David Helms :: "As Dangerous As They Come"

One… two... three…

That was all it had taken. Three seconds was all it had taken for everything to change in SCW and in the life of David Helms, who had finally done it! He had finally won in the main event of the biggest show in the business! At thirty nine years old, David Patrick Helms had won the Supreme Championship Wrestling World Heavyweight championship in the main event of Rise To freaking Greatness and with it, had made damn sure that Bree and those of her ilk understood that they could play whatever games they liked, but in the end the only thing that mattered was what went down inside of the ring and while he wasn’t as young as he once was, he was still more than capable of handling himself when the bell rang! And what a feeling it had been for him, an affirmation of sorts that he had made the right choice in coming back out of retirement... in those three seconds, David was convinced that he could feel the change in the air in the room as the entire crowd sucked air into their lungs as one in the anticipation of the referee’s hand coming down a third and final time on the canvas! it was like a pressure drop before a heavy storm, like walking from an air conditioned room into the Florida summer heat… it was a moment David would never forget, and the only question that he had was which of them was more shocked when the three count took place, his opponent Bree Lancaster, or David himself!

But shocked or not, it had happened. David Helms was now a two-time SCW World Heavyweight Champion! Bet there weren’t many who had that on their twenty twenty bingo card!

And you better believe there was celebrating! In fact, it started right there in the ring, when David was joined by Regan, Selena, Mikaela, Delilah and Jordan inside of the ring as he held the SCW World title high above his head to the sound of the roaring crowd around them. It was a feeling that David hadn’t realised just how much he missed until the moment it happened again for the first time in five years! It wasn’t just his success that warranted the celebrations though, because he wasn’t the only one who had won that night. While his brother Jason, and his ex-wife’s new girlfriend Jordan had both lost - Jordan somehow managing to come out of the show looking like the ultimate badass despite taking the L - his victory was just the icing on the cake of a Rise To Greatness weekend that left them with much to celebrate! Not only had he picked up the dub in his first ever RTG main event match to become a two-time SCW World Heavyweight Champion, but his wife Regan and her tag partner Selena had finally done what they had been clamouring to do for months together by beating Tommy and Kandis to become SCW World Tag Team champs too, making Regan a Supreme Champion in the process! And if he was honest with himself, at least in the privacy of his own head anyway, David had to admit that he was possible prouder of his wife’s achievement that weekend than he was his own…

That didn’t mean he selling the World championship short or that he wasn’t proud of what he had done himself; he knew more than most just what that belt meant in the history of the company and the business, and to win it for the second time almost ten years after first doing so, he was under no illusions just what he had done and how important his victory was… but he also knew that there was probably at least a little truth to the idea that people like Giovanni Aries had tried to put in the minds of the fans, that he had come out of retirement and was stealing the limelight from the younger generations, making it harder for them to chase their dreams or simply stealing the attention from people who had been busting their asses for months of even years to break through that glass ceiling into the top echelons of the business. That was the downside of dealing with people like Gio… you know how they twist everything, how they have a way with words and it’s all spin… but they have a way of getting inside of your head anyway, planting the seeds of doubt or uncertainty, regardless. But even when he was away from the ring himself, David wasn’t exactly oblivious to the business, was he?

Even after retiring from SCW, he had continued to work in the business in a variety of ways, from running AnteUp until recently, to becoming part-owner and General Manager of UWA. He may be gone from the ring, but he wasn’t gone from the world of wrestling, and even if he was… Regan was his wife, it wasn’t like he wasn’t going to keep track of things! He saw firsthand how hard Regan had worked to become a Supreme champion, how long she had desperately wanted that status for herself and how proud a moment it was for her to win the belts with Selena. He watched the match from gorilla, and he punched the air so violently when Regan scored the pinfall that he was almost shocked he hadn’t given the world a black eye! And he knew, in that moment, that it didn’t matter what happened at the end of the night, he would still be going back home to California with a smile on his face because the woman he loved with all his heart had achieved something that she had longed for since day one in the company! And while he had always had faith in her, while he always knew how astonishing she was and how she was destined for success, she was now something else too: Supreme!

While they had partied that night despite their cuts, bruises, aches and pains, once David and Regan left Minneapolis, it was a short stopover in California mostly to collect Jay, because the pair had already planned a vacation in the post-pay per view break regardless of results. And David wasn’t above admitting that he had needed it too, because after twenty plus years in the business, he had learned to actually listen to his body when it was trying to tell him something! He knew when his body was saying enough was enough and had learned not to ask more of it when that happened… and no matter what David thought of Bree as a person, he had to admit that she had pushed him hard inside of that ring. He didn’t want to take anything away from anyone else he had faced since his return to the ring, but David couldn’t escape the fact that Bree had taken him as close to his limit in that match as he’d been since the moment he removed the Venti mask to reveal he was out of retirement at Day Of Infamy. And maybe people would see him as nuts for thinking that given he had competed in both a street fight and an underground rules match over the past couple of months… but at the same time, those matches against The Wonderland and Tommy Valentine, they were throwbacks to who David once was. They played to who David Helms was at his core, on the guy he had built his career on for years and it was almost like re-finding an old friend in a lot of ways. But that match with Bree? Put it this way, despite being bust open and bloodied in those two brutal matches… neither of them forced David to face up to his - steadily growing - list of limitations like facing Bree had done, and that was something David would need to deal with if he wanted to keep up with the pace that the business clearly demanded of him...

...which was something that was made all the easier by a week on a private beach with his wife and son, a vacation which not only made recuperating much more enjoyable, but also gave him the peace and quiet in order to truly think about everything he’d learned about himself thanks to the match with Bree.

But all good things came to an end, and as they returned home after a relaxing seven days of nothing but family time and enjoying themselves, David’s mind turned to other matters that had truly started with his meeting with Mr. D in Minneapolis. The sale of his shares in AnteUp and various other assets was the final tie that bound David to his asshole ex-best friend Tommy Valentine and with that contract and the subsequent transferring of funds to complete the sale, David was finally able to do as he wanted without having to deal with Tommy’s crap on the daily. In truth, he knew what he wanted to do way before the meeting was set up with the mysterious buyer that had turned out to be his former employer; he wasn’t going to let his experiences with Tommy over the last few months put him off from doing what he had been for years now to help the future of the business he loved. His time with AnteUp was over but his time helping the next generation of stars was far from over, it was just time for a new chapter in that journey!

“Who is it? What do you want?” a gruff southern voice yelled from inside of the large trailer as David knocked on it, a couple days after returning from his vacation with Regan and Jay. He was in Long Beach, a place he once knew well as he called it home during his time with TNT wrestling but hadn’t had too much to do with in recent years. In fact, he hadn’t had much to do with the place since his time with TNT came to an end, moving out of the state not long after, an action that had served as a period on not just his career in TNT but his first marriage to ex-wife Kathryn, but those weren’t days he wanted to dwell on.

It wasn’t the past he wanted to dwell on, but the future that lay ahead of him, and he was in Long Beach for that very reason! Because when David saw the writing on the wall with Tommy, and he informed his former friend that he was done, he knew right away what he wanted to do and it didn’t take long for him to find the perfect property listing online for him to fulfil his dream… but it came with a snag. “Mr. Allen?” David enquired, lowering his hand from the door that he’d just knocked on as the gruff southern voice demanded to know who was knocking. “Mr. Allen, it’s David Helms, sir... we spoke on the phone this morning?” he shouted through the sheet metal door, hoping that he had the right place. This was where the GPS system had brought him when he put in the address that Lyndon Allen had given him, so he should be in the right place, but it was possible that he’d made a mistake.

The door swung open and almost caught him square in the face, his instincts just giving him enough time to jump backwards to avoid it. “Should’a said so sooner, boy!” the same voice said, though now it was attached to someone as a giant bear of a man stood in the doorway, bright red cheeks and a bulbous nose visible through a big matted beard and thinning hair on top of his head that made David thinking of a slightly younger Santa Clause or a St. Nic in the making. “Come on in son, Lyndon Allen at your service,” the hulk of a figure said, offering his hand and David knew what was coming before their hands even connected… only the crushing of his fingers never came, as the much larger Allen had a handshake of a much smaller man, a delicate touch despite the rough skin of a working man that didn’t mind getting his hands dirty.

“Thanks for agreeing to see me sir,” David said as he took back his hand, still shocked that he didn’t need to massage the feeling back into his fingers as he stepped into the trailer that seemed to be an office rather than living accommodation. There was a desk at one end, with a computer sat on it and a couple chairs, and the other end of the trailer contained nothing but couches and a fridge. “I know it was short notice, but the sooner we get around to this, the better as far as I’m concerned, given the timeframe we have…”

“Well, you certainly got my interest piqued, kid…” the Southerner said as he pulled the trailer door shut again. “Though like I told’s ya on the phone, Dave was it?” he asked and David nodded his head, leaving the older man to continue without skipping a beat. “Like I told you on the phone son, I ain’t dealing with none of that, it’s all been sorted on my behalf by the auction house.”

Lyndon Allen, or more accurately Allen Construction Co, was the name listed as the owner of the former LA Fitness building that David had earmarked as the perfect place to start his own venture, because the building needed little work done to meet his requirements. Hell, it was more than what he actually needed, the pool area was a huge bonus, but one he planned to capitalise on if he could get this big bear of a man to agree to his request! “I know sir, you said on the phone” David started, before he was cut off.

“Enough of the sir stuff, alright son?” the construction company owner said, sitting down behind his desk and motioning to one of the empty chairs across from him. “I know I’m older, but I ain’t that much older than you are… and while I appreciate the respect ya’s trying to pay, I call a spade a spade just like the next working man. Lyndon will do just fine, ‘kay?”

“Okay, Lyndon it is...” David said as he took a seat too. “And as I said, I appreciate what you said on the phone, but I was hoping that we could come to some sort of agreement? One honest working man to another?”

The giant bear of a man cocked his head to one side as he sat back on his chair, looking critically at David for several seconds longer than what was comfortable for the pro-wrestler from New Jersey. The look on the southerner’s face was almost judgemental, which made David wonder if he was wasting his time before he even got around to what he wanted to speak about. “No offence son, but you don’t strike me as a working man, no with those funny pictures on ya hands and your picture-perfect coiffed hair… you’s kind of smell of money if I’m honest with ya son, no offence meant of course.”

“I may have money now Lyndon, but that wasn’t always the case,” David said, suddenly realising what the critical examination was all about. It was a sort of reverse-classism, this guy was looking down his nose at him because he thought Dave was some rich asshole that had money and hadn’t needed to work for any of it.

“You ain’t got a working man’s hands, I know that much,” the contractor said, folding his arms across his chest and while it wasn’t exactly a hostile gesture as such, there was still something about it that made David feel like he needed to tread carefully.

David nodded his head, looking down at his hands as he rubbed the thumb of his right hand across the palm of his left. “Maybe not these days,” he said, agreeing before he balled his left up into a tight fist that cracked his knuckles with a series of loud audible pops as he looked up at the old man. “But that’s because I worked hard and made something of myself, si-Lyndon… but it wouldn’t be the palms of my hands that showed my hard work anyway.”

The old man frowned. “What in the hell’s that supposed to mean, son?” he asked, frowning.

“It means that you’re seeing me at my most presentable bro,” David explained. “You’re not seeing me with stitches in my forehead. With bruised knuckles or a black eye. You’re seeing me when I’ve had time to rest… but you want to see proof I’ve worked for what I have then I can do that,” he went on before pulling the sleeve of his shirt up to show tattoos primarily, but also the scars beneath them, which stood proud of his arms even when covered with the ink. “Your hands show the hard work you put in… my whole body shows mine. Every healed cut, every scar, every broken bone, they all document two decades of hard work, two decades of busting my ass to get to the point where I can come here to speak to you, with smooth skin or coiffed hair… because my life is relatively easy now, but it wasn’t always that way.”

The old man looked at the bare arm David had revealed and at first he saw nothing but the tattoos that covered practically every inch of skin from the back of his hands to the hem of his sleeve that was rolled up to the creese of his elbow. But as his eyes focused, he finally saw the scars that were hidden away beneath the tattoos and realisation dawned on him what David was talking about. “Well, I guess that’s what ol’ Lyndon gets for judging a book by the cover, huh?” he asked before looking up at David. “But you’s got some explaining to do, son, because I’ve not got a clue what you’re wanting from me, I don’t mind telling you that…”

David nodded as he rolled his sleeve back down. “As I explained on the phone Mr. Allen, I want to buy the old LA Fitness building from you,” David told the old southern construction company owner. “But I also know that if it goes to auction, you’re going to get screwed with fees by the auction house and if I do manage to win it, I’m going to get the same treatment,” he explained, getting to the point. “Sure, they’re a business and they have to make money, but the cut those guys are going to want from you and the money they’ll want from me if I win… well, I can’t be the only one who thinks it’s a little over the top, surely?” he asked, and David could see in Allen’s eyes that he had hit close to home with that one.

“Son, do you know why I’m selling to begin with?” the owner of Allen Construction Co. asked, and David shook his head. In truth, he did know, but he didn’t want to give away his hand early; Dave’s attorney Heath had been doing research on the building and it’s owner from the day David found the place listed for sale, and it hadn’t taken him long to find out what was going on. “When I first bought that building, the intention was to gut it out and turn it into condos,” Allen explained, reaching down to open the large bottom drawer of his desk, pulling out a bottle of cheap scotch and two tin mugs. He motioned to David with the mug and Helms simply shrugged before nodding and Allen poured them both as drink as he continued to explain. “We’d landed a couple of big contracts and the guarantee on those contracts allowed me to get a little more adventurous with our own projects too. Instead of single builds I took a gamble… that LA Fitness is in a prime retail zone and condos would have sold for a fortune if we got the project started.”

“So what happened?” David asked as he accepted one of the mugs from Allen and took a small sip. He didn’t want to refuse the offer in case he offended the old man, but he was conscious that he had a fairly long drive back to LA ahead of him too once this meeting was over.

“We lost those two big contracts,” Allen told him before draining his mug in one. “Both of ‘em. One fell through because the company went bust, we actually lost money on that one because we’d started buying materials… and the other, the client simply changed their mind and because construction hadn’t started, there wasn't anything we could do but charge them for what little time we’d spent on it.”

David feigned a sudden realisation, frowning in sympathy. “And that meant you suddenly had a big chunk of money invested in a building you can’t do anything with…”

“Nail on the head son,” Allen said, re-filling his own mug. “Which, given the current financial climate, isn’t exactly something that we can afford. We lost two big contracts, that would have kept the company afloat while I put money back into the condo redevelopment… with them done, we just don’t have money for that redevelopment, so it left me with no option but to try and recoup my money.”

“So you went to an auctioneer in order to try and get the money back fast…” David said and Allen nodded before taking another big gulp of his scotch. David took another small sip, not wanting to leave the man drinking alone. “Presumably to keep the company afloat?”

“Got it in one son,” Allen replied. “We got through the financial crash of oh eight by the skin of our teeth, but we built ourselves back up, but this could end everything…”

David felt bad for the man, he wasn’t going to deny it. From everything Heath had told him, they were barely keeping themselves afloat after buying the LA Fitness, and it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that they needed to sell the LA Fitness building to escape the myre that they’d got themselves into, but David also knew that it wasn’t exactly their own fault. As the southerner had said, they thought they had guarantees, that they had contracts that would make the condo project more than viable, and they’d had the rug pulled out from beneath them when those contracts fell through. They were expecting to make bank and instead had the bank banging at the door wondering where their loan payments were, and for David to go there with the intention of trying to make some sort of deal felt like he was taking advantage in a way… but at the same time, he knew what he had said about auctioneers fees was true, they would skim their commission from seller and buyer, so even if it went for above the guide price, would Allen and his company recoup what he’d paid for the place? “Well, maybe I can help…” David suggested, and Allen paused with his mug halfway up towards his lips to look at him in visible confusion.

“You got yourself a time machine or something?” Allen asked with a big booming laugh. “Because I ain’t got a clue how you can help otherwise, son…”

“No, I left the Delorean in the garage unfortunately,” David said, chuckling as he put his mug down, ready to talk business. “But what I do have is the desire to buy the building from you and the money to make a decent offer… that’s why I wanted to talk to you, si-Lyndon. I want to make an offer to buy the building privately, instead of letting the auction run.”

The construction company owner looked puzzled, his brow furrowing and with it, creating even deeper lines on his forehead than his weather-worn face had already. After what felt like several seconds, he finally sighed and shook his head. “No, no, no… sorry son, but I already got it up for auction next week, and I reckon I oughta let that run. No offence, you seem like a good guy, but I just don’t want the hassle…”

“Where’s the hassle?” David asked, sitting forward to lean against the desk. “The auction house already gave you a guide price, and I know you had the place apprised by commercial realtor companies before deciding to auction it, so you know the value,” he continued to explain. “I’ll pay it. The top valuation… and if that’s the top end of the auctioneer’s valuation, or whether the realtor’s gave a higher figure, whichever one is more, I’ll pay you that.”

“And why would you be willing to do that if you can just go to auction and try and buy it?” Allen asked, sounding way more suspicious than David was comfortable with, even if it was a sensible question to ask under the circumstances. “If you want it that bad, you can put in a bid and maybe even get it much cheaper if no one else is interested in the place… but thats the thing kid, if they are interested, then maybe we’ve got a bidding war and I get even more than what you’re offering?”

“And that would be true if you didn’t have fees on top of that,” David told him as he sat back in his chair again, trying to lower the hostility in the trailer a little by backing up and giving the older man some space. “What’s the commission, five percent? Ten?” he asked, though he didn’t press for an actual answer. “And as much as I want the building, I have a limit on what I’m willing to spend… so I know I wouldn’t personally get into an actual bidding war for the sake of just having to have the building.”

“Someone might though,” Allen suggested, though he sounded a little less certain now. “All it takes is two people.”

“Fair point,” David agreed with a nod of his head. “But the flipside is that if there’s only one person interested at more than a passing level, then it goes for much less than you hoped too. You could do well… or you could lose more than you realised. I’m willing to pay the top end of the valuation, there’s no commission to be taken, and I’ll even cover the attorney’s fees for getting the deal done if you agree to sell to me.”

He knew he was giving the hard sell now, that it was possible that all he was going to do was leave Allen even more convinced that he should see the auction through because of his much he was pushing the issue, but he would rather lay his cards on the table and see where it went than try and bullshit the man and something told him that was the right approach because this felt like a man that could smell bullshit from fifty yards away! “I’m gonna be honest with you, son, the fact you’re pushing this right now makes me think there’s more to this than I’m aware of and maybe that I should see the auction through in case others are in on the secret,” the southerner said, his eyes narrowed as he scrutinised David’s face, looking for a sign that his suspicions were correct.

But David simply shrugged. There was no secret, nothing to give away, and David was an open book anyway. He didn’t know anything that the older man didn’t, he just wanted to buy the building because it was perfect for what he wanted. “If you think I know more than I do then I’m sorry to disappoint you dude, but that’s not the case,” he explained, shaking his head a little. “There’s no big secret, I just think the place is perfect for what I want to do with it and if I can help us both out by making an offer away from the world of commissions and fees then I figured it was worth a try, that’s all…”

“And what exactly is it you want to do with the place?” Allen asked, still scrutinising David’s face, waiting for a sign that or some vital information that he could use to his own advantage. “You planning to turn it into condo’s too? That’s where the money is if you ask me, I imagine a lot would do the same if they owned the place… that why you want to try and get in here early to snap it up before anyone else has the chance?”

“Not even close, man…” David told him, grinning. “You’ve already seen my hands Lyndon, do I really strike you as someone who’s into property redevelopment?”

“You could own a construction company without getting your hands dirty, son…” the older man said, tapping the end of his bulbous nose with one finger in a knowing way.

“If that was the case, I’d probably have just let it go to auction, surely?” David suggested. “If I want to redevelop the place, wouldn’t I have just taken my chances and maybe grab a bargain if there aren’t many interested?” he reasoned, and he saw the hint of a nod from Allen that told him he’d scored points with that one. “Nah man, I don’t want to turn it into anything it isn’t set up for already.”

Allen’s brow furrowed once again, the deep crevices appearing on his forehead for the second or third time since the conversation started. “You don’t want to do anything with it?” he asked, visibly thrown off by the remark. “They why the hell do you want to buy it in the first place?”

“You misunderstand me, dude!” David told him. “I’m not saying I don’t want to do anything with it… I’m just saying that I don’t want to redevelop the place into anything else. I want to keep it as a gym!”

And as realisation washed over the older man, he rolled his eyes and let out a booming laugh. “You had me confused for a moment there, son!” he said as he continued to laugh at the situation. “I wondered why you’d go to all this trouble to then do nothing with it if I said yes! So you want to turn it into a fitness center?”

“Something similar, yeah.” David admitted, nodding. “Not exactly a gym though. A school. Mr. Allen, I’m a professional fighter, and until recently I ran a school up in Santa Barbara with my now-ex business partner, but the partnership has now been dissolved and I’m looking to go it alone now,” he started to explain, believing that honesty was the best policy with a man like Allen. “While it may be prime redevelopment material, the building is basically perfect for what I want without having to rip everything out and start again. Sure, it needs work done and I’d have to hire a construction company to get that sorted out, but because of the way things are laid out, I’d be weeks ahead if not months if I could get this place so I figured I’d take a shot and see if you were interested in a quick sale instead of risking the auction house…”

Allen sat there looking at David critically once again, his head cocked to one side as the cogs seemed to start turning in his head. “A professional fighter you said?” he asked, folding his arms across his chest as he mulled that fact over.

“Yeah,” David confirmed, wondering how much he should tell the older man. He was probably already picturing boxing or maybe MMA or something, and if David told him it was pro-wrestling, would that skew his views in the wrong direction? Maybe. It worked that way with some people, despite how much they went through as athletes, the negative stigma of the business. But at the same time, hadn’t he already decided that honesty was the best policy? “I’m a professional wrestler, dude… quite a famous one, if you’ll let me have a big head for a minute. And the school I used to co-run was probably the most well known school on the west coast, if I’m honest, so I’ve got my work cut out for me when I do open something myself, which is why I could do with the head start buying your building would give me…”

“How famous is famous?” the construction company owner asked, still giving David that same enquiring expression, as if trying to weight what this was worth to him, other than financially speaking.

And David saw the opening that that provided and decided to play up to it. He pulled his phone from his pocket and did a quick google search before pushing the phone over to Allen. The older man picked it up and saw the article that David had pulled up, an article from the LA Times sports section that not only covered Rise To Greatness from a week or so earlier, but had a photo of him at the very top of the article, holding the title above his head in celebration. “Like I said sir, quite famous…” he said as Allen looked at the article for a moment longer before sliding the phone back to David, but David chose to leave it there, open, on the desk in case Allen’s eye flicked back to it at any point. “That was a week and change ago. Around seventy thousand people watched me become world champion in the stadium and god knows how many people watched it around the world. Millions, I know that much…”

“So quite famous is something of an understatement,” he said, as he gestured to the phone that still sat on the desk between them. “That thing said you’re in the hall of fame too?” he asked and David raised his hand and turned to show the back of it to the older man, his Hall of Fame ring catching the light so perfectly that David couldn’t have organised it any better if he tried.

“Class of two thousand seventeen,” he said, giving Allen just enough of a look to get his interest before he lowered his hand again. “Twenty one years in the business, World champion four times in three companies, including the win at the end of July that this is talking about,” he added, tapping his finger on the top of his phone, which in a twist of good fortune, actually opened the picture at the top of the article as a new link, only highlighting the visual of him holding the belt. “I came out of retirement at the start of the year because I had that itch, now here I am… but I was retired for around four years, and spent that time running the school I owned with my former friend. Now I want to continue to do that on my own but that means finding the right setting to open up… and your building is perfect because it doesn’t need a huge amount of work to get it how I want, but more importantly it’s only downtown! Great location, and already set up in a way I can work with…”

The worry for Dave was that he was giving too much away on how much he wanted this place, that maybe he was backing himself into a corner while Allen saw dollar signs in his eyes… but that didn’t seem to be the case, surprisingly. “So you’d be looking to hire a construction company to do some remodelling work if you got it, son?” Allen asked, and David knew that he wouldn’t be asking that question if he was just seeing the dollar signs that an auction could result in.

“Some work, yeah,” David said with a nod as he sat back in his seat. “A bit of modernising, some design changes, cosmetic mostly but a lot of the place needs freshening up from what I saw when going for a walkaround....”

Allen didn’t reply straight away, sitting back in his chair mulling something over before finally sitting forward in his chair and looking David right in the eye. “So let’s say I agree to pull it from the auction,” Allen started, and David had to fight not to show on his face what he was thinking inside of his head, because he was starting to think that he’d got him! “There would be some room for negotiations where the work that needs doing is concerned, correct?” he asked, and David chose to simply nod. “I’m not saying my mind is made up here, I should make that clear… but…”

“But?” David finally asked, wanting to push this point now that Allen was seemingly coming around, knowing everything he now did.

“But I think there may be an opportunity here…” the elder man said, thinking out loud as much as anything. “Now I’m not going to let it go cheaply, I will want the top end of the valuation… but as you already offered that, I suppose that isn’t a problem. If we agree on this though, the agreement will come with a few conditions too…”

“Well, I’m willing to listen, obviously…” David said, sitting forward to give Allen his full attention now. “I wouldn’t have come here if I didn’t want to try and find some sort of agreement, so the fact you’re open to at least discuss things is a positive…”

“I’m a businessman at the end of the day, son…” Allen told him flatly, as if stating the obvious. Which in many ways, he was. “I’m always going to look for an opportunity to do good business and with what you’ve shown me, told me… maybe this is an opportunity?”

“So what is it you want?” David asked, getting to the point. If there was a deal to discuss, he’d rather get right down to it.

“Direct and to the point, I appreciate that,” Allen said, nodding his head, impressed. “As for what I want, there’s a couple of conditions that I have. First, if I agree to do pull the auction and sell outright to you, you cover any fees that come with doing that from the auction house,” he said and David nodded his head, waving a hand to say that wasn’t an issue for him. “Second, my company is the one you bring in to do any work that does need doing as you remodel to suit your needs… aside from wanting the contract, let’s be honest here, I already have the plans of the building and have gone through them thoroughly, I know any issues that need sorting and I have a good crew that I know can do the job for you if you do agree to hire us.”

David thought about it briefly and after a moment, nodded his head. “I don’t see any problem with that, as long as we can put some structure in place for how long the work’s going to take…”

“That’s a reasonable request and one we can discuss,” the owner of Allen Construction Co. told him, happy to proceed.

“Okay, so we’re on the same page so far. Anything else?” David asked, convinced that they weren’t done yet, because this seemed too simple up to now.

And David was right, because Allen nodded his head to say there was. “This last one’s simple,” the older of the two men said. “Or at least I’d like to think it is, anyway… I want our name tied to this new school somehow.”

David’s brow furrowed; he was worried that the older construction worker was talking about a partnership, or about buying into the school somehow, but that wasn’t something that David was looking to do. He had just come from a business partnership that had gone south and he wanted to do this alone, to build something in his name, do something with his wife and family instead… he wasn’t going to sacrifice that, even if it meant passing up on the perfect location in the process. “Tied to it in what way?” he asked, not wanting to be too hostile about the discussion before he knew just what Allen was thinking.

“I’m not saying I want to be a business partner or invest,” Allen said and immediately David’s concerns were quelled somewhat, because that was what he thought the elder man was getting at. “I already have my problems running one business, the last thing I want is to run another, so don’t worry… but I know what the world of sports is like, with sponsorship deals and things of that ilk. Maybe there’s some sort of agreement we can reach, we hang a banner somewhere in the school, our logo somewhere on the press packages, that sort of thing? You’re building something new and exciting and I’d like our company to appear to be involved in that…”

And David suddenly knew what he was talking about, suddenly it made sense from a business perspective. This guy wasn’t wanting to be part of the business, he wanted to take David’s name and grab some of the publicity that came with it. But… David didn’t really see anything wrong with that, if he was honest. Wasn’t that how businesses worked? Sponsorships were basically just paying to have your company associated with someone or something else, and if that was something that Allen wanted in order to seal the deal then he was willing to agree to those terms. “I think you have yourself a deal, Lyndon.” David said, standing and offering his hand out to the older man, and after a moment’s hesitation, Lyndon stood up too and grabbed David by the hand for their second handshake of the day.

“Just don’t make me regret the decision, alright son?” the construction company owner said, as he let go of David’s hand. “If I pull this from the auction and then you back out, I’m not going to be happy.”

“Mr. Allen, Lyndon, I can guarantee you that that isn’t going to happen,” David said, grinning. He had no intention of pulling out of the deal, the building was perfect and if those were Allen’s only terms, he had no problem with them whatsoever. “My attorney will be in touch as soon as possible to put everything in motion…”

“Look forward to it son, and it was a pleasure doing business with ya,” Allen replied and David echoed the sentiments before heading for the exit.

Of course, he knew nothing was set in stone with this meeting, because until a contract was signed anything could happen; maybe Allen would change his mind, maybe he’d want to leave it to chance and hope that others would want the building as much as Dave did. But if that was the case, David already knew his limits with what he was willing to pay; the former LA Fitness property may be the perfect one for his newest project, but that didn’t mean he was going to let anyone hold him over a barrel and force him to pay over the odds for it. Other properties would come up eventually if Allen did have a change of heart before anything could be made official. But that didn’t mean David had to assume it would fall through and he wasn’t going to worry about whether it would. As he reached his car and climbed in, he pulled his phone out and began to rattle off a text to Heath.

Allen agreed to pull from the auction and sell privately to me with a few conditions. Told him you’d be in touch A.S.A.P, bro. Make it quick and there’s a tasty bonus for my number one legal rep. ;-)
- David Helms

The little reply dots appeared before Dave even had chance to plug his phone into the GPS system.

Consider it signed sealed and delivered already. Will call him right now to set out the details and have something drawn up by tomorrow. How tasty a bonus we talking? lol
- Heath Mitchell

Laughing to himself, David closed iMessage without replying; Heath knew well enough by now that David would look after him when it came to bonuses, he didn’t need to dangle an actual carrot in front of him in order to get the job done properly. They could talk about it once the deal was agreed upon and signed. Instead he went to his contacts and went across to favourites to call his wife. Hitting Regan’s name, he started the engine and began to reverse out of the compound as Regan answered. “Babe!” David said before Regan could even say ‘hello’. “We got it! Allen agreed to sell it to me privately!” he said with such excitement in his voice that he sounded like a kid on Christmas morning. And in many ways, that was how he felt too. Not just the deal he had agreed with Allen, but his career too. The win at Rise To Greatness wasn’t just a title win, it was the start of a new chapter in his life, along with the sale of AnteUp and starting his own school. Everything was new and exciting and he was so optimistic about what was to come, both in the ring and outside of it. If things had looked dark before, the clouds had cleared now and while it probably wouldn’t be plain sailing going forward, at least the boat was going in the right direction! Now the hard work really started… time to get the sales unfurled and head towards that horizon!

We click play on the video and as we do, a small loading icon appears in the middle of the blank screen, turning slowly as the video buffers for a split second before it disappears and the video begins to play. And now that it's playing, we’re greeted with the sight of not just one Helms brother, but two, with David and Jason Helms standing in what appears to be a hotel room, both wearing jeans and Handsome Devils Club shirts, one in charcoal grey and the other in black. The brothers waste no time in getting the show on the road. “Sup, ass-clowns?” Jason asks, his usual greeting of choice, which gets a roll of the eyes and a shake of the head from David.

The elder brother turns his attention back to the camera and pops off a casual salute as he also acknowledges the camera. “Hey guys,” he says, smiling as Jason mocks him slightly at his side, theatrically mouthing the words ‘hey guys’ in exaggerated motion before David turns to look at him and Jason begins to whistle, acting as if he didn’t do anything wrong. David turns back to the camera. “So how’s this, huh? Two brothers for the price of one, you can’t say fairer than that, right?” he asks, and Jason chirps up at the side of him.

“And you’re already getting this for free anyway, because it goes on Youtube,” he says, smirking. “So that’s twice as much awesomeness for the same low low price of absolutely fucking nothing! I hope you’re marking this day down in your diaries as the best day of your lives!”

David shoves Jason back after he stepped forward to cut his brother off, and picks up where he left off. “It’s funny, but despite the fact that we’ve been back wrestling under our own names since January, this is the first time we’ve actually stood and filmed one of these things together in around fifteen years,” he says, scoffing a little. “Two thousand and five, working for TNT Wrestling, you remember that bro?”

Jason turns to look at David. “Oh, I’m allowed to speak now?” he asks, sarcastically. “You’re not going to shove me back or elbow me or anything?” he clarifies, and David rolls his eyes before gesturing to the camera to give Jason the floor. “Of course I remember TNT, dumbass. It’s hard to remember the company that nearly costs you your life, isn’t it? Although that said, I mean I did lose my memory for several months because of that same incident, so I guess it’s a fair question…” he says thoughtfully before turning to the camera to fire a huge cheesy grin full of white teeth.

“And cost me a marriage and, for quite a while, my career…” David adds, for good measure. “Fuck, I hope that’s not some sort of omen… to be safe, try not to drive over any rivers when we leave Portland on thursday, okay?” he tells his brother, patting him on the shoulder. “I’ve eulogised you once, I don’t really want to have to say nice things about you for a second time, bro…”

“I’m pretty sure we’re not at risk this time around dude,” Jason reassured his brother, barely hiding a smirk from his face before turning back to the camera. “But while we’re talking about saying nice things, how about this guy right here, huh?! Bree Lancaster’s reign of terror is over, bro! It’s all over and done thanks to this guy, beating her at the biggest show of the year, and yet he’s standing here right now in my hotel room, Lucas over there behind the camera, without his belt! See, David,” he says, turning back to his brother. “This is why you need me around, you’re too humble for bragging, but I don’t give a fuck, so I can do it all for you!”

David brings a hand up to rub at his neck, looking a little uneasy as he grins feebly at the camera. “You can tell which of us got the lions share of the arrogance in our family, huh?” he asks, and Jason turns to grin into the camera, giving two thumbs up before pointing them at himself. “But that doesn’t make him wrong I guess… this is the first time I’ve stood in front of a camera to film one of these things since beating Bree at Rise To Greatness, and in just a few days I’m going to have to do that again when I face Glory Braddock at Apocalypse, knowing my reign could come to an end already…”

“And I have to face Karen Matthews at that same show too, which you can imagine I’m just jumping for joy over, given I’m going to have to deal with Karen’s complaints despite only being the assistant manager and not the full manager,” he says, smirking at the memory of the previous weeks Breakdown and the shirt he wore when coming out to the ring. “But before either of us can face the music like we’re SCW’s Bill and Ted, we’ve got a stop off here in Portland, for the Breaking of Downs!” he says, grinning again. “And while this sunday, it’ll be David Helms and Jason Helms in singles action, tomorrow it’s Handsome Devils Club in action together, which is why we’re wearing these lovely matching threads you see before you. See, being brothers isn’t enough to show that we’re a cohesive unit, we need matching costumes too!”

“Alright smart ass, knock it off,” David says, rolling his eyes before chuckling. “So maybe I didn’t need to push the idea of matching shirts, but Jase is right, tomorrow night we are in tag competition together, and while I think it’s obvious that we have a specific connection between us, given that we--”

“-both came from the same vagina?” Jason interrupts and David slaps a hand across Jason’s mouth to shut him up.

“Given that we’re brothers,” David corrects him, continuing as if Jason didn’t interrupt. “There probably aren’t many who do remember that me and Jason were teaming together years ago, in the earliest days of Jason’s career in the business! Team Xtreme we were called… original as all hell, right? But the name doesn’t matter, what does, is that while we’ve only been back a few months, the fact remains that this isn’t really anything new for me and Jason. Sure, there was a gab of more than a decade between it last happening and when we returned, but this business is just like riding a bike!”

“Yeah, it’s painful, tiring, and you piss a lot of people off when you don’t get out of the way for them!” Jason adds, smirking again, but this time David doesn’t attempt to shut him up.

“That’s… actually a fairly fitting analogy,” he says, smirking.

Jason nods, returning the smirk. “No shit,” he confirms, before turning back to the camera. “But I know that wasn’t exactly what Dave meant either… what he’s getting at is that it’s the kind of thing that once you know, you never forget. And that definitely applies to tag team wrestling, because you have to build a connection to your partner in order to be a success inside of the ring. It’s important to know what the other person is thinking at all times, and that’s basically the level that we’ve been at for almost as long as one of our opponents this week has been alive!”

“And that’s not meant to be an insult, either…” David assures the camera. “It’s a sad reality for someone like me in particular, who’s definitely closer to the end of their career than the beginning, that every generation has to end at some point, to be replaced with a new one… and given the fact that I’ve been running a wrestling school for years and Jason now works in one in his spare time, I think it’s safe to assume that we’re both okay with that.”

“But just because we know that eventually, our time will have come and gone, doesn’t mean that we’re going to roll over for the next generation without putting up a fight either,” Jason cuts in, winking into the camera. “And maybe there’s something awkward about this one, maybe there’s several awkward things about it…”

“For starters, there’s the fact that one of the two, Owen, is currently dating my daughter, Jenni…” David says, holding up a finger to single that that’s the first point. “It wasn’t that long ago that we had a little family drama because of the fact that Owen may have to fight Regan, and thankfully that was all sorted out behind closed doors, but that was an interested week and change, believe me…”

“Then there’s the fact that Dave here actually helped train Owen too!” Jason adds, holding up two fingers on his hand. “Sure, maybe he didn’t train him entirely, given than his old man Lando got that one started, but it was Dave who picked up the task and helped Owen be the guy he now is. That’s some real Obi Wan-Anakin Skywalker shit right there!”

Shaking his head a little, David then holds up three fingers on his hand as he speaks again. “Then we have the fact that Owen and his friends, like his partner tomorrow night Aaron Blackbourne, have both had their problems with Giovanni Aries as of late… the same man that accused me of robbing people like Owen and Aaron of their dreams by returning to the ring… which I’m sure was only solidified in his mind when I won the World Title at Rise To Greatness, wasn’t it Gio?” he asks, rolling his eyes.

“But the fact is… that’s life,” Jason says, nodding his head, as both men lower their hands. “The business isn’t all sunshine lollipops and rainbows, it’s a horrible fucking grind where you have to bust your ass week after week after week in order to prove yourself. And both of these kids know how hard it is to get to the top of the business; Owen made it, he held the world title already and Aaron had his shot. Tough break bro, I know how it feels losing to that bitch, I know how it stings…”

“But ultimately, to get anywhere in the business, you have to stop those around you from winning,” David says as he picks up from Jason’s point. “And when you’re in our shoes,” he says, and both men raise one leg to show off their matching red Converse sneakers before lowering them again, “as two of the elder members of the roster, more so in my case than Jason’s I admit, you have to accept that you’re going to push the upcoming generation back down if you’re not ready to let go just yet.”

“I know what you’ve just been through Owen, we both do,” Jason says, nodding his head. “Giovanni Aries is a headcase that has a habit of being able to get inside of the head of anyone he faces, and I think I know more than most what it takes to face off with him, because fuck, it affected me for long enough afterwards, even if you did what I didn’t by beating him…”

“We’ve both got scars from having to deal with that douchebag,” David says, motioning to himself and Jason. “We’ve both been attacked by him, jumped by him, cut up by him this year, and Jason suffered much worse at his hands… so you’re probably riding pretty high right now, knowing that you beat him at the show of shows last month. I’m feeling pretty good about last month myself, so I know how you’re no doubt feeling…”

“But this isn’t Rise to Greatness and we’re not Giovanni Aries,” Jason says, shaking his head. “We’re not Shilo Valiant either, who you managed to beat last month too Aaron, which again, is another impressive feet given the history my brother here has with the man. If anything, we’re both more like you two than we’ll ever be like Gio or Shilo. Those assholes are cut from the same cloth, they play games and like to get in people’s heads, they like to fuck with people and think it’s fun or enjoyable. Even if Gio tries to paint it as being something more than that…”

“But we’re not going to try and do that,” David cuts in, shaking his head. “Like Jase just said, we’re more like the two of you then either of them. We’re not going to try and fuck with your heads, we’re not going to try and play mind games, we want a good match and no matter what happens, as long as the fans watching enjoy the showcase we put on then so be it. We all have huge matches coming up this weekend,” David says and Jason nods his head.

“Dave here defending his title, me facing the might of the Karen empire,” he says, reeling their matches off. “You go under the big top Aaron, and Owen you’re in a hell of a fourway this Sunday,” he lists, puffing out his cheeks and blowing air out. “We all have our hands full this weekend, there’s no doubt about that one.”

“But while we want to have a good solid match where the best team wins, boys…” David says, picking up the thread of his brother’s point. “That doesn’t mean that either of us is planning to roll over and make it easy on you or gift you a victory. And I know that neither of you will want that. I know for a fact that you won’t, Owen. I trained you to know better than that, and everything I’ve seen of both of you tells me that neither of you wants to take the easy way out whenever you have the chance to shine…”

“So let’s be up front and honest about this, like four adults,” Jason says, looking at David for a moment to shoot him a sheepish smile before he shrugs. “Let’s be three adults and one grown ass man child troll like thing… you want to win, we want to win. Only one team can do that, that goes without saying. But let’s just make sure that whoever earns that victory, it all gets left in the ring, and then we can go back to worrying about whatever else we have going on, okay?” he says, David nodding.

“I know you two have been in good hands, taking guidance from Kelcey… I know she’s probably told you a few things about me too, Owen, a few tips here and there on how to beat me,” he says, grinning a little. “That’s what a manager is supposed to do, after all. Can’t fault her for looking after her clients, the ‘Perfect pack’ as you’ve been dubbed by the Wonderland fruitcake. But whether it’s the Perfect Pack or the Handsome Devils that pick up the victory tomorrow… we’re gonna do one thing. We’re going to make sure the winners truly have to earn it. So the question now guys… is whether the two of you are actually ready for the work? I think I know the answer… whether I’m right, well that’s on you to prove, huh?”

And with that, David holds his hands up in the Self High Five as Jason throws his hand up in the shape of a gun, which he points at the camera. “BANG!/BANG!” the two both shout in unison, David breaking his hands apart as Jason ‘fires’ the gun and with that, the video comes to an end, the final frame dimming as the replay button appears in the middle of the screen.