The sound of a car door closing in the distance is heard, immediately followed by “Jamison, my main man, what’s up?”
That was Aaron Elliot stepping out of his pricey, top of the line BMW. He buttoned his blazer and adjusted the designer sunglasses on his face as he approached Jamison. The PCW Prodigy Champion arrived in St. Louis, Missouri earlier today and already made his way to the venue. He stood outside of it in the empty parking lot. The sun was beginning to set in the distance, lowering behind the building and giving the sky a tint of orange and pink.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Aaron said as he approached. Jamison removed his sunglasses, his eyes squinting as he looked at the sky - then turned to Aaron, noticing that he was looking down at the championship around Jamison’s waist. “That title looks damn fine on you, James. You are the crown jewel of the Prodigy division, the PRODIGY group, and of PCW - did you know that?”
Aaron looked up with a big smile. Jamison, as he usually was, remained stoic. “You’re all about business, I like it. Alright, so. You dispatched of that old, round-shaped, complainer with ease as we knew you would. You have a rematch with Tomi Venus coming up.”
Jamison shrugged his shoulders, “Whatever. Whoever. It doesn’t matter. If they want to fight, I’m not a hard man to find.”
“Just look for the badass with the Prodigy title, am I right?” Aaron said with smug confidence.
“Just make sure they’re watching and taking notes. Now is not the time for them to rest on their laurels. I’m tearing through this company with - or without - them.” His words were like ice; cold and hard. Aaron nodded his head, knowing exactly what he was talking about.
Jamison turned his head again, directing his attention back to the venue …
---------------------
“How times have changed.”
“If you go back to one of my first showings in this company, I said - point blank - that I was not here to become a measuring stick. But, low and behold, months go by and that’s exactly what I’ve become. The measuring stick of the Prodigy division. The man that’s put in front of the up and comers, the block-traveled ‘vets’, and the one’s with the most promising of futures; all to see what they are about. Can they live up to the promise? Can they live up to the hype? Or are they just another one to be knocked down and knocked out? Ninety-nine - point - nine percent of the time, it’s the latter. That oh-point-one percent was Chris Sabertooth, and one day - I’ll get that one back. But I digress…”
“In the months since that first video, things have changed quite rapidly. I’ve earned the right to call myself one of the best fighters in this company, hands down. I’ve earned the right to - not only call myself one of the best Prodigy champions - but I can also call myself the longest reigning Prodigy champion - in history. And I didn’t get that way by letting people walk all over me just because. Alejandro Rivera; he spent the week bitching and crying about his opportunities being given to someone else, about how he should rightfully be champion and that he would get his respect by beating me. He learned the hard way, the same way everyone before him learned, that James Christ isn’t a pushover - isn’t just some paper champion - and isn’t someone you fuck around with.”
“He wasn’t a shot caller, but instead he was just another person with a big mouth that found himself in a situation that he would never win.”
“It’s a familiar situation, isn’t it? Maybe it reminds you of Heart of Winter, perhaps? With one win under my belt, I walked down to that ring with all of the angst and disdain for this entire industry coursing through my veins - I looked into the ring at Jack Carlton and Tomi Venus. Unbeknownst to them this was going to be a situation that they would never win. Jack Carlton has been MIA since my knee caved in the back of his skull, and Tomi? Where does that bring you, my boy? It brings you right back here - face to face with me. I knocked you out cold once before, so - what’s going to stop me from doing it again? What’s changed since Heart of Winter?”
“Well, I’ll tell you. Since Heart of Winter, I’ve gone on to capture the Prodigy championship and I’ve built a culture, if you will, in this division. No more is it just seen as a division for the new signees to waltz into and become champion within their first few months. No. I’ve established this division as the fucking toughest. Here you have to earn your stripes, and you can only do so by lacing up those boots and showing what you’re made of. You’re not going to get handed anything - not a title shot, and certainly not respect as Alejandro learned, and if you come in with the mindset then you’re going to feel my knee connect with your jaw. You remember that feeling, don’t you?”
“I hope you do - and when you think back to it I want you to remind yourself: that was back when I didn’t know who I was yet. I was thrown into the ring and told to fight. Now? Now I’ve developed a knack for this. I’ve developed that hunger for it. And when it comes to you, I’m back for seconds.”
“Way back then, Tomi, I didn’t care for you - for this business - for this championship - for anything. What’s changed? Now I have this championship, and while this isn’t a match for the title - I’m going to make goddamn sure that you know you’ll never come anywhere near it again.”