All Champ Sportsman wanted to do was kick back and sip on a couple of beers. He'd just been eliminated from the 2nd Chance Battle Royal at March Madness, but it didn't affect his mood one bit. Sure, Champ was disappointed he didn't get to, at least, compete in the Finals, but considering it was only his second match ever, he considered 4th Place a victory. Considering some of the names he outlasted(including a fuckin' WWF Champion!), he figured he earned a beer.

As soon as the Triathlete walked into the lockeroom, he was welcomed with a round of applause. However, it wasn't from the wrestlers(who looked less than enthused about some pretty boy receiving a standing ovation for a losing performance), it was from a handful of Champ's Carolina Rockets teammates. The XWF roster rolled their eyes and abandoned their tainted sanctuary as Sportsman's peers greeted him.

"Way to go, Champ!" his Quarterback, Richard Staunton, exclaimed, handing his receiver a Bud Light.

"Thanks, Rich!" the Triathlete responded, cracking the beer open and gulping it down.

"I loved the part where you slid between the guy's legs and yanked him off the side of the ring!" Dizzy Freeman, the Center, admitted.

Champ gave the lineman an awkward grin. "Well, you know me, always thinking outside the box....................... or, in this case, the ring!"

The group of football players began laughing their asses off, when the final teammate, veteran wide receiver Clarence Hines, chimed in. "Or, in YOUR case, out of bounds!" The four of them continued their laughter, with Champ not having much of a defense.

"Shut the fuck up, ClaRence!!!"

"I'm serious, man, I don't know how someone who dips out of bounds so much to avoid the hit was able to take so many shots in there and keep comin' back for more!" Hines praised with a clink of his beer.

"Well, thanks, Clarence," Champ replied, thinking about the backhanded compliment. "I think."

"So what's next, Champ?" Staunton asked, opening up a cold one for himself. "Savage? Warfare? Leap of Faith, perhaps?"

"What's next?" the Triathlete repeated before finishing his beer, crushing the can, and spiking it on the floor. "The fuckin' Ultra Bowl is what's next!!!!!"

The group of guys hollered with excitement, dumping Bud Light all over one another as they jumped for joy. The celebration didn't last long, as Steve Sayors soon arrived to rain on Champ's parade.

"For you, sir," Steve said, handing an envelope to the Triathlete.

"What is it?" Dizzy wondered, inspecting it as if he'd never seen a letter before.

"Probably just my paycheck," Champ assured his teammate, opening up the envelope and reaching inside. Rather than pull out a check, though, Sportsman was met with a note.

"What's it say?"

"Let him read the damn thing, Dizz!"

Champ glanced over it. Once again, Theo Pryce was making himself known to the Triathlete, and not in a good way. While he DID compliment Champ on his performance(albeit in a Clarence Hines sort of way), he also expected him to compete on the next edition of Savage.

An unhappy Champ slapped the paper against his leg, a frown on his face. "That bastard wants me to wrestle right before the season opener!"

"Tell him 'no'" Champ's Quarterback suggested.

"I can't," the Triathlete informed him. "He's holding my contract over my head and, quite frankly, I can't afford the fee to get out of it! I went on sort of a binge over the off-season..............."

"Ah, the ole nightly beer and hooker party," Clarence stated, reminiscing about his younger days. "Good times, gooooooood times."

Champ thought about the night he sucked a pile of cocaine up in the vacuum cleaner, shoved the tube up his ass, and flipped the reverse switch in an attempt to get twice as high.

"Not exactly."

"This is just like the owners!" Dizzy puffed, thinking about his latest contract extension. "They get mad at US for holding out for more money, but anytime THEY need to save a few bucks, all of a sudden that contract don't mean SHIT!!!!!"

"What are you gonna do?" Staunton asked, concerned he might not have his star receiver for their first game.

"Well, first I need another beer," Champ answered, reaching for another Bud and opening it. "As for the other stuff, I guess I don't really have much of a choice. Champ Sportsman's pulling double duty opening weekend and there ain't a damn anybody can do to stop me! Not the league, not Theo Pryce, and certainly not Jenny..................." Champ paused for a moment upon reading the name of his Savage opponent, before eventually finishing it aloud. "Myst."

"Jenny Myst?" Richard Staunton questioned with an eyebrow raised. "They got you fightin' a cheerleader?!?"

"I guess so."

"But, Champ, you can't hit a woman!!!!!"

"Like hell he can't!" Clarence disagreed with the passion of a man who'd been suspended multiple times for domestic violence issues off the field. "If she comes at HIM, best believe he's gonna bust her lip open!"

"But what will the League say?" Dizzy pondered with worry. "They can't have one of their faces all over everyone's TVs beating up a girl!"

Champ let out a sarcastic chuckle. "Good thing I'm NOT one of their faces, then," he pointed out, a bit salty. "There's at least 50 other players more qualified for that position than me. Hell, Clarence is more of a Face than I am and HE actually HIT a woman!"

"Allegedly."

"Clarence, we were there, dawg!" Staunton reminded the receiver, who didn't seem too thrilled about having his past used against him in the present. "Ain't no 'allegedly' about that shit!"

"......................"

"Could I have a minute, guys?" Champ requested, thinking about the weight of his next few decisions. "I'll catch up with ya in a bit, just need a moment to myself."

"Absolutely!" Dizzy concurred, getting up and patting his teammate on the shoulder. "They don't call you Champ for nothin', right?"

A slight smile formed on the side of Sportsman's mouth. "That's right."

"Alright, man, we'll leave you here to stare at a bunch of naked dudes!" Hines joked, giving Champ a mini noogey. "But afterwards, we're gonna straighten you up with some ladiiiiiiiiiies!"

The veteran receiver wiggled his hips before being led out by his Quarterback. "We need to keep you AWAY from the ladies, Clarence!"

The three of them disappeared out of sight.

Champ didn't want to lead on how big of a deal this match actually was. There were so many factors going into this singular bout, it was almost too much to count. Not only did the Triathlete desperately need a victory to avoid looking like a TOTAL flop, he was also gonna have to deal with only having ONE opponent as opposed to many. That meant he was gonna have to be more good than lucky this time, with it being his first true test of his abilities. And, to make matters the absolute worst of the worse, he was gonna have to do it all against a girl.

Now, Champ Sportsman wasn't sexist by any means, and he certainly had no problem with women being treated as equals. But this wasn't letting the burly lesbian try her hand at offensive line, or seeing how the star of the softball team's game translates to baseball; this was a [i[combat[/i] sport and Champ didn't know how he'd feel putting his hands on a woman in a non-sexual manner. Hell, he wasn't even sure if he COULD!

To make matters worse, this was Jenny Myst we were talking about, a decorated Champion in her own right. Champ knew this wasn't as easy as avoiding shots and rolling her up for the quick pin; if he wanted to escape that Cage as the winner, he was gonna have to brutalize her to the point where she wasn't gonna get back up. Easier said than done when you have an image to maintain. He pictured the replay being shown over and over again on Sportscenter, and all the little boys who were taught NOT to hit woman seeing their hero beating one to a bloody pulp just to have his hand raised. Surely it would leave a scar that'd eventually be passed on to their significant other, and Champ was NOT okay with that.

Luckily for the Triathlete, this was what a PR team was for. He didn't spend thousands of dollars on lawyers and representatives just for them to sit on their asses and collect a paycheck, he did it for situations like this. Champ never expected he'd need them for something along THESE lines, if anything, he figured it'd be cocaine related. THAT would've been easy to cover.

"Champ got peer pressured into trying something for the first time, and paid the price for it. He swears it will never happen again."

Pay a fine, end of story.

But THIS?! This was gonna take alot of explaining, and Champ was okay with that. He knew his team could spin it in a way that would not only make the Triathlete look like less of a prick, but maybe even GOOD. He wasn't sure how, but that wasn't his problem to figure out. No, Champ was gonna have to put all his focus on Jenny Myst and ignore the fact fighting her goes against everything he was taught. Afterall, if he didn't honor the stipulations of his contract, he'd be no better than all the owners Dizzy was going on about. And, if there was one thing Champ Sportsman didn't want, it was to be like the greedy owners who profitted off his hard work. ESPECIALLY Theo Pryce.


"Jenny from the block, eh? I honestly have no idea what that means, but I've heard other people say it and figured it was worth a shot. Afterall, that's what pro wrestling IS, right? Stealing ideas from other people and using them as your own? Whether it be looks, moves, or phrases, there isn't an original personality in all of XWF. And that goes for Champ Sportsman, as well! You'd be a fool to think I was the first athlete from another sport to try their hand at professional wrestling, I've just done it BETTER than the rest of them. Much like how Jenny's perfected the whole annoying bitch routine, I too have mastered my craft. I'm the champ of all sports, man."

"Jenny, I know how much firsts mean in this business and Saturday is gonna be chalk full of them! My first one on one match, first time I hit a woman, and the very first statement I make in a long run of 'em. I'm well aware of your history and, I've gotta say, I'm impressed. You don't get to face the equivalent of last year's Champions in the first game of the season too often but, when you do, you can't afford to let them walk all over you. I know that's exactly what you expect to do, Jenny, and why wouldn't you? I'm nothing more than the team that got the #1 Draft Pick, a loser who will always BE that way until I prove otherwise. Unfortunately for you, this loser has a bit of talent, and a win isn't gonna be as easy as you THINK it will be!"

"Do you know what being a decorated Champion means Jen-nayyyyy? It means having to live up to the constant pressure that comes WITH being a Champion.................. or, in your case, FORMER Champion. But you're already feeling that, aren't you? Ever since losing the Shooting Star Championship, you've been on a downward spiral unlike any Queen I'VE ever seen! If you keep it up, they're gonna start booking you against jobbers, just to give you an easy win."

Champ stopped himself for a moment, realizing there was more truth to his words than he first thought.

"Wait a minute................ that's EXACTLY what's going on here, isn't it??? Poor Jenny Myst can't cut it against the likes of Betsy Granger and Doctor D'Ville, so let's feed her Champ fuckin' Sportsman! My God, how could I have been so blind?!??!? I'm the Division II school scheduled against a D1 powerhouse in order to get the program's confidence up, is that right? Well, Jenny, unfortunately for you I didn't just come here to play, I came here to WIN!!!!! Theo Pryce had alot of nerve forcing me to compete at March Madness knowing I was in over my head, but THIS is just insulting! Well, we'll see who's laughing once the Triathlete's stock is at an all-time high after Savage! Maybe I won't even bother coming back, just pack up and take BOTH sets of fans with me!!!"

"I could stand here and run down everything wrong with Jenny Myst, but I don't want to sound like a broken record. The truth is, for as many things as Jenny does wrong, she's usually there to balance it out with something RIGHT. That's what makes her so dangerous. She may have been dumb enough to think Chris Chaos actually cared about her at one point, but she made up for it by being the more successful of the two post-breakup. I commend her for that. Rather than go home, curl up with a tub of ice cream, and ugly cry her way through a slew of Lifetime movies, she put her big girl panties on and started whooping ass...................... for a bit, at least. And while that ship has long set sail, that doesn't mean it was never in the port to begin with."

"Betsy may have had your number at March Madness, but I'd be an idiot to let THAT lower my guard. While it's funny to make fun of Jenny for her recent losses, the fact of the matter is I probably would've lost those matches, too. The difference is, I SHOULD be losing those matches, Jenny shouldn't. Not if she wants to call herself a Queen, that is. You don't see baseball players who can barely make a base calling themselves 'Home Run Kings' or Quarterbacks with noodle arms being labeled 'Rocker Arm,' maybe Jenny should follow suit and drop her Queen moniker until she either wins a March Madness or overthrows Doc. It's as simple as that. Hell, look at me, I'm the TRIathlete because I compete in THREE different sports! You don't see me calling myself things like 'Grand Puba' or 'God,' just silly nicknames like Champster and the Queen Slayer.................. okay, I made that last one up, but after next Savage, it just might stick."

"People expect me to strike out Saturday night, but that isn't gonna stop me from swinging at every God damn pitch that's thrown my way. If I miss, I'll swing twice as hard at the next one, that's all you can do. I may not have this wrestling thing down just yet, but I've always been a learn on the fly kind of guy and I'm hoping to learn ALOT come Savage. Add that in with what I've already learned at High Stakes & March Madness, and I'd say I have a pretty good shot at upsetting 'the Queen.' YOU might not, SHE might not, but I do! As someone who's been on both the winning AND losing side of an upset, I'd say I'm somewhat of an expert on the subject. And, as such, I intend to use my expertise in order to gain any sort of advantage I can. Hey, at least I'm not stealing signs, just knocking 'em out of the park the old fashioned way. No cork, no steroids, just hard work, determination, and a liiiiiiiiiitle bit of brains................."

Champ Sportsman pretends to swing an invisible bat and runs out of view, cheering for himself with his arms raised as he does so.