"If you don't appreciate your employees, your competitor will. They're looking for great talent." - Stacy Sherman
Two.That is the number of time’s ATG has appeared on IIW Television since the start of 2023. A red hot team fresh off a big pay per view win to end the year out right, not just a big win but a title win and yet they could only find space for them on the card two times in the first three months of the year. Well over 90 days into the year and yet just two appearances for the newly crowned tag team champions. A team that when signed to the twilight of 2022 yet still managed to appear in over half a dozen matches in a shorter span of time, a team with heat and momentum. A team ready to make 2023 their year.
So of course this team was given the ball and told to run with it right?
HA!
That’s fine however. Because it was in the wee hours of night, as he struggled to stay awake in the waiting room of a local hospital after the events of the Keys to Success pay per view, that Rhett Dawson made a very important decision. That he would take that very ball and go the fuck home.
“Mister Dawson,” the voice of a young nurse interrupts Rhett as he broods over the direction of his career. When his attention turns towards her he stands to stretch his legs. The rest of Second Coming had left hours ago leaving him waiting alone.
“How is he?,” Rhett’s voice was raspy from the cold draft of the waiting room.
“He will be fine,” She said “but he suffered a very serious tear to his quadricep, your friend Sawyer has a long road of recovery in front of him, he is out from the pain medication though you should go home. You can come see him in the morning they are putting him in a room for a bit so there will be plenty of time to visit,”
It was that exact moment that he made his mind up. This, this whole line of bullshit him and Sawyer were being fed week in and week out wasn’t worth it. If IIW didn’t want Against the Grain then fuck them, ATG could do better. It took about a week of tests and procedures for them to get a real time frame for Sawyer but it wasn’t good. He would miss months in the ring, but the two decided that when he did return it wouldn’t be to an IIW ring. That brings us to today, the first day of April.
All Fools Day.
He was done being a fool. He walked down the hall side by side with his good friend Elijah Qwest, who he had reconnected with in his unexpected down time away from IIW.
“Maybe you're being a bit hasty about this Rhett, I mean IIW is a big time promotion and you want to just walk away from them? Sure i get it sucks about Sawyer but he will heal and it will give you some time to test your mettle in singles competition isn’t that what you originally intended for anyway?,”
Rhett sighed, his friend was only half right “Sure it’s what I had planned but me and Sawyer really clicked, we are not just good, we are the BEST and for some reason IIW doesn’t even give us a chance, THEY DON’T EVEN BOOK US Eli how the fuck can I succeed if I never get in the ring?,”
Eli shrugged “I mean have you talked to Shaun? Or Osh?,”
“Talked,” Rhett scoffed at the thought “Of course we tried, all we ever get is put on hold or told he’s out, and it’s no use talking to Osh. He was busy playing dead as some sort of practical joke while Shaun was pissing all over the real talent of IIW so fuck him too. Look there are a ton of great promotions on a national level out there. This is truly a new golden age for Wrestling, promotions like Conquest, Prime, ECE just to name a few. I have already sent out feelers they would all jump to sign us, and they all care a lot more about the tag division than Shaun does,”
“Isn’t there a contract involved?,” Eli questioned
“Sure that’s why we are here,” He motions around at the talent agency the two are currently walking in. “I know we had a short term contract, some rookie thing they give new talent from the independents like us. It allowed us to work smaller shows but only last about 6 months before we would have to extend. So I am finding out exactly how long is left and see about buying it out so I can have serious conversations with other promotions. We are young, talented and simply better than 90 percent of the roster. Maverick managed to capture Keys to Success, Beckett took her talents to Combat so they are making it, but there is apparently NO place for ATG here so we are getting the fuck out before we waste anymore of our time or get injured for people who aren’t willing to give us what we EARNED,”
Before Eli can reply the duo are met by another man, older with pure white hair and a large beard that matches. He shakes their hands as he greets them,
“Rhett good to see you! I was excited when I was told you requested a meeting today, am I safe to assume it’s about renewing your IIW Contract?,”
The three men make their way into a small office as they all take seats and Rhett answers “Well Mister Ashford you could say something like that, me and Sawyer want out,”
Ashford’s eyes grow big in shock as he continues to listen to Rhett
“We don’t think we are given the proper chances to utilize our specific skills and make a real name for ourselves in this industry so we want to test the water elsewhere,”
He clears his throat and changes his demeanor as he finally answers “Of course, but getting a new contract with Sawyer injured will be hard. This is also his second injury in a matter of years so that will affect the offers from several bigger ticket competitors, are you sure about this?,” .
Rhett just nods.
“Well let me see the exact end date for your specific deals ..,” he mutters as he begins typing on the computer in front of him “you guys should be close, there is typically a 30 day kill clause we may be able to invoke in these things where you can begin to look… “
“Oh..,”
“Uhmm..,”
“..well..,”
He mutters as he reads some more before Rhett finally speaks up “Spit it out already Ashford, what is it? How long do we have left?,”
Ashford looks up and gives a forced smile as he finally speaks “your contract is pretty simple but we have ran into a small snag,”
“What is it..,”
“Well on top of time, you also have a per appearance close, which you are WAY off of meeting the minimum for,”
“They haven’t fucking booked me,”
“Well have you shown up at the events? Like even if you're not booked if your available in case they need you last minute due to injury or some such then it counts..,”
“I wasn’t booked why the fuck would I show up..,”
“Most rookies do..,” He paused and sighed “Your contract is up TECHNICALLY right after When Worlds Collide but unless you make sure to be at EVERY event up until then you will still have a hold on your contract until you meet the required amount of appearances,”
Rhett feel forward letting his forehead smash into the desk as he sighed “Your fucking with me right? Just tell me your doing some sort of fucking April Fools day joke right?,”
He sits back up and continues ranting “because I am in no mood for fucking jokes, I deal with jokes every day, Osh jokes about caring for this company, the Mecca jokes about being top talent, HELL the Mecca jokes about being a real stable. Let’s be honest you got J Mont, Fred Debonair and a bunch of fucking losers no one cares about, and yes that includes Bam Miller like when was the last time he was Relevant in IIW? I mean it had to be before I fucking got here. So basically I deal with enough fools each and every day, I have no patience for April Fools jokes,”
“Wel;..,” he gives out a very nervous chuckle as he continues “I am uh not known as a jokester so I can uh assure you that uh … Oh my.. This is Not a Joke, I am sorry but Good News is..,” He gives off a smile “You just have to be at EVERY Mayhem, if they don’t book you that's fine but you need to be backstage. You may also want to make sure they know it, maybe get on TV somehow so that way they can’t dispute it if they decide to try. So yea no early kill Claus but if you ride it out, make sure your seen you should be able to test free agency right after When Worlds Collide,”
Rhett just sits in stone cold silence, anger, disappointment, and every other possible emotion mixed up as he tries his best not to reach across the desk and choke his agent to death. It is finally Eli who breaks the awkward silence.
“Thank you so much Mister Ashford, we really appreciate the information and look forward to reconnecting once his contract is up and we can test free agency,”
Eli and Ashford shake hands before Eli then almost pulls Rhett from his chair and goes to escort him out the room as they get to the door Ashford speaks once again.
“Uh..,” his voice cracks, you can tell he is trying to decide if he should attempt to say anything else or not but very timidly he continues “There is uh one way to keep you busy, well maybe at least if you win it would keep you busy. Uh there is a tournament, I had sent out a feeler before I realized how uh hmm unhappy you were at IIW.. anyway it's for the International Title, If you wanted in it. Well and if you won, it would keep you appearing all the way until the Pay Per View,”
Rhett turns around and speaks through gritted teeth.
“And who exactly would I face?,”
“Well.. uhmm..,” He glances down at his laptop and speaks “A new signee to uh.. Terry Walker I think.. Not really much..,”
Rhett holds up his hand cutting off Ashford as he begins to speak, his words get louder as he goes “So, you tell me I should sign up for their little dog and pony show. Go into Mayhem against this nobody who doesn’t mean nothing because honestly that is what half the roster is composed of. But I go into Mayhem, I hand mister Walker his ass and move on to the next round. Where I then continue in this little show, beating person after person until, if I DON’T get screwed by Shaun Hart in favor of his new flavor of the month,”
He pauses as he walks closer putting his fist on the desk of Ashford “You know the flavor right? Some big name Ass hat who really only cares about some other promotion, you know a WGPW or some shit but Shaun has some man crush on him. Maybe a CCPE guy, but either way someone that couldn’t give two shits about IIW and only really wrestles when he’s got nothing better to do and needs a pay check. And then Shaun rubs him up in baby oil and tells him how big his cock is, this whole time Osh is sitting there watching and playing with himself because let’s be honest Osh must get off on this whole Mecca thing too because he just sits by and lets Shaun do whatever he wants. You know Osh is the kind of guy who likes to see his wife getting fucked by another guy while Osh sits in the closet and plays with himself. So yea whoever this new fling is, you know the NEW J. Mont because that’s exactly what he is now. A part time champ who from what I heard just honestly can’t get the job done anywhere the management isn’t backing him. And by backing him I do mean interfering in battle royals and pay per view main events to help him win…,”
He paused again and took a deep breath “Well technically the World title match didn’t main event Keys to Success that honor was saved for the Owner vs Owner drama that they have to make sure takes front and center every chance they get. I swear sometimes I wonder if this is a professional wrestling organization or day time talk show. Anyway back to my story, so I have to bust my ass to win each and every week and HOPE that Shaun doesn’t have a new man crush he has already promised the title to planted in this tournament somewhere, then IF i win I am stuck in this shit hole as some kind of mid card champ that HONESTLY the UK title means more too at this point because at least Fred Debonair and Mat Stone actually have some ambience of talent. Yea doesn’t sound too tempting honestly..,”
“Well..,” Ashford starts “Technically even if your champ when your contract is up, you don’t have to stay…,”
Rhett looks like he is about to start shouting again then pauses as he thinks about it “Oh you sly fox, so you're suggesting that I give it a go. And by hook or crook turn around and take their little sex toy of a title, then when my contract is up walk out with the belt around my waist and see who will pay the most to have IIW CURRENT International Champion join up..,”
“Well NO I didn’t..,”
“Ohh don’t try to deny it, you know what Ashford. What the Fuck, let’s do it. Sign me up, and make sure to send mister Walker some flowers. That way when I show up on Mayhem and fuck his world up at least I was a gentlemen about it,”
“I uh ..,”
Rhett pats Ashford on the back as he turns to Eli “Let’s go my man, we got training to do,”
Eli turns towards Ashford “Thank you again for all your hard work,” He nods at him and Rhett exits with a new found vigor for the next few weeks in IIW.
—TBC—