phone, and Chuck Matthews in his office at the other end.

Chuck Matthews: Ruben, hombre! How's it going?

Ruben Ricardo León: OK, I guess, what can I do for you?

Chuck Matthews: I'm sure you must have heard by now that me, Corey and Brandon are starting a new federation.

Ruben Ricardo León: I hadn't, actually. I've been out of the country for a few days. Good for you.

Chuck Matthews: We've been ringing round the old NLWF guys, and we want you to come work for us at the Insurgency. We'd love to have you on our roster.

Ruben Ricardo León: Thanks for the offer, Chuck, but I really don't think that's such a good idea right now.

Chuck Matthews: Why not?

Ruben Ricardo León: Because I'm done, Chuck. I can't do this anymore. You've seen my recent run in NLWF, it was pathetic. I failed time and time again.

Chuck Matthews: Bu..

Ruben Ricardo León: Don't, Chuck, just don't. I've made up my mind. Nothing you say is going to change that.

Chuck Matthews: Fair enough. Well, if you do change your mind, the door is always open. You're a good guy, Ruben, and even if you don't believe it, a great wrestler. I'll catch you later man.

Ruben Ricardo León: Yeah. Bye, Chuck.

They hang up, and Chuck disappears from the picture. Maria stirs a bit.

Maria: Who was that, baby?

Ruben Ricardo León: Just Chuck.

Maria: What did he want?

Ruben Ricardo León: Just needed to clear something up. Wasn't important.

Maria: OK.

They both go back to sleep.



Voice: And that kids, is the true story, of how I nearly retired from professional wrestling.

Boy & Girl: WHAT?!

Boy: I thought this was the story of how you won your first World Championship!

Voice: It is. I'm getting there. It's a long story...