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Thaddeus Duke · (12-29-2020)

Backstage at High Stakes || Tombstone, Arizona || 9:16 PM

He’s been my best mate, and I his, for most of his life. I don’t normally take part in his wrestling career, but something about this event, the build up to it, the hype surrounding it… just made me want to be here. With him, for him, to witness this show first hand, to watch him do what he does better than most. Something is in the air tonight in Tombstone and we all feel it. His family, his friends, his inner circle, we all feel it. We can all feel the anticipation that hangs in the air.

Love Thaddeus Duke or hate him, no one can deny his incredible ring work. No one can deny his popularity with the fans of the XWF and I can assure you, it isn’t a facade he puts on returning that love. He legitimately loves his fans and many many times after shows I’d text him to congratulate him, or text him some words of wisdom if he lost and he’d call me much later, telling me all about this fan and that fan that he was spending time with after the show. He’d send me selfies he took with them, tell me stories about them. Despite his everyday world being what it is, Thad connects with the fans in a way most just can’t even touch.

Normal everyday people interest him a great deal and their energy, their cheers and their love for him, drives him to reach the excellence he strives for. It drives him to put his body on the line for them. In many ways, he’s a crash test dummy when he’s in the ring, and he does it all to send his “nation” home happy.

The bell rings inside the arena as Thaddeus stands in what is known as the Gorilla position. His eyes are closed and the hood on his sleeveless Lionheart hoodie is covering his head. He stands, rocking back and forth with a nervous excitement as he gets in the zone. The ring announcer introduces the next match: the XWF tag team championship as Paul Heyman arrives to lend his client some last minute advice.

”Are you ready?” he asks of Thad.

”I was born ready,” he replies, opening his eyes and staring directly into the soul of his manager.

Heyman removes Thad’s hood, and places both hands on either side of his head before bringing their foreheads together.

”Who’s the man?” he asks.

”I am,” Thad replies quickly.

”What happens when you go out there, Thaddeus? What happens when the music stops and the bell rings?”

”I steal the show.”

”Why?”

”Because I can.”

”Is anyone in that ring better than Thaddeus Duke?”

Thad cracks a smile.

”No.”

Thad’s entrance theme hits inside the manufactured arena and the fans go absolutely ape shit in anticipation to see him. He smiles and laughs a little as he peeks out through the black curtain at the screaming Thaddeus Duke faithful.

”Look at me,” Paul interrupts his moment, pulling his head back to him. ”You go out there Thaddeus, and you remind the world why for eight god damn years there has been but one measuring stick for greatness in this business and that name...”

”Is Duke,” Thad replies, finishing Paul’s sentence.

Through the curtain, Duke Nation sings “My Name Is Human.”

”I love it when they sing to me,” he says with a growing smile.

”Now sing them the song, Thaddeus… of your people. Of excellence. Of victory.”

A few moments later, Paul Heyman leads Thaddeus Duke through the curtain and you could probably measure the crowd response on the Richter scale. Despite attempts by his opponents to paint a different sort of picture, the reality is that Thaddeus Duke is his own man in spite of the last name he wears. From the moment he debuted in the XWF at just 17 years old, he has set out to carve his own path to the top. He has made an indelible mark on the industry he loves and if it was all over now, not a man, woman, or child would ever forget his name.

While there is no doubt a Duke Legacy that lives through him, tonight at High Stakes, should Thaddeus walk out with the Universal Championship, that legacy... becomes a god damn dynasty.

Joining Elizabeth, Frankie and his father in the specially built skybox, we sit with nervous anticipation as Thaddeus hits the ring. We watch in awe as the thousands of fans in attendance tonight in Arizona, shower him with the love and affection that we feel he deserves. He’s earned his popularity and we’re thrilled to watch him return the favor with as many people as he can before its time for him to go to work.

”Hey Pap,” Frankie says to Sebastian Duke, who sits quietly and returns a glance in the young boys direction. ”When you wrestled, did they love you like they love him?”

”Not hardly,” he answers. ”Thad and I are different types of people, kid.”

”Yeah I can tell,” Frankie says with a smile.

Sebastian sighs, cracking a slight smile. ”Is it your goal to act just like him, Frankie?”

Frankie smiles and turns to face his would-be grandfather with a smile. ”Bitch it might be,” Frankie says, channeling his best Thaddeus impression. The remark causes Sebastian to let out a light laugh. Elizabeth meanwhile, isn’t paying any attention to anyone but her man in the ring as Cataclysm makes their entrance.

”They’re so much bigger than he is,” she says with a worried expression.

”He’s made a career of cutting people down that are bigger than him,” Sebastian says as he tries to ease her apprehension.

”He’s not even a little guy,” she says turning to him momentarily before directing her eyes back to Thad as the bell rings and the match gets under way.

”He isn’t, but he is in this business.”

The bell rings and the match is underway. We watch as the foursome pair off. Thad and Page, Doc and Main. A few minutes later, Main cracks Thad in the back with a steel chair!

”AHH!” Liz shrieks as she turns her head. She really doesn’t have a stomach for violence, but the fact is, Thaddeus loves to get his ass kicked. It fuels him, in a way.

”Come on Thad!” Frankie cries out as Thad rolls himself out of the ring in order to recuperate his ailing back, now being the focal point of the Cataclysm offense.

Moments later, Page has reached the arena floor and now chokes the life out of Thad with a camera cord. Doing his best impression of Thad’s cockiness, Page grabs the television camera and places it on his own shoulder only to realize Thad is still standing. The man flips the bird to Page and the camera before planting him on the floor with a Rock Bottom.

”Yeah, kid!” Sebastian shouts out as Thad gets back to his feet and slides into the ring. He grabs the chair used on him earlier and cracks a running Robert Main in the skull. ”THAT’S HOW YOU DO IT! SHOW ‘EM WHAT DUKE’S ARE MADE OF!” he shouts as he leaps from his chair.

”CLIMB MATE, CLIMB! GET THOSE STRAPS!” I yell out excitedly as my best mate in the entire world with the XWF Universe firmly behind him, begins his ascent toward the tag team titles.

”THAD!” Frankie shouts out as if he could actually hear him. ”PAGE IS COMING!” he tries in vain to warn Thad as Page climbs the other side, before sending a hard punch into Thad’s gut. A few moments later, Thaddeus leaps over the top of the ladder, wraps his legs around Chris Page’s head, and takes them both off the ladder all the way to the ring below.

”Holy shit!” ”Holy shit!” Thad’s father and I say almost in unison. Sebastian smiles ever so slightly, shaking his head.

”GOD DAMMIT! WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO ME!?” Liz cries out with tears in her eyes watching her man crash violently on the mat. She turns her head, shaking it in disgust as she attempts to quell her emotion.

”He’s okay, Liz. It’s just what he does,” Frankie says trying to comfort her as the crowd breaks out into a “holy shit” chant.

Doc now holds a bloodied Robert Main as Thaddeus repeatedly unloads on him before sending Main face first into the ladder in the corner. Later, Page is stalking Doc D’Ville with a chair wrapped in barbed wire only for Thad to deliver a baseball slide drop kick to Page’s back, sending him crashing into the fan barricade at ringside.

Later still, Liz screams out in relief as Thaddeus successfully avoids the fate Doctor D’Ville just suffered at the hands of Chris Page. That being a barbed wire wrapped chair to the face. Seconds later, Thad lifts Page and pile drives him into that same chair.

A few minutes later, Thad is once again ascending the ladder only for Page to hit him with a different ladder that sends him crashing to the mat.

”BABY!” she yells out in fear for him, tears again in her eyes.

”He’s a tough guy, Liz, don’t be so dramatic!” Frankie fires at her, causing me to laugh and causing her to hug him quickly.

”I know he is, baby.”

Thaddeus is now isolated with D’Ville handcuffed to the ropes and unable to help his partner. Defiant as always and always ready for a fight, Thaddeus doesn’t back down even as Cataclysm goes to work on him and do a number. Moments later, the smack heard around the world as Thad hits his superkick on Page as Main climbs toward the titles.

”YEAH!” Sebastian reacts as Page staggers backward after the kick, inadvertently tipping the ladder, spilling Main to the mat below. Thad follows up by hitting Page with the barbed wire chair again before cutting the handcuffs to free his tag team partner. Later, with Thad at the top of the ladder, a now recovering Page uses all he’s got to tip the ladder and cause Thad to crotch himself on the top rope.

”Oh no! Baby!”

”No one really knows how bad that hurts… its like being split in half,” Sebastian says as Liz looks at him angrily. ”...I mean, it’s true though.”

To be rather honest, watching him work is a delight but watching him simultaneously put his body through absolute hell really is a heart wrenching endeavor for those of us that love him. Frankie notwithstanding. In his ten year old mind, Thaddeus is invincible. Later on, Doc and Main fight each other atop the ladder as Page walks into yet another superkick from Thad and the crowd roars to life.

”Do it kid,” his father says quietly as Thad looks up at Main and D’Ville on top of the ladder. His old man jumps to his feet with his face close to the glass. ”DO IT!” No sooner does he yell it out a second time, does Thad shove the ladder over, causing both Main and D’Ville to crash the floor outside the ring.

”YES!”

”He’s all by himself in the ring!” Frankie yells out and he too is on his feet. The four of us are as close to the skybox window as we can be, watching Thaddeus set up the ladder and climb up. By himself with Cataclysm and his partner down and out on the floor, he rips both titles from their clasp and the bell rings.

His music plays over the manufactured arena and the fans go ballistic. Glancing at Sebastian, I can see the pride on his face. Not one to smile, or laugh, our outwardly feel very often. Tonight, with a tear in his eye and a wide smile on his face, he’s just watched his only son, his only child, climb the ladder and lay claim to the tag team championships.

Liz looks on out at the ring and looks over the crowd cheering jubilantly as Thaddeus and Doc D’Ville celebrate dethroning Cataclysm. It might be the first time she really gets it. The XWF Universe loves her Thaddeus and THAT is why he does the things he does in that ring.

With Thaddeus Duke and D’Ville heading toward the back, and Thad stopping every now and then to celebrate with fans at ringside, Frankie bolts from the skybox, wanting desperately to be the first person to greet him when he comes through the curtain.

In Gorilla, Thad steps through the curtain and immediately hits his knees clutching his back.

”Thad!” Heyman yells out as Frankie, Liz and I reach him. ”We need a medic in here!”

Frankie, ever oblivious, runs and throws his arms around Thaddeus as he drops the title to the floor and hugs him back. Medics rush over to Thad who waves them off.

”I’m fine, shit just hurts,” Thad says as he gets back to his feet. Frankie lifts the title off the floor and carries it on his shoulder. ”Think you could be as good a partner as D’Ville?” Thad asks of the boy with a smile. Frankie laughs.

”I’m not big enough yet,” Frankie replies as he looks up with a wide smile at his “invincible” hero.

Walking a bit gingerly, Thad heads toward his dressing room with me and Paul behind him, Frankie beside him and Elizabeth’s hand in his.

”Thad, when you did that flippy move off the top of the ladder...”

”That hurt like hell,” Thad interjects.

”Yeah but it was so cool!”

”Where’s my dad?”

”Still up in the skybox, mate,” I answer him. ”I don’t want to be the one to tell you this but… you made him shed a tear.”

”Liz cried the whole time,” Frankie says causing me to chuckle a little.

Thaddeus looks at Liz and kisses her on the lips.

”I’m fine baby. Sore, but fine.”

”I’m beginning to understand hun…”

”Understand what?”

”Why you do the things you do out there.”

”They pay good money to come see me… if I don’t give them all of me then I’m letting them down.”

”I know,” she says with a sigh as we reach his dressing room. ”I just wish it didn’t have to be so… hard for me to watch you do it.”

”Thad,” Paul says as he ends a call and slides his phone in his pocket. ”Chiropractor and masseuse are on their way in momentarily. I can’t have my future Universal Champion half broken and in a ton of pain before he goes to bring home the big one.”

”How much time we got?”

”Thirty minutes maybe. Lane is up next going into the Hall and you know his ego…”

The scene fades in on a darkened room. Thaddeus Duke has his hood up over his eyes as he sits in one of those director chairs.

Shed the mask: check.

Win the Television title: check.

Beat up Mastermind for making me roll my eyes one too many times: check.

Own Chris Chaos twice: check and check.

Go undefeated at Relentless on a busted up freakin’ knee: check.

Come back from that injury to unleash hell on Chris Page: check.

Take the legacy of, the streak of, the titles of, the supposedly insurmountable Cataclysm: check, check and check.

Enter the battle royal and win the Universal title: big mother fucking check.

Own Chaos again: clearly that’s a check.

Beat the piss out of Barney Green?

Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh.

Let me be clear: I don’t want to beat Barney Green like an overstuffed pinata, but I’m going to. I don’t want to beat the shit out of him for twenty minutes, but I’m going to. I don’t want to use all the weapons on him that’ll be at my disposal, but I’m going to.

The XWF Universe loves Barney Green.

The world loves Barney Green.

The roster loves Barney Green.

Hell I love Barney Green.

The fact is I didn’t ask for this. He did. I didn’t ask to be put in a position where I have to beat the hell out of someone so beloved. He did. I didn’t ask to be the guy that has to smash Barney Green into the nothing he’s always been. He did.

Thad? Frankie interrupts from off camera. Thad turns his head and darts his eyes in his direction. Do you really have to be mean to Barney?

Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh.

Does that bother you?

We play games and stuff when you’re busy. And he shares his fries with me.

Insert another sigh here.

Frankie, I’m not doing it because I want to, I’m doing it because I have to.

Why? He respects you. He’ll say all kinds of nice stuff about you.

Dammit.

Yeah he might.

Thad stands up out of the directors chair and walks out of the scene. Moments later, he walks between the camera and the chair and out of picture again. A few seconds later, he returns to the directors chair and pulls his hood off his head.

For the lead up to High Stakes, Barney was all gushy. He said a lot of nice things about a lot of people and Barney as much as I love you personally, as much as you saying I’d be in the Hall of Legends one day freakin’ warms my heart. As much as...

Can’t.

What? Thad asks of Frankie, again darting his gaze off camera.

Your dad is in the Hall, I don’t think you can go in. Ever.

Wait is that a rule? Thad asks Frankie. How Frankie suddenly became an XWF encyclopedia, this narrator doesn’t know but here we are.

I think so. I thought I read it somewhere.

That’s kinda bullshit. I’m way better than he was.

Anyway, that isn’t the Barney I want. I don’t want you coming on television saying all kinda of nice stuff about me then turning around and telling them how you’re gonna beat me. You won’t beat me but that’s beside the point. I want the human wrecking ball. I want the Xtremist. I want the Barney Green of yesteryear that put his body on the god damn line and I want you to kick my ass as if your entire god damn career and your legacy depended on it. I want those fans going home entirely exhausted from the match they just saw from me and you. I want them emotionally worn out and entirely confused as to who they really loved.

The only way that happens is by you embracing the destruction you and I both know you’re capable of. I’m gonna piss you off Barney. It isn’t personal. It really is just business. I want the absolute best of Barney Green that you can possibly fucking muster because I deserve that, the Universal title deserves that, these fans deserve that and probably more importantly Barney, you fucking deserve that.

Let me tell you why I’m going to piss you off. If you thought you were gonna need Ben Gay on your joints before facing me in that battle royal, then man you’re gonna need traction after Savage. You’re gonna need to get your entire body realigned when I’m done with you because I’m as quick as lightning and I may be small by wrestling standards but I got a whole lot of heart and all that heart packs a shit ton of thunder behind it.

For all your talk of battling like Winston Churchill and never surrendering and you bleeding buckets and your brutal matches of the past, where did all of that get you? Where did that lead you Barney? Except getting bumped from the match somewhere in the middle of the pack?

You’re the Daddy of Violence?

Bring it on Barney.

Bring that Barney Green to Savage.

You may be the Daddy of Violence but I’m the reigning king of Xtreme and I have the gold to prove it. It’s easy to overlook my toughness. It’s easy to glance in my direction and think ‘just another pretty face that sells t-shirts’. Since my return to this company I’ve stood across the ring with some of the toughest, most brutal fucking competitors and whether I won or lost is beside the point. The point is they look at me and see another pretty face while I stand up to them, and match them step for step, blow by blow, weapon for weapon and I just don’t fucking quit, I don’t fucking back down for anyone. Whether they were victorious in the end or I, when the cliched dust settles and the smoke clears its always ‘god damn kid, I didn’t know you had it in you.’

I do.

I always have.

And that Barney, is why you need to be the absolute best version of you that you can be. You need to be that Daddy of Violence again. I have a rather high tolerance for pain and I rather enjoy it to be honest. You without the violence? Just isn’t good enough. You with it isn’t either, but at least we’ll make a god damn memory to kick off the new year for Savage.

You’re the Daddy of Violence right? I’m the Son of Darkness and despite he and I being very different people, there is no doubt whatsoever that I can be every bit as cold, dark, callous, and vicious as he ever was.

I’m giving you the best version of the name Duke that has ever set foot in this company. That isn’t ego, it isn’t boasting, it isn’t even pride. It’s simply the honest truth. The least you can do, Barney, is give me the best you. Just remember that in the end, when you’re beaten, battered, and lying in a pool of your own blood, that you did ask for this after I won it. You wanted Thaddeus Duke. You wanted to put your past against my current and future.

If you don’t bring out the Daddy of Violence, Barney…

Man…

Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Just remember, it really is just business.

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