Vignette 16: Something smells rotten…

"He's not renewing," Shane told his father, coming into the conference room where Vince waited with JR, Paul Heyman and Stephanie.
"I knew it," Vince said grimly, "I knew it!"
"I'm sorry Daddy," Stephanie said, "it was a mistake to…"
"No, the mistake was his, not yours."
"What do you have in mind Dad?"
"For now, nothing… but in the meantime, everyone gets locked into their contract. I have a stinky feeling about something."

Vignette 17: Negotiations go awry

JR was on the verge of pulling his hair from his scalp. He'd had three contract renegotiation meetings this morning and so far, he had a list of six people who weren't staying with the WWFE. And now, he had to break it to Vince. He knocked on the boss' door and peered inside.
"Vince?"
"Come in, come in. Have a seat JR."
"Thank you."
"What can I do you for?"
"I had our first batch of meetings this morning, for the renewals."
"Yes of course. How well did that go?"
"Oh… uh… we have a problem Vince."
"Which is?"
"Six people won't renew."
"Excuse me?"
"They're willing to discuss a way out of their contract or wait it out but no matter what, they're not staying on board."
"Why?"
JR made a face and took a deep breath before answering. He was afraid of Vince's reaction to what he was going to say.
"They need to clear their heads."
Upon hearing that, Vince ground his teeth and closed his right fist, putting it down on his desk.
"They need to clear their heads?"
"That's what they said."
"Get me Hunter on the phone. He's got one more month on this contract and I mean to use it."
"Already did. The call was rerouted to his agent."
"His agent?"
"Yes. Seems like our boy's out of the country for the time being. But his agent will get him a message and he'll call me back ASAP."
"Out of the country? Did he say where?"
"Canada."
Upon hearing that, Vince's lip curled into a sneer.
"Canada eh? Fine, cancel all Canadian shows until further notice."
"Vince…"
"Hardball begets hardball."

Vignette 18: Wracking of the brain

Bradshaw, Brock Lesnar, Bubba Ray Dudley, D'Lo Brown, Jacqueline, Justin Credible, Kane, Lita, Matt Hardy, Molly Holly, Rob Van Dam, Raven, Tommy Dreamer, Trish Stratus, Al Snow, Billy Kidman, Chris Benoit, Edge, Hollywood Hulk Hogan, Ivory, Maven, The Rock, Torrie Wilson, Perry Saturn, Lance Storm, Randy Orton, Sean O'Haire, Mark Jindrak, Mike Sanders, Test and Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Paul Heyman looked at the long list of names and shuddered. They had all walked away from very profitable long term WWFE contracts, paying the full amount of the penalty for breaking their contracts. What he couldn't figure out though was who.
Because it had to be who… not a what, a who… a very rich and powerful who… a who who could house all of the contract breakers, keep them out of sight and out of mind… Paul steepled his fingers and worked his mind furiously, trying to come up with an answer to that nagging question. With the McMahons' blessing, he'd sicced a whole team of private investigators on Eric Bischoff and Vince Russo but to no avail… there was nothing to suggest they might be responsible for this… whatever this was.
It wasn't to say that the WWFE didn't have a good roster left over but enough for two shows a week? Four with Heat/Jakked-Metal? It was going to be a tight fit… too tight a fit…
"You look like you're on the verge of tears Paulie," said a sardonic voice from the doorway.
"I don't cry," Paul snapped, running a hand through his hair, pulling out his customary elastic band. "I get mad, I scream, I foam at the mouth… but I don't cry."
"If you say so…"
"I do. What are you doing here Hickenbottom?"
"I heard about the renewals going to hell."
"And?"
"You're looking at the wrong person. It's not Bret."
"And I bet he calls you at night to tell you everything he's got planned to screw Vince and the WWFE."
"Trust me… putting your money on Bret is a waste of time."
"What do you know?"
"Not half as much as you should know."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning I have to go now. Bye Paulie."

Vignette 19: The silver lining

He was strung out, tired and from the looks of things, he was bloody well hallucinating. He looked at the figure sitting across from him on his crummy couch and his shoulders slumped.
"I'm not the man I used to be."
"I know…"
"I can't wrestle half as well as I used to."
"I know that too."
"And my old moves are tired. Fans are tired of seeing them."
"I sure as hell hope so."
"So why are you here?"
"Evidently, you can still talk, right?"
"Yeah…"
"And you still have a good eye."
"So the WWFE wants me back?"
The man in front of him smiled broadly, "No, not the WWFE… I want you."
The tired wrestler sat up a little straighter and leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees, "Tell me more."

Vignette 20: Decisions and non-negotiations

"We have to cancel SMACKDOWN and JAKKED," Linda told her husband as they sat down in his office.
"No we don't. We can…"
"We can what? Vince… we have competition… fierce competition and we have to be very careful… if we don't cut one of the TV shows, we have to cut one or two of the house shows."
"Vince?" Hunter said, coming into the office after a brief knock.
"Hunter, come in. Have a seat."
"Thanks. Hello Linda."
"Hunter. Vince, I'll leave the two of you alone."
"All right."
Hunter sat down on the chair in front of Vince, willing his lips not to curl triumphantly.
"How's your head?"
"Better."
"Good. Because you're getting back on the road as of tonight, for the Hartford show."
"Good, I'm looking forward to it."
"You have and yet you're not willing to re-sign with us?"
"Not right now, no. But I'll be glad to get back into the action. Who am I up against? Austin?"
"I was thinking of pitting you up against the Godfather and Bull Buchanan for a handicap match."
"Cool."
"What the hell is going on Hunter? You're not willing to resign, you go off to Canada for two months, your calls are rerouted to your agent?"
"Vince, once I walk out of the WWFE next month, nothing I do will be any of your business. For the next month, I'm willing to give you everything I got…everything."
"Tell me what's going on."
"Nothing."
"You're lying to me."
Hunter shrugged non-committally and walked out of the office. Less than a minute after he'd left, Shane hurried into the office.
"I just saw Hunter leave…"
"Yes. He'll be at the Hartford taping. Sign him up in a handicap match against Scott Hall and X-Pac…"
"Dad…"
"He's playing a dangerous game… I'm just giving as good as I get."

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