-New York- -A few days before Shatter Point-
-Shot cuts to outside The Colosseum, a yellow taxi pulls to a stop and Xavier Reid hopes out and quickly pays the man. He looks around to make sure nobody notices him and pulls his hat down over his face. He walks to the main gate where he’s met by EWA security.-
Security: “Fans are not permitted inside today, box office window is over there if you want tickets to this week’s show.” Xavier Reid: “I’m not a fan rent a cop, I’m here to see the General Manager Frankie Manning.”
-The security guard looks at Xavier and then walks back and grabs the clip board.-
Security Guard: “Name.” Xavier Reid: “I’m not going to be on any list, I’m here to talk to him about the open invitation for the Underground Title.”
-The security guard lifts up his own hat and looks Xavier over.-
Security Guard: “Kid this is open to WRESTLES, not random fans hoping to break into the business, do yourself a favor and just buy a ticket and leave the wrestling to the pros.-
-Xavier lifts his hat to look the guard in the eye.-
Xavier Reid: “Do you know who the hell I am?” Security Guard: “Son if you have to ask that question you already know the answer, NOW BEAT IT, you’re not getting in here.”
-Xavier stands his ground debating his choices, sure he could teach the rent a cop a lesson, nobody was around, but who would that look. He wanted in the Underground match and what would this GM think about him beating the hell out of the security on day one.-
Xavier Reid: “Take a good look at this face Barney Fife, we will be seeing each other again real soon, I’ll be the one holding EWA gold, enjoy your fucking doughnuts pig.”
-Xavier walks away as the guard continues to yell at his direction. This place was huge, there was bound to be another way in. He pulled his hat back down over his face, EWA fans eager to get a look at this place where taking pictures, he wanted his debut to be a surprise, a real mark out moment and he didn’t want to end up in a picture and the story to break online. He walks around the fans who pose in front of the Colosseum. He makes his way around the right side of the arena where a black called pulled to a stop, the driver jumped out and opened the door for Jenny Jacobs, who steps out and walks up to one of the doors and knocks. It’s opened by more EWA Security and quickly closed.-
Xavier Reid: “Damn.”
-The driver looks at him for a second and Xavier drops his head and continues to walk around the back of the arena. The back was no luck, no doors at all but then he heard the sounds of a truck backing up around the left side, and he ran in that direction and saw what might be his chance to get inside. A Coke truck was backing up to a bay door and the door was open, Xavier ran at it and was waiting for the driver as he stepped out.-
Xavier Reid: “Damn man cutting it close, thought you were going to no show us man.” Coke Driver: “Excuse me, I’m a day early.”
Xavier Reid: “Yeah I know, I was busting your balls man, do you have our invoice.”
Coke Driver: “Yeah just need your signature.”
-The driver hands Xavier the clip board and a pen. He looks down for the X and signs: Nicolas Alexander, he thinks to himself, Ha, that never gets old, and hands it back to the driver who looks down at it.-
Coke Driver: “Alright Nicolas, you want to give me a hand with this?” Xavier Reid: “I need to run this back to the office but will be right back to help, get started and I’ll be right back.”
-The driver is a bit pissed at that answer as he looks back at all he needs to unload. Xavier tips his hat and walks inside. The place was massive, but he was right outside the lockers. He didn’t want to be spotted but needed to find out where Manning was. A kid wearing a EWA polo came walking in Xavier’s direction.-
Xavier Reid: “Hey man, sorry to ask, but where are the offices, I have the invoice for the concession and Mr. Manning wanted it as soon as it got here.” EWA Employee: “Yeah no problem, this place gets some time to get use too, straight through the locker, you will hit the gym and then go right through the kitchen and the offices are right there, you can’t miss them.”
Xavier Reid: “Yeah but can I be missed?”
EWA Employee: “Excuse me?”
Xavier Reid: “Oh nothing, thanks man.”
-Xavier walks through the locker rooms unseen and makes his way to the gym. He peaks his head inside to see if anyone is in there, sure enough two guys, Chris Kash and Ivan A. Jobalot, no real worries, these two where nobodies but how the hell did they get signed before him, not really important at this moment. Xavier lowers his hat and walks right past the two but it wasn’t that hard, they both were too busy looking at themselves in the mirror to notice him.-
Xavier Reid: “Looking good guys.” Ivan A. Jobalot: “I know right, I’m getting big man.”
-Xavier makes his way out of there and into the kitchen where ring announcer Maxwell Fabian is opening a can of Amp Energy drink, he pours it back and takes a huge gulp.-
Maxwell Fabian: “AMP ENERGY DRINK, THE DRINK OF THE EWA, OH YEAH!!!!!” Xavier Reid: “If you really want something good mix it with Mountain Dew Code Red, top notch man, trust me!”
Maxwell Fabian: “OH HELL YEAH!!!”
-Maxwell pulls out his wallet and heads to the vending machine.-
Xavier Reid: “Idiot, his heart is going to explode, I swear they scrapped the bottom of the barrel with him.”
-Xavier walks up to the giant glass doors and steps inside the EWA offices. The people are busy as hell running around trying to get acclimated to the new offices. Xavier looks around and spots his target, a little old lady sitting at her desk with a smile.-
Xavier Reid: “Excuse me I hate to bother you but I was looking for Mr. Manning, I have this order form he needed.”
-Xavier shows her the paper.-
Old Lady: “Oh sweetie I can give that to him it’s not for you to worry about.” Xavier Reid: “Oh thank you but I would like to give it to him, introduce myself, you know, show him that I’m a hard worker.”
Old Lady: “Taking the initiative, that’s a smart move, right this way young man, I’ll show you to his office.”
Xavier Reid: “Thanks maim and might I say that’s a lovely sweater you have on today.”
Old Lady: “Well thank you very much, it was a gift from my granddaughter, you know she’s just about your age, just moved here for school and still hasn’t met anyone to show her around the town, would you be interested in meeting her?”
-The lady pulls out a picture of a cute blonde.-
Old Lady: “Believe it or not she looks a lot like I did at that age.” Xavier Reid: “Well better hit it now while the goings good.”
Old Lady: “What dear.”
Xavier Reid: “I said I would love to help you out and met her.”
Old Lady: “Oh how sweet of you, she’ll be so happy, poor things just comes home from school every day and sits in my apartment, I think she is scared of the big city, she’s just a shy girl from North Carolina, afraid someone is going to take advantage of her, stop by my desk on your way out and I will give you the number, well here you are, Mr. Manning’s office.”
-Xavier tips his hat to her and walks into Frankie Mannings office, he is on the phone and looks at Xavier, who takes off his hat and flops down on the couch on the far wall. Manning looks at him, it’s clear he knows who has just walking into his office.-
Frankie Manning: “Um, I have to step away for a second, I’ll call you right back.”
-Manning hangs the phone up and just looks at Xavier who puts his feet back and stretches out.-
Frankie Manning: “Well, well, well, look who it is, Xavier Reid. Last time I heard you were over in Japan.” Xavier Reid: “Nope, Mexico, and you knew that, in fact I saw you at one of my shows a month ago.”
Frankie Manning: “Oh yeah, I was scouting a few people.”
Xavier Reid: “Really, was one of those people me?”
Frankie Manning: “Xavier you are a hell of a talent, can I be honest with you?”
-Xavier sits up as Frankie gets up and walks around his desk.-
Frankie Manning: “You are a great performer, nobody can take that away from you Xavier, the things you can do inside the ring is amazing, but it’s your attitude that is keeping you in the indies. Companies don’t want to deal with you because you have bought into the hype. You’re still a young kid but you think you are an Icon, someone that deserves to be treated like an elite star, one day you might deserve this kind of treatment but right now, no.” Xavier Reid: “I was the youngest North American Champion.”
Frankie Manning: “Yeah you were and that was the problem. Marcus Williams gave you too much too soon, you never had to work your way up from the bottom, never had to crawl your way from nothing, you never had that hunger that these guys have.”
Xavier Reid: “I didn’t need it, I was just that damn good.”
Frankie Manning: “You were handed that belt Xavier, you didn’t earn it.”
Xavier Reid: “Maybe not but I never lost it, I defended that belt for over a year and never lost, you sit there and act like everything was just handed to me, well maybe some things were but that was because of the skill I possessed. I was taken into elite teams and groups because I was the future of this business, guys like AC saw that, that’s why I was in 3pAC, I was the future.”
Frankie Manning: “Why because one man told you that?”
Xavier Reid: “No because that is the truth.”
Frankie Manning: “Then answer me this Xavier, why in the world are you wasting away in the Indies? If you are indeed the future of this business someone would have taken a chance on you by now, like I said Xavier nobody doubts your skill, it’s just your attitude we don’t want to put up with.”
Xavier Reid: “Is that so Frankie.”
Frankie Manning: “Hey kid I’m just telling you the truth, sure there have been times when I thought about picking up the phone and calling you, the EWA is thin and could use a guy like you but damn man I just could never pull the trigger, I just didn’t want to have to deal with your ego every day. I have enough on my plate right now without having you to worry about. Improve your attitude kid and maybe one day I will pick up that phone and give you a call.”
Xavier Reid: “Wow Frankie, you really told me like it is, you know I really needed that, no really, you really opened my eyes and showed me my faults.”
Frankie Manning: “This is what I’m talking about Xavier, you know what, I’m a busy man and need to get back to the running of this place, we have a big show this week, you might have seen it, so if you don’t mind you can show yourself out.”
-Frankie Manning points to the door and walks back behind his desk. Xavier stands up and walks to the door and opens it, he pauses for a second and then looks back.-
Xavier Reid: “You know what I have been watching, last week was a great show for you Frankie, big announcement about this new arena and the big announcement about your new title. Yeah I saw that and really liked it, especially the part where you said, what was it, oh yeah, the part where you said ANYONE is free to walk down the aisle and compete for that title. You called it the working man’s title, well you see Frankie I talked to a few lawyers and they watched the tape, you didn’t say it was only for people on the roster, no you said ANYONE!” Frankie Manning: “What are you trying to tell me Xavier?”
Xavier Reid: “I’m telling you that I’m here today to tell you that I’m officially entering the EWA Underground Title Free For All.”
Frankie Manning: “You have to be kidding me Xavier, this is 24/7, violent matches, looking over your should day and night, you don’t want a part of this.”
Xavier Reid: “Oh but I do, you see I listened last week to your speech, some titles are prestigious while others are stepping stones, but this title, oh this title is something a little different. It’s going to take skill to defend this belt and if someone was to manage to hold on to this belt for awhile well Frankie some might call that man great. You said it’s going to take stamina and commitment, well those are two words that describe Xavier Reid. You say I need to change my attitude, well I say my attitude is perfectly fine, it’s that attitude that brought me here today and it’s that attitude that is going to make me walk down that aisle at Shatter Point and it’s that attitude that’s going to take me to victory and become the first EWA Underground Champion. So, Frankie, I’ll be needing a pass to get in here Monday night.”
-Xavier turns and walks over to Frankie’s desk and puts out his hand.-
Frankie Manning: “You are serious about this?” Xavier Reid: “Like a heart attack.”
Frankie Manning: “Does anyone know you are here today?”
Xavier Reid: “Nope, nobody knows, thought you would like it that way, give the people a real surprise this week, but if you want it out there.”
Frankie Manning: “No, no, keep it quiet, keep out of sight this week, let’s make this a surprise and give the fans one hell of a shock this week.”
-Frankie looks down at his desk and picks up a pass and hands it to Xavier.-
Xavier Reid: “Thanks man, I’ll be seeing you Monday night.” Frankie Manning: “Stay out of sight Xavier.”
-Xavier walks back towards the door and stops.-
Xavier Reid: “Oh and get my contract ready, I hate it for you if I won the Underground Title and wasn’t signed to the EWA, be a damn same to see that title end up on another companies show wouldn’t it?”
-Xavier laughs as he closes the door behind him. Manning looks like he is about to say something and then sits down, he is smiling but it slowly beings to fade off his face, he stands up and walks towards the door, he reaches out and grabs the handle and stops.-
Frankie Manning: "I can control him, it will be fine."
-Manning lets go of the door and returns to his desk. Xavier walks back out to the offices, there waiting for him is the old lady, she hands up the phone and smiles.-
Old Lady: “I was just talking to my granddaughter Erica, I told her that she should be expecting your call.”
-She hands Xavier a piece of paper with a number on it, he looks at it and pockets it.-
Xavier Reid: “I’ll make sure to call her tonight and set something up.” Old Lady: “Oh lovely, you two will be so cute together, but treat her well, she’s a lovely young woman.”
Xavier Reid: “Oh don’t you worry about that, I know how to treat a lady.”
-He smiles and leaves the office and heads back to the front of the arena, he pulls his hat back over his eyes, keeping his word to Frankie Manning he would keep a low profile, he didn’t want to spoil this, these fans were going to flip out when they saw him. They loved to hate him, but how bad was it going to piss them off when he holds up that title, oh man it was going to be great. Xavier reaches the main door and opens it up, the security guard from earlier sees him walks towards him.-
Security Guard: “Hey I told you no fans allowed, boy I swear to god I’m going to teach you some respect.”
-Xavier stops and holds up the pass right in his face.-
Xavier Reid: “I told you I wasn’t a damn fan pal, now, turn your fat ass around and get back to the door before I have to go back to Mr. Manning’s and tell him his damn rent a cops are harassing the talent.”
-The guard looks at the pass and is speechless.-
Security Guard: “I’m, I’m sorry about the mix up, I thought you were a fan, I’m, I’m.” Xavier Reid: “It’s fine, simple mistake, just don’t let it happen again ok?”
Security Guard: “Ok, yeah no problem man.”
-The security guard pats Xavier on the shoulder and turns to walk away.-
Xavier Reid: “Oh one last thing.”
-The security guard turns back towards Xavier and eats a super kick to the face that up ends him. Xavier stands over his as he grabs his face.-
Xavier Reid: “I told you to remember this face, this Monday when I come in, you will call me sir, got it, or this will simply seem like a stubbed toe, you need to learn your place in this word Barney Fife, you are nothing and me, well I’m a star in the making, a Icon in this business and after Monday at Shatter Point, well I’ll simply be a CHAMPION!”
-Xavier laughs as he steps over the guard and onto the streets.-
-Shatter Point-
EWA Offical: “Get up kid, here’s your shit.”
-The man drops a bag next to where Xavier is laying.-
Xavier Reid: “What, what happened?” EWA Offical: “You just lost, AGAIN!”
Xavier Reid: “Who, who hit me?”
EWA Offical: “El Pablo, it was sick man!”
-Xavier sits up and looks around as the people begin to file out of the arena.-
EWA Offical: “Oh by the way, Mr. Manning wanted me to give you a message from him.”
-Xavier looks up at the man.-
EWA Offical: “STAY THE FUCK OUT OF THE EWA!”
-The offical laughs and walks back into The Colosseum leaving Xavier Reid sitting by himself.-
Xavier Reid: “THIS ISN’T OVER! YOU TELL MANNING THIS ISN’T OVER!!!!!”
-The EWA Offical flips him off as he walks back in.-
