Booking Glory-Chapter 92: A Businessman’s Perspective

Meanwhile, in an upper-class restaurant, two old men sat dining.

"You saw today’s paper?" Steven asked his friend in a serious manner.

"I have been busy. I do not pay much attention to newspapers in the wrestling circle. I only browse through them every weekend," Mr. Wagner shrugged.

"Here, I think this might interest you," Steven lent him a paper causing Mr. Wagner to raise his eyes in surprise.

"What is the problem, Steven? There is no need to spare too much attention to these papers. They are like dogs barking in the street. They can write whatever they want, but it is the money that makes things go around," Mr. Wagner shook his head, but still opened the paper Steven had given him.

The moment he saw the title, his fork paused and he concentrated on what was written on the paper. Steven saw his reaction and nodded his head. He knew that Willy Wagner would see the problem with the article. If he couldn’t notice such things, how could he become a successful business tycoon?

Steven saw a dignified look appear on Willy Wagner’s face as he read the article. As time passed, there was a hint of mild annoyance that was beginning to take root in his face and he let out a small sigh once he finished reading the article.

"Looks like this kid is not willing to play ball with us," Mr. Wagner commented closing the newspaper and turning his attention to his food.

"We assumed that much after meeting him," Steven said tucking into his food slowly.

"Sources, bah, what does he think about us? Who doesn’t know that these claims that these sources make are information people let slip personally and don’t want to claim credit," Mr. Wagner shook his head. "Still, it looks like he has some connections amongst the journalist for such things to appear. We need to look into that."

"Is that necessary?" Steven asked a little surprised.

"Steven, the best kind of winning is not to let your opponent throw even a punch, If the kid knows what’s best for him, he would silently endure the beating we dish out and learn some reality. But, it looks like he is a spirited kid. He wants to throw some punches back," Mr. Wagner said with a small smile. "In that case, let’s take away his gloves and see if he can still throw punches."

"Careful, bare-handed punches hurt more than gloved punches," Steven chuckled.

"Ah, bare-handed punches aren’t allowed by rules, right?" Mr. Wagner smiled in amusement. "Even then, throwing punches with bare hands can cause damage to the person’s hands if he throws it against a wall."

"Quite right," Steven chuckled and sipped his drink. "So, you want to throttle his voice in the news circle?"

"Those are drastic measures," Mr. Wagner shook his head. "Only someone without class would resort to them at the get-go. I am a businessman. Not a gangster. What I am going to do is subvert this voice to work for us instead of him. After all, the voice would earn more benefits by working for us."

"What if the voice isn’t willing?" Steven asked calmly.

"The voice might not be willing, but the body that houses the voice will be very amiable to working with bigshots like us. To them, newcomers are rarely worth investing in. They would always support bigshots like us to get more advantages to their side," Mr. Wagner stated nonchalantly biting into his steak.

"You plan to make Wrestle Report your mouthpiece?" Steven asked in surprise.

"Think about it," Mr. Wagner said calmly. "Steven, you should know this principle in business first. You should never take a decision based on emotion. Right now, you are worried about this kid mucking things up. So, your concentration is on him solely."

"Me, however," Mr. Wagner paused to wash down the steak with some fine wine. "I am looking farther than that kid. Do you think this is the only problem that would pop up? Is it even worth it for us to deal with this kid directly? No, that way, we will be spending a lot of time dealing with every issue that pops up."

"That is the difference between businessmen and normal people. We don’t deal with issues directly. We let others deal with issues and only reap the benefits. At most, we will provide some benefits to those who deal with issues," Mr. Wagner smiled enigmatically.

"If we rope in Wrestle Report, we can use it to deal not with just this kid. Any other problem that might pop up can be dealt with using Wrestle Report as well. After all, they are a respected publication in wrestling circles. People will believe what they say."

"It looks like I still have a lot to learn," Steven smiled embarrassedly. "Talking to you these days has opened my eyes about things a lot."

"Steven, you are a fine booker. If I was asked to book, I might not do as good a job as you. You can see things that I don’t even know about. You can identify problems and come up with countermeasures that I won’t even be aware of if I was asked to book. But, being a booker is not conducive to running a business."

"As a booker, you are in the thick of things. You need to get down there and get your hands dirty. But, as a business owner, you must be able to stay relatively detached from day-to-day things. You need to learn to let go, my friend."

"I am saying this because you will be the one running this promotion mostly. I have a lot of other businesses to take care of as well. I won’t have enough time to deal with every issue that arises. So, the handling of this business will mostly be in your hand."

"I understand," Steven said nodding.

"No, you don’t," Mr. Wagner chuckled. "Don’t look at me like that, Steven. I am not making fun of you. I am merely stating facts here. You are still emotionally tied to the wrestling world. You can’t let go of the fact that you were ousted from AWF. Your emotional attachment is your weakness. It is because of this that you lost to Greg in AWF."

Steven remained silent as he knew what Willy Wagner said regarding him not being able to let go of his ousting from AWF. It was true. That was the biggest defeat he had suffered in his career till now.

However, he didn’t understand Willy Wagner’s words about being emotionally attached to the business. In his mind, having passion and emotional attachment is what drove him to be the best. How it became a weakness was something he didn’t understand.

"What do you mean?" Steven asked putting his fork down.

"See," Mr. Wagner pointed at Steven’s actions. "This is what I am talking about. You got rattled by my statement and you immediately questioned me because you are emotionally compromised when it comes to wrestling."

"I don’t understand how it could be a weakness," Steven said frowning. "The passion for the business and my attachment to it is what drives me to be the best."

"Ah..." Mr. Wagner shook his head. "Steven, you are still in the mindset of an employee. You are now a business owner. Stop thinking like an employee. Things like passion, aspirations, and goals are stuff that employees talk about. You are now an employer."

"I don’t understand..."

"Steven, as a business owner, your one and only goal is to earn more money. The day-to-day running of the business, the direction of the business, the improvements, and all the other stuff should be left to your employees to worry about. All you have to think about is how to earn more. Where to cut more costs. Where to reduce expenditure. Where to increase profit. Nothing more, nothing less."

"You mean, I shouldn’t care about anything else apart from money?" Steven asked in confusion.

"Exactly," Mr. Wagner smiled. "When starting a business, you should only care about whether it would be profitable. As for stuff like the hows, whys, and whos, they aren’t things to worry about. You can always hire someone to do those things for you."

"Once you start the business, your eye should always be on the profit. Because that is what keeps you at the top of the food chain. There is no use if a business has a great reputation but doesn’t turn a profit. It is a loss for you. Who cares what others think as long as you make a profit."

"Provided, there are other things you need to take care of once you start earning money like avoiding taxes, maintaining your image, and other stuff. But the basic building block on which all these things hinge on is the profit you make. No profit. No taxes, image, or reputation. You will be just another loser that the world doesn’t care about."

"What about whether the company is running in the right direction or whether the people under me are being treated properly?"

"Hah," Mr. Wagner laughed a little and looked at Steven. "Steven, let me ask, why should you care about those things as long as you earn money? Take our issue with this kid for example. He is a genius, he can shake the status quo if given a proper platform. But, you don’t see me being completely immersed in the idea of recruiting him, do you?"

"The reason is simple. What I care about is money. While looping in this kid might be beneficial at the initial stages, at later stages, I need to pay more to retain the service of the stars. I need to pay more to satisfy the increasing demands this kid will put forth because people like him are like that. They always want to pursue something bigger and better."

"This..." Mr. Wagner pointed with his fork. "This will cut into my profit. That is a no-no for me. I want my profits to increase as time goes by. I don’t want them to decrease. So, I am not keen on roping in people like him."

"Still, don’t we need to oversee the development of the business we are starting?" Steven asked.

"Oversee, but don’t work. There is a subtle difference. For people like us, time is the most important thing. My ideology can be summed up in a few simple sentences," Mr. Wagner put down his fork and turned serious.

"Don’t work, let others work for you. Fix a goal, throw the tedious things like how to accomplish it and what way to do it to others. If a problem arises, try to subvert it to become an asset. If not, demolish it root and stem. Make sure nothing hinders your profit. No matter who it is, do not allow anyone to come between you and your profit," Mr. Wagner said sternly and went back to eating his food.

Steven looked really impressed by these words. He slowly started to mull over these words while working through his food. Even when the lunch was finished and they were relaxing a bit with a cigar in their hands, Steven was still mulling about Mr. Wagner’s philosophy.

The more he thought about it, the more it made sense to him. He started going over his recent actions on the basis of this philosophy and found his behavior wanting. He hadn’t made any efforts to bring Greg into his camp. That had created a rival for him in AWF.

He didn’t destroy Greg’s influence in the promotion even after knowing that he was a rival. He had felt secure in his position and never did anything to prevent Greg from rising further.

The further he went back, the more he realized that all these philosophies that Willy Wagner practiced were practiced by Greg in some way or form as well. Greg never allowed any new threat to rise to his position. He destroyed them systematically with his influence. The only people he couldn’t touch were him and Roger.

Greg never worked as much as them. But, he always had a finger in every pie. He had his subordinates working for him and giving the credit to him. If Greg found someone with potential, he would try to bring them into his camp at all costs, if not then he would drive them out of AWF somehow.

The number of people Greg had driven out of AWF was not small.

As Steven thought about all these things, he only felt that his defeat at Greg’s hands was only logical. While he had been busy mingling with the employees, Greg had established himself amongst the employers. That had been the final nail in the coffin for him.

It had been a long time since he had learned something that impacted him this much. He couldn’t help but see Willy Wagner in a new light. If Steven had had this conversation, years prior, he wouldn’t have agreed with Willy Wagner’s philosophy.

But, after suffering a huge defeat, his arrogance has been eroded and he was back to his younger self when he was hungry to make his mark. If not for that change, he would never give these words much thought.

"So, what do you think we should do now," Steven asked taking a large puff of his cigar.

"Simple," Mr. Wagner said casually and took a puff of his cigar. "We muddy the waters. Sow confusion. As long as our opponents don’t know what we are going to do, we will always have an advantage."

"Let the paper tout this kid as the next big thing. Make it look like we are really interested in him. It would serve two purposes. It would divert the attention of other promotions from our primary target. It will also create turmoil in the place where the kid works."

"You want to move against LWC?" Steven asked in surprise.

"No, I want to move against everyone that could pose trouble to us. If LWC falls under the list, then so be it. It doesn’t matter if they are big, small, or medium-sized promotions. As long as they have the potential to threaten our vision, they will come under firing range," Mr. Wagner said stuffing his cigar out.

"It would make our workload a little big," Steven frowned.

"Once again you are thinking like an employee. We are not going to make any moves. We are going to appear like making moves. The other promotions won’t sit still. They will join and muddy the waters. Meanwhile, you can conduct secret negotiations with our prospective picks. Also, make sure to include a few up-and-coming stars as well," Mr. Wagner said looking into the horizon.

"You want to contract them as well?" Steven asked in confusion as this wasn’t their original plan.

"Steven, if you get a bunch of fat sheep and let them out to pasture, they will laze around and not be active. However, if you bring in a few dogs and let them terrorize them, they will be much more active. We should show the stars we hire that they can be replaced by others as well," Mr. Wagner said turning to look at Steven.

"Putting these up-and-coming stars in the midst of established stars will create competition. And this competition is essential. As long as they are worried about their spot being taken away by others, they wouldn’t have time to trouble us. They will be too busy politicking amongst themselves. This would reduce a lot of headaches," Mr. Wagner said sagely.

"It will also give us a broad talent pool," Steven nodded in understanding.

"Exactly," Mr. Wagner smiled broadly. "Now you are thinking like an employer. Never do something with only one goal. Always have a secondary and tertiary goal attached as well."

"I think it’s time we met up with the owner of Wrestle Reports," Mr. Wagner smiled. "What do you think?"

"I can arrange a dinner tonight," Steven said nodding along. "We can use the paper to confuse our opponents if we get them on our side. However, what are we going to offer in return?"

"Why? Everything, my friend. Everything and nothing!" Mr. Wagner smiled enigmatically causing Steven to shake his head and laugh.

*****

A/N: Hey folks!

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