Today is Monday and since this past Wednesday, I've spent 16 hour days here at the office.  Last week was a banner week, to be sure.  Professionally speaking, maybe the only one that tops it is the one where I won the tag and Universal titles in the same night.  Just as that night was the culmination of a lot of hard work and determination on my part, so was this.

Not only did I main event Triad, but I succeeded too.  On top of that, every free moment I’ve had, hasn’t been very free.  No, I’ve been working my ass off to restructure the brand.  The roster desperately needs a fresh start and I'm happy to give it to them.  Nothing grinds my gears more in this business than an out of touch leader.  There's a lot of things people can say about me.  Some of it may even have a sliver of truth, but they can't ever deny that I didn't have my finger on the pulse of the business.

Dressed in blue jeans and a graphic t-shirt, the earbuds blasted music through my ears as I stepped onto the elevator on my way to the office.  After installing changes and making plans for this new era of a once great show, I'd done my homework on a number of names scattered throughout the business.  One woman, Penelope, who coincidentally wanted to kill me at Triad, I thought could really raise the bar, to really increase the level of competition on Madness.

Two others I thought were loaded with potential.  Even Hunt and Gabriel Landry are loaded with talent and all they need is the opportunity to paint on the canvas we'll provide them.  Professional wrestling is an art, it's a passion.  Many grow jaded over the years and lose their passion.  They grow too concerned with outcomes rather than focusing on their craft.  With Hunt and Landry, I felt I could help mold them into perennial stars of the sport.

Combining those talents with the many that already resided upon the roster, Madness had the makings and the potential to go far under the right leadership.

The elevator door opens with a ding.  Stepping from the car, I stopped and looked at the wall in the lobby.  Affixed to it are the different companies that reside under one umbrella.  Lion's Guard, the New York Pride, along with parent company Catalon Industries… now another accompanies them.  While I have no vested financial interest in the promotion, the brass were more than willing to allow me to set up my offices for Madness in the same place I run the rest of my ventures.

Right here in New York City.

Some will argue, and they're entitled to their opinion, but I firmly believe this city is the greatest city in the world.  Those that argue against, are also free to be wrong.  Today, the Madness logo also adorns the wall in its green tinted chrome lettering.

Standing there for a few short minutes, I paused in reflection.  Not once had I ever considered they might one day offer me a general manager position in the XWF.  Don't get me wrong, they've always respected my talents and different abilities.  Our relationship, though, has not always been on solid ground.  Even today, there are moments that I fear the past will creep up and hit me from behind.  A past that I'm not particularly proud of.  A past that saw me an angry, emotional man that never passed up the opportunity for a tirade or an outburst.

It was unfair of me.  I've recognized that for the last three and a half years.  But it never stopped me from wondering which version of me was the real Thaddeus Duke.  Today, things still go on that chaps my ass and pisses me off around the wrestling business.  However, I deal with them in more productive ways.  There are people that find the exit from my life and to be perfectly honest… I'm okay with that. 

That's not to say that I'm perfect, or that I'm always right.  I'm not, but when you press on nerves, you find out who people truly are and to those that have found that exit, that door only opens one way.  I am far too busy to coddle anyone.

When I returned to wrestling in 2020, I thought that was my redemption.  I came back and was hyper focused.  I truly embodied what it meant to be the Lionheart.  I had had some success in my earlier career, but 2020 was when the Thaddeus Duke you know today, was truly born.  While my full time days are largely behind me now, I was and still am ridiculously good at what I do.  I take pride in the career I have had.  I'm as proud of my failures as I am of my successes.  Without those failures, I'd have never learned how to succeed.

Just like business.  This is not my first foray into running a wrestling company.  While I do not run the XWF, Monday Night Madness is its own brand that is run entirely independently of the big blue logo.

My first attempt in 2019 was an abysmal failure.  The head of the company thought he entered into a partnership with a yes-man.  I am not now, nor have I ever been, nor will I ever be a yes-man.

Attempt number two is well documented.  I bought OCW in an effort to save it from the cancer that threatened to kill it.  I tried hard, whether they knew it or not. Whether they acknowledge it or not.  From the word 'go' the cancer was obvious.  All I had to do was show my face and the cancer bubbled to the surface instantly.

I tried hard to cure that cancer.  I tried to be nice.  I tried to play ball.  All the while, that cancer had two faces.  One Jekyll, one Hyde.  One face was eager at first.  The other face was spreading cancer behind my back.

It would have hurt if it wasn't so obvious, if it wasn't so expected, if it wasn't so… on brand.  Realizing the cancer was inoperable, knowing it could not be saved, I did what any business man would do and sold out.  My mistake, was allowing that cancer to stay.  I did that for peace.  I knew it was a mistake then, but had I killed the cancer using the nuclear option, a mass exodus would've followed because those on that roster… had no idea of the monster in their midst.

Third times the charm right? I don't have a resistant overlord this time. That cancer that literally and figuratively killed OCW, rotting it from its core, inside out, will never ever be anywhere near Madness.

For all the trials and tribulations, some my own doing, some not, maybe this is my true redemption story.  To take this show that's literally on its last legs, to repair trust from its roster, to create something special that that roster can be proud of.  To run this show to the absolute best of my considerable ability.

This week alone has been the most rewarding of my professional life.  There is some hesitancy.  I expected that.  They've stayed though.  They believe in what they do and I believe in what they do.  I'm earning their trust little by little.

Their mistrust isn't so much of me, but a symptom of what they've been through as a roster.  I get it.  I've been there too.  Thing is, I can't do this without them.  All I need is for them to take a deep breath, and grab my hand.  Together, we'll jump.  Together, we'll put Madness on the map.  Together, we… will… rise.

"Janet, call Marisol Vilaro for me," I said as I passed by my gate keeper extraordinaire into my office.

"Ms. Vilaro is on line seven," Janet said over the intercom as I sat and prepared for the day ahead.

"Marisol," I greeted her warmly after picking up my office phone.  "I think I got somethin' that might interest you."