Another sunny day in El Paso, Texas. Ron and his wife Shannon are seated next to each other in the front seat of his F-150. Their two young children are in the care of Ron's mother as the couple head for Shannon's second training session at Ron's gym.

Ron is dressed in his usual gym attire, an olive drab Under Armour T-Shirt, a pair of shorts, and some cross trainers. Shannon looks stunning in a pair of yoga pants, a tight fitting tank top, and her own pair of cross trainers. She reaches over and squeezes Ron's upper thigh.

"I'm glad we are doing this. It's nice to have time together like this."

"Me too, you sure you had fun yesterday?" It had been rough for Shannon, she had been an athlete when she was younger, but in sports like track and swimming. Stepping into the world of combat sports was a huge change for her.

"Yeah, it was tough but that's what I liked about it. There's only so many time I can do those Brazilian Butt Lift and p90x videos."

"Good, we'll give it a few more weeks. By then you'll have a few things that you're good at and we can reevaluate this whole manager thing."

"Any news from the guys in your match?"

"Not yet, most of these guys couldn't spell "self control" if you spotted them the first ten letters though. I'm sure they are out there boozing and partying it up. Except for the kid controlling that Kinwrathi hologram, he probably ate the last of the Cheetos and his mom grounded him."

Shannon laughed and playfully slapped his leg "So mean!"

Ron just smiled and shrugged his shoulders, a moment later they were pulling into the parking lot of the gym. The lot was empty except for Jeff's sedan parked right next to the front door. Ron was trying to get here early every day so he could go over some things with his wife that he thought would prove useful. They said their "Hellos" to Jeff and exchanged pleasantries and then hit the mats while he dealt with some accounting issues.

The couple engaged in some light warming up and then Ron began instructing. She did fine with a rear naked choke, worked a butterfly sweep very fluidly, and playfully held him between her legs when he taught her a triangle choke from guard. Their private lesson soon ended and members of the gym, both male and female, began to trickle in for the afternoon no-gi class.

Within ten minutes the battle was on. Arms and legs intertwined, forearms snaked around throats, and egos were taken down a peg. Today Ron insisted on starting every roll flat on his back, working on different ways to escape and reverse position for his upcoming match. He knew he was making a major leap in competition and wanted to be prepared for every possible event. Eventually the class was over and the participants began their cool down, all of them except Ron.

The former Division 1 All-American made a beeline for the treadmill and within seconds he had it cranked it up to a speed just below a sprint and at a very respectable incline. Shannon stretched lightly for a few minutes, her black hair plastered to her face with sweat before she noticed her husband running like a madman after punishing everyone in the class for over an hour. She rolled to her feet and walked over to Jeff.

"Is he always like this?"

Jeff laughed "I think he's taking it easy because he doesn't want to scare you. Usually he's over there deadlifting a house and screaming 'Its my mother fucking set!' He's the hardest working and craziest son of a bitch I've ever met."

Shannon beamed with pride and grabbed a magazine to occupy herself with.

---------20 Minutes Later----------

The electric humming of the treadmill and Ron's body bouncing off of it has stopped. That peaceful and rhythmic sound now replaced by the clanging of iron on rubber coated concrete and what appear to be the screams of someone who belongs in a padded cell.

"IT'S MY FUCKING SET!"

"GET THE FUCK OFF MY FLOOR!"

"I COMMAND YOU TO MOVE!"

----------45 Minutes Later----------

Ron walks out to the waiting area where Shannon is playing a game involving ill-tempered avian creatures on the new smart phone he'd recently purchased her. She looks up at him with raised eyebrows.

"You okay?"

"Never better, why do you ask?" Ron appears genuinely confused.

Shannon shifts her gaze to Jeff, who is sitting behind his desk, typing away on his laptop. Without looking up he voiced his opinion.

"I told you, fucking lunatic."

"Hey fuck you, it was my set."

"We know it was your set, all of El Paso knows it was your set."

"Yeah well maybe if you came in there and lifted with me like a man, you wouldn't have had to sit out today with a bruised labia or whatever you were claiming."

"Man, get out of here before I tap you out in front of your wife." The tone is playful, the two men have traded barbs like this for over a decade.

"Ron lets go before I get covered in urine from your pissing contest."

Ron turns and mouths "You should thank her." And points at his wife as they exit, Jeff in turn responds with a middle finger and a smile a his friend. Ron opens the passenger door first and helps his wife in, giving her a healthy pinch on her ass as he does so. He's still smiling as he slides into his seat. He starts the car and begins the short drive home.

"So how did it go? Any major concerns?"

"I thinks it went well, that Tammy girl kept getting both hooks in and taking my back though. How do I not get choked there?"

Ron laughed to himself, Tammy was a black belt who had won some major tournaments and still gave Ron trouble. If it wasn't for his considerable size advantage she would eat him for lunch.

"The best way to not get choked out from there is to not be there, that is the worst possible position to be in."

Shannon looked slightly disappointed, expecting Ron to impart her with knowledge of some secret move.

"Oh..."

Ron held up a hand to silence her as his phone rang and he looked to see who it was, despite his hatred of those who talked on cell phones and drove he broke his own principle. At least he was taking on speakerphone.

"Mr. , hello!"

"Hello Ron, glad I got ahold of you. I take it you've kept abreast of today's events?"

"No sir I haven't. I've been at the gym most of the day."

"Excellent, working hard before such a big match. We appreciate the dedication. I suggest you go home and check our website, some of your opponents have had some interesting things to say about you and your teammates for this weekends match."

"Thanks for the heads up, I will check on that as soon as I get home sir."

"Well that's not the only reason I called you Ron, I wanted to make sure you'd be home so we could have our own Steve Sayors stop by and have a chat with you. As you know this is a very big match and as one of the rising stars participating in it, we thought it was time you had a formal interview."

"Certainly sir, it would be my pleasure. Can he wait two hours? I'll need to shower and catch up on those interviews."

"Sounds good Ron, thank you."

No goodbye, just the connection ending. Ron shrugged his shoulders and placed his phone in the cup holder.

"This is so exciting! A professional camera crew coming to my house! Call your mom and see if she can watch the kids a bit longer! I need to get the place ready!"

"It's not an HGTV interview Shan." Ron joked, but he made the requested phone call. Knowing before she even said it that his mom would jump at the chance for a few more hours of spoiling "her grandbabies".

Within ten minutes they were home and Ron was sitting in front of his slow as Mr. Natural, five year old Dell as Shannon frantically cleaned the house.

Ron watched the newest content first, an apparent homosexual, bondage, fetish film involving Sebastian Duke and then he clicked on the link for Michael James' interview from earlier in the day.

------------One Hour and 15 Minutes Later------------

Ron is reclined all the way back in his computer chair, a thin line of drool connecting his chin to his chest. The computer screen in from of him is simply a Windows XP logo bouncing around the screen.

"Ron wake up!"

Ron jolts to his feet, knocking his chair over backwards as he does so.

"What's wrong with you? They'll be here in ten minutes!"

"Sorry, I just had to watch the most boring man in the world speak. It was like watching Al Gore give a speech on global warming."

Shannon just sighs and continues Re-arranging their house. She has already showered and applied her make-up and looks stunning in a "not quite too tight" summer dress with a pair of matching yellow heels. Ron bounds up the stairs, running to the shower.

Five minutes later he is downstairs, dressed in a pair of jeans, sneakers and a green T-shirt.

"You're wearing that?"

"It's not the red carpet Shan. I'm about to go wrestle eleven men wearing different styles of spandex and underwear, I don't really think I'm above jeans and a T-shirt in this line of work."

She begins a reply but is cut off as the doorbell rings. Ron slides an arm around her waist as he opens the door and ushers Steve Sayors and his camera crew in. They exchange pleasantries as the cameras, boom mic, and lighting is set up and after some small talk they take their places in the living room and begin.

"First off Mr. Wilkins I would like to thank you for inviting us into your home on such short notice. It's a very lovely house."

Shannon blushes as Ron responds "It's our please Mr. Sayors."

"Oh please I work for a living, call me Steve. Now, you've had some fairly significant success in the XWF so far, undefeated in your singles career. Talk about how it feels to be viewed as one of the rising stars in the premiere wrestling organization in the world."

"Wow...didn't know I was thought of that way yet, but obviously it feels good. I feel like I have a lot to learn still but I'm just doing what I can to get better every day."

"Very PC of you, have you had the chance to hear what some of your opponents have been saying about you today?"

"Yes I just caught up on that before you came over as a matter of fact."

"Very good, lets break it down for clarity then. What were your thoughts on Sebastian Duke's interview today?"

"To be honest it disturbed me on a number of levels. A bunch of men talking about how they wanted to get their hands on one man locked away in a cell. It looked like something that belongs on the Bravo Network. Are we an alternative/fetish lifestyle federation?"

Steve laughs "If we are I didn't get that memo yet, any other thoughts?"

"I was also disturbed by how someone that involved with the Catholic Church made a point of inviting my son to the ring on Saturday night. I'm sure there's nothing more he would enjoy than my four year old running around, but I won't let him carry his childhood trauma over to my son." Ron turns to the camera "You hear me Sebastian? No new altar boys for you."

"You've touched on what he had to say, but what are your thoughts on Sebastian Duke as a competitor this weekend?"

"I tell you what, I've never actually watched one of his matches and I don't really think it matters. Brawlers, psychos, "technical wrestlers" it doesn't matter. I've beaten all types in my short stay here. I know Duke is too busy calling his former molestors to train as hard as I do and that's going to be the difference if I'm the one fortunate enough to be in there with him. If I'm not then I am sure someone else on my team will take care of that rather easily for me."

"Thank you for setting up that segway for me, what are your thoughts on your teammates this weekend, they have been very quiet up until this point."

"I can only hope that's because they are working as hard as I am for this match. But even if that's not the case it doesn't matter to me, I'm a finisher. I am preparing for one thing, and that's to outlast and outsmart all six men on the other side of the ring from me. If my teammates want to do something other than tire those other six out for me than I have no problem letting them in on the fun, if they just want to be punching bags then that's cool too. I'll still be collecting arms like my name is Dahmer."

"Like my name is Dahmer I like that, so we've discussed Sebastian Duke and your teammates but we haven't discussed Michael James, he was very dismissive of you in his interview earlier today. Tell us your thoughts on that."

"Yeah I did watch that interview, it felt like trying to sit through that Atlas Shrugged movie. Nothing but bland, unoriginal, and unlikeable character development with some tired cliches and insults sprinkled in. He did make it a point to bring up everything he has done, who he used to be, and what dinosaurs he wrestled back in the Stone Age which I'm assuming is his ego's way of convincing him that he's still relevant." Ron turns to face the camera directly again "I tried to find footage of all these relics you used to wrestle Michael, but I traded in my Laser Disc player a long time ago. You call me a mid-carder? You were still lighting the candles and feeding the lions around the Coliseum when you were at this point in your career. Make no mistake, you are in this match for one reason and one reason only... name recognition. You're the falling star that the fans remember just enough so that I can continue building my legacy off of you."

"Very passionate, I believe that wraps us up nicely. Thank you very much for your time Mr. and Mrs. Wilkins and good luck on Saturday night."

"Likewise and thank you Steve."

In a flash the professional camera crew is dismantled and they are out the front door.

"Oh Ron I don't know if I've ever seen you this fired up! I feel bad for those guys."

"That makes two of us."

"Say, you think your mom would mind watching the kids a bit longer? I've got something I'd like to show you upstairs."

"Oh really? What she doesn't know won't hurt her."

The scene fades out as Ron sweeps his wife up into his arms and runs up the stairs, Shannon giggling wildly.