'In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since. Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, he told me, just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had.’ - The Great Gatsby

Ken Davison was ready, for the Denzel Porter invitational at least. His wedding to Kyra Johnson was a little more than three months away and neither he, nor Kyra, were aware of it. They had been most recently focused on their professional coupling, winning the UGWC Cooperative Championships together for the first time. The two began as rivals, became partners, and ended up falling in love. Now, they were building everything together, a career, a life, and a family.

The bond between Mac Bane and himself was different. In some ways, it was deeper than his bond with Kyra. Much like Kyra, the two men began as rivals. The amount of each other’s blood the two men have spilled over the years was staggering, but paled in comparison to the copious amount of their opponent’s blood they had spilled. The two of them were brothers-in-arms, with a friendship forged by respect during their many battles in the ring.

Then, there was the fourth member of their team… Amber Ryan. Amber FUCKING Ryan… the history between Amber Ryan and Ken Davison was not what you would call ‘friendly.’ Had the two of them known each other for as long as Ken and Mac had, one of them, if not both, would be dead. Due to her friendship with his fiancee, as well as the fact that she is married to his best friend, he agreed to partner with her at the invitational. It would even be fair to say that since her marriage to Mac Bane, the tension between the two of them had seemingly cooled, Ken would not hesitate to end her. Not that he would ever admit that. In spite of all of those things, the fact of the matter is that Amber could go. In the ring she was one of the elite level talents and that is something that could not be overlooked.

In some ways, their dynamic was like a soap opera without the murders… so far.

Ken stands in front of his bed, packing away the last of his equipment, adjusting them to make room for his UGWC Cooperative and SCW Internet Championship belts. Ken was by no means certain that he would get to wear them, but he was proud of his accomplishments and the companies he worked for.
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“Godly” Ken Davison walks inside of what seems to be a school. The white stone underfoot is speckled with black flecks to add character to it. The halls are lined with beige tiles designed to look like bricks that come up to his shoulders. Above that is a wall, painted with a clean, white finish. Just behind that are blue lockers, lining the halls going as far back as the eye can see.

“The old place hasn’t changed much,” Davison says to no one in particular. For the average person, this was simply a school. But for Ken, it was a reminder of who he was and where he came from. The fact that he had chosen to wear his old letterman’s jacket instead of his traditional robes was a fair indication of the building’s importance to him.

“This is Arthur L. Johnson Regional High School… well, it’s not regional anymore. They dissolved the district a few years ago. I guess that’s not important. This is where I learned about what it takes to be a winner. Way back in 1995, when dinosaurs walked the earth, I got to be a part of the greatest football team to ever grace this school. Our team was a juggernaut, going an unbeaten 11-0, scoring a total of 424 points while only allowing 24 points. That’s four touchdowns, no extra points, no field goals. We won the Mountain Division of the Mountain Valley Conference Championship and the State Championship. It was a hell of a year.”

“That state championship was the culmination of three years of hard work, of growing pains, of two schools coming together and becoming one unit. It had all the makings of one of those cheesy, feel good, coming of age sports stories.” Davison stops in front of the main entrance, turning and looking into the trophy case that still held the trophy and picture of the team. “Coach Taylor taught us the skills that we would need to become men going forward.”

“Badass” by Saliva begins to play, catching Ken off guard. “I thought I had that turned off. Cut the camera for a minute.”

Of course, that doesn’t happen.

“Yeah, Mac. What’s going on?” The phone isn't loud enough for Mac’s voice to be heard. “You’re shitting me. Really?” A pensive look crosses Davison’s face. “It’s fine. We’ll make due. I will catch up to you when we get into Vegas.” Ken nods “We get into tomorrow night, 510, Spirit Airlines. We’ll see you then.”

Ken hangs up the phone, sliding it back into his pocket.

“My apologies. It seems our foursome is down to a threesome and Ms. Ryan won’t be attending. Anyway, let’s pick up where we left off. Shall we?”

Ken takes the time to crack his neck before standing upright to continue his diatribe.

“Mac Bane is a winner. Kyra Johnson is a winner. Godly Ken Davison is a winner. These are three facts that cannot be disputed. As fun as it would be to rattle off all of our combined accomplishments, I have neither the time, nor the patience, to do that much reading. Our resumes speak for themselves.”

“Also, I am not going to run down and defame any of our potential opposition here in the Invitational. There are plenty of names around here that I'm familiar with. Names such as Matt Knox, Maggie Lockhart, Tony Savage, and Larry Tact… just to name a few. Some, such as Supreme Machine and Alex Jones, I have gone to war beside. Others, looking at you Ragdoll, have stood across from me as we baptized each other in blood. They are winners in their own right. However, Mac, Kyra and I have even more to prove now that we are in our current, shall we say, predicament.”

“The first thing that you need to learn about being a winner is that winners are good leaders. The three of us all lead in our own ways. I know that I lead through my words. I use that influence to inspire and give others belief in themselves. Mac leads through example. The way he walks. The way he handles himself. The respect that he shows to others has been returned to him and he is viewed as one of the best talents in this industry both in-and-out of the ring. Kyra, though she'll be the first person to deny this, may be the greatest leader of the three of us. I get to see her in a different way. I see her at home. I see her, as a mother, showing her daughter that it's okay to be strong, to be vulnerable, to be flawed. She teaches leadership in a way that most of us will never understand. If that doesn't qualify her as a winner, I don't know what does.”

“Another thing about winners is that we possess a positive attitude. When the four of us came together and decided to take part in the Invitational, we knew that we could win this. Period. No questions asked. Even with the fact that I just found out that Amber Ryan dropped out, I know Mac Bane, Kyra Johnson, and myself can win this entire tournament. Same name. Same game. Not a damn thing changed. The three of us are more than capable of taking any company's four best wrestlers down,” Ken snaps his fingers “Just like that.”

“At this point, I think it's fair to say you understand the kind of people we are. We are going to further cement your understanding of who we are by taking a large risk. There are three of us remaining on this team. That is three of us that are willing to walk in there against the odds. Because another of our more virtuous attributes is that like any other winner we are able to adapt. We can switch gears on the fly and we are always ready for any opportunity that might come down the road. If we walk in here as a team of three and we decimate the competition in a way that I know only we are capable of, it is an opportunity to show that we are exactly who and what we say we are.”

“The last quality that I want to touch upon is something that we need to prove we can do during the Invitational. Winners overcome adversity. I've told the story a 100 times before about who I am and the things I've overcome. So, instead of telling you the same tired tale, I am going to share the tale of the Arthur L Johnson Crusaders.”

“I moved to this school in the summer of 1993. Since I moved here from Boston, that's what I was called. There was another girl who moved here at the same time. I never learned her real name. I just called her 'Kansas.' It was kind of like Zombieland. One of the nearby schools closed down. Being a regional district, those students were sent here. Coach Taylor had the difficult task of taking two football teams, who had been rivals the year before and molding then into one team. I was recruited to the football team for one reason: I could throw sidearm. I've the course of the next three years, we went from rivals, to friends to a team. There were bumps along the way, such as the Sophomore year brawl that happened right in the middle of practice, but ultimately, we grew and became one unit. It was like 'Remember the Titans' without the racism.”

“What's that got to do with wrestling? Nothing, but at the same time, everything. In an event such as the Denzel Invitational, being able to work with your team is crucial. Being able to trust your team, even more so. Our team doesn't need to learn any of that because the fact of the matter is that we have all done that. We knew going into this thing that we are all winners and it doesn't matter if it's the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. When you enter the ring with “The One Man Wrecking Crew” Mac Bane, “The Ultraviolent Goddess” Kyra Johnson, and the GKD, “Godly” Ken Davison, you can be assured of one thing… we will walk away as winners. “