Booking Glory-Chapter 121: Robin Outmanoeuvres Mr. Gibson

Mr. Wolfe gave a thankful nod. His face looked a bit relieved to hear Rob’s stance. And Rob could understand him.

If Rob needed Marie badly, Mr. Wolfe has to thicken his skin and try to win her over regardless of her disrespect today. It would leave a sour taste in Mr. Wolfe’s mouth. Now that Rob has expressed his stance, he can deal with Marie without additional pressure.

Moreover, bookers and management personnel had high status in low tier promotions like LWC. Unless they were the top draws, most wrestlers need to show proper respect towards them.

For Marie to skip her appointment without any intimation, it didn’t paint a good picture. Even if she had better offers from other promotions, she should have at least attended the appointment and went through the motions.

It wouldn’t have mattered if she would have turned down the offer after listening to it. It was a normal thing in the industry. But, a no-show left no face for Mr. Wolfe and LWC as a whole. Such disrespect would not be taken kindly.

"I think you should be prepared for such things to happen a lot in these upcoming days, Mr. Wolfe," Rob said, unable to help himself.

Mr. Wolfe smiled sardonically and nodded. It was clear that Mr. Wolfe understood Rob’s hints.

"Don’t worry kid," Mr. Wolfe chuckled. "This is not my first rodeo."

Mr. Wolfe waved and vacated Rob’s office quickly. Rob watched him go with a small frown on his face.

Marie’s actions had surprised him a bit. He hadn’t expected her to leave. While he didn’t care much for her, it still stung his pride a bit.

Until now, he had been confident to retain the women’s division of LWC at least. He had thought that they would stick around after seeing the benefits he brought to them. However, Marie’s behavior was a wakeup call to him.

Why should Marie be content to play second fiddle to Dacey, Diana, Evelyn, and Selena? She obviously had her own aspirations. She wouldn’t be sacrificing them for Rob’s plans.

Just like how Rob wouldn’t sacrifice his plans to keep Marie, she also wouldn’t delay her career to see Rob’s plans come to fruition. It was only natural. If Rob thought he was an exception, then he would one day end up in dire straits.

So, he better get his head straight.

Taking a deep breath, Rob realized something that he had overlooked yesterday. Due to yesterday’s report, he had begun to mistakenly assume that only the names listed in the newspaper posed the risk of jumping ships.

But, two days ago, his conversation with Dallas and Irvin indicated something else. Neither Dallas nor Irvin’s names were listed yesterday. And yet, they were contemplating jumping ships.

What was the guarantee that it was only them who had such thoughts?

Didn’t Dallas hint that there were others who had received Steven’s offer as well? That meant there was a high chance that some others would jump ship as well.

Riding out contracts was just one option. If a wrestler wants to break his existing contract and move to some other promotion, they can buy out their contract and do so. While this might affect a wrestler’s reputation a bit, it wasn’t illegal to do so.

Rob didn’t think wrestlers contracted with LWC had high buyout fees. At most, their fees would be of normal standard. With Robin being the one to handle contracts until now, there was a high likelihood that the fees could be substandard as well.

Moreover, what’s the guarantee that only Rob had no termination clause in his contract. What if some other wrestlers had them as well? If that was the case, they could easily leave LWC with little to no consequences.

People were complex. No one can predict how a certain person would choose. If they wanted to leave LWC regardless of the cost, there wasn’t much LWC could do. Even if it meant paying a large amount for breach of contract, it didn’t necessarily mean that they will be the ones paying it.

With the amount of money that Wagner had, he could easily afford dozens of breach of contract fees. Rob felt that if Wagner was willing to foot the bill, the drama of many wrestlers jumping ship would be staged in the coming days - and not just in LWC.

And the complexity of the situation doesn’t just stop there.

It wasn’t just Steven and Wagner digging LWC’s corner now. AWF and other top promotions will not be far behind once the commotion begins. That would make it very difficult for LWC to retain their roster.

Rob sucked in a cold breath as he realized the enormity of the trouble LWC was facing. For the first time, thoughts of leaving this sinking ship rose in Rob’s mind at this moment. However, Rob crushed such thoughts ruthlessly.

In a way, this situation was advantageous for Rob. If he stayed while many others left, his prestige in LWC would only rise further. However, the prerequisite was LWC surviving this upcoming storm.

Rob’s eyes fell towards the multiple folders containing detailed data of various female wrestlers under him. He didn’t know how many would stay behind. He didn’t know how much of the original division would be left after the storm passes.

For the first time, uncertainty flickered in his heart.

*****

The next day, another huge bomb was thrown inside LWC.

Rob felt his heart grow heavy as he read the news in his office. This was an unexpected turn of events that he hadn’t foreseen happening this quickly. According to his analysis, there were still months before such a thing happened.

The newspaper featured a large photo of Robin and Wagner shaking hands with each other. It was clear from looking at the background that they were meeting outside a famous restaurant for dinner.

The title of the news read,

<Robin Grant Joins Wagner’s New Promotion>

The article described a meeting between Robin and Wagner where they discussed stuff over dinner. The report indicated that the meeting had lasted for over an hour and no one else was present other than the duo.

And there were also comments from the duo.

"I have admired Mr. Grant’s resourcefulness for a long time. He was pivotal in LWC landing their Breeze TV deal. Now that I am starting my promotion, I am happy to have the help of such a capable person!"

Wagner’s statement all but confirmed that Robin was going over to his new promotion. If there were any doubts, Robin’s statements shattered them all.

"Yes, I have decided to resign from LWC and take up the position of Business Development Manager in Mr. Wagner’s new promotion."

"No, I didn’t make the decision before this dinner. I have been in communication with Mr. Wagner’s team for a while, but I wasn’t ready to commit yet. I felt that there was a lot I could still accomplish in LWC. So, I was a little hesitant."

"However, after meeting with Mr. Wagner and discussing things over dinner, I immediately made the decision to join Mr. Wagner’s new promotion."

"Why do I want to join Mr. Wagner’s promotion? It is easy. I want to face more challenges. By joining Mr. Wagner’s new promotion, I will become an instrumental part of reshaping the pro wrestling industry. How can I pass up on that?"

"I will be responsible for developing the business aspects of Mr. Wagner’s new promotion. I have some experience in this line of work. I know how to develop the business aspects of a wrestling promotion. And with Mr. Wagner’s vision, I think that I will be part of something spectacular. You can wait and see how things develop in the future. Then, you will know I am not lying."

"LWC was a great place to work with. Compared to LWC, where I had to don many hats, my responsibility in Mr. Wagner’s new promotion is clear cut. This move provides me an opportunity to showcase my talents in business operations at a higher level. I wouldn’t miss this for anything."

"I wish LWC and all the talents there a very bright future. Though LWC’s platform is low, I feel that LWC has a lot of rough gems like Mark Weathers, Luke Channing, Malcolm Perry, Rictor Swole and several others. I have high hopes for their future. If they get a higher platform to showcase their skills, they will shine brightly."

"The contract situation in LWC is quite normal. Promotions often wait until the final month to sit down and re-negotiate expiring contracts. Everyone in the loop was aware of it, I don’t know why it has become a big issue."

"No, I don’t have any issues with Mr. Gibson. I respect him a lot. We might have butted heads regarding some things. But, that is normal. It happens. We both wanted LWC to do well. While there were differences in our development philosophies, I respect what he had done for the industry a lot."

"I only have one thing to say about the future. This industry is poised for a big change. A revolution is coming."

Rob read Robin’s answers to several questions posed by the reporters and felt surreal. While Wagner’s statement had been brief, Robin had more or less made up for it with. He had been candid and had packaged himself quite well.

Even if Mr. Gibson wanted to give some color to Robin, he was powerless now to do anything.

Robin had quite effectively outmanoeuvred Mr. Gibson and LWC.

*****

A/N: Hey folks!

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