TV Tournament Match: Ryan Game vs Cory Jenkins

[Mr. Mischoff]

You guys RP here.

[justin]

The neon lights shine brightly, illuminating the Vegas sky which can be seen from miles away. From his penthouse suite at the top of Caesars Palace, Cory Jenkins stood at the window overlooking the strip which Las Vegas, Nevada is known for across the world. The strip is packed to capacity with both cars and pedestrians, all of them looking to get lucky on the table and in the bed. Cory moves away from the window, walking over to his kitchen table where a half-filled bottle of Jack Daniels rests with a picture of a brunette woman beside it. He picks up the picture and looks into the beautiful brown eyes of the woman, eyes that every woman wish she had. He rubs his hand across the woman’s face before setting the picture back down and grabbing the bottle of Jack Daniels.

With bottle in hand, Cory makes his way back to the window where he takes a long pull on the brown liquid, the warmth instantly attacking his insides. His eyes dart from sign to sign as he tries to remember the order of all the casinos on the strip. It was a nightly ritual of his, one he used to share with the brunette in the picture. His concentration is abruptly interrupted by a knocking at the door, but he doesn’t move. Instead he continues to stand at the window, a blank stare now encompassing his face.

“Come in!” He yells loud enough to be heard from the window.

The door opens slowly and a man dressed in a black suit with a briefcase enters the penthouse. He makes his way to the table, puts the briefcase down and notices the picture. A few seconds later he turns his attention from the picture to Cory standing at the window.

“You can’t keep doing this to yourself Cory,” the man says as he walks over and grabs the bottle out of his hand.

The man puts his free hand on Cory’s shoulder and helps guide the main to the couch, both men sitting down, the black leather soft as a cloud. A tear forms in the corner of Cory’s eye and finds its way to the man’s chin and eventually falls to the floor.

“She was everything to me Sloan….everything,” his eyes fill up, “She was my best friend in the entire world.” The tears were now streaming down his face.

The man, now identified as Sloan says nothing. He’s been down this road before, twice a week to be specific. He has come to learn that words never help the situation, but instead make it worse. Sloan has found that the best remedy is to just be quiet and let Cory sulk. He would eventually come out of it.

“She didn’t deserve what happened to her! She was the sweetest person you would ever meet and doesn’t have a bad bone in her body.” The tears were subsiding, but his voice quivered.

Again, Sloan said nothing, but if he did he would most definitely agree that the woman was the nicest person he had ever met. He felt terrible for Cory because he knew how much he loved her, but it was destroying his friend and the worst part of all was that he couldn’t do anything at all to help.

“You ready to get down to business?” Sloan asks hoping to get his friend’s focus on something else.

Cory nods while wiping the remaining few tears away. Sloan gets up and grabs his briefcase off of the table, taking it back to the couch with him. Sitting it on his lap, Sloan puts in his combination for the lock to open the briefcase. Sloan pulls out a manila folder, handing it over to Cory. Grabbing the folder Cory stares at it for a few moments before finally opening it. Staring up at him is a wrestling contract with United States Professional Wrestling. He pulls the packet of paper closer to his face and begins to peruse its contents. Sloan pulls a pen from his suit jacket when Cory gets to the last page of the packet. Taking the pen from Sloan, Cory signs his name and closes the folder before giving it back to Sloan.

“As your business manager and as a friend I would be remiss if I didn’t voice my displeasure at what you are getting yourself into,” Sloan informs his friend, “I don’t see how anything good can come out of this.” Sloan puts the folder back into his briefcase and locks it.

“You know….I’ve racked my brain the past couple of days about this, but I’ve come to the conclusion that this is something I have to do Sloan. Wrestling was my first love and I think it’s the only way I’m going to be able to move on.”

“But you haven’t wrestled in at least ten years. I just don’t think it’s a good idea. We can find another way to help you move forward.” Sloan professes his sincere concern.

“I have to do this,” Cory replies curtly.

Realizing he didn’t stand a chance of winning the argument Sloan rose to his feet and made his way to the door. Once he reaches the door he turns around and looks at Cory with a long stare. Cory has since put his head in his hands leaving his friend to worry. Sloan makes the difficult decision to leave, though it’s not the first time he has been down this road. He hates leaving Cory in the state he’s in, but he knows that he’s going to continue to sulk. Sloan takes one last look at his friend and then turns to leave.

“Wait….” Cory calls after Sloan, “Please don’t leave.”

Sloan stops and turns to look at his friend. His heart felt for him and if his friend wanted him to stay then he was going to stay. Closing the door, Sloan made his way back to the couch. Cory lifts his head, grabbing the bottle of Jack Daniels that Sloan had previously taken from him. He puts the bottle up to his lips and his pain is gone if only for a quick second.

“You can’t drink your pain away Cory…..you have to face it head on.” Sloan says in a soft tone.

Getting up, Cory walks to the table and grabs the picture of the woman. He moves back to the window with bottle and picture in hand. Looking down at the picture in his hand he takes another sip from the bottle.

“It’s the only way I know how to get the pain to stop. Brianna changed me Sloan and you know that. I stopped gambling, stopped getting into trouble….hell she helped me become a man.”

Sloan sat silent as he chose his words carefully, “I understand that, but you’re doing yourself harm by drinking every night. I know Brianna wouldn’t approve of this behavior. If you ask me you are diminishing her memory by treating yourself like this. You have to get your act together.” Sloan’s voice was cold. It was time for his friend to get his self together.

Cory tries to swallow but is unsuccessful as his mouth is completely dry. “I’m going to change?” The helpless man says unconvincingly.

“How so?” Sloan asks.

“Wrestling. That’s why I’ve decided to wrestle again. Hopefully if I put all my efforts into it then it will help to take my mind off of Brianna.”

Sloan gets up from the couch, joining Cory at the window. He grabs the bottle out of his hand and sits it down on the window seal. He places both hands on his friend’s shoulders and looks him dead in the eye.

“It’s been at least ten years since you’ve wrestled and that was amateur wrestling at that. Do you really think you can go in after ten years and be successful? I think you may be setting yourself up for failure which will only hurt you in the long run.” Sloan’s seriousness surprises Cory.

Cory’s face turns from one of surprise to one of determination, “I appreciate your concern, but I’ve made up my mind that this is what I have to do and is my best shot to move past everything. As I said before, wrestling is my first love and I think going back to it will bring me happiness.”

Sloan ponders Cory’s words for a moment before realizing there is no changing his mind. The only thing he could do now is be supportive, “If that’s how you feel then I’m with you all the way,” Sloan pauses and grabs the picture of Brianna out of Cory’s hand, “It’s time to focus.”

Cory watches as Sloan folds the picture and puts it in his pocket. In an effort to prove he is willing to change, Cory takes the bottle of Jack Daniels and pours it out in the kitchen sink. He makes his way back to the living room, sitting back down on the couch where Sloan joins him.

“Time to focus is an understatement. I’m on the first Freedom card which is this Friday. I have to put it in overdrive,” Cory finally replies, his mind racing with thoughts of what he has to do to get prepared for Friday.

“Did you see your match when you were looking at the contract?” Sloan asks.

“No. I was just worried about signing. What’s the match?” A look of curiosity appears on his face.

A smile etches across Sloan’s face, “You’re in the Television Championship eight-man tournament. The thing is it’s a one night event. You could walk away a champion on the first night!”

“Who is my first match against?” A smile now adorns Cory’s face.

Sloan opens his briefcase, pulls out the contract and peruses the contents until he finds the right section, “Ryan Game is your first round match. Shawn Starr, Strikeout, Jasper Locke, Mark Force, Robert Divine, and Cajun Flames are the other participants.”

Cory laughs out loud to himself after hearing the names of the people who are going to be in the tournament, “Where in the world did they find these people? I understand USPW is a new organization, but it sounds as though they just picked some random folks off the street. Sounds like it should be a bunch of midgets running around slapping each other in the face.”

“We don’t know anything about these guys Cory; you can’t look past them, especially with as long as you’ve been out of the ring.” Sloan is serious, hoping to keep Cory focused.

“I know….I know…I just can’t help but laugh at those names. But in all seriousness I know that if I want to get better then wrestling is my cure. Like you said I’m going to have to give it one hundred and ten percent. I need wrestling and I need the USPW. This is my chance to do something that I’ve always loved and it’s a chance to get better at the same time.”

“That’s the way to think.” Sloan replies.

“I’m going to take USPW by storm and this TV title tournament is my first chance at proving myself. Ryan Game and whoever else I wrestle on Friday will be nothing more than pawns in my way to the top of United States Pro Wrestling. And even though I know nothing about any of them or their talent in the ring, I know what I’m capable of and the destruction I can cause. I’m a force to be reckoned with and none of those seven men will stand a chance against me in the squared circle. Cory Jenkins will wreak havoc on Friday night and there isn’t anyone who can stop me.” Cory’s face is as serious as it has ever been and his focus can be seen in his eyes.

“You have the right attitude now we just need to have it transfer to the ring.”

“There is nothing to worry about Sloan. Come Friday night I will be a one man wrecking crew and nobody will be able to control me. I am the top talent in USPW and I will prove that on Freedom. Ryan Game and whoever else will have the unfortunate task of trying to beat me, I warn you…..you better be ready for the fight of your life because I’m going to bring it. And I will walk out of Freedom the first ever USPW Television Champion.”

“Now that we have you focused I’m going to get out of here because you have a long few days ahead of you,” Sloan says as he closes up his briefcase.

“You got that right. I need to hit the gym early in the morning.”

The two men stand up at the same time and exchange a handshake. Sloan makes his way to the door.

“Thanks Sloan,” Cory says with complete sincerity.

Sloan turns around and nods at his friend and client before walking out of the door. Cory goes to his bedroom and lies down. He closes his eyes and begins to think about life as the USPW Television Champion.