JEREMY SILVER
I told you this was going to happen, James. I fucking told you!

JAMES RAVEN
I know. I know you did...

JEREMY SILVER
Don't roll your fucking eyes at me! Don't act like I don't know things! The second you told me you were going back to the XWF to fight Scully, I told you that they'd find a way to get their hooks into you and keep you there! FUCK, JAMES! I still don't understand why I fought with their lawyers for a month after you dropped the title to Robbie and bailed, if all you wanted was a few months off before going back!

Jeremy pounds his fist on his desk angrily, his face turning bright red as the veins in his neck bulge underneath his collar. He reaches for a crystal glass filled with water and quickly drains it, loosening his tie and taking several deep breaths. After a moment to collect himself, he leans back in his chair and stairs across the mahogany desk at me. We've had this conversation before, many times... but the look in his eyes tells me we're about to have it again.

JAMES RAVEN
Come on man, what do you want from me? An apology? I'm not "going back" to the XWF. I want that match with Lane. I've wanted it for six months and he's found every reason to dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodge me... if I needed to wreck Scully, and now run through Graves to get it? I'm more than willing.

JEREMY SILVER
They're using you, James. Open your eyes! They've got one of their top draws of all time carrying the mid-card on their weekly shows, they're barely paying him... he's not in a title hunt... he's facing washed up talent... and the carrot they're dangling is a match with an old man with a fucked up back that may not even show up? There's no way to spin this that looks good in the end! What happened to the shrewd James Raven that was one step ahead of everyone in shit like this? Bring him back!

He's angry. This is much more direct than he usually is about the subject. He stands up from his desk and turns his back on me, rolling his neck and shoulders to relieve tension as I sit uncomfortably on a leather couch across the office. I look through the glass doors, and see his receptionist gawking at us as he reams me. She sees me notice her and clumsily looks away and types nonsense on her keyboard.

JAMES RAVEN
It's wrestling, Jeremy. Nothing worth having comes easily in this business. I'm sorry if you still haven't managed to wrap your mind around that after all these years, and I'm sorry my career isn't movie contracts and fucking baseball deals like your other clients have been. Getting my hands on Lane is worth a couple of extra matches to me. I don't give a damn what they pay me or who they're against.

JEREMY SILVER
You can still face Lane! I get it, and I can sell it! He's a legitimate legend! You don't need to jump through these hoops to get that fight, though! You've earned the right to just-

JAMES RAVEN
Fuck that. I'm not demanding anything, I'm not pulling rank. If Loverboy wants to warm me up before Turning Point, fine. I'm not going to argue.

JEREMY SILVER
So don't argue! He agreed to the match on Twitter, just press him on that! He can't dick tuck and throw these road blocks at you to try and get out of it or else he looks like a coward!

I shrug my shoulders indifferently.

JAMES RAVEN
Let him look like a coward then. It is what it is. I've owed Graves an ass-kicking since 2009 anyways.

JEREMY SILVER
How are you so calm about this now? You used to be the type to put your foot down at the slightest whiff of owner manipulation, and now you're letting them stick a fist right up your ass to move your lips for you! They're making money hand over fist on this deal! If you so much as stumble against Graves, they'll call the match at Turning Point off and this whole month was a waste of time!

JAMES RAVEN
So I won't stumble against Graves. Seems simple enough.

He sighs; a long exasperated sigh that turns into a quiet roar by the end. He claws angrily at the air, gritting his teeth as if fighting my invisible stubbornness in the room. He stumbles back to his chair and collapses, looking at me in despair.

JEREMY SILVER
Can I be honest with you?

JAMES RAVEN
Have you not been so far?

JEREMY SILVER
You're chasing past glory in the XWF, and it's never going to come back. I'm sorry.

I wait for him to elaborate but he doesn't. He just stares at me. I feel my heart beat faster, and I skip a breath or two.

JAMES RAVEN
What the fuck are you talking about?

JEREMY SILVER
The XWF just isn't the same place it used to be. It's the same three letters, sure, but the roster, the fans, the entire atmosphere and presentation... it's changed. YOU'VE changed. You're not some 19 year old kid on a path to super stardom. You don't have Blizzard, or Big Shank, or Centurion, or Mia or Roxy to keep things fun. Don't get me wrong, it was a great moment to see you and Jon Brown together again, and it was cool to see you win that Universal title again... but enough. It's getting tiresome. This new generation will never care about you the way you want them to. They'll never embrace you as one of their own. You're a cash cow to them that they'll try and keep happy as long as possible, but they don't know you or what the fuck you did. They've never cared to look up your matches, or ask about what your ownership tenure was like! They just know that for some reason you're special, and they'll keep lining up hoping that they're the one to steal your shine!

He takes a deep breath. He realizes that he may have gone too far, but he looks like an enormous weight has been lifted from his shoulders. He's wanted to say that for weeks. He might be right. Still...

JAMES RAVEN
Fuck you.

I stand up from the couch, making my way to the office exit and shooting a middle finger to the receptionist that's still watching through the door but doesn't even make the effort to hide it this time.

JEREMY SILVER
James, sit down. Come on, we can talk about this.

I spin on my heels to face him, my own intensity matching his for the first time. He's taken aback.

JAMES RAVEN
We're done talking. All we do is talk about this sort of shit and honestly I don't fucking need it! I miss the old XWF, and I miss the old days... but I'm not chasing shit anymore, besides Vinnie Lane. This has nothing to do with old school vs. new school or proving that I can still compete, it's about settling a score. If I don't fight Graves, and he backs out, I never get this opportunity again. It's happening, and I don't need you trying to talk me out of it! You're my agent! You're supposed to FIND me shit like this!

JEREMY SILVER
I have, James! WWH and WGWF would give you a World title shot tomorrow! There are Hall of Famers all over Twitter lining up to be a part of your Legend vs. Legends tour! I cant book any of it for you if you're slumming it in the XW-

JAMES RAVEN
Fuck you.

JEREMY SILVER
I'm sorry! It slipped out! I'm angry! I didn't mean slumming it!

I make my way out of the office, flipping off the receptionist one more time for good measure as the door shuts behind me and Jeremy's voice can be heard distantly.

JEREMY SILVER
Come back, James! I'll do anything! I'm sorry.

I'll keep that in mind.

_____________________________________________________________________

A speed bump.

A road block.

Michael Graves.

Things put before you to kill your momentum, and deter you from reaching your final destination.

Michael Graves, one of the few men whose career in the XWF pre-dates mine, and yet when you try and look up any sort of information about him you'll find the archives surprisingly bare. It's no secret that the reason I returned to the XWF in the first place was to recieve access to the old XWF video archives; weekly shows and pay per views as far back as 2001, and as I dug through them... there's barely a single mention of the man that would have the current generation believe he was a cornerstone of the company.

Was he the one that beat Raziel for the Canad-

Oh, no, that was Sean Graves.

Was he the one that went toe to toe with Steve Jason as Xmas Xtr-

Shit, no, that was Sean Graves too.

Maybe he's the one that got involved with Hardcore Smitty and the Outsider Stone?

... 0 for three, Michael Graves didn't do any of this shit, unless he just can't be seen in his brothers shadows when I rewatch the clips.

Yet somehow he feels entitled. Somehow he got it into his head that a guy that wasn't the best of his era, or the best in his own fucking family, is owed a match by the greatest of all time. I'm sure you've played this whole thing up in your head for months, about the build up we'd have and all the attention I'd pay you... but it's not going down like that, Gravy. You're the afterthought in your own dream match, the lackey in your own elaborate scheme. Even while you beat me with a steel chair and all but begged the powers that be to put us in a ring together... I was looking past you to Vinnie Lane.

That's what this is about, Graves, and as much as I'd love to sit here and shred you about your bull shit pedophilia gimmick, and tell you how disappointed I am in some of the behavior I've seen from you as you plea desperately for the acceptance of the new crowds, and admonish you for the homophobic language and racial slurs...

... I can't be bothered right now.

Sorry, but I can't.

I lowered myself to Scullys level last time, and it was a waste for everyone involved. I have exactly enough patience for you to put you down and out in the ring, and no more. Then it's on to a TRUE Legend of the XWF, and the match people actually want to see... not just the massacre of a simple swamp donkey.

I'm tired, Graves. It's been a long day and I'm going to cut this short.

I'm sure you're disappointed, but don't worry, you're going to be disappointed a lot on Valentines day. This is just helping to prepare you for it. I'll be back tomorrow. I'll have more to say.

Until then take care, or don't I don't give a fuck.

But fear the Raven, forevermore.

_____________________________________________________________________

BIG SHANK
No way, he really said all of that to you? Crazy.

JAMES RAVEN
I know, right? Every couple of months he grows a mouth on him and decides to run it. It's like he forgets I'm his biggest client, and he's supremely fucked without my commission. In the end I don't mind it so much... we get precious moments like this as a result.

Big Shank and I stand on the street in a suburban neighborhood, leaning casually against a car that belongs to Jeremy Silver. We stare down the road at a playground filled with children and parents that have no idea the sort of ordeal they're about to be put through.

BIG SHANK
Are you really going to make him do this?

JAMES RAVEN
Yes. Yes I am. He claims he's sorry, and he's willing to do anything. It's not the first time he's had to earn my forgiveness. He knows the drill.

I bang on the cars window, startling Jeremy who's inside changing his outfit. Spoiler alert.

JAMES RAVEN
You almost ready in there, buddy?

JEREMY SILVER
Come on, James... please... don't make me do this, it can only end badly.

BIG SHANK
I've got to say, I agree. I want to see it though, so let's go.

I tug on the handle of the car door, opening it up and ushering out my "power agent". Shank doubles over laughing at the site of him, as instead of his usual suit and tie he's now wearing the black and green spandex Michael Graves was known for just a few months ago, a bone-like white mask covering his lower jaw and a stringy black wig on his head. He looks just like the XWF original whose ass I'll be kicking this week.

BIG SHANK
Oh Jesus. That's horrifying.

JEREMY SILVER
Are you seriously going to make me walk into a playground full of children dressed as a known child predator? Come on, James! I didn't really mean you were "slumming it" in the XWF! It was a misunderstanding! There's got to be another way for me to make this up to you!

JAMES RAVEN
Get to walking, Jeremy. The children are waiting for you.

Reluctantly he makes his way down the sidewalk towards the park, purple cape flapping in the wind as Big Shank and I snicker with each other. He turns back to us, pleading once more.

JEREMY SILVER
Guys! Some dad is going to recognize the suit and beat the shit out of me! This isn't safe!

BIG SHANK
Trust me, the parents are the least of your worries.

JAMES RAVEN
Get moving! We don't have all day!

Without another word he turns and makes his way towards the playground, making it out of earshot before Big Shank or I speak again.

JAMES RAVEN
Did you call the police?

BIG SHANK
Yep. I told them Michael Graves was targeting this park to abduct his next Dolly Waters. They said they'd be ready.

JAMES RAVEN
We should probably get going then.

BIG SHANK
Most certainly.

The two of us scramble from our posts at the side of the car, into the vehicle. Laughing the entire time, we start the engine and peel out of the parking spot, leaving Jeremy Silver to suffer his unpleasant fate. I'm sure he'll be fine.

... Mostly fine.

FADE TO BLACK