Chapter 9

Chapter 9


About a decade or two later, Adam Montague passed away, he was the patriarch that turned the wrestling business into a success during its first generation. Gene was at the cemetery as he laid flowers at his grave. For Gene, it was a very hard time, his mother Eve was now very ill, the numbers for the TV shows were down, and the pay per view buy rates were at an all time low.

‘’I just don’t know what to do anymore Dad, it’s all goin’ down the tubes’‘, he said at his father’s grave as a tear rolled down his cheek.

He felt lost without his father’s guidance, he was the man who took wrestling from its origins under carnival tents to smoke filled arenas and on television sets. He learned the entire business from his father who broke him in as a booker for his promotion. He then bought out both his father and his uncle Tony Capulet, and took the business to new heights as a mainstream form of entertainment. But in recent years, the wrestling business has taken a very sharp downturn.

***

Gene was at his computer as his read some messages that were posted about the wrestling business on a bulletin board over The Internet. Gene read some of the messages, and wasn’t pleased to discover that a bunch of easy marks and fans had criticized his wrestling promotion, and called it ‘’too mainstream and cartoonish for its own good’‘, and he was also blamed for the fact that he wiped out all the old regional promoters to market wrestling as a brand of entertainment. They wanted the style they loved in the old days to be brought back or hoped some promoter out there would create an alternative to the style Gene offered.

‘’What in the hell?’‘ he exclaimed as opened another batch of messages that made him even more furious.

It turned out that some idiots on the bulletin boards had dished some behind the scenes dirt on the wrestling business which included the process of how matches were worked, a list of insider terms that had been used within the business since the days of the early carnival athletic shows. To make matters worse, the next storyline that Gene had booked for his promotion was explained in full detail on one of the messages. In the message was a short description of the storyline, results of every taped TV show that was apart of the storyline’s buildup before any of the shows were set to air, and a rundown of the next pay per view which included the planned finishes for each match on the card, even the big payoff for the storyline that was set to happen in the main event.

‘’What’s this?’‘ he asked himself as he checked some message that caught his eye.


Many fans seemed to be in love with a small independent promotion that held events in a bingo hall located in Philadelphia. The fans described it as ‘’hardcore’‘ and ‘’extreme’‘, and a promotion that displayed a blatant disregard for the way professional wrestling was promoted. An idea popped into Gene’s head, that this might be what the fans want.

***

Leslie visited a website on the World Wide Web that covered soap operas, and she read an article that ripped her apart for a serial killer storyline on one of her soaps that showcased the murder of several longtime veteran characters. It leaked out on the website that it was a way to cut costs in light of the vast decline in viewers that soaps now faced.

She then got an e-mail from what appeared to be a disturbed fan who was also angry with the serial killer storyline. This weird individual threatened to kill her because she ruined what that person felt was their show. She was frightened by what she read, she was afraid to even speak, but she had to notify everyone on the set.

‘’Listen, we have a problem. I got an e-mail from some weirdo who didn’t like our murder storyline, and this sick bastard sent me a death threat. All of you may also be in danger, so security guards will be posted all over this studio.’‘ she said as a way to break the news to the cast and crew.

They were all shocked that their lives could be in danger just because some obsessed fan didn’t like a storyline. Some people just didn’t know the line between fantasy and reality, and all the personnel at the studio were just horrified at the thought of it. Many of them had families at home, and they didn’t even wanna think about the possibility that the stalker could be after any of them!


***

It was now time for the main event at Gene’s next pay per view, and the new world heavyweight champion came out. He was a bald redneck who cussed out the fans, flipped his middle finger at them, and drank beer. As the bell rang, he and his opponent beat the crap out of each other rather than use traditional wrestling moves.

The match soon moved to the outside where the champ nailed his opponent with a steel chair, as blood gushed from his head before the champ smashed him through a table. The fans screamed, as they worshiped their reluctant hero. Almost as if they were a religious cult that was devoted to him as Gene watched backstage with an evil grin..

‘’This is what the fans want, I think I’ll keep promotin’ the style of wrestling’‘, he told the small time promoter from Philadelphia who was also backstage.


The champ and his opponent took their match into the crowd as thousands of rabid fans cheered them on. As the battled through the rows and rows of seats, they managed to get behind the curtain to the backstage area where they continued to pummel each other. They even took it outside the arena of all place. The camp climbed to the top of an 18 wheeler as his opponent was out cold on the hard concrete pavement on the ground. He then jumped from the vehicle all those feet as he landed on the ground to cover his lifeless opponent as the referee counted 1-2-3! The bell rang from inside the arena as the referee raised the champ’s hand.


***

Leslie supervised production on her soap as usual when a mysterious individual dressed in a long coat entered the studio. She felt nervous about that person’s presence on the set, and wondered if that person was authorized to even be on the set. But she just couldn’t halt production on one of her soaps, so she continued to focus on the scene that was taped.

This individual came toward her, and grabbed her from behind as he placed his hand over her mouth. She tried to kick and scream, but the attempt failed as he dragged her to a very dark corner of the studio where he pulled out a knife, and held it to her throat. She had too much to live for to be frightened, in a desperate move, she elbowed him in the stomach, and raced back to the set

‘’HELP!’‘ she screamed as she ran to one of the other producers.

‘’What’s wrong, you left the set, and I wondered where you were.’‘ he said in a concerned voice.

‘’That stalker who sent the death threat, he’s here!’‘ she exclaimed as she hoped he’d handle it.

‘’What? STOP THE TAPE! GET SECURITY!’‘ he motioned to the crew.

The stalker ran onto the set like crazy with the knife as production halted and security swarmed the studio. One guard grabbed the knife, and beat him to the ground. The stalker was then handcuffed and taken away. Leslie and the rest of the cast and crew were astonished by what happened and wondered if any more incidents like this would happen on the set in the future.

***


Just days after the incident, Leslie entered her brother Gene’s office, he heard about the stalker incident, and was very concerned. He want over and hugged her, she was still very shaken by the occurrence. She couldn’t bare the thought of it, and it still scared the hell out of her. To top it off, she didn’t whether to be glad it was over or whether to be afraid that it could happen again.

‘’Are you alright?’‘ he asked with concern.

‘’I guess’‘, she said as she tried to put on a good front.

‘’Your still upset about aren’t you?’‘ he questioned her.

‘’I wanna sell you my half of the company, I can’t bear to be on that set anymore after what happened.’‘ she said in an honest voice.

‘’I don’t know how to produce a god damn soap opera, and besides it was just one incident you’ll be fine.’‘

‘’That doesn’t mean it won’t happen again’‘, she responded.

‘’Alright, I’ll think about it’‘, he said to her as he walked her out the door.

He hoped for her safety, and also hoped that similar incident wouldn’t happen in his wrestling promotion. As he sat down at his computer, he read the figures on the Nielsen chart as well as the chart for the pay per view buy rates. After he took a more adult and graphic direction with his wrestling promotion, the numbers went right through the roof once again. He logged onto The Internet, and looked at the message boards to see what the smart marks online thought of the new direction.

He was annoyed to learn these idiots still weren’t satisfied, now they were upset because they thought he took the concept of wrestling too far with the more hardcore direction. Gene read messages where fans posted that they wanted a more traditional approach. He also read messages that mentioned another small independent promotion based in Knoxville, Tennessee that focused on old fashioned southern style ‘’rasslin’‘ that featured storylines with babyfaces (good guys) and heels (bad guys). He thought to himself maybe if the hardcore direction worked, then maybe a return to the old methods would also work.