Having spent roughly 30 minutes “mentally preparing himself” which consisted of downing two glasses of Scotch as well as disappearing into his private bathroom for roughly 20 minutes and emerging with wet hair and dressed in a black t-shirt and a pair of mesh shorts with sneakers, Theo is now sitting at his desk scrolling through emails in Outlook while he waits for the call from Steve Sayors, one of the XWF’s two interviewers. A few moments later Theo’s phone buzzes and his receptionist comes over the speaker.


“Excuse Mr. Pryce, Steve Sayors is on the phone. He said you are scheduled to for a phone interview.”

“What line?”

“3 sir.”

“Thank you.”


Theo takes a deep breath, closes the screen on his laptop and clicks the button marked “Line 3” and then the button marked “Speaker”.


“Stevie Boy, how the hell are you?”

“I’m fine Mr. Pryce how are you?”

“I’m loaded and ladies love me. I’ve never had a bad day in my life. Well, except for the day my child hood dog Moby died.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, was he old?”

“No, my mother came home drunk and ran him over with the car. Of course she denied it but the back tire was still on his crushed skull when I went outside looking for him. One of the many reasons I don’t speak to the woman. But hey, we aren’t here to relive my past. We’re here to talk about the present and my future.”

“Ok then. So as I mentioned previously, this interview will be put on the XWF website for the fans to view right after we have a chance to go through and do some editing.”

“Editing? What is there to edit? You ask some questions, I answer them and that’s that. It’s not rocket science Steve-O.”

“It’s company policy Mr. Pryce.”

“Oh don’t use that line on me Stephen…Let’s get this started, I have other things to do. I run a multi billion dollar company you know.”

“Yes I do. Ok, so first question. You recently won the # 1 Contendership to the Tag Team Titles. Do you have a partner in mind and if so, do you plan on challenging for the titles soon?”

“Steve I do have a partner in mind. We’ve talked and when it’s time for the rest of the company to know who it is, they will. Until then it will remain a mystery. Maybe I’ll even make a game out of it. Who knows. As for when we will challenge for the titles, well it certainly seems like now would be a good time considering the current champs can’t seem to stop themselves from trying to kill each other. Nothing like a little drama to spice up a relationship, but no, I think I’ll wait a little bit before getting that match going. I’m in no particular rush. The Queen of Darkness and the Ugly Mechanic are as beatable today as they would be any other day so I’m not really worried about trying to cash in just because those two can’t get along. “

“Alright, next question. A lot has been made about your role within The Black Circle. They are known to be a close knit group that likes to keep things within the family so to speak. How is it that you came to be a member of such a prolific group considering you were an unknown in the wrestling community. “

“Well Steve I am someone that has been accustomed to greatness my whole life and The Black Circle is the epitome of greatness. Sure there are other groups in the XWF but none of them can offer what The Black Circle can.”

“Such as?”

“Well let’s see. The Brotherhood is acting more like a Sisterhood these days. Drama, drama, drama. The Congregation, they are cool, if you like going to church on Sundays. You have Xtreme Destruction which is filled with a bunch of nobodies and John Austin and lastly there’s S.E.X…which is awesome if you want to be the most insufferable douche alive. So you tell me, if you could pick between any of those groups and The Black Circle who would you choose?”

“Well I guess you make a good case but that didn’t really answer my question. Why The Black Circle?”

“Because the Black Circle offered is a group filled with stars. You have the current European and Television Champions. You have one of the company’s biggest up and comers and one of my personal favorites NAZI and then you have the King of the XWF. Oh, and their leader runs the XWF. You would have to be an idiot not to want to be in the group. But unlike this country’s boarders this group is much more conscience of who they allow into the group.”

“Well that is a nice segue into my next question. Lethal Lottery Two takes place in less than a week. It’s your first Pay Per View and you are scheduled to face a friend of yours, some might even say, your mentor and fellow Black Circle member John Madison. What are your thoughts on that?”

“What are my thoughts on what? That in my first Pay Per View I have a match for the coveted King of the XWF title? Or that some people see John Madison is my mentor? Or that we both happen to be in the Black Circle?”

“Ok, I’ll put it this way instead. Most people believe that Shane picked you for the match simply so that John Madison can continue his reign as the current King of the federation. That you are nothing more than a patsy so to speak.”

“Oh is that so? Is that what you think Steve? That I am just going to lay down because John Madison has been so involved in my rise in this federation? Are you suggesting that The Black Circle is involved in some conspiracy to rob the fans of a great match? That Shane , your boss doesn’t care about the fans, is that what you are suggesting Steve?”

“No….not….no not at all. I was just…”

“You were just what Steve? What were you just?”

“Tell you what, how about we move on to the part where we allow the fans to submit a question to our inbox and we randomly select one so that you can answer it?”

“Go for it. But don’t think I forgot about what you just suggested a moment ago.”

“Of course not. I wouldn’t expect you to…Ok Mr. Pryce, this question comes from a fan named Chris Canti from Columbus, Ohio…”

“Oh what a dreadful town. That poor guy. Why anyone would choose to live there is beyond me but go ahead with your question.”

“Chris from Columbus wants to know, “If there is any wrestler in the XWF that you absolutely would never want to face? And why?”

“Oh that’s an easy one. Peter Gilmour. As for why? Well I’m not going to lie, I don’t scare easily but that guy scares me. One minute he looks like he is a potential candidate for the next season of The Biggest Loser the next he looks like he should be on the cover of some Super Market Tabloid claiming that he has an eating disorder. The guy dropped at least a 100 pounds over night. He either has the greatest plastic surgeon in history, or he shit out a medium sized child. Either one, something is just off.”

“Is that your actual answer?”

“Yes Steve it is. Do you have any other fan questions you want to ask? I feel like that was a let down.”

“Sure why not. This one is from Jenny in Florida. Jenny wants to know if you would marry her? She said that she can cook and clean and she’ll put out whenever you want. She also left her phone number.”

“I can’t see you Steve but I feel like you are probably all kinds of red right now. Well Jenny marriage isn’t for me. That isn’t to say that you can’t make someone happy, I am sure you can. Especially if you stick to that “will put out whenever you want” line. Guys love that. Well, guys not named Hunter Payne. As for cooking and cleaning, well I enjoy cooking and I pay someone to clean. But I hear Steve is looking for someone.”

“No I’m not.”

“Steve I’m just trying to help a brother out. Consider it an early Christmas Present.”

“Well I think that’s all the time we have. Thanks for participating Mr. Pryce. Good luck in your match at Lethal Lottery 2.”

“Thanks Steve. That’s very kind of you. I know you don’t mean it but I appreciate the effort. “


Theo hits the speaker button on his phone ending the call. Before Theo could even take a second to gather himself the doors to his office open and Erica Rayner and Jim Davis walk in with a stack of documents in their hands.


“Well this can’t be good.”

“Well Theo, we have some questionable activity showing up lately and I want to ask you about it.”

“Sure thing Jim. What have you got for me?”

“Well there was a transfer last week of $400,000 into an account called “The Master Cleanse” and another deposit a day later into an account in the Grand Caymans for $250,000. Both transactions were initiated and approved by you. “

“That’s right. I made those deposits.”

“And what are they for?”

“Just consider them part of my discrescionary funds.”

“You don’t have discresionary funds Theo. The company has them but you don’t.”

“Well this is my company Erica is it not?”

“Obviously it is but you can’t just start moving money around, especially in increments like that without some paper work. As well as getting approval from Jim. That’s what a CFO is for, among other things.”

“So Theo, what is this money for?”

“It’s for a little side project I am working on with a friend.”

“A friend? Which friend?”

“Are you serious Erica?”

“Yes Theo I am. You took $650,000 of company money without telling anyone to use for a side project with a friend, the least you could do is tell us who that friend is.”

“NAZI.”

"You gave company money to the Nazis?”

“No Jim, not the Nazi’s, a NAZI.”

“Is there a difference?”

“It’s negligible.”

“Theo you have to get that money back. The company cannot be connected to a NAZI or the Nazi’s. That is a PR nightmare.”

“The company isn’t. I am. I own the company, those are my funds. Besides, are you guys really going to miss $650,000? I made more than that on my own last week. That’s like a drop in the hat for us.”

“That’s not the point Theo and you know it.”

“We do background checks before we make transactions like this. We ensure that the place the money is going to is on the up and up so as to protect us from future litigation.”

“We sell WMD’s do whoever and you’re worried about where out money goes to?” Tell you what, the next time I decide to make a transaction like this I will let you know ahead of time. I am going to make it regardless of what you have to say but I will at least let you know first. Now if you’ll excuse me I need to get to the gym.”


Theo walks over to the couch, picks up his black gym bag and gets into his private elevator and descends down to the gym, leaving Erica and Jim to ponder what the hell just happened.



To be concluded.