MWA - This Means War! (C-Verse Diary)

[Scapino1974]

New Beginnings
The Garrison Bar, Minneapolis, Minnesota
The Mid-West Territory
11:45 PM, December 31st, 2009

“What ya drinkin’, hon?”

I glanced up at the waitress. Maybe twenty years ago, she would have been pretty enough to flirt with. But then again, twenty years ago I was only twelve, so I doubt she would have noticed me.

“Coke,” I replied.

She gave me a startled look. Most everyone else in the Garrison were downing beers like water. A young couple had already ordered champagne, retreating to a darkened corner. I was probably the only one in the bar who wasn’t going to ring in the New Year at least pleasantly buzzed.

But two years ago, I had to share a car with Rip Chord as we drove from SWF headquarters to the Theatre of Dreams in the North West territory. He passed the time telling me old war stories. Trust me, close to two days of Rip Chord’s stories of the “good old days” are enough to put anyone permanently on the wagon.

As the waitress left me in my booth, I looked around the bar and sighed. How had my life come to this? Nine months ago, I had been the head booker of the Supreme Wrestling Federation. It seemed like a lifetime ago. Yet I could still hear Richard Eisen’s angry words echo in my ears. “You’re fired!”

Within a week of my firing, I sold my house on the East Coast and moved back home to Minneapolis. I was able to pay cash for a modest home in Edina, a pretty prosperous suburb. I didn’t get a job; despite his lack of compassion or integrity, Richard Eisen paid me well.

So I found myself in the Midwest, surrounded by soccer moms whose kids wore SWF merchandise. That was a little tough. Shortly after I moved out, I overheard two kids discussing how much Joel Kovach hated Archangel and how they believed he was just biding his time to kill him. I tried to explain that Joel and Archangel were really best friends in real life, but they didn’t believe me, and why should they? It’s not like I was on screen ever; as far as they knew, I was just some creepy guy who thought he knew something about wrestling.

Eventually the boredom got to me. I considered applying for the head booking position at AAA when it became available in May. Anne Stardust wouldn’t return my calls, though. I assume she’s still sore at me for stealing Wanda Fish and Missy Masterson. I approached USPW as well, but Danny Jillefski didn’t give me the time of day either; apparently Freddie Datsun wasn’t too pleased with my handling of his career and poisoned Jillefski against me. Even after Sam Strong took over as owner, I couldn’t get a straight answer from anyone at USPW.

I even briefly considered asking Tommy Cornell for my job back at TCW; it’d be hard to swallow, but becoming a ref again wouldn’t be that bad. I quickly dismissed that idea. After stealing Wolf Hawkins, Liberty, and mocking him with Joey Beauchamp, I figured it wouldn’t work.

Every now and then, I was able to see some of the boys when the SWF came back to the Minnesota Colisseum. Archangel and Joel took me out for a few drinks after the show and filled me in on the gossip.

My gaze was drawn to the TV. Someone had turned on America-Sports-1 and Pro Wrestling Hits was once again putting on a year end special to dissect everything that had to do with professional wrestling. I was only vaguely interested. I had already heard much of the news....