Champ Sportsman couldn't remember the last time he'd been this nervous, though it was most likely the day he was drafted by the Carolina Rockets. Despite the fact he'd already gone through the process of an entire draft for his baseball career, it didn't make that night in Tampa any easier. Having won Rookie of the Year with the Orlando Bloom, Champ was already an established name in the world of sports, meaning all eyes were on him, even though he wasnt projected to go in the 1st Round(though that had less to do with talent and more to do with the fear he'd be too focused on baseball to succeed at football). Eventually, Champ got drafted in the middle of the 2nd Round and went on to win the Ultra Bowl with his new team, marking the last time he'd ever be nervous..................... until his date with Miss Megan Reno.

They both agreed to meet around 8 o'clock at Fligati's, an upscale restaurant with fancy versions of basic meals. Champ arrived at 7:45 and, within the short span of ten minutes, was already half way through his second glass of wine. It may have seemed a little pathetic, but considering it was the first time he'd had any alcohol(or coke, for that matter) in over a week, it felt like a step up.

Megan Reno arrived at 8 o'clock on the dot, wearing a pair of heels and a beautiful, purple silk dress. She trudged on over to the table, struggling a bit thanks to the heels, before pulling out her chair and sitting down. "Sorry I'm late," she apologized, opening the menu and glancing at it. "My taxi thought it'd be a good idea to race an undercover cop."

Champ looked at his watch, which barely read a minute after eight. "You're NOT late."

"Maybe not for you," she responded, running her finger along the few items that sounded good. "But I like to arrive fifteen minutes early for things, it builds character. At least that's what my old soccer coach used to say."

Champ thought about his own reasoning for showing up early and it wasn't too far off. HIS high school football coach had coined the term 'Panther Time' as a philosophy for arriving places ten minutes in advance. Always striving to go above and beyond, Champ added an extra five minutes to it, knowing he'd stick out above the rest of his teammates for it.

"I'm sure your coach would've understood having a rogue cab driver," he said with a smile. "I know I do."

Megan looked over the top of her menu, matching Champ's smile with one of her own, before turning her attention to his half empty glass. "Damn, you're already half a glass in?! Looks like I need to catch up!" Champ didn't have the heart to tell her it was actually his second glass, instead letting her call over a waiter and put in a drink order of her own.

They both sat there for a bit, awkwardly avoiding eye contact, until the waiter came back with Miss Reno's glass of champagne and set it in front of her. "Are you folks ready to order or would you like a few more minutes to decide?"

Champ looked at his date, who nodded for him to go ahead. "I'll have the Rockefeller Burger," he began. "With a side of golden fries and another glass of wine."

"Excellent choice," the waiter remarked, taking Champ's menu from him and turning his attention to Megan. "And for the lady?"

"I'll have the special," she ordered, pointing to the picture of it on the menu. "And another glass of champagne.........."

"I don't mean to be rude, but you haven't even touched your first one yet," the waiter pointed out.

Miss Reno scoffed. "I assure you it'll be gone by the time you come back." She then proceeded to empty half the glass in one giant gulp. "See?"

"Very well," the waiter replied, taking Megan's menu. "I shall be back with your food................... and more alcohol, as well."

Champ could hear the snarkiness in his voice, but didn't want to make a big deal out of it in front of his date. That didn't stop her, though. "God, what a dick." she proclaimed, getting a chuckle out of Sportsman.

"You don't take shit from anybody, huh?"

Megan shrugged. "In my line of work, I can't really afford to," she explained, taking another drink of champagne. "There's alot of sexist athletes out there who think sports journalism is strictly a man's job, and I've gotta fight twice as hard to tell their story." Champ paused, mid drink, and stared at his date over the rim of his glass, causing her to giggle. "Obviously not YOU, silly!"

"Heh, right," Champ said before downing the rest of his wine.

"So, how have things been?"

"Great," Champ answered, genuinely meaning it for the first time in weeks. "Just been doing alot of training in preparation for High Stakes."

Megan grinned, amused at the thought of Champ being tossed around like a ragdoll. "Oh? How's that?"

"Rough," Champ responded with a long exhale. "In all my years of football AND baseball, I don't think I've ever been put through a more rigorous conditioning program than this. You think you're in shape until you step inside a wrestling ring and run the ropes for a few hours."

"Damn," Megan muttered, shivering at the thought of it. "Who are you training with? Surely a workout of THAT intensity HAS to be a top level talent!"

"Big D."

Miss Reno, who happened to be taking a sip of champagne at the time, nearly spit liquid everywhere. "Big D?!" she exclaimed in amazement, and not the good kind. "Isn't he the joke of the Fed?!?"

"That's the general consensus," Champ confirmed, earning himself an eyebrow raise. "But he's a decent guy who knows his way around a ring; not to mention, a former World Champion."

Miss Reno facepalmed at his ludicrous statement. "Even Little League has a World Series, Champ," she sneered. "That doesn't mean the winners of it can hang with the pros."

Sportsman snickered, looking down at the table and shaking his head. "Big D's a real pro's pro, Megan." Champ had dropped the formalities, annoyed by his date's lack of faith in him or his trainer. "He knows the basic fundamentals, which is a hell of alot more than I can say about myself! He's been in the ring with a handful of my opponents, even beaten a few of them............... his knowledge is valuable to me; without it, I don't stand a chance."

Megan threw her hands up, a ridiculous(and, honestly, ugly) look on her face. "Well, if I didn't know any better, I'd say he's trying to live his dreams through you!"

Champ, realizing he'd gotten a little carried away, cools his tone. "He probably is," Sportsman said with a grin. "But if it's gonna help ME in the process, I'm all for it. Besides, it's not like I haven't played with selfish teammates before."

Miss Reno thought about it for a second, before agreeing with Champ. "True."

The two of them sat there in silence for a moment, until Champ finally broke it with an apology. "I'm sorry if I came off a bit defensive," he spoke with sincerity in his voice. "I honestly didn't have many options, it was either train with Big D or join B.O.B., and D told me he'd rescind my contract if I joined them."

"Jesus."

"It doesn't help that noone believes in me, either," Champ continued, leaning back in his chair. "It's one thing when it's the media, or your opponents, saying it, but it's another when it's someone you care about........." He felt weird laying it out there like that, unsure of how his date would take it.

Megan's eyes narrowed, a befuddled look on her face. "I don't doubt you for a second, Champ," she assured him, grabbing hold of his hand. "Sure, the odds aren't in your favor, but you know what I say? Fuck the odds! You won Rookie of the Year AND the Ultra Bowl, BOTH in your first year, why the hell couldn't you win the Universal Title in your first match?!"

Champ gently squeezed Megan's hand, appreciatively. "That means alot," he let her know, gazing into her bright green eyes. "I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions, I blame it on the alcohol."

"But, you've only had one glass!" Reno remarked, unaware of the extra one Champ had before she showed up.

Sportsman looked down at his empty glass, ashamed by what he was about to admit. "Actually, I had an extra one before you got here,"he confessed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I was really nervous about our date and thought it would help calm my nerves, but it only enhanced 'em.........."

Megan stared at Champ for a second, before bursting out in a fit of laughter. As he looked on in confusion, Miss Reno reached into her purse and pulled out 3 mini shooters of Smirnoff vodka. "You're not the only one!"

Champ looked at the empty bottles, not quite sure what to say. "Are you an alcoholic?" he blurted out, just in time for the waiter to show up and judge them.

"Your food..............." he snooted, his nose pointing upward as he placed their plates in front of them. Then he grabbed Miss Reno's fresh glass of champagne and, very gently, set it next to her food. "And your al-co-hol." He stood there for a moment, looking down the end of his nose, before turning and walking away. "Enjoy."

Megan's face was bright red. "I was nervous about going on a date with the great Champ Sportsman............."

Champ couldn't believe his ears. "You were?"

"Well, yeah," she responded, acting like it should've been obvious. "It's you..........."

Her words hit Champ like a brick. Not once had he considered the fact he WAS Champ Sportsman, the definition of a Triathlete. Menu items from all over the world beared his name and likeness, something that wouldn't have happened had it not been for all his success. He had the backing of, not one, but TWO cities, both of whom would be in his corner come High Stakes. And if all that wasn't already enough, he also had the adoration of Miss Megan Reno; and that was what mattered most to him.

"I had no idea you felt that way," Champ gently spoke. "You're always so calm during our interviews." Megan stares at Sportsman and points down at the empty shooters. "Oh..........."

The two of them burst out laughing, gaining the attention of the other patrons, as well as the staff. Their judgmental waiter peeks his head out from the back and rolls his eyes.

Once the laughter wore off, Champ looked down at his burger topped with caviar & blue cheese with a side of fries infused with actual pieces of gold. Megan did the same with the special, pee green soup with a lamb brain as a bowl.

"This shit looks terrible!"Champ burst out, loud enough for the chefs in the back to hear. "How drunk were we when we ordered?"

Miss Reno made a face at her horrible decision. "Not drunk enough for me to actually EAT that!"

"Do you wanna grab a couple hotdogs, instead?"

"Mmhmm."

Megan and Champ stood up, with Sportsman pulling his wallet out and placing a stack of money on the table. They made their way for the door, but not before Miss Reno could grab her glass of wine and down it it one gulp. Smiles on both their faces, the two of them left the restaurant and skipped their way to the nearest hot dog stand, not a care in the world.

To Be Continued............



"Remember when the entire XWF roster was SO afraid of Champ Sportsman, they could barely speak his name? They treated it as if it were some sort of taboo, a modern day Bloody Mary or Beetlejuice; as if refusing to say it meant I wouldn't show up................ well, guess what?! It doesn't matter if you say my name, I'll BE at High Stakes whether you do or don't! If none of you want to give Champagne Sportsman the respect he deserves, then he's got no choice but to shove his fist up your ass and work you like a puppet 'til you do!"

"Speaking of ass play, that brings me to Corey Smith................... dude, what. the. fuck? You can't spit out a simple fifteen letters, but you can rape Duke and reuse old Sesame Street jokes? God damm, who HASN'T heard about Bert & Ernie being gay? At this point, I'm pretty sure that shit's canon. Last week I challenged you to come up with something good to say about me, and instead you ripped off a Family Guy cutaway. Bravo, you had one job and you failed, just like you're going to at High Stakes!"

"I've studied you enough to know that Corey is the weakest of your three personalities. It's why you pulled a Fuzz and hid in your little safe space until the time was the most opportune for you to weasel your way back into the Universal Title picture. You think nobody notices, but I'm greener than the weed Big D smokes during our training sessions, and even I can see it! This is the easy path. You were nowhere to be seen when Sarah Lacklan was Champion, despite the fact you would've been the logical Number One contender with Fuzz going 'WEE! WEE!' all the way home! But, instead, you'd already beaten Fuzz there! The minute, NO, the second Sarah Lacklan's out of the picture, here you are! Rather than put on a 5 Star Classic to a standing o', you'd rather slop your way into a Title run against a bunch of wrestlers who are SO shitty, you can't even acknowledge half of them!!!!! You don't give a shit that the winner of this match will always have an asterisk by their name because they didn't beat the likes of Lacklan, Fuzz, or Unknown Soldier, they just threw a bunch of Marfs and Barney Greens over the top rope! But as long as you get your name on that Title history, that's all that matters, right?...................... keep ignoring me, Corey, you're gonna regret it. Better pay attention, 'cause the invisible man's comin' for you!"

"Chris Page............ how the HELL did you know Big D was training me before it was revealed to the world?!? Are you stalking me, or do you have some sort of sick voyeurism fetish? Do you like it when we roll around on the mat? Does it remind you of when Robert handles your ass like Corey does Thad? Spy all you want, Chris, it only shows how much of a threat YOU believe I am."

"And yes, I called you a threat all the while tearing you down............ is that NOT part of the game?! Getting inside your opponents' head, calling out 'hey, batter batter, hey, batter batter,' in the hope it'll give you a slight advantage. Unfortunately for you, Chris, this isn't just a mind game, it's the truth: you may be a threat to most people in this match, but you aren't to ME. When I win this whole thing, I expect you to be my final Elimination, proving to the world, once again, that you'll always be the first loser!"

"As for the rest of you, you're all getting lumped into one large group because the truth is, other than myself, Page, and Corey, the rest of you are merely numbers here to help us pad our stats. Just like cupcake games in college, you're only purpose for 'competing' is to get you ass kicked by the REAL schools! Duke's too busy playing American History X with Corey, James Evans is a nobody, and Robbie Bourbon's a washed up has-been who barely was."

"Once we step into that ring, I'm gonna show ALL OF YOU who conveniently skipped over me in your shitty little promos that you were wrong to sleep on Champ Sportsman. By the time High Stakes is over, I'm gonna show the entire world what it means to be a Champ....................... Sportsman out!"