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Thaddeus Duke · (09-07-2020)

Bonanza Coffee Heroes || Berlin, Germany

I don’t know why I’m here. I have no interest in this meeting I’m about to have and no interest in talking with the man I’m about to meet. My father took it upon himself to set up the meeting though and it actually did mean a lot to me. I don’t see the value in this man that he obviously sees, but I’m here. I promised my dad I’d hear him out and I’m nothing, if not a man of my word. He cared enough about me to set this all up in the first place and even pay for the man’s flight to Berlin from the states so clearly he gives a shit.

That’s a bit of a change compared to years past. Dad didn’t even want me to enter professional wrestling. I remember it like it was yesterday. He was still the King then and we were still occupying Vatican City. I had no interest in it either until Jimmy made me watch some matches to better understand why my dad loved it so much. It was his mistress and I never understood.

A few matches of my fathers was all it took for me to get it. I asked him to train me and he flat out refused. Clearly, that didn’t deter me. Jimmy and I started sparring and practicing in dads gym soon after. One session, I hadn’t realized it, but my dad was hanging out in the shadows because of course he was, watching me go at it in the ring with Jim. Then I damn near broke his neck by mistake and finally my father relented, agreeing to train me.

That might have been the last time he’s ever showed interest in my career. Seeking his advice after the struggles I’ve had recently was a natural next step. What I didn’t know when I invited him to ride along with us is that one; he was all for it and two; that not only was he interested in helping me out, the man had an actual plan to get my head back in the game. My father showing and further, taking an interest in my life is still relatively new to me. For a long time, our relationship was contentious at its best and fractured at its worst.

I mean, we legitimately went to war against one another. That’s how I took over my grandfathers Illuminatus in the first place. Since that time though, we started to grow incredibly close. It didn’t happen over night, but here we are a couple years later and I want to hang out with my dad when I can. He wants to be a part of my life and even shows interest in Frankie and my dad was never great with kids.

Jim put it into perspective for me once a few years ago. My fathers shortcomings as a dad weren’t really his fault. No one grows up as a natural father and knows all the right things at all the right times. You learn as you go. ”Mate he was a new father when you were born,” Jim said to me. ”Just like you didn’t get to grow up like a normal kid, he didn’t get to grow up and mature as a father like a normal father.”

It never really got it until about a year ago.

”You went from infant to fifteen in the blink of an eye. Raising an infant isn’t an easy task, mate. Now compound that with raising a teenager.

“Mate when you left this world, he was a broken mess. Don’t ever say he doesn’t love you. Not in front of me. I don’t care who you are, I’ll bitch slap the shit out of you. He does love you, he always has. He just had no clue how to be a dad and he was in it alone.”

I get it now.

He wasn’t raised to be a warm emotional person. He was raised to be fucking cold as ice. Uncaring. Unfeeling. Add to that, raising a teenager you seeded but never had the chance to grow together as father and son. I missed out on a lot, but so did he. I get that now and I’m truly sorry that I ever doubted his love for me. He just was never able to show it because he didn’t know how. His own father, my grandfather, never showed him any love. Never. Asmodeus had no tenderness until I came along. Seeing the way he showered me with love and praise could not have sat easily with him and I get that now.

”Paul,” I say with a half smile as I greet Paul Heyman with a handshake.

”Thaddeus,” he says warmly and invites me to have a seat.

”I’m gonna be up front man, I don’t think I want your help and...”

”Why?” he interrupts.

”You’re old news man. Living in your past glories of General Manager of...”

”That’s fair but if I’m not praising me, who is? It’s the wrestling business, kid. No one is going to sing your praises for you. You have to do it yourself.

“And I’m proud of what I did with Monday Night Madness. Why shouldn’t I remind people of yesteryear when we had great entertainment value? Nothing like these shit shows that are haphazardly thrown together by their current crop of disinterested general managers.”

To be honest, when I decided to take this meeting, I looked back in the XWF Network at some old Heyman Madness shows and he’s not wrong. Those shows were outstandingly entertaining. He had a vision and saw it through, good, bad or indifferent.

”Okay Paul,” I relent. ”Sell me.”

Paul takes a sip of his coffee and grins. It’s that same old grin you see on television. The one you love to hate.

”If I was still in the game when you came through the door, I would have backed up the Brinks truck to your door to sign you long term and make you a very wealthy man,” he begins.

”I was already wealthy.”

”I know that, but you said yourself you live off your money from wrestling and don’t even really touch the fortune left to you by your grandfather. But anyway, long term, very lucrative contract.”

”Why? You didn’t know me from anyone else.”

”One, you’re a Duke. Two, your father sent me your tapes of him training you. You have the IT factor. You learned it so quickly and you would have been in my main events from the minute you walked through the door because, Thad, I know talent when I see it.

“Regardless of what you think of me personally, I do know talent. I can spot a diamond in the rough a mile away through fog. Look no further than John Samuels. It took me two weeks to know he was the future of the Madness brand so I did what any good manager would do and I gave him a test against my champion and watched him win.”

”You helped him win.”

”That’s true, but that’s also the kind of person he was.”

We both take a small break to sip our coffees.

”I know what you’re afraid of. I know what makes you hesitate when you hear my name,” he says with a smile. ”I have never changed my clients for the sake of changing my clients. All I have ever done was tap into areas of their psyche that they didn’t know existed and brought that out in order to improve their game. All I have ever done is force men and women to realize just how good they are capable of being.

“You want me to stay in the back for your matches, I’ll do that. I’d never do anything that would betray you as you are.”

This sounds okay to me so far.

”You’ve watched me. What’s missing?”

”Focus,” he answers quickly. ”You’re a good man that loves his fans and supporters and there’s nothing wrong with that. I wouldn’t want you to change that. You like to win or lose straight up and I admire that. It shows me the type of character you have.

“You’re so fucking good kid, and you don’t even know how fucking good you are.”

I smile a bit at his high praise of my work. Anyone would.

”What would be the first step, in your learned opinion?”

”First of all, no one gets to you, speaks to you, without going through me.”

”No, I don’t think I like that. My fans, they...”

”They want to hear from their hero,” he interrupts, finishing my sentence. Well, sort of. I wouldn’t call me a hero. ”You give everything to this business. You give your fans exactly what they want exactly when they want.

“So let me ask you a question.”

I nod.

”Is it better to give them what they want when they want? Or do you think its better to make them wait a little? To make them anticipate a little? To make them clamor a little to see or to hear from you?”

”What they want when they want,” I answer him.

”Why?”

”Because they pay their hard earned money to come see me, to come cheer for me. What kind of person am I if I deny them what they want from me?”

”Human,” he answers, making me think. ”By making them wait and building their anticipation, you’re maximizing the return on their investment.” He stands up and comes around the table. Resting his hands on the corners of my chair he leans into my left ear.

”Making them wait isn’t making you a villain. You give everything you’ve got to them, it’s okay to take time for you. Or for Frankie and Liz before you go out and give the crowd their monies worth.”

He switches sides to my right ear.

”You’ll do what you say you’ll do. You’ll give them exactly what they came to see, but when you’re damn good and ready to do it.

“Why?

“Because you’re a fucking star and stars choose their spots. They decide when its time to shine and no one else.”

Paul returns to his seat as I ponder his logic. He’s probably not wrong, but I don’t know if I can simply stop giving the people what they want from me.

”Yeah, I don’t know.”

Paul shrugs, urging me to speak my mind.

”I feel like they’ll turn on me if I don’t give them what they want when they want it.”

”They’re not that stupid.”

”How can you be sure?”

”That they’re not stupid?”

”No, that they won’t turn on me for not giving them everything when they want.”

”They’re fanatics. People like you, feed off of their energy in the arenas and stadiums. People like them, they feed off of WANTING to give you that energy. Building that anticipation, drives them into a frenzy when you finally decide to give them your time.”

”I’ve been losing a lot lately,” I tell him.

”You have, but slumps happen kid.”

”How do we rectify that?”

He clued in on the word ‘we’ and I’m not sure if I’m upset over my word choice or not.

”You’re a babyface in a villains world so you will always have an uphill battle. If there’s one thing I have learned about you by watching you over the years is that you’re not afraid of a challenge. I would never ask you to betray your character. I would never ask you to do bad things for the sake of doing bad things.

“You’re the man, not me. I follow your lead. My job is to harness all of your frustrations and guide you to unleash them at the right time on the right person or persons.

“Sometimes, Thaddeus, even good people, even heroes have to step into the gray a little and do bad things to bad people. If not, you’ll continue to be treated as an afterthought. You’ll continue to be taken advantage of by bad people because you’re too damn nice to set them straight.”

”This is a lot to think about, Paul.” He nods in agreement. ”Warfare is tomorrow night. What would you have me do, in your mind?”

”Sayors will probably be clamoring to get a word with you after your recent struggles.”

”That guy is an idiot.”

”That’s why we won’t give him your time. So the next logical step is to pick one of your frustrations and we put that front and center. We do what we have to do in order for people to not take your existence in this company for granted.

“It’s the wrestling business, Thaddeus. The only way to get people to stop treating you like a pushover, is to do it by force. You are a tough kid. Your ring work is absolutely phenomenal. Your outreach to the fans is unmatched by anyone. You are a great ambassador for the XWF and they know it and they use it to their advantage by taking liberties with your good nature.

“The choice lies with you.

“Do you continue as things are and do nothing? Or do you change the world by force?”

I was wrong. Paul Heyman isn’t a fucking idiot. I always thought of him as kinda like a snake oil salesman or something like that, but this guy, he could sell the worlds best ear buds to a deaf man. Looking down at the table as I ponder the things he’s telling me, I can’t help but fear the unknown. If I take him on as my business manager, what will the fans think? If I do things in a different way, maybe the fans won’t understand and turn their backs on me.

I hate to think of that.

”I understand your hesitation, Thaddeus,” he offers as I look up at him. ”It might be a slight change in fan reaction in the beginning, but they’ll grow to understand what’s going on. They’ll come back into the mix because at the end of the day, you’re still the Lionheart they’ve always loved. You’re still the same Thaddeus Duke that loves them.

“They’ll see that because they aren’t stupid. They know that sometimes, you have to do bad things to bad people to make things right again.

“Once again, the choice lies with you. Nothing? Or force?”

I stand from my seat, preparing to leave. Paul is taken aback a little as I haven’t answered him.

”You are your fathers son, Thaddeus. There’s a meanness, a viciousness inside you screaming to be unleashed. You’re all heart and I totally understand that. Let me guide you. Let me help you put the Lion, back in Lionheart.”

He stands to meet my gaze and extends his hand. I swallow and clear my throat.

”I choose force.”

Threaded Mode \| Linear Mode THAT meeting prior to Warfare
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