Booking Glory-Chapter 26: Joining Commentary - Part 3

"So, what’s your verdict?" Mr. Gibson asked looking at Dallas and Irvin. "Do you think it is feasible? Does the kid’s ideas have any merit?"

Dallas and Irvin were currently in Mr. Gibson’s office. Unlike one would have expected, there was no Robin or Mr. Wolfe present. This was a private meeting between the three veterans.

When Rob had come up with the idea, Mr. Gibson was not really sure about it. However, he had decided to bet on Rob’s crazy ideas once and he wanted to see if there was a possibility that this was another gold mine.

Even though he wasn’t sure, Mr. Gibson didn’t want to let go of this opportunity. While he had no clue regarding commentary as to what is possible and what is not, Mr. Gibson had two friends who were veterans of the art.

What not many people in the company didn’t know was that both Dallas and Irvin had retired from the commentary scene for a few months before they came out of retirement to help his friend Andrew Gibson out.

To the outsiders, it was like Mr. Gibson had hired Dallas and Irvin. But, only they knew that they agreed to take the job because of friendship and not money. If it was about money, they had several other wrestling promotions that were willing to offer them a lot more than LWC.

"Andrew, where the hell did you find this guy?" Dallas asked lighting his cigar.

"It was Steven who recommended this guy to me. He went for an interview in AWF and got into Steven’s eye. Steven called me up and told me to give him a chance," Mr. Gibson said with a smile on his face.

"I owed that old coot a favor for introducing the TV deal to me. So, I merely took him on to repay the favor. I really didn’t think much about the kid. You must know that six months ago, he was a complete greenhorn."

"Good thing you did," Dallas grunted passing the cigar to Irvin. "I am sure AWF and Steven will be crying one day because of letting him go."

Mr. Gibson looked stunned for a second before looking queerly at Dallas.

"Old man, don’t tell me he impressed you that much," Mr. Gibson asked.

"Bah! That kid was a natural in commentary," Irvin said from the side waving his arms. "Mark my words, that kid’s voice can sell. He can create interest in random things that we didn’t even think was possible."

"He was making hotspots left and right, damn it!" Dallas grunted in agreement taking the cigar back from Irvin’s offered hand.

"Really!" Mr. Gibson asked in surprise. "I know that the kid has some crazy ideas. He often comes up with them during the booking meeting. But, I never saw this potential in him."

"Most probably, even he doesn’t know," Dallas said in return blowing a ring of smoke out. "I am sure that the kid thought we were merely indulging him."

"What did you guys do?"

"The best way to see if something works is always to test it out," Irvin said snatching the cigar back from Dallas. "We asked him to showcase some of his ideas by performing commentary with us."

"Initially, we were only expecting him to tell us what to do in the room," Dallas said looking directly at Mr. Gibson. "But the brat put on the headphone and actually performed commentary with us."

"And I gotta say, he has some insane chemistry with Dallas. You need to listen to this before deciding anything," Irvin pushed three video tapes toward Mr. Gibson.

"These are the tapes we recorded with him all day. You will see what we are talking about after that," Dallas said waving his hands.

Mr. Gibson eyed his two friends with interest now. He never expected asking them to discuss something with Rob would bring such an unexpected surprise. And if these two men were right, then it meant LWC would have another trump card on its sleeve.

Intrigued with the words spoken by his friends, Mr. Gibson directly inserted one of the tapes into the video player he had in his office and sat down.

Almost an entire hour passed by as Mr. Gibson reviewed all the three tapes his two friends have presented to him. During this time there were countless chuckles and snorts exchanged between the trio as they watched the newly dubbed videos.

When the last tape ended, Mr. Gibson was sporting a big smile as he turned to look at his friends. He couldn’t help but laugh loudly as he felt truly happy to have watched these tapes.

His big smile twitched as Mr. Gibson happily lit a cigar of his own. None of them spoke for a while as they sat smoking the cigar. Until it was over, there was no noise in the room, only smoke.

"I haven’t felt this good since I was young," Mr. Gibson was the first to break the silence.

"Yeah, as I said, the kid is a natural at commentary," Irvin said. "His voice has magic to it."

"I haven’t had this much fun since I began commentary. This truly opened my eyes regarding the joys of commentary," Dallas’s lips twitched. "Thank you Andrew for bringing such joy into my life this late in my career."

"Ha ha ha, no need to thank me. If anyone deserves your thanks it was that kid. I didn’t even know that he had such talent lurking in him," Mr. Gibson waved off Dallas’s thanks.

He was truly happy now. He had found yet another gold mine that he has been sitting on without any knowledge of it. At first, he had only thought of Rob as a booker with bold ideas, but now he knew he was wrong.

This kid was a gold mine of ideas. Not to mention his natural talent to captivate the audience with his words. The kid was both funny and irritating at the same time. He knew that he must put this kid in commentary as soon as possible.

As if echoing his thoughts, Dallas pointed at him and said.

"You better put him on commentary. I haven’t had this much fun since I left my boots," Dallas exhorted fiercely.

"Yeah, you would be a fool to not do that. That kid can make somewhat boring matches interesting. That is a talent that you need to capitalize on," Irvin piped up from the side.

"I can already imagine," Mr. Gibson said with a smile. "Dallas with his acrimonious but righteous voice fighting with this upstart kid who has no respect and seems to be a braggart of epic proportions. Meanwhile, you lurk around them like a calm person inserting yourself into conversation exactly when it looks like they would come to blows. The crowd is going to eat this up."

"And his penchant for deriding the wrestlers in the ring," Irvin smiled in agreement.

"Yeah, what was it, ah, it went like this, <What is that moron doing now? Doesn’t he know that he needs to make the cover?>"

"<Serves him right, he should have never gone up the top rope with his clumsy feet. See where it got him>, truly wonderful," Dallas smiled happily.

"As I said, he is natural in the commentary. We need him up there as soon as possible," Irvin reiterated his point.

"I know, I was planning to revise his contract anyway. He has shown his value in the women’s division. Now, I will just add this to the contract and increase his salary," Mr. Gibson expressed his stance clearly.

"Oh, what’s the kid earning now?" Dallas asked curiously.

"He is still on probation. He is earning the bare minimum I could get off paying," Mr. Gibson said with a frown.

"Are you crazy? If you don’t keep him here, someone would poach him sooner or later," Irvin said agitatedly.

"Make that sooner rather than later. The kid is good. When word goes out that he is behind the Triple Threat Match, people would be hounding him with better contracts," Dallas grunted.

"And if his work with Dacey pans out well, he would be in high demand, Andrew. You know it better than anyone else. And you said Steven was the one who recommended him. That guy’s mouth is not known for its tightness. He will let it slip to someone soon," Irvin said nodding along.

"And if someone else heard this tape, it alone would be enough to poach the kid. You need to be fast Andrew. I can assure you there are dogs already sniffing around. When they learn his salary, they will pounce on him like a pack of rabid wolves," Dallas said seriously.

"I know. I have been meaning to change his contract. I didn’t expect him to succeed this soon. But, every time I bring that up, Robin says our finances are not good and we need to reserve the money for wrestlers who will be coming in," Mr. Gibson frowned.

"Bah! This guy is worth ten of them. Look at me Andrew, you cannot let this guy go. Instead of waiting till he comes knocking asking for a higher salary, give him a good contract and raise his impression on you," Dallas said angrily.

"We all know that in this business there were a lot of times talented men left the promotion because the boss was stingy. Don’t make that mistake. I agree with Dallas, he is worth ten of those famous kids out there," Irvin said seriously.

"Just think how high his value would be if his experiment with Dacey succeeds. Listen, you can just imagine, say you put him on commentary and even if you think with your pinky you will know he will create a following for Dacey with his mouth very soon," Dallas said leaning forward.

"And when he does that, the thing with Dacey will surely work. So, in another two to three months, Dacey’s value would skyrocket. His value would be double that of Dacey. If he can create one Dacey, he can surely do the same with others," Irvin persuaded from the side.

"So, you better hang on to him," Dallas pointed and said bluntly.

"Don’t worry, I don’t plan on letting this guy go," Mr. Gibson said seriously as his mind began to race.

*****

Rob was on pins and needles as he walked into LWC the next day. After the recordings with the two veterans Dallas and Irvin got over, the veterans had told him that they would discuss things with Mr. Gibson and let him know.

They didn’t even wait to review the tapes like they did with the one with Dacey. They merely told him that they would inform him today. It was really frustrating to be the kid on the block.

He had to make sure that he didn’t step on other people’s feet, while still trying to push his ideas. Rob knew that Robin already had an opinion about him and if he pushed the two veterans too far and displeased them, things would become awkward for Rob in LWC.

So, he had to bite down on the questions he had and let the duo do their thing. Rob also began to understand some of his problems after working with other people these few weeks.

He wanted everything to be done on the spot. If he felt that something was good, then he wanted people to do it with him immediately. He just didn’t want to waste time regardless of how complex the problem was for others.

In his mind, the problem and the solution were already there. It didn’t make much sense to him to drag things out just because someone wasn’t sure about the result. He felt such procrastination delayed things needlessly.

However, it wasn’t the same as the others. He had begun to realize that not everyone worked at the same pace as him. Some people preferred to take time and think harder before committing to a course of action.

This kind of created an invisible divide between them and Rob. While it wasn’t a big problem right now, if he continued on like this, then it would one day become a massive issue. Rob was beginning to realize this now.

So, he decided to wait it out and let the veterans work at their own pace.

Meanwhile, he would do some other things. In fact, he had a lot of things he need to worry about. After all, he had the entire women’s division under his control and he needed to show some results soon.

While the Triple Threat Match has created enough buzz around the women’s division, he needed to follow up with something else. The program with Dacey and Diana will be a long one, spanning more than three months.

So, he needed to do something else for the other female wrestlers on the roster. He obviously can’t keep them refrigerated just to concentrate on the Dacey-Diana storyline.

It was especially true for Evelyn and Selena. They both had good momentum currently and keeping them idle for too long would reduce that momentum. And the worrying part was that he didn’t have any plans for them yet.

It has been a week since they had a great match at <Break Out> and he needed to do something by next week. Rob was really conflicted in regards to them. He had a basic framework on how to present them, but it wasn’t just enough.

His plan for Evelyn was to make her become darker over the course of several months and make her look like a no-nonsense veteran who would have some sadistic tendencies.

The problem was how to begin that process.

Evelyn was currently hot and had good momentum. So, trying to put her in squash matches continuously wouldn’t make any sense. She needed to have a program going for her.

But, with who?

On the other hand, Rob had exactly zero plans for Selena. He didn’t think much about her. The problem with Selena was that she didn’t have any qualities that stood out from the rest.

She was good in all aspects, but she didn’t have that one aspect that needed to set her apart. So, when Rob was planning his ideas for the women’s division he never thought about her.

In fact, her inclusion in the Triple Threat Match was just to make the numbers. That was the reason she was the one who got pinned in the end. While he had a solid plan for Diana, and a vague idea about Evelyn, Selena was the unlucky one to have no plans. So, he didn’t mind letting her take the pin.

But, everyone’s performance during the match had been brilliant. They all had good momentum going on and Rob just didn’t want to waste that. It would be really hard to create such momentum again and he would be a fool to let it go.

As he was agonizing over utilizing the roster in the best way possible, he heard a knock on the door to his office. Rob looked up to see Mr. Gibson standing there at the entrance.

The moment he saw Mr. Gibson, Rob’s nervousness doubled. All the worries about the women on the roster were shoved aside as he eagerly waited for the verdict of yesterday’s trials.

"Rob, do you have a moment? There is something important I want to discuss with you," Mr. Gibson said uncharacteristically causing Rob to frown inwardly.

He didn’t know why Mr. Gibson was being all formal now. He wondered if Mr. Gibson was here to tell that his idea was not being adopted and they would continue commentary normally. If that was so, then it would be a huge bummer.

"Yes, Mr. Gibson. I am free right now," Rob said standing up.

"Good, let’s take this to my office," Mr. Gibson said before motioning him to follow him as he left Rob’s office.

Rob was now really feeling worried. With nothing else to do, he steeled himself and followed Mr. Gibson back to his office. When Rob entered the room, Mr. Gibson motioned Rob to close the door, to which he obliged.

Once he closed the door, he turned around to see Mr. Gibson taking a seat and motioning him to sit down opposite him. Rob took the seat nervously and looked at Mr. Gibson waiting for him to start.

"Well, Rob, I discussed your idea with Dallas and Irvin late into the night and have come to a conclusion regarding it. We have decided to give your idea a try," Rob felt the pressure on him drop dramatically and his heart sped up in joy, "on one condition!"

Mr. Gibson raised his finger up in the air looking at Rob seriously. Rob had to curb the bursting happiness inside him and waited for Mr. Gibson to continue.

"The condition being.... you join Dallas and Irvin at commentary."

Rob felt his mind blank as he heard Mr. Gibson’s condition. He had never imagined himself to be a commentator. While he enjoyed doing the trials with the veterans, he never thought of becoming a commentator.

"What!?" Rob asked in confusion.

"You heard me right," Mr. Gibson said with a small smile on his face. "We will adopt your idea on the condition that you will become one of the commentators. And your role will be similar to what you did in the trials."

*****

A/N: Hey folks!

Make sure to add this book to your collection and vote with your power stones to show your appreciation for this work.

You can also check out my other book [Demon Immortal] and see if it is to your liking.

Reviews and comments are truly appreciated.