Negotiations

[Roberto Verona]

{ Our scene opens amidst a meeting of the IWF Board of Directors, complete with predictably palpable tension. A number of men and women in suits sit around a large ornate table as Pas lean over to pour water in their glasses as they continue to bicker back and forth. Roberto and Simon both sit at either end of the tables, sharing cursory glances with one another as the rest frantically exchange words. }

Arthur Mosley: Let’s not pull any punches here, there isn’t a single credible partner in the company who is willing to work with Spike Kane. His reign as Man of Steel, the cancer debacle, all of it has made his name mud.

Roberto Verona: People dislike people faking terminal disease, who could have predicted that?

Simon de Montfort: As per usual, you’re not helping.

Arthur Mosley: I tried to contact some of our part-time employees but none of them were willing to return to television to fight beside Mr Kane, none of our champions were willing to forgo their traditional defences to…

{ Verona coughs. }

Roberto Verona: That isn’t true, you never asked the Imperial Champion.

Arthur Mosley: Andrew is tied up with…

{ Simon rolls his eyes and interjects. }

Simon de Montfort: Arthur, he’s being deliberately awkward again. Roberto, we stripped you of your championship, I’ve no interest in entertaining your desperate desire to make a point any further.

Roberto Verona: Oh? Well that’s a shame Simon because I may have entertained the idea of filling your empty slot…

Simon de Montfort: Mine!? You made the match, it’s you who deliberately left us scrambling for a partner a week before a pay per view. You knew damn well that Spike Kane would demand a suitable partner. You can quit playing innocent.

Roger McDermott: Wait a moment, Simon, please.

{ Simon lets out a sigh before leaning back. }

Roger McDermott: Did you say you were willing to be a part of the tag team match?

Roberto Verona: Yes… pending certain, considerations…

Simon de Montfort: What a surprise, there are caveats, all which I am sure are completely unworkable.

Roger McDermott: Simon, I must insist that we hear him out. The Board of Directors has been practically unworkable since the beginning of this squabble, if we can acquiesce to some of his requests to make this body viable again…

Simon de Montfort: You must be joking!?

Gerald Brooks: I concur with Roger, we can at least hear him out before dismissing him outright.

{ Roberto smiles.}

Roberto Verona: It’s nice to see some people can be reasonable…

Simon de Montfort: You’ll all regret this, I’ve little interest to watch you all bend to his snake oil pitch.

{ Simon stands up, pushing his chair under the desk vigorously. }

Simon de Montfort: Don’t think this is over.

{ Simon thrusts a finger in Verona’s direction who grins, clasping his hands together before unlocking them to wave mockingly at Simon as he exits the room, slamming the door behind him. }

Roberto Verona: There, that’s better isn’t it?

Roger McDermott: Cut to the chase, Roberto.

Roberto Verona: Oh tsk, impatience isn’t attractive. Yet, if you insist. I would be willing to partner with Spike, if the Board would admit that they were wrong to strip me of the Imperial Championship.

Arthur Mowsley: This is absurd!

Caroline Fairfax: Out of the question.

Kelly Fox: Ladies. Gentlemen.

{ The rest of the board turn their heads. }

Kelly Fox: It is futile to argue with him, I know that all too well. Roberto isn’t asking you to acknowledge him as Imperial champion, he is asking that you acknowledge you made a mistake allowing Simon to act on his personal grudge and strip him in such a public manner.

Roberto Verona: I always knew there was a reason I liked you.

{ Verona leans forward. }

Roberto Verona: I demand a public apology from the board for their error, each and every one of you agreed to humiliate me on television and belittle the sizable contribution I made by repairing the damage done to the Imperial division by Renee Pleasant before you terminated his contract. It is you who caused a rift in this company that has made it difficult to operate effectively, not me.

Arthur Mowsley: And if we agree you’ll stop calling yourself the rightful champion?

Roberto Verona: I’ll call myself whatever I like, Arthur, I haven’t stripped the champion of their belt have I so what harm is it doing any of you or the roster? This isn’t about a belt, this is about you flexing your muscles to satisfy Simon and Kathy Conway’s egos. I’m quite content on continuing to be a pain in the ass and dragging my feet and making difficult decisions to leave you in the shitter, I’m perfectly capable of being stubborn.

Roger McDermott: I personally couldn’t give a damn what he calls himself, we’re about to launch a significant rebrand, we can’t jeopardise that by having a high profile match on the preceding pay per view shrouded in controversy. Spike Kane will not compete unless he has a partner, we’ll be forced to cancel the match, it’ll be a farce.

Caroline Fairfax: And there is truly nobody else willing?

Roberto Verona: Nobody worthy of the slot, no.

{ Arthur sighs. }

Arthur Mowsley: Then I fail to see how, with the time limit in mind, we have any other choice. All those in favour of allowing Mr Verona to be Spike’s partner in exchange for a public apology, say aye.

{ The room is silent for a moment before, reluctantly, the board members begrudgingly grumble their approval. }

Roberto Verona: See, that wasn’t so difficult, was it?

Roger McDermott: I trust this means you will begin to cooperate with the board again? You can’t just run this company as your own personal playground. You can’t play games for a year just to make a point.

Roberto Verona: Are you threatening me? I’ll remind you that when it comes to all in-ring matters, I am in complete control. I’ll cooperate when it comes to all matters under the boards jurisdiction, on the arrival of your apology, but you need to cease enabling Simon’s interference in my affairs. He’s only able to act on your collective authority because he hasn’t got the shares to do otherwise.

Arthur Mowsley: If it’ll put an end to all this blasted conflict, yes. All I want is for us to get this rebrand right so we can move forward.

Caroline Fairfax: I concur.

Roberto Verona: You all need to have a little more faith in me, ladies and gentlemen. Kelly understands that I know how this business works, I have this company’s best interests at heart, I have no desire to see it fail. You all invested in IWF to make money, so I suggest you stop pandering to Simon’s ego and let me make you all wealthy.

{ Verona stands up. }

Roberto Verona: So, if we’re all in agreement I’ll get ready for match this week.

{ The board nod slowly in unison. }

Roberto Verona: It’s been a pleasure, as always.

{ Roberto leans down to pick up his paperwork before turning, smiling from ear to ear as the board begin to grumble amongst themselves and our scene fades to black. }

Let’s not waste anybody’s time here.

Spike. Laszlo.

We both know I couldn’t give anything approaching a damn about either of you at this point in time. Tradition may dictate that I waste my time verbally deconstructing the pair of you but the reality is, I never really gave much time to convention. The reality is that I’m not here to fight with or by the side of either of you, regardless of the format of this match.

You’re both tremendous athletes, albeit with questionable moral codes, especially considering I’m teaming up with a man who faked cancer and crucified somebody on live television, there’s no need to re-tread old ground and grudges with the pair of you.

So, I won’t. Revolutionary, no?

There’s only one person who I have my eyes on this week, and that is the perpetual thorn in my side, the former Imperial champion, Cable Arcane. The man whose spent an entire year desperately trying to get my attention, stamping his feet like a toddler and making empty threats against my person.

Do you want to know why I refused to fight you Cable?

Probably not, but I’m going to tell you anyway.

It isn’t because I’m afraid of you, it isn’t because I’m intimidated by you, it isn’t because I’m living on past glories, it isn’t even that I enjoy stirring the pot of cerebrally redundant morons on the internet.

It’s because of your sense of entitlement.

You win one tournament and day one of your title reign you think you’re worth my time whenever you want it? You think that I somehow owe you and everyone else the right to put an end to the “uncertainty” surrounding the Imperial Championship when they’re the reason for the confusion in the first place? You think that you’re worthy of my attention when you hadn’t proven a damn thing beyond the fact you have potential?

You wanted to dance with the devil without even bothering to demonstrate your soul is worth his time.

It isn’t cowardice to ignore the ramblings of a villain who is now desperate to rewrite history into some noble attempt to provide clarity who had achieved absolutely nothing. Simple fact, Cable, you weren’t on my level and no amount of tantrums was ever going to change that, I kept refusing until you demonstrated you were deserving of my attention.

Until you proved that the demands you were making were worth responding to.

We could have settled this months ago, I’m not against wrestling people who aren’t at the top of the mountain, merely those standing at the foot of it screaming loudly enough to try and fool everybody into believing they’re way above the clouds. I ignored you because you were cashing cheques on credit you hadn’t even earned yet, call my a hypocrites if you like but I don’t find myself obligated to fulfil the egotistical ramblings of any of my employees based on their own evaluations of their self-worth.

Fast forward a year and here we are, you finally shut your mouth, knuckled down and demonstrated you’re worth my time.

There isn’t a fibre in my being that has any desire to try and petulantly pretend you’re a nobody, that you’re untalented or that you’re simply “lucky”. You’re a two time Imperial Champion, you’ve proven tremendous resilience, you’ve demonstrated that the Heir to the Throne wasn’t a fluke, you’ve survived at the head of the food chain where men like Noah Field and Dre Cutler couldn’t. I’ve got zero interest in taking that away from you, I’d be a liar if I tried to pretend you’ve not proven yourself every inch the champion you claimed to be.

You’re not just some loud mouth with a belt and potential.

You’re a loud mouth who has backed up his rhetoric.

You can rag all over my living in the past if you want, that’s your prerogative but the simple fact is, I respect men and women who don’t just talk a big game, they back it up. My entire career I’ve made some pretty bold statements, but every single one of them I put my ass on the line to fulfil them. I’ve been called a liar, I’ve been called egotistical, everything under the sun, but I’ve made anybody who doubts me eat those words.

Credit where credit is due, Cable, so have you.

And that is why I am standing across the ring from you this Sunday.

You’re not just some cocky little upstart anymore, you’ve gained the credit to cash in one your claims, you’ve proven yourself to be everything you’ve said you are, you’ve highlighted your worth. I’m not a coward, far from it, I simply stand by my principles of not indulging every egotistical waste of oxygen who throws mud in my direction, even you must be wise enough to realise the futility in bending to every single request to get in the ring with me.

I’m not stupid, I know that I have a scalp worth harvesting, I know people want to make a name for themselves off of mine.

I am fortunate enough to have proven myself enough to be in a position to pick my own battles, I’ve accomplished more than most people ever will, there is nothing left for me to prove to anybody whose opinion is worth a damn. A lion doesn’t concern itself with the opinion of sheep, I have to wade through personal attacks on a weekly basis, if I responded to them all the entire show would be built around me swatting away all the young heroes desperate to slay the old dragon.

You’ve proven you’re above all of them, you’ve proven that you’re somebody worth lacing my boots up to get in a ring with.

Hell, everyone in this match has proved they deserve to be there.

So this week I will fulfil your deepest desire, I will give you that opportunity to let out all your pent up aggression against me, I’ll sacrifice my safety and comfort to walk down to that ring and give the people what they want. The opportunity to watch the dastardly Roberto Verona finally get his comeuppance against the “plucky” Cable Arcane.

I’ll be the sacrificial lamb I am required to be to finally get the fans on your side and convince them all that you’re a changed man.

Because that is what I do, Cable. I play the cards that I am required to play at any given time, I’ll be whatever my opponent needs me to be, because I see the bigger picture. You and the rest of the roster may mock me for sitting behind a desk and playing God, but everything I do, I do for a purpose, I do to raise up my employees and provide them the opportunity to fulfil their potential.

You want the world to see you differently, you want to shake off the stain from your honour that your time under Laura Howlett has left on your legacy, you just want to be seen as the “best in the world.”

I can give you that, Cable, and because I’m a generous man this week I will walk down to that ring and fulfil my end of the bargain, all I ask is one very simple thing.

Don’t make me regret it. Don’t make me walk away after our encounter realising I wasted my time and energy on yet another failed project who didn’t have what it takes. Seize your destiny, vanquish your demons, purge your entitlement and become the hero they’re begging you to be. This is your chance, your one chance, to stare me in the eyes and finish what you started, to complete your transformation from cocky upstart to the pinnacle athlete at the peak of his profession.

To become a man they can all cheer, instead of deride with suspicion.

It’s time to prove you’re more than bitter little man living in other’s shadows, making demands you’re in no position to make.

It’s time to really prove you’re the best in the world.

It’s time to prove you’re more than a catchphrase.