GWA: Hard Times (CornellVerse)

[Antithesis]

[I]57th Floor of the Columbia Building, MidTown Manhattan, September 20th, 2007…[/I] I shift uncomfortably in my chair as the bruiser next to me pops his knuckles. Across from me is Tommy Cornell, his attire, an impeccable suit and tie ensemble, bestow upon him a calm aura belied only by the nervous tapping of his feet on the plush, carpeted floor. I choose to ignore the signs of anxiety coming from my partners and instead decide to gaze around the room, anything to forget the pandemonium happening down on the streets below us. The room is stylish, in a subtle, understated way. The tan color carpeting matches the secretary’s desk, in the same way the wall coloring matches her blonde hair. Even our modest leather chairs have an off-white tone. Everything is designed to blend in, except the door. Not the door we walked through twenty minutes ago, but the door to the office of the man we were here to see. This door was a flat black color, and I could imagine it was painted this way on purpose to impose a sense of dread upon all those who sat waiting here. Of course, I knew the man on the other side of that door was no threat to me. We went to the same colleges where we were both members of the wrestling team. Nearly fifteen years later I still speak with him several times a month. I was the best man at his wedding. And even as I remind myself of all that, this meeting scares me the **** out of me, not just because I have put everything into this venture, and that failure means certain ruin. Times are tough every where, and I can survive a setback… a wrong answer. No, that isn’t what I am afraid of. “Think it’ll be much longer?” I look over at John “Nemesis” Campbell and shrug. He’s rubbing his forehead, perhaps checking for blood, or maybe reliving the time Tommy cracked him hardway with the ring announcer’s microphone during their legendary brawl. Nemesis is acting nervous because he knows the stakes, just as Tommy does, just as I do. The man on the other side of the door is named Jake Madison, he is the Vice President of Programming at the Sports America Network. And although he may not know it, he holds the fate of professional wrestling in his hands. We jump at the sound of the door opening. “Hello Greg, Mr. Cornell and Mr. Campbell. I am Jake Madison, and I am ready to meet with you all now.”

[Antithesis]

We enter his office and take our seats at his request. Normally I would chit chat first, maybe take the time to look around his office before getting down to business, but the wait outside has me feeling impatient. I open my mouth to speak when Jake asks a question. “You three make it here okay?” Jake is looking outside his office window, watching the streets below. Nemesis looks at me expectantly. Not that the big guy is shy, but I set this meeting up, Tommy and John both know that I am friends with Jake, they expect me to do most of the talking here. After all, I did promise them…. “Traffic was a mess, we had to walk the last quarter of a mile or so to get here. But if you consider who was walking beside me, you would understand that we had know real problems.” Jake turns and cracks a smile, I can see Tommy and John visibly relax. “That’s good to hear. Things out there right now are crazy. Sorry I made you guys wait, I was on the phone with the International Hockey League and it turns out that the players’ strike have convinced the owners to take action.” This was potentially bad news for us. If the IHL resumed games then the network would be hard pressed to find a viable slot for us. Jake continues, “Now normally I would use the call as a tactic to keep you in suspense, and possibly as a bargaining tool to get the best deal possible for my network, assuming we make a deal today. That’s the standard operating procedure in the broadcast world. But, hell, the way things are now, here and all over the place, well, I am not going to play games, especially considering I am a huge Tommy Cornell and Nemesis mark.” It is all smiles around the table now. One can’t survive in the wrestling business without the ability to tell when good news is coming. “Suffice it to say, the team owners in the IHL are upset, and voted to cut their losses. Since they are contractually obligated to supply my network with programming and they have no programming to give, the call was mainly about what they owed Sports America, seeing as how our contract is now void. Basically we are going to let our respective legal departments iron out that mess, but officially, as of today, I am out seven hours of programming for prime time television every week. Now, what would you gentlemen like to discuss?”

[Antithesis]

The meeting lasted just short of three hours. It concluded with an agreement that, I believe, met everyone’s satisfaction. It would take far too much time to recount the meeting in full, or disclose every nuance that was discussed, so I give to you, dear reader, the particulars involved with the formation of the Global Wrestling Alliance, also known as the GWA. Through the, some might say, unscrupulous dealings of one Richard Eisen, combined with a global economic crisis; NOTBPW, DAVE, and TCW are with us no longer. I could offer a detail timeline of what happened, but I am sure you all know the story by now. As I am also sure many of you know that things are also bad in Japan and Europe right now. And sensing that he is finally within inches of his goal, Eisen is not helping. At every turn he undermined his competition, all to insure that his vision of men wrestling in Lobster suits and bad comedy skits became the one and only standard for professional wrestling, not just in North America, but across the world. And who is going to stop him? USPW is on life support. Smaller feds did okay once TCW finally closed up shop, SWF released a lot of talent they had sewn up in the preceding bidding war. For thirty five bucks you can now watch Remo and Rich Money wrestle the Tubbos Los Grandes in front of twenty people in Indiana. Just the other day I drove past a homeless guy (one of many now) who looked just like Sam Strong. He held up a sign that read, “Will Wrestle for food!” These are dark days, made even darker by one man’s greed. You the wrestling fan, are not unlike one of those poor bastards in Plato’s cave. Chained in place, forced to watch what the puppet master shows you. Well, I traveled out of the cave. I saw the real sun. And I met other people there who knew full well what professional wrestling could be, and more importantly, what it should mean in a time of darkness. I am going back into the cave to liberate all of you… and my friends are coming with me. Ladies and Gentlemen I present to you, premiering live, Tuesday, January 1st, 2008. GWA OverDrive, followed every Saturday by GWA Intensity. Our roster is as follows: [B]Main Event[/B] BLZ Bubb Enygma Jack Bruce Remo Rich Money Ricky Dale Johnson Sam Keith Sean McFly Skull Debones Tommy Cornell [B]Upper Midcard[/B] Angry Gilmore Dan Stone Jr. Eddie Peak Eisaku Kunomasu Hooded Kudo Rick Law Troy Tornado Wolf Hawkins Yoshimi Mushashibo [B]MidCard[/B] Acid Black Hat Bailey Champagne Lover Corporal Doom Freddie Datsun Fumihiro Ota Guide Jack Griffith Marc Dubois Randy Bumfhole Robert Oxford Rocky Golden Scout Stevie Grayson Wrestling Machine 1 Wrestling Machine 2 Zimmy Bumfhole [B]Lower MidCard[/B] Aaron Andrews Americana Dark Angel Frankie Perez Joss Thompson Nicky Champion Plague Sgt. Bubba Lee West Steve Flash [B]Openers and Enhancement Talent[/B] Belial, Decipher, Den Shaw, Fallen One, Jed High, and Toby Juan Kanobi. [B]Managers[/B] Jenny Playmate, Phil Vibert, Sebastion Lament, and Shane Sneer [B]Announce Team[/B] Emma Chase, Greg Jordan, and Tommy London [B]Women's Division[/B] Catherine Quine Cherry Bomb Gorgon Joanne Rodriguez Kit Hatoyama Melody Cuthill Michele Brendon Paige Croft Victoria Stone Wanda Fish [B]Authority Figure[/B] Nemesis [B]Booking Team[/B] Corporal Doom, Nemesis, Phil Vibert, Sam Keith, Victoria Stone [B]Road Agents[/B] Craig Prince and Pat Deacon

[Antithesis]

[I]December 19th, 2007. The Office of Global Sports and Associates[/I] We are in the middle of a booking meeting when the secretary buzzes in a call. All she will say is that it is on line one and it is important. Everyone stops talking as I cradle the phone to my ear. "Hello." "Hello, this is Richard Eisen. Is this Greg Jordan speaking?" My spine straightens and every muscle in my body immediately tightens. On the other end of the phone was the Anti Christ, destroyer of worlds and wrestling promotions. With my free hand I signal everyone in the room to remain quiet as a number of questions dart in and out of my head. 'Why is he calling here?' 'What does he want?' 'Is this some kind of game?' Feeling as if i had waited too long to answer, I finally reply, "yes, this is Greg Jordan." "Ahh it is nice to finally speak with you Greg. You don't mind if I call you Greg do you? You can call me Richard if you like. We both are in the same business, certainly there is no reason to be overly formal about things." "Greg is fine, and if you don't mind, I'll call you Dick." My not so subtle little jab misses its mark. He laughs. "Good. Over the years I have been called far worse. You may be wondering why I am contacting you today. I just learned that Sam Keith finalized a deal with you. And I think that is wonderful news. I am always happy to hear of wrestlers with a long history of injuries and who have long passed their usefulness still manage to find employment. Especially these days, when the unemployment rate is above 20 per cent nationwide. The economy being so volatile right now, it must take a true mark... err pardon me, a true believer to-" I cut him off. "Look, Dick, I haven't had to listen to someone try to spin a loss into a win since I played little league baseball. Sam Keith is a bona fide legend in this sport and he can still go. He knows, I know it, you know it, and most importantly, the fans know it. So lets just cut the crap shall we. You are calling here to feel me out and see how sincere I am about this. And maybe you are trying to rattle me a little into having second thoughts about investing my entire life into this endeavor. Well, you are misinformed and misguided. From the moment of its inception, the GWA has had three goals, to provide a place for serious wrestlers to ply their craft, to give wrestling fans a product worth their hard earned money, and to kick your ******* ass! So, instead of just being a waste of time, I will go ahead and notify you. GWA is officially at war with the SWF. May the better company win." I thought I had broken the phone when I slammed it back into its receiver. I looked around the table at the stunned faces, they quickly turned into grins. A couple of people were even applauding. Nemesis was the first to make a comment. "Well, you certainly know how to burn a bridge." Then he smiled, and all the children across the world woke up screaming. I sigh and reach for the intercom. "Suzie, if Dick Eisen or anyone from SWF's office ever calls here again for me, tell them that I am busy beating their company. Thanks." "Alright back to business. Who do we want getting the National title?" Victoria Stone points out that, with his good looks, Champagne Lover has the potential for crossover appeal with the female audience. Someone begins to make catcalls..... I rub my eyes, there is no place in the world I would rather be right now. [B]Most recent signees[/B] HellMonkey, Jacob Jett, The Flying Stones, Adrenaline Rush, Jason Azaria Starting Conditions. Global Economy: Low and Falling Wrestling outside North America: Low and Falling Wrestling in North America: Low and Rising GWA and SWF begin at War with one another.