David Helms :: "As Dangerous As They Come"

Minneapolis, Minnesota
25th July, 2020

It was no exaggeration in David Helms’ mind to say that the excitement which surrounded Rise To Greatness each year was incomparable to anything else he had experienced in his near-four decades on the planet; the buzz from the fans, the animated chatter and shrieks of joy that he experienced each year at the fan access events all served to remind him of exactly why he chose the career path he had done as a seventeen year old supporting himself in Boston, Mass. There, simply put, was no better rush than to see the fruits of a career’s worth of labour manifested on the faces of young and old alike as they took in the build towards the biggest show of the year, and even when retired, it was an absolute pleasure for David to be a part of the thing! He may have stepped away from the ring in two thousand fifteen in what he thought was the true end of his journey in the business, but he hadn’t missed a single Rise To Greatness since then, whether he was attending as himself in a guest capacity or, as was the case the previous year, he was attending both as himself and as a brand new member of the roster under an assumed name… which did not seem like a year ago already, as he found himself collecting his things after his work at fanfest was finished for the day. The Lucho Brother’s had made their SCW debut at Rise To Greatness two thousand nineteen in the battle royal that was held on the preshow and while neither David or Lucas tasted victory that night, he hoped that twenty twenty would be an entirely different prospect as he thought about what was to come the following night in the U.S Bank Stadium. But this year, at least for David… the whole thing felt much grander, it felt like the spectacle of Rise To Greatness was so much bigger than it ever had been before. And perhaps that was simply because he found himself in a position he simply hadn’t been in before that explained the way he was feeling as he sat signing autographs or posing for pictures, or perhaps it was simply arrogance on his part that made the whole event feel more important than ever before, but David couldn’t help going back to the same thought time after time as he met with fans and chatted with them: this is the biggest weekend of your whole career bro, don’t fuck it up!

Of course, that came with its own problems, because while the life of a professional wrestler was one that came with problems as a baseline, the added pressure of the main event and the world title was something that both he and his opponent Bree Lancaster were going to have to deal with. And he had no doubt about the fact that Bree would be lapping up the attention that came as part of their starring role in the years proceedings, but while she would no doubt revel in it and play up to it, David had chosen to simply enjoy it. The same fact was that, given the age difference, there was a much higher chance of Bree being in this position again than there was for him. His fortieth birthday was fast approaching later in the year, and to use a slightly morbid yet strangely fitting idiom, he wasn’t sure how many Christmases he had left as far as his career was concerned. It was a widely known fact that people in the business saw their careers falling off as they aged, and while he had built up a solid reputation at the show of shows since joining Supreme Championship Wrestling, the sad fact was that he wasn’t the same man he had been eleven years earlier. He may still be in great shape, especially for his age, but he knew that while he was still quick, he would never be as quick as he was at twenty eight when he burst through the doors of SCW with his gravity defying locks and foul mouth and demanded that people pay attention.

But there was life in the old dog, yet. Since those lovable scamps The Lucho Brothers had unmasked at Day of Infamy, David had won Trio’s and Taking Hold of the Flame, two events that had eluded him until the return, and now he was going to be in the Rise To Greatness main event for the first time at thirty nine years old, potentially becoming a two-time SCW World Heavyweight Champion! The enormity of that fact was not lost on him, he was well aware that matches quite simply did not get any bigger than this one. And he was ready for that. The thoughts of how strange that was hit him as he left the convention centre that was hosting the fan access festivities for the weekend; he had spent a long time secretly worrying over the last week, hiding his fears and doubts behind a well-kept inner wall, because he didn’t want to show weakness… but as he left the convention centre it hit him that he was truly ready for what was to come the following night. He was ready to face Bree, and whatever was going to happen in the end, would happen. He was mentally and physically ready for what was to come, and dwelling on the negatives, focusing on his doubts or worries, that wasn’t going to do him any favours when the opening bell echoed around the building and the whole wrestling world to get the main event underway, so why do it? He knew there’d probably be a few final jitters when the curtain went up and the show got underway the following night, but that was natural anyway, wasn’t it? His entire career had been built on that nervous energy that flooded into his body and flowed through him like fuel before the start of every match and that was the same now at almost forty as it had been as a wet behind the ears eighteen year old in his rookie year within the business and would no doubt continue until he truly hung up his boots for good. But he would deal with that when the time came, because Sunday was still a day away, and his commitments weren’t over with his leaving the fan event, as Rise To Greatness was more than a show, it was a spectacle! In a few hours time, David would have the honor of stepping onto the Hall Of Fame stage in order to induct Lucas Knight into the Hall as part of the Class of Twenty Twenty, and David truly was honored that Lucas had asked him to do it. They also had the Rise To Greatness pre-show too, which would truly set the tone for the following night and hopefully kick things off with a bang, pun not intended… but before he could think about either of those events, he had a meeting of a different kind a ten minute walk away from the convention centre to hopefully find freedom from his final connection to Thomas Valentine!

David chose to grab an uber rather than walk, simply to avoid the sheer number of fans that were milling around the convention centre, so it took no time at all for him to arrive at what was a fairly generic yet modern looking office building that was all glass and steel. He’d been given the directions the previous day by email from the brokers that had lined up the potential sale, or the address at least, and checking the place out on google it seemed to cater more to short term office needs and providing one off conference facilities for business meetings, which seemed fitting given David’s reason for being there himself. He couldn’t help thinking of how vastly unprepared he felt as he walked inside and made his way to the reception where a brunette with sat typing at the computer; he was about to attend a business meeting, the biggest of his life given the figures involved and he was walking in with absolutely nothing on him where paperwork was concerned. The broken had told him that the buyer had a certified copy of everything should the deal get signed off so all David needed to do was attend the meeting and all being well, it would be a success.

“Good afternoon sir, how are you today?” the woman behind the desk asked as he approached, pleasant and smiling at him despite how out of place he probably looked in his jeans, leather jacket and sneakers.

“Uh, hey,” he said, coming to a stop at the desk and leaving an arm on the top of it. “I have a meeting scheduled here, I think it’s booked under my name. Helms?” he explained, fairly sure that the broker had informed him it was booked under his name. Not knowing the buyers identity, it would be difficult to give their name if it wasn’t.

“Helms… Helms…” the brunette said as she tapped away at the computer before nodding. “Yep, here we go Mr. Helms, conference room four. One flight up and to your left. Refreshments have been taken in already, so you’re ready to go. Is there anything else I can do for you today?” she asked, her professional demeanour a constant as Dave told her that was all fine and thanked her.

He made his way up the stairs and onto the first floor, turning left as instructed and headed to the door marked conference room four on a shiny brass plate. The door was closed but unlocked and he made his way inside half expecting to find people in there already but the room was empty save for the large conference table surrounded by chairs and a refreshments tables to one end of the room that included hot and cold drinks and snacks. He let the door swing shut behind him as he started to shrug his arms free of his jacket; he wasn’t even sure how many people were going to be turning up for this meeting and suddenly found himself wondering if he’d should have planned ahead and asked how much Heath wanted to attend as his legal council… but it was too late for that now and he threw his jacket over the back of a chair before walking to stand at the window. There wasn’t much of a view. He was only one floor up and the view was basically other buildings that looked fairly similar to the one he was in. The architects had tried their best, adding a little flourish here, some artistic flair there, but… well, there was a limit to how much could be done with a nondescript office building after all. He was distracted by a bird flying in and out of a tree outside so he didn’t hear the door opening, it was only the sound of it slamming shut that pulled his attention back to the room and he turned on the spot to greet what he assumed was the potential buyer he was there to meet. “YOU?!” he asked in complete and total shock, his mouth forming the perfect slack jawed O shape as his brows did a tremendous job of trying to escape his face.

“You seem surprised to see me here, David?” a more than familiar voice said, and even if he was blindfolded in that moment in time he would have known exactly who it was the second he opened his mouth to speak. Mr. D stood across the table from David wearing a smile that went beyond the realms of politeness into mild amusement territory, no doubt entertained by the complete and utter bewilderment David was more than evidently feeling! “I can only assume that my name was not given to you by the brokerage firm I have been in contact with for the last week?” the SCW founder asked, amusement creeping through his otherwise cool exterior.

“Yeah, no shit I am, Olek!” Dave said with a staccato laugh before shaking his head. The real laughter followed pretty quickly, once the shock began to wear off. “Was the cloak and dagger routine really necessary though? I mean, you have my cell number, bro!”

D. motioned to the table between them. “Shall we?” the Canadian asked and David shrugged before stepping forward to pull out the chair his jacket was resting on, taking a seat as D. placed his briefcase down on the table in front of him and took a seat himself. “As for your question David, I think we may be dealing with a lack of communication more than anything, at least that’s what I would assume anyway. I informed them I was dealing with the legal aspects myself, perhaps they assumed I was simply the attorney acting on another’s behalf?”

“That’s pretty much what I was told, bro…” David agreed, nodding. “The broker who called me Monday told me that he didn’t have a name of the buyer, just someone that was handling it on their behalf. I didn’t bother to ask for a name, what were the chances of me knowing some attorney for someone whose identity I didn’t know either?”

“A reasonable argument,” Mr. D conceded, as he popped the latches of the briefcase on the table in front of him and removed a stack of paperwork that he placed in front of him too before closing the lid and sliding the briefcase out of his way. “I was lead to believe that you had the terms explained to you earlier this week and that you’ve read through everything already?”

“My attorney went through them, yeah…” David said, nodding. “The broker told me the buyer, well, that you had agreed to the full asking price and that the offer was unconditional, so I let Heath go over the details as par for the course but didn’t think there was much point trying to get my head round the jargon that it’s no doubt filled with. I’m a wrestler who owns some businesses, not a businessman. Smarter men than me can deal with that side of things…”

“A trusting approach,” D. said, and David could tell he was judging David’s decisions already.

He smirked though. “Or maybe you’re just more cynical than I am, bro…” the New Jerseyite suggested, drawing a hint of a smirk from the older man.

“In my experience David, I’ve always found it pays to be cynical, as you probably know for yourself…” the ex-lawyer and current SCW board member said, which got a laugh from David in return. “But under the circumstances, given our history, I think I can afford to drop my cynicism slightly… as you already know, I agreed to pay what you were asking and have no provisos, which should make everything pretty straight forward…”

David had heard that from Andrew Fisher, the broker from Morgan, Irwin and Platt, and he’d heard it again from his attorney, Heath Mitchel. Hearing it from his former boss still felt slightly strange however, because he wouldn’t have guessed that he was the prospective buyer in a million years. “So I’ve been told, dude.” David explained, which got a polite smile from D. in return before he shifted his attention to the paperwork he’d removed from his briefcase a few short moments earlier. “But look… can I ask you something first? Before we start talking business I mean?” David asked, and D, who was organising papers into two neat stacks, took his hand away and sat back, gesturing to David that the floor was his. “Well, I guess my main question is why… but I’m not gonna lie Olek, I have plenty more things I want to know too. I’ll be honest, I thought this whole meeting in person thing was a little strange when the broker put the idea to me but I’m fucking glad we’re how now because I’m having a hard time getting my head around this…”

Mr. D sat patiently listening to David explain himself, sitting back in this seat with his fingers steepled in front of him, the tips of which rested on his chin until David had finished. “I have to admit, the meeting was mostly for my own amusement,” the ex-lawyer admitted, grinning a little. “I could have been completely above board from the outset and contacted you personally instead of dealing with your broker. This was just my own little folly, so you’ll have to forgive me for that. But by all means, if you’d like to actually discuss this instead of getting right to business, I’d be happy to. As long as we keep an eye on the clock, considering the Hall of Fame ceremony and pre-show later, I have as much time as this needs…” he told David, gesturing with his hands again that the floor was David’s.

Helms took a deep slow breath, trying to figure out exactly what he wanted to know first. He did have many questions, and while the predominant question that he wanted to ask was definitely why D. wanted to buy him out… he wasn’t sure he should start with that. “I guess I should start with whether this is SCW making the offer, or you…” he decided to go with. “Not that it really makes any difference to be honest; I want out and an offer is an offer, but I’d like to at least know who I’m selling to, even if it’s you who turned up…”

The SCW board member nodded his head; it was a reasonable request, and a question he wasn’t surprised to hear David ask; if SCW was trying to take a vested interest in a wrestling school, the least it could do was be open with the information. “For the most part, this is nothing to do with SCW, even if that explanation sounds like a mixed message,” Mr. D explained, sitting forward. “The money involved is my own and ownership will be in my name only. SCW as a business has no part in this deal… though that isn’t to say that I won’t look to take advantage of the position I’ll be in should the opportunity come up?”

“Take advantage?” David asked, not sure he liked the sound of it, but D. was quick to explain.

“Perhaps that isn’t the best way to put it,” Olek said, looking thoughtful. “What I mean, is that it won’t hurt for SCW to have the opportunity to talk to any students that show particular promise during their time at the school. Obviously I can’t force anyone to speak with SCW or add any obligations there with the enrollment… but I can give SCW’s talent scouts a heads up if I see anyone who looks like they could be a good fit…”

Put that way, David had to admit that it seemed like a fair point. “Alright, I’m with you,” he said, realising that this wouldn’t really be a conflict and if there was no obligation, it wouldn’t hurt for SCW to at least have access to information on any particularly promising students that may walk through the door. “But if this isn’t backed by SCW, are you sure you want to spend all this fucking money, bro? I mean, I’ve seen the figure you’ve agreed to pay, and… well, it’s not chump change, you know?”

Mr. D chuckled to himself. “David, I understand that the figure we’re talking about is considerable,” he explained. “But allow me to point out that I’m also the man who founded a professional wrestling company that now has a value in the billions. I won’t go into specifics, but I’m sure I can afford to do this deal…”

David felt like a bit of an ass in that moment; it wasn’t that he wanted to question whether Mr. D could afford it, but more than he wanted to be sure the Canadian wanted to spend such a large amount of money on a deal like the one he may be about to enter into. “I’m not asking if your cheque is gonna bounce, bro…” David said, trying to make a joke out of it. “I’m just saying that you’re spending a hell of a lot of money to own half of a wrestling school, a few other businesses and fifty percent of a private jet…”

Mr. D nodded in understanding. “I wasn’t offended Dave, don’t worry. And yes, I did wonder about some of the other ventures but unfortunately the wording of the portfolio made it clear that it was a package deal,” he explained. “I have no interest in the plane, and I can’t say I really care for the other ventures such as the record label or the office building. If Tommy would be interested in purchasing those from me, I’m sure we can come to an arrangement… but if I have to buy your share in them in order to purchase your share in AnteUp then so be it.”

“Fair enough,” Dave replied with a shrug. He wasn’t going to argue, especially if it may result in arguing his way out of a sale. But that left the obvious question that was left hanging in the air. “That doesn’t explain why you’re wanting in on this though, Olek… I mean, maybe I’m just missing something, but… why the hell do you want half of AnteUp to begin with?”

The elder man steepled his fingers again, leaning his chin against the tips of his fingers for a moment before finally taking a breath and sitting up straight. “Aside from the obvious fact that it makes good money every year?” he asked, finally turning back to the paperwork he’d removed from his briefcase earlier. “I went over the financials, and I have to admit I was impressed with the turnover, I wasn’t aware it was as lucrative as it evidently is…”

“Name value bro,” David said with a shrug. “Owned and operated by famous wrestlers that work for the biggest company on the face of the planet… anyone from the west coast that wants to wrestle wants to go to AnteUp.”

“And that right there is good enough reason to invest,” D. told him, actually pointing at David for emphasis. “The financials are solid. Sure, it won’t be an instant return on the investment, but if I do sell the stake in those other ventures back to Tommy, I’ll recoup some of the money right away, and I’m confident from looking at the books that I’ll recoup the rest soon enough. I believe in playing the long game as far as my investments are concerned David, and this is a safe long play… but that doesn’t give the whole picture either,” the Canadian continued. “To tell you the truth David, my involvement is more to do with the fact that AnteUp has been incredibly good for SCW over the years. It’s provided us with talent that have gone on to do great things, becoming proud champions, representing the company with distinction and strengthening the reputation of AnteUp in the process.”

David couldn’t argue with that; there were some great wrestlers that graduated from AnteUp and went on to do great things in SCW. Peyton was a current champion still, her career going from strength to strength. His own son had won the tag titles twice and had challenged for the World title. There were many success stories that came out of AnteUp, that couldn’t be argued with… but that didn’t explain why Olek wanted to buy into the place. “That’s fair enough bro, but that still doesn’t really expect why you’re willing to drop serious bank on this deal…” David stated, his brow furrowed as he tried to make sense of the explanation. “So a few of the kids went to work in SCW, that’s good for you and for AnteUp… but it doesn’t really explain why you want to buy me out.”

“Because, David, I believe that there is a risk AnteUp may not survive the sale and I’d rather ensure that the school continues to thrive,” David’s former boss told him, in an increasingly matter-of fact sort of way. “That’s not me saying I believe it won’t survive without David Helms involved in the project… I’m convinced that with the right co-owner, such as myself, the school will continue to grow and develop fantastic talent for years to come. Unfortunately, that assumes that the right co-owner will be involved…” he continued, leaving David trying to play catch up. “The portfolio on offer is interesting on many levels and I’m sure there would be more offers in the coming weeks… but not all of them will be thinking about what is best for the survival of the school. I plan to avoid throwing my weight around as a shareholder, to allow Tommy to run as he sees fit, and as long as things continue to tick over I’ll be happy. Others wouldn’t allow that freedom and I don’t want to risk that situation from coming to fruition…”

“So basically… you want to make sure it doesn’t crash and burn?” David asked, struggling to see how D. could throw so much money at something just because he didn’t want to see it end.

But yet the Canadian nodded his head in confirmation regardless of David’s shock. “Exactly,” Mr. D told him. “I know it seems a strange concept David, but sometimes you have to invest a little to ensure you get something back later. Did it ever occur to you that there was something slightly strange about the fact that the SCW board agreed to act as financial backers to EMERGE before it was wrestled back from us, if you’ll excuse the pun? Or that we didn’t raise any issues when it was revealed that yourself, Regan and Lucas invested in the company along with other former employee’s to gain a controlling share in it earlier this year?”

David had wondered about that at the time, but he was smart enough to not push the subject, especially when he and Lucas were just making their comeback. “I did wonder about that, yeah…”

“In the first instance, and ultimately with the second buyout too, it’s because we knew that EMERGE surviving and even thriving would ultimately be good for SCW in the long run too,” D. explained, and as David basically sat beneath the learning tree it was easy to see why SCW had succeeded in the industry as long as it had done. D. had countless years of experience in the professional wrestling game and David was just a rank amateur in comparison, at least where running a company was concerned at any rate. “Competition brings a need for improvement, David… SCW has outlived many of it’s competitors, and will hopefully continue to do so as long as those competitors push us to simply be better than them. If EMERGE succeeded in the industry then we would need to improve to show we are still number one. I would like to think we are the better company anyway, but as EMERGE goes from strength to strength we have to ensure we match them if not better them. The same applies here…”

“Because strengthening AnteUp’s position now could possibly strengthen yours down the line,” David said as he finally started to understand the decision. He actually felt stupid for not understanding it to begin with, but he was so taken back at seing D. walk into that room that all he could think about was how bizarre it was to see his former boss standing in front of him that he didn’t think of the logical reasons that made it a great idea for him to be there. And Mr. D could see that David now understood his position, that he finally understood just why he was offering to personally invest in the business and buy David out, not because he wanted to own a school himself, but he was aware of the importance of such places existing and wanted to ensure it continued to do so… and he struck while the iron was hot, finally picking up two of the sets of paperwork from in front of him to slide them over to David, along with a pen. David pulled the first copy towards himself and saw it was the contract to finalise the sale. He hadn’t even seen it himself, trusting that Heath’s opinion on the contract, and he could see that they were the notarized version that the broker had informed him would be sent out, so he didn’t need to question whether these were indeed the same version as what the broker’s had agreed upon. “You’re sure you want to do this?” David asked, giving D. one last opportunity to back out; he didn’t want to give the impression that Mr. D was buying into something that could turn out to be an entirely different proposition, but the Canadian simply nodded his head.

“I’ve done my due diligence, David. Everything is in order on my end, I can assure you...” the SCW board member informed him, perfectly at peace with his decision. “If you want to take a few moments to go over the documents for yourself and ensure that you are sure this is what you want though, I don’t mind giving you the time to do so. This is business, the bonds of friendship shouldn’t come between common business practice, so please, take your time…”

David took a deep breath and looked down at the papers in front of him. This was a huge decision; six months earlier, he wouldn’t have dreamt of selling up, he wouldn’t have even considered the idea that he was looking to step away from AnteUp… but everything had changed in that time. And Tommy… David had given him ample time to try and get the money together in order to buy him out himself, so could he really be annoyed that David had found a buyer? With a newfound determination and sense of assurance that he was doing the right thing, David ignored the offer to read through the contract and instead grabbed the pen. What followed was possibly the largest number of signatures or initials he had ever had to throw on paper outside of a signing at some fan event, but as he scrawled his signature for the final time on the second copy of the contract, it felt as if an enormous weight had been lifted from his shoulders. The dark clouds that had lingered over his head had dispersed and he could see the sunlight shining down on him. He was free. Free of any ties that had lingered between him and Tommy… and he was considerably richer for it. It was done. David was no longer anything to do with either AnteUp or Next Level inc. He had his freedom and could move on with his life. And it felt good!

“Congratulations,” David said, as he clicked the cap to D’s pen back in place and slid it, along with the copies of the contract, back over to D. “You’re the proud part-owner of a wrestling school and various other ventures…”

With a smile on his face, D. collected his pen and one copy of the contract, but slid the other back towards David. “That copy is yours,” the Canadian said, motioning to the copy of the contract that he slid back towards the New Jersey native. “And thank you… I’ll have these filed this evening, I’m sure SCW’s legal department can handle it, given they are in the city for obvious reasons. I’m fairly confident that we can expedite the whole transaction and have it done within days, but that all depends on how quickly the brokerage company would like their commission I suppose. Pretty quickly I’d assume, but I’m sure you’ll be hearing from them soon enough.” he said before packing the paperwork away in his briefcase as David stood up. D. followed suit and waited for David to make his way around the table until they stood in front of one another and Mr. D offered David his hand.

“I hope it brings you as much joy as it did me for as long as it did,” David said as the pair shook hands. “Maybe we can find time later tonight after the pre-show to grab a drink and make a toast to your new venture?”

Mr. D nodded as they broke off the handshake. “Or perhaps we can do so tomorrow night?” he suggested. “We may very well be able to toast two things that way, should you be successful against Ms. Lancaster?”

“If it happens, I’d be more than happy to raise a glass to that too,” David said with a grin. “And I think I have a bottle of the rum that may be perfect to do it with too,” he added, the grin turning into something of a sly smirk. And to his credit, D. understood the reference and shared in the amusement as they made a little more smalltalk before D. finally said his goodbyes and left David alone in the conference room. It was a surreal feeling for him, standing in that room alone now, having just sold off a fairly substantial part of his life… but at the same time, it felt as if he was potentially building towards the next chapter of it too. Which was fitting, when he thought about the other parts of his life; he had entered a new chapter of his career when he, Lucas and Jason had unmasked at Day Of Infamy, and had done things had had never managed before since returning to the ring. He was potentially doing so again the next night, should he beat Bree for the World title. He was definitely breaking new ground by competing in the main event of Rise To Greatness for the first time. Then there was his home life… he and Regan had been talking about children for months now, should Regan manage to finally achieve what she had craved for the longest time. The prospect of them adding to their family could become very real soon enough, should Regan succeed tomorrow night… and that was fitting once again, with the deal David had just agreed to. A new start, new beginnings, new adventures… so many possibilities were potentially presenting themselves to him and his family. And he hoped that this was only the beginning or maybe… maybe a sign of things to come...

Canopy by Hilton hotel
Mill District, Minneapolis
30 Minutes Later

It was fair to say that David Helms’ mind was filled with a complex jumble of emotions as he left the office building following his meeting with Mr. D in order to head back to the hotel to prepare for the Hall of Fame ceremony that evening, so much so that he struggled at first to even text his wife Regan to her her know he was on his way back. It was a mixture of positives and negatives, the ups and downs were considerable and constantly vying for his attention as he sat in the back of the uber he’d booked to take him back to his hotel; he couldn’t help but think back on everything that he and Tommy had accomplished as partners outside of the ring over the last decade and change, everything that he had just waved goodbye to now that the dream - which had been steadily turning into a nightmare - was over… all of the work that had gone into turning AnteUp into something so credible, something so amazing, there was a part of him that felt that was all wasted with the final pen stroke as he signed everything over to D. but at the same time, his position had simply become untenable at this point, it was either he step away or Tommy did. And he knew that Tommy would claim he was running away, that he was quitting on him yet again, by selling up… but he didn’t care about what Tommy had to say. The guy had taken his stand, and as a result, David had taken his own. Only his stand left him considerably richer with unlimited possibilities ahead of him. And that was the upside to the deal he had just made; the possibilities, to coin a phrase from his daughter, were limitless! It was over. The final string connecting him to Thomas Valentine was cut, he wasn’t tied to the man he had steadily been losing all respect for over the course of months and now the future was wide open for David. That was exciting, it was venturing into the unknown… the AnteUp dream was over, sure, but the reality was that David had endless opportunities before him now, and he could bring his own dream to fruition rather than a shared dream that was common in the goal but shared nevertheless. AnteUp had always been about helping contribute to the wrestling business and ensure the future of it was hopefully a bright one… but him leaving AnteUp wouldn’t change that too much, people could still enroll there if they wanted… but with David now determined to open his own school, it meant that there was another option for anyone who wanted to get into the business now, too! And as Mr. D himself had said, wasn’t it the case that competition was essential to help strive for improvement? AnteUp would provide exactly that for David, it would push him to be better! A better school, better facilities, better classes and training, and with the money involved in the deal he’d just signed he could full on John Hammond the place and spare no expense!

Sure, there was the chance that things would fall flat, that it wouldn’t work out… but hadn’t they taken the same risks with AnteUp in the first place? When he thought about how things could have worked out, how big of a failure the place could have been, he realised how monumental the risk they had taken was. The only difference this time was that he would potentially be taking this one alone. Unless he took up either Lucas or Jordan on their offer that is… though the more he thought about that issue, the more he began to believe he had made a decision on what he wanted to do there. He just had to confirm and then explain why he had gone the way he was leaning. That was a discussion for another day though; David knew he didn’t have to make any decisions right there and then, the ink was barely dry on the contract with Mr. D and the money would take a few days to change hands anyway… he could leave the decisions until the break after Rise To Greatness. He wasn’t in any rush to get over the biggest night of his career to date, he didn’t want to wish his life away like some many people did. Can’t wait for the day to be over, soon be this day or that day. Bring on the weekend. So many hours wasted, wished away, despite getting so few of them in our lifetime. David wasn’t going to think beyond the following night, because he knew that was where his concentration had to be. Win or lose, whatever the result was going to ultimately end up being, he didn’t want to look back and have regrets or find himself making excuses. He was good enough or not good enough, but either way, he wanted to make sure he was one hundred percent focused on the match, because this was the world championship and it deserved that! And like Bree or loathe her - it should be easy to guess which category he fit - she also deserved his undivided attention as champion. She had proven that she was as dangerous as she claimed to be when she won the title and then managed to keep hold of it during Fatal Fortunes, against Blackbourne too… if she wanted to do the same now though, she would need to work hard, even if he was probably going to need to work even harder to stop her from doing so! So in a lot of ways, he was thankful for the fact that the issue with AnteUp had been resolved, at least on his end anyway, because as he climbed out of his uber, thanking the driver before closing the door behind him, he was able to put that behind him and actually focus on what came next… at least until he made it inside the foyer of the Canopy by Hilton hotel anyway, when he found that problems could drop up without a moment’s notice.

“Well look what the cat dragged in,” the voice of Thomas Valentine rang through the foyer of the hotel, and David sighed heavily; it was just his luck that he would run into that asshole of all people, and he had absolutely no desire to deal with his crap while he was in such a positive state of mind. “Making the most of your adoration today, were you? Understandable man, gotta make the most of it before Bree puts you out of your misery tomorrow, right?” he jabbed as the distance between them closed with the footsteps of both men.

“Nice shot bro,” Dave said, giving a nice sarcastic slow clap. “But I could say the same to you; getting dressed to the nines in order to celebrate your last night as tag champ,” he added, gesturing to the tuxedo that Tommy was wearing. “Going out in style bro, I like it.”

“Yeah, we’ll see about that won’t be dude?” Tommy asked, smirking. That fucking smirk. Every time David saw it, he had to fight the longing desire he had to punch his former friend right in the laughing gear in order to wipe it away and it took every fibre of his being to not do so now. The last thing he wanted was another fight between them in a public setting for more bullshit stories to turn up online. “But hey, when wifey’s dreams are shattered again tomorrow, at least you can console each other, huh? Two failures in it together, fuck up’s against the world!” he said, continuing to poke and prod at David, looking for a reaction.

David didn’t give him the satisfaction of getting one. “Cling to whatever pipedreams you like Tommy, whatever gets you through the night,” David said, going to shrug past his friend so he could head up to his room where Regan was waiting for him to get ready for the night's festivities.

Tommy duked away from the shoulder as David went to push past him, but a hand came flying out to grab David by the arm, stopping him from leaving. “What’s the rush, man?” Tommy asked, still smirking. “What, no small talk to give the impression to anyone watching that you really are a nice guy? Your fan club is gonna be crushed!”

“Speaking of which, I hear Kandis is doing good money on OnlyFans right now, bro…” David spat back as he tugged his arm away from Tommy, not caring if it was low hanging fruit or a dick move. After everything Tommy and Kandis had done as of late, he felt he’d earned a few blows that would fall below the belt. “Good for her. Gives her something to fall back on when you guys are going home empty handed tomorrow… shame she couldn’t pull money in a little quicker in order to help you buy me out, huh?”

“I’ll let that one slide,” Tommy said, the smirk having turned to more of a sneer at David’s scathing words. “Because tomorrow you’ll no doubt be too busy licking your wounds to take cheap shots, while me and Kandis are celebrating the best way we can, both to our success and your failure… but don’t you worry man, I’ve got everything falling into place right now,” he continued, the sneer falling away to be replaced with another shit eating grin as he went into bragging mode. “Despite the fact I’m convinced that our mutual friend Heath is playing one side more than the other and is helping you fleece me out of more than you deserve, I’m pulling in some deals that should leave me Helms-free in no time at all. You’ll get your blood money and I’ll be able to get rid of all of your influence at AnteUp at last!”

David should have laughed, he knew he shouldn’t… but he couldn’t help it. He couldn’t stop the laughter from forcing it’s way from the pit of his stomach as he laughed at Tommy. “Yeah, about that, bro…” he said, still chuckling to himself as the biggest grin formed on his face. He knew he was being an asshole, he knew he was going to rub salt into the inevitable wound as soon as he dropped the pipebomb that he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from dropping if he wanted to! “Listen, I hate to be the bearer of bad news here,” he lied, “but between you, me, Morgan Irwin and Platt and a guy we know very well… the ship already sailed and you weren’t on it!”

The look that crossed Tommy’s face was one that would stick with David for quite some time, as a whole range of emotions fought for dominance, ranging from annoyance and anger, to worry and doubt before settling on confusion for the briefest of moments until he got control of himself again. “The hell are you babbling about, man?” he snapped at David, before shaking his head with a sigh.

“I’m saying that you missed the boat dude, how much more obvious can I make it?” David asked, fully understanding that he was being cryptic before, but as much of a dick move as it was, he was enjoying the opportunity to talk down to the asshole that just couldn’t let him leave a few moments ago! “Times up dude, it’s finished… you had weeks to pull the money together Tommy, but you tried to keep me dancing like a fish on a fucking hook! And I gave you every opportunity… I gave you every contact detail you could need, put you in touch with every broker I was using so you could start talking with them and yet you sat on it. You figured you’d keep me stewing a while, didn’t you bro? Keep me in the dark and what, hope I’d lower the price? That I’d crack and come to you to beg you to get it over with?” he asked, before scoffing. “Well tough fucking look Tommy, because while you were bullshitting your way through this, someone else stepped up to the plate and swung! It’s gone dude, I just came back from signing the contract with your new business partner!”

David knew right away that Tommy was practically apoplectic with rage as he realised just what he was being told, that David had not been joking around when he threatened to sell to the first buyer that came along if Tommy didn’t move fast enough… but David hadn’t been bluffing. If anything, he had called Tommy’s bluff, and it turned out that he was playing with a 7-2 off suit while David had pocket aces! For a minute, as Tommy’s shoulders stiffened, Dave wondered if he was going to throw a punch and they were going to have the rubber match from their fight back at AnteUp right there in the foyer, but Tommy looked around at the people milling about and he knew he couldn’t unload, choosing instead of swallow the desire to punch David in the face with great difficulty. David almost thought he heard a tooth crack, Tommy’s jaw was clenched so tight, the Raleigh native hissing at him through his teeth when he spoke. “You really are a son of a fucking bitch, aren’t you?!” he jeered, flecks of spittle flying from his lip as David took half a step backwards to avoid the shower. “You have no fucking integrity, you hypocrite!” he continued, his blood practically boiling in his veins as David scoffed.

“Definition of irony right there, bro; you calling anyone a hypocrite,” David replied, maintaining his cool, knowing that no matter what Tommy said now, he couldn’t ruin the moment for him. “But I’m sure you’ll enjoy working with your new business partner, bro… he actually intends to offer you the chance to buy some of the assets from him actually. The plane, the record label, that stuff. He only really cares about the school. Shouldn’t come as much of a shock really though, I mean wrestling is pretty much Oleksa’s bread and butter at this point, isn’t he?” he asked, hammering home the final nail in the coffin as Tommy’s eyes went wide in surprise.

“Him?!” Tommy yelled, wide eyed and enraged. “Of all the people, you sold to him?!”

“I made myself perfectly clear dude,” David replied calmly with a shrug. “If you didn’t find the money, I’d sell to someone else who could… and boy, D. just dropped the perfect offer right in my lap. Full asking price, no haggling at all, man. What a guy,” he added, his admiration for D. only serving to anger Tommy further.

Tommy was up in David’s face before Helms knew what was happening, but the AnteUp founder didn’t attempt to strike, but simply pointed a finger right at David as he continued to quietly seethe at him, attempting to avoid a scene despite his rage boiling away. “You’ll fucking regret this, David...” Tommy promised, actually managed to smile despite the anger. “You’ll live to regret selling up behind my back, you no good rat bastard,” he continued, making damn sure that David knew how much of a mistake he’d made.

David, shit eating grin still in place, went to open his mouth to respond but found out someone else had beaten him to it. “The hell is going on here?” Regan asked as she appeared at David’s shoulder, glaring at Tommy as if she was waiting for him to round on her and get in her face instead. But to her surprise and to David’s, Tommy backed away while nodding.

“We’re done already?” David asked. Despite his surprise at Tommy’s apparent willingness to avoid the argument, he couldn’t help pushing a few more buttons. “Damn, it was just getting interesting too…”

“Go fuck yourself Dave,” Tommy fired back at him. “Go fuck yourself,” he repeated for emphasis before turning on his heel and storming out of the hotel, leaving husband and wife to watching him disappear through the doorway and out of sight.

“Okay, so that was interesting,” Regan said, before turning to her husband. “Want to tell me what the fuck I just witnessed?” she asked, and David shot her a crooked smirk.

“Alright, but not here,” David said, grabbing his wife by the hand before practically pulling her towards the elevator. “I need to start getting ready and honestly, I don’t want to risk anyone else hearing…”

“Okay…” Regan said, her voice trailing off as she let the tone of her voice send the message about how confused she was by what had just happened instead.

They took the elevator back up to their room and while showering and changing, David began the process of explaining in as much detail as he could, what had taken place in that conference room earlier in the afternoon, explaining that the buyer was D. and recounting everything the two had talked about. He knew he was probably paraphrasing or not doing Mr. D’s words justice, but he was trying to recount everything from memory and the argument with Tommy had been enough of a distraction that he wasn’t sure he could actually remember the conversation, verbatim. And for her part, Regan had proven to be just as shocked as David had been when she found out that Oleksa was the one who was behind the offer to buy David’s portfolio of assets; this was a man that she herself had been in several arguments with, a man she had given no end up problems to over the years, and yet he was completely on the level with his offer. She had to admit that she was impressed. “I admit babe, I had my concerns, but… well, he had an answer for everything! And I know you tend to think he always does, but honestly, listening to his logic, I couldn’t really find an argument with it. Besides, even if I could… his reasons are his own, right? His money is the same colour as anyone else's, so if it was going to get me the hell out of that situation,” he said as he walked back into the suite from the bathroom, wearing tuxedo slacks and a dress shirt, fighting with a bow tie. “Does it really matter why he wanted to make the deal?”

Regan cocked her head to one side as she thought about the answer to that before shrugging her shoulders. “I guess not,” she told her husband, shaking her head. “I’m still shocked it was him, but… well, if Heath signed off on the contract for you, then fuck it, his money is as good as anyone’s.”

“My thoughts exactly,” he said as he finally managed to wrangle the bowtie into submission and got it tied. “It got me away from Tommy, and that’s what matters… I’m finally free of the jackass, and now he’s free to do whatever the fuck he wants, it’s none of my concern anymore.”

“You’re finally free,” Regan said with a genuine smile, and David nodded.

“I’m finally free,” he agreed, turning from the mirror to look at his wife, who looked stunning in her evening gown, having spent the time David was away getting ready herself. She had only appeared in the foyer because she was growing concerned that he wasn’t back yet and had gone to see if there was any sign of him, which left her sat with little to do but listen as David tried to rush around getting ready while explaining everything. “But it’s funny… until I met with D. and realised who it was I was dealing with, I still wasn’t on hundred percent on what I was going to do, going forward,” he admitted to his wife, fastening the cufflinks of right sleeve in place before switching to the left. “I mean, Lucas and Jordan had both offered to pony up the readies to go into business with me if I was going to start something new, but I didn’t know if I even wanted a business partner or not. I mean, both offers are tempting, you know?”

“I can see that,” Regan agreed. “Especially the one from Lucas, given you guys are partners already, with Fighting Spirit.”

“Yeah, exactly,” David said as he finished with the second cufflink and turned to look at himself in the mirror, adjusting the bowtie slightly as Regan stood up from the couch and walked over to him, slipping her arms around his waist from behind. David looked at the reflection of her face poking out from behind him in the mirror before he turned so that they were face to face, Regan looking up at him as he slid his hands onto her body, just above the hips. “But the thing is… walking out of that place, free from Tommy’s b.s after weeks of having to deal with him? It’s like I intrinsically just knew what I wanted to do next. I had no idea what I wanted before that meeting, but as I left it… I just knew what my next step was!”

“Oh yeah?” Regan asked as she looked up at him, curiosity getting the better of her despite the risk to her kind. “And what’s that?”

“I’m going to turn down the offers from both of them,” David said, as if he’d known this was the course he would take this whole time, as if it was the only logical route to take now that he had agreed a sale and was free of Tommy and his bad attitude. “I’m going into business for myself this time babe, I’m doing it without outside help… I’m opening my own school, with my vision. One hundred percent Helms-owned, our name on the logo, the letterheads, above the door… I’m going all in on this thing, I’m going to invest big money on making something that I can be proud of, that we can be proud of… because as long as I’ve got you in my corner babe, I don’t need money from anyone, a partnership with anyone… because I want to do this with you,” he told his wife, who looked at him in shock, her eyes glassy as she tried her damndest to hold back the emotion enough to leave her mascara intact. It looked like a fight she may lose. “You’ve always said that the only thing that truly matters is that it’s me and you against the world, and you know what Regs, you’re right. It is you and me against the world, no matter who else is here. We’ve gone through so much over the years, we had our doubters and we struggled at times… but here we are. Tomorrow night, you could become Supreme and I may leave World Champion. What a fucking ride it’s been… but I can’t think of anyone I’d rather be on it with than you, babe…”

Regan lost the fight, and she wiped at her eyes with her thumb. “You’re gonna ruin my makeup, ass!” she said, laughing as she sniffed to try and fight them back again. “You really want to do this though? You and me?” she asked, but he leant over to grab the pocket square from his tuxedo jacket pocket, using it to dry her eyes, trying his best not to smudge her makeup too badly.

“Who has been by my side no matter what for years now?” he asked, tossing the pocket square onto the chair that held his jacket. “If I’m going to do this, the only person I want with me on the journey is the woman who’s been on a journey with me for years already… so I’ve made my decision. I’m going to text Heath and tell him to submit an offer on that old LA Fitness building that I checked out a few weeks ago. We’ll do it all, babe: we’ll teach, we’ll help people train, we can open it as a regular gym and sell memberships, we’ll hold seminars from anyone we can convince to give them. It has a pool babe, it’s a full fitness centre! It can be everything AnteUp was, but so much more too… Living Dangerously Wrestling School and Gymnasium, it’s all here,” he said, taking one hand from her hip to tap a finger against his head.

“Living Dangerously…” Regan said, trying the name out as she let it roll off of her tongue; she appeared thoughtful for a moment, looking away from her husband as she considered the two words that could become a brand. And then her eyes were back on David and she was grinning, despite the last vestiges of tears playing in her eyes like diamonds. “I mean, it kind of sums up our entire life together, right?” the brunette said with a laugh before nodding. “I’m in. Let’s do this,” she told her husband, a look of determination on her face to match his own and David’s face split into a beaming smile that went from ear to ear before he grabbed Regan and pulled her in tight and kissed her. After what felt like several seconds, Regan finally broke off the kiss and smirked up at her husband, shaking her head. “And now I need to go re-do my mascara because you’re an ass and you made me cry…” she finished, slipping from his embrace to make her way to the vanity where her makeup bag sat.

David chuckled to himself, shaking his head as he turned and started to head back to the bathroom where his clothes still lay in a heap on the floor; he retrieved his wallet and room key from the pockets of his jeans and then grabbed his jacket to find his phone. Walking back into the suite, he slid his wallet and key into the pockets of his tuxedo pants but his phone he kept in his hand and sitting on the edge of the bed, he unlocked the screen via face recognition before clicking on the text message button at the bottom. He found the name he was looking for on the fourth conversation down: Heath Mitchell. Thumbing the name, his thumbs started to fly across the screen as he tapped out a message, telling his friend and attorney that the deal was done and all signed off on, that D. had stuck to his end of the bargain and everything was above board… he then instructed Heath to start the process of talking with the owners of the former LA Fitness building, to see what it would take for a straight sale. He knew that the place was set for auction in the coming weeks, but he wasn’t going to take the chance and wanted to know what number would convince them to pull it from the auction and sell just to him. Hell, money wasn’t really an issue anymore anyway, was it? He finished the message saying they’d catch up as soon as he was back in Cali, before he hit send on the message… and in that one small action with his thumb, David metaphorically added a final period on the previous chapter of his life. So much had taken place that day that it was almost overwhelming but the ending of that chapter of his life was significant in both the physical end to a situation he was desperate to get away from for some time… but also the beginning of a new chapter. And this time, he was determined to do things right, to give his best shot as he looked to move forward instead of looking back. His life had changed significantly over the course of the day, and tomorrow it could change even more, but as he locked his phone and tossed it on the bed next to him… he was ready for that to become reality. All that was left now was to see just how much he had left to give, whether he truly was as good as he believed he could be or whether he had managed to dupe himself into believing he could compete at that level anymore. He wanted to believe it was the former… but to truly convince himself of that, he’d need to ensure the following night ended with a ‘Bang’ rather than a whimper. He had to show Bree why her actions over the last few weeks had left her living dangerously too… and the only way that would happen would be for David to leave Minneapolis as Supreme Championship Wrestling World Heavyweight champion! David Helms… World Heavyweight Champion. Twenty twenty… a hell of a year, huh?