Booking Glory-Chapter 66: Post - Part 2

"Moving on, let’s talk about the men’s division. Before you start Robin, I am aware of the lack of signing of other veterans. You can go ahead and extend Marshall’s contract till the end of the year. While he is obviously out of shape, he can still put up a decent match. So, I don’t have any objections to it," Mr. Gibson forestalled Robin’s complaints and let out a huge sigh.

"These old bastards are thinking of me as a fool. Whenever I want to talk to them about the contract, they open their lion’s mouths and want to gobble me up. If they are not going to think about long years of friendship and treat me as an outsider, I am going to do the same to them," Mr. Gibson harrumphed angrily.

"So, those old coots are still sitting high on the mountain eh?" Mr. Wolfe chuckled.

"Hmmph, those bastards don’t know what year this is. They are obviously way past their prime and still want the same level of treatment as when they were in their prime. Who would be foolish enough to do that?" Mr. Gibson grumbled.

"So, we are not going to get any veterans?" Robin asked a little uneasily.

"Haven’t you been listening Robin, they are not willing to work for us without a boatload of money. Even for a small duration like a month or two, they are opening their lion’s mouth," Mr. Gibson said angrily.

"I understand. But, the plan for Mark was to go on and defeat a few veterans to establish himself more firmly. With no more veterans coming in, we need to alter those plans drastically. And we now have no main event for the next PPV to build as well," Robin said obviously upset.

"That is your job, Robin. You need to figure something out," Mr. Gibson said in irritation.

"Andy, you have to work with me here. You are not bringing in guys that are hot now, and you are not bringing in veterans. How am I supposed to make the main event with no special attraction coming in?" Robin said heatedly.

Mr. Gibson didn’t speak. But, the anger was obvious in his eyes.

"Also, this is the time we need to be expanding rapidly. AWF is stuck in its internal turmoil. The other mid-sized promotions haven’t reacted to us. It is the perfect time for us to expand. Because, when these guys wake up, trust me, they will, when they wake up they will never allow us to expand," Robin said seriously.

"I understand you want to play it safe. But, there is time for playing safe and there is time for playing for broke. Playing safe now will not benefit us in any way in the long term. It might make our accounts look beautiful short term, but we will be caught in a quagmire soon." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Mr. Gibson scowled openly at that. He shot Robin a scathing glare. Robin didn’t back down either. He took stared back hard at Mr. Gibson. Their staring contest lasted for a while, but Mr. Wolfe got tired of it and spoke up.

"Andy, you know Robin is right," Mr. Wolfe sighed. "This is not time for us to play safe. Don’t forget, we are booking a bigger arena for the next PPV. We need to put out the main event that can headline that PPV. Only Mark is capable of it now. We need at least one more guy."

"Can’t we go ahead with Marshall?" Mr. Gibson asked disgruntled.

"We can’t and you know it as well. Marshall could barely hang in there for the last match. Dacey and Diana stole the show. If Marshall was at his prime, Mark and he would have stolen the show instead of the women," Mr. Wolfe said shaking his head.

"Goddamn it!" Mr. Gibson cursed. "Just when it was looking like we will be able to breathe a little, we run into yet another problem."

"Andy, the roster we had was good enough for a low-tier promotion. But, it is not a good roster when you compare it with other mid-tier promotions. If we need to move to the next level, we need to take some risks as well," Robin said calmly.

"I know, I know, it is just, I never wanted to build a bigger promotion, you know. All I wanted was to put on some shows and see some talented kids flourish. Now, everything is moving beyond my control," Mr. Gibson scowled.

"I understand," Mr. Wolfe said smiling slightly at Mr. Gibson. "But it is what it is, Andy. Don’t you know how many of those small promotion owners would be willing to kill to sit in your seat now? I get that things are not exactly what you wanted to be."

"Somehow, this promotion has gathered a life of its own and it outgrows our boldest expectations. You should have seen this sign when Steven recommended us for that TV deal. I understand that you are not exactly comfortable with the fast pace we are moving ahead."

"But, look on the bright side. That little promotion you started to give talented kids a chance is now one of the notable names in the wrestling world. And we haven’t done growing yet," Mr. Wolfe patted Mr. Gibson’s hand consolingly and smiled.

"Fine, fine. If we are going for broke, then let’s bet everything as well. I want this next PPV to be something that would be in people’s memories for ages to come. Robin, you go ahead and talk with talents who are currently hot in the circle. And I will cough up some money to bring in a few veterans as well," Mr. Gibson said scowling.

"That’s the spirit. I was afraid to mention this before, but you have become a tad bit timider since this TV deal came in. You would boldly go after the stuff you wanted before that, but you became cautious since the TV deal," Mr. Wolfe smiled happily.

"Well, we all have our moments. Rob, do you need anything? I will put that also on the agenda," Mr. Gibson said looking at Rob.

"Me, I am actually fine with what I have now. I can’t even showcase most of the talents that I have on my hands," Rob said smiling ruefully. "The only thing I would want more is more time for the women’s division in general. But, I understand that it is impractical."

"Damn kid, do you have to be such a wet blanket? I was on a roll and you have to go and pour water on me," Mr. Gibson grouched playfully and turned towards Robin.

"Speaking of the TV deal, what is Breeze TV saying?" Mr. Gibson asked Robin.

"Overall, they are happy. They might even extend the deal soon. Right now, we are negotiating the various provisions to be put in the contract. They seem to be glad with our progress in the last few months," Robin said happily.

"And if I can show them that we are serious about expanding and bringing in famous wrestlers, then the negotiation would move at a faster pace as well. I am having high hopes that we will be able to sign the extension before next month."

"Hmmm looks like <Last Stand> won them over," Mr. Gibson said happily.

"I think so as well," Robin stated happily. "The response last night was unprecedented. We were firing on all cylinders. We had a great main event to send people home happy, and even the opener with the women’s division was really good. We killed it last night, Andy."

"Yeah, we did," Mr, Gibson said smiling brightly.

"But, they are still ambivalent about the women’s division’s direction as a whole. They understand that we are trying to do something different with it compared to other promotions. However, they are also worried that we are taking it into an extreme region where it will start to drive away family audience."

"Bah, what family audience? This is wrestling, not a reality show. I understand their concern and we will tone down on the use of profanity, but we are not going to stop them altogether. Did you see how the crowd reacted when Dacey flipped them off? Tell me that doesn’t sell tickets," Mr. Gibson said heatedly.

"That is what all they are asking. Less profanity on live TV. It would be better if we toned down on Dacey’s behavioral aspects as well, but I understand if it is needed to put her over," Robin said with a slight smile.

Something about that statement didn’t sit well with Rob. It was as if Robin was hinting that without these behavior patterns Dacey wouldn’t be over. Rob has also been noticing that whenever Robin talked about <Last Stand>, he put over the main event and subtly downplayed the role of the women’s division.

If Robin has not done that repetitively, Rob wouldn’t have even noticed that bit of wordplay by him. Rob felt as if Robin was doing this on purpose. But, he didn’t want to come out outright and confront him about it. He had already gotten what he wanted out of this meeting. There is no use in pushing things.

"So, let’s talk about the gimmicks we are going to use for the next PPV. Since it is an extreme special, there will be blood during the matches. I hope Breeze TV isn’t put off by that as well," Mr. Gibson said narrowing his eyes.

"They understand that such a PPV is needed to retain the audience. But, they also expressed some hope that we don’t do it too often," Robin said diplomatically.

"So, in translation, they are pussies who don’t want to see blood, but they will agree as long as it is not done too much," Mr. Wolfe snorted.

Robin merely smiled expressing his stance.

"Fine, it is not as if we are going to do it too often. We are only having one PPV with blood and extreme rules in a year. If we don’t even do that we won’t be able to retain the hardcore section of the audience," Mr. Gibson said shaking his head.

"Like I said, they are fine with it as long as we don’t overdo it," Robin said smoothly.

"Good, so do you have any plans for what kind of match the main event is going to be?" Mr. Gibson asked.

"Not very sure as we don’t even know who he will face for it in the main event. And I don’t think there will be many veterans who will be able to work an extreme rules match. So, I think we should let Mark face some of our own competition for this," Robin said thinking hard.

"Good, and it will also give us some time to negotiate better contracts with either the popular ones or the old coots," Mr. Gibson said nodding along. "But, how are you going to make that possible? Forgive me, is there anyone that could match the status we need to headline this PPV with Mark?"

"No, if it was normal time, I would have recommended a few guys. However, we are going to expand and the PPV is also going to be somewhat bigger compared to normal PPVs. We need a marque match to sell these tickets," Robin said frowning.

"I agree, we should discuss it now. We need to set things in motion from this week itself. We need to build it up in the proper way, and for that, we need enough time," Mr. Gibson said looking thoughtful.

The room remained silent for a long time. But, neither Robin nor Mr. Gibson spoke to break the silence. Rob and Mr. Wolfe decided to keep quiet and let them think. They both had a contemplative expressions on their face as they racked their brains to come up with something that could make it truly a marque match.

"Robin, how about we do a triple threat, no disqualification match for the title?" Mr. Gibson asked after a while. "Hear me out, if one opponent doesn’t have enough star power, we can add another one to the equation. And Triple Threat Match is still a relatively fresh idea. No other promotion seems to have booked one such thing either."

"We can put Mark and Marshall with one of the other guys. Mark and the other guy could work most of the match, leaving Marshall to chip in from time to time. Moreover, Marshall is known for his violent matches. He isn’t called The Headsmasher for anything. I think this has a great prospect," Mr. Gibson said earnestly.

Rob saw Robin’s face stiffen a little at the mention of Triple Threat Match. He knew that Robin didn’t want any of his ideas to be implemented in the men’s division. So, he was also eager to know how Robin was going to respond to this proposal.

"That idea has merit. But, I am not sure about it. Also, if we book a Triple Threat Match for the main event, we also need to be careful of the paychecks that will be given to the three talents as well," Robin said frowning.

"But, the gimmick would generate enough interest, wouldn’t it?" Mr. Gibson didn’t relent.

"Yes," Robin admitted grudgingly.

"Then we can go ahead with it. No need to think much about it. We will put out yet another Triple Threat Match, but this time in the men’s division. And we will have no disqualification rules. It would also keep things fresh, instead of making them stale," Mr. Gibson said nodding his head.

"I have no issues," Robin said with a false smile. "I will start looking for the potential third candidate."

Robin’s eyes flashed slightly when he uttered the final sentence. He turned to look at Rob, who was staring back at him nonchalantly. Their eyes held contact for a bit before Robin averted his gaze.

Rob felt that something had just changed in his relationship with Robin at that moment. He didn’t outwardly react and kept a calm composure through the rest of the meeting.

*****

A/N: Hey folks!

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