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Centurion · (11-03-2019)

(Centurion hasn't been back in the United States for almost a month; however, with a stop at Savage interrupting his defenses on Warfare, now was the perfect time to get back.

We open up inside the old C&C Inc. gym, the makeshift home of Centurion over the past few months. There, we see a freshly worked out, freshly showered Centurion stepping out from the bathroom area, drying his hair. As he does, he notices a familiar face - a face that insights a burning rage within him.)

Centurion: ...Latimore

(George Latimore, the former business associate of Centurion, who has since taken over all of Centurion Enterprises, and thus, almost all of Centurion's assets. The gray haired mogul sits at Centurion's table with a brown folder in front of him, looking as calm as can be.)

Latimore: Hello, Andy.

Centurion: You're going to need to give me a good reason as to why I shouldn't bash your head in right now.

Latimore: Because you would not do well in prison, what with that pretty face you've got. Besides, I have something that you might want to see.

(Latimore picks up the folder and waves it in front of him before tossing it back down on the table. Centurion hesitantly looks at Latimore, and picks up the folder.

As he opens the folder, he is immediately horrified. He rifles through some pictures, with a combination of confusion and disgust on his face.)

Centurion: What am I looking at?

Latimore: I think it's pretty straight forward. Those are nude pictures of your future daughter-in-law. I've got hundreds of them.

Centurion: How?

Latimore: The internet follows you forever, Andy. Turns out, prior to living with your daughter, Erin did some modeling and some live shows for a website called CamSoda. Oh, she did her best to take everything down and scrub it from history...but a little bit of money can bring everyone's demons out from hiding.

(Centurion slams the folder down on the table and immediately lunges for Latimore. Latimore quickly gets to his feet, knocking over his chair and pulling out a revolver. He points it as Centurion, who immediately stops.)

Latimore: Oh yeah, this is the other reason you won't be beating me to death.

Centurion: What do you want?

Latimore: It's pretty simple, really. I don't want much. I just want you to withdraw your bid for your old house, pack up your stuff here, and move somewhere else. Go live with your sister in London. Better yet, go back to that hovel you were in in Scranton.

Centurion: And you think some blackmail is going to do that? What is this some kind of Katie Hill situation?

Latimore: It's exactly that. Who do you think got a hold of those pictures? Hill was going to vote against a tax subsidy that will save millions, and I needed her gone.

(Centurion's heart drops. He always knew Latimore had some stroke, and that he was a bastard, but to have enough power to blackmail a sitting member of Congress to the point where she retires? This is a whole new level.)

Centurion: She was a Congresswoman. Erin is just a grocery bagger. Do you really think anyone is going to care that she made some cash on the side? It's 2019! Besides, everyone knows Nellie and I are estranged - this wouldn't hurt me one bit.

Latimore: You're right. You wouldn't get hurt at all by this revelation. But how do you think the Wildwood Board of Education respond knowing one of their school board members is about to marry a porn star?

Centurion: A few pics doesn't make her a porn star...

Latimore: Tell that to all the concerned parents of the school district. Your daughter would be booted off, no question about it, and her political career would crash and burn before it begins. Now...how estranged are you, REALLY, to your daughter?

(Centurion is unable to respond. Nellie has spent a majority of her life trying to escape Centurion's giant shadow. She finally got that opportunity, and yet, here is Centurion's demons coming back to haunt her.)

Centurion: What caused you to do all this? The backstabbing, the blackmail...

Latimore: You turned your back on me, not the other way around. I stuck my neck out for you, put my reputation on the line for, and you decided to go off the deep end. And when you were blowing all your money on the WGWF and vanishing from the face of the Earth, I kept things afloat. That's when I realized you were a liability. You're a weed that needs pulled. You need to go so others can thive. Everything you touch turns to shit. You weren't a brilliant businessman - you HIRED brilliant businessmen. You got rich in spite of yourself, not because of it. Your father was a brilliant businessman...

Centurion: You know nothing about my father.

Latimore: I know EVERYTHING about him. He got rich by strong arming everyone out of the way. He got what he wanted and made no apologies for it.

Centurion: Yeah, and now he's dead.

Latimore: Which is a shame, really, but what a life to have lived. He deserved his success. President Trump, he deserves his success, because he makes sure no one stands in his way. You deserve nothing. I deserve it all.

Centurion: All of this work...why? Vengeance?

Latimore: No. I plan on being Commerce Secretary in one year's time, and I don't need you around to screw that up. My life was great when you weren't around. I owned this city. And suddenly you come back, and I have to watch over my shoulder on a daily basis. You know how frustrating that is?

Centurion: I feel so sorry for you.

(Latimore holsters his pistol and picks up the folder from the table.)

Latimore: I don't need you to feel sorry for me. I just need you gone.

(With that, and without either saying another word, Latimore turns and walks out of the building. An infuriated Centurion stands in one place, processing everything that just happened.)

Centurion: ...prick.

------I've Seen The World, Done It All------

The attacks on Thunder Knuckles are pretty easy...which is why I won't make them.

Yes, he loses on purpose a lot. He doesn't care about the business. He doesn't care about his record. He only cares about making as much money as possible. If you're a passionate professional wrestling fan, or if you were born into this business, I can easily see you being offended by this.

But let's not act like this is a new concept. There were plenty of folks that came through here that only cared about making money. They just weren't as blatantly open about it like Thunder Knuckles is. They would talk about how good they are and how they're looking to win the Universal Title, but in actuality, they were just boosting their stock to make more money. They'd go backstage and talk about their payout, and some of these folks are big names in the business. Names you wouldn't expect to care about some of that stuff.

So no, I'm not going to criticize Knuckles for wanting to make money. I will criticize him for thr KIND of money he's looking to make - XBux, which I don't even know what that is. Apparently you can cash them in for merch and stuff? Like a company store? Leave it to Shane

to fashion his business and his economy off of 19th century coal barons.

I will also criticize the fact that this man thinks, under all that, lies a good wrestler who can "turn it on" if need be. It's crap. One of the main reasons he's ok with being paid to lose is because he would likely lose most of these matches anyway, so why not capitalize on it? Makes sense. If Big D decided to throw matches for money instead of losing them on his own, he would be a millionaire already.

Just look at the "gruelling" test Knuckles had to go through to get here - Drezdin's unnamed, untrained girlfriend, Peter "Human Pile Of Garbage" Gilmour, and Kris The Bon Van Hammer Of Dawn. Wow, good job. Must have been difficult to fight through such a murderer's row of talent like that.

Knuckles is in a weird place. He couldn't sell his Hart Title shot. He couldn't be paid off to throw the match, because quite frankly, I don't know what XBux are, nor do I give a shit. He's not going to half ass it and throw the match like he's doing in Lethal Lottery. And, I don't absolutely suck, like his most recent opponents.

That means, not only is Thunder Knuckles going to have to TRY, but he's going to have to try against someone who, if I do say so myself, is pretty good. And, let's face it, if you're not ready for that, you will fold under the pressure.

I'll be honest, and this may surprise a lot of people, but I was actually rooting for Thunder Knuckles to win that match. Part of it is because I don't think anyone else earned the opportunity to face me, especially some new punk with a mouth piece and the worst wrestler to grace the XWF.

The other reason I was rooting for Knuckles is because I wanted to shut some people up. If you go backstage, or go on social media, or anywhere where the "smart fans" reside, all they like to talk about is Thunder Knuckles. He's the "best character in the XWF." His XBux routine is "fresh and unique." Everyone laughs and giggles and they just can't WAIT for the next Thunder Knuckles promo.

What a load of crap.

You know damn well that Thunder Knuckles doesn't give an ounce of shit about entertaining the fans. That's a side effect to him. His entertainment isn't selling any merch, like a normal wrestler. His entertainment isn't increasing ratings - no one watches for Thunder Knuckles. He's a hilarious side show.

And yet, here he is, fighting for a title, after previously selling his most recent title match. And guess what? He'll continue to get opportunity after opportunity as long as someone in the front office gets a chuckle out of Knuckles' schtick. He could lose every damn match, but as long as the folks at the top continue to like him, he will have a place in the XWF.

That's why I want to face him now - before the novelty wears off. Because you know, in six months, this whole thing will be completely unbearable. People won't know the difference between Knuckles throwing a match and just straight losing. The "funny character" will become annoying as fuck, and his theme song will become the cue for everyone to roll their eyes and grab some refreshments.

Ask yourself, truly...do you see Thunder Knuckles as a champion? Like, can you invision him with a title belt around his waist. Of course you can't! People like him don't win titles. They wrestle in opening matches against folks who just joined. And yes, while I am aware that this is the same federation that somehow allowed Peter Gilmour to be Universal Champion, that was a different time and a different era. Novelty acts aren't champions...

...real champions, anyway. He might win that Featherweight or whatever the hell it's called. He could he like...

...like EDWARD! Yeah, that's a perfect comparison. EDWARD was a dolt that joined the XWF, got a following because he was a funny idiot, but once the one trick pony showed his one trick, he was gone forever. Sure, he got his "shiny" - he took the useless belts off of Kid Kool a few times - but he was never taken seriously and quickly faded away once everyone got bored of him. Thunder Knuckles is the new EDWARD.

In the two weeks I've had my title, I've had to face two absolute jokes in my defenses. The difference is, at least Thunder Knuckles knows he's a joke. Mastermind thought he earned a shot and that he was actually kind of good. Knuckles doesn't care. He knows he's probably going to lose, but at least he'll make some cash along the way.

By the way, you're welcome, Knuckles. A title match against a legend? That should be worth a few bucks. It is in the real world...I don't know about whatever shit ass economy you're living in.

Everyone, say goodbye to the relevance of Thunder Knuckles. He won't be around much anymore after he meets his...

FINAL FANTASY!!!

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