Disclaimer: I don't own anyone or anything recognizable.
A/N: So. I'm thinking one chapter after this. And then a sequel. My point is, expect this story to be drawing to a close and another one to be starting soon. Also, Classic Superstar Pac gave me some really good advice, which will be addressed in the next chapter and in following stories. Again, remember the rosters are set up the way they were before the draft.
Jeff was sitting in his living room, just relaxing on his couch, flipping through the channels. Matt had been told that he didn't need to be at any of the house shows for that week; apparently creative felt that it would take away from his last statement on Raw if he then went on to wrestle before the next episode. So the two of them had decided to return home and relax until they needed to get on the road again.
He flipped past Sci-Fi, frowned, and went back to that channel. ECW was on. Must have lost track of the time; I didn't realize it was on now. He settled down to see what was happening on the other brand. Chavo was making his way to the ring, accompanied by Bam Neely. His opponent was announced as Evan Bourne, but, though his music came on, the young superstar didn't come out.
Jeff frowned. No, it's just a coincidence… He thought, but just to be sure he picked up his phone and called his brother. "Hey, Matt, are you watching ECW?" he asked when Matt picked up.
"No… why?"
"Just go turn it on and watch," Jeff said. He could hear Matt walk out of the room and then he heard ECW come on in the background. "What am I supposed to be watching for?" Matt asked.
"Evan Bourne."
The two of them were silent for a few minutes as they both watched Chavo pace in the ring, while the announcers speculated about where Evan Bourne could be. Finally, a different opponent came out and the match finally began.
"Now tell me that that doesn't seem like they're starting the strike a bit too early over on ECW," Jeff said. "I mean, we did put Bourne on our list…"
"Yeah, but Vince didn't say anything starting the strike on the other shows," Matt said. "Look, you watch ECW- and I'll watch it too- and call me back when it's over. If they're starting the strike early they'll have to have CM Punk and Kofi Kingston back out of their matches as well."
The two of them hung up and continued watching ECW. Neither of them was quite sure what to expect, though both had a feeling that the strike was starting early, considering that CM Punk and Kofi Kingston were going to be fighting that night. Sure enough when it was time for their match- a tag team match against John Morrison and The Miz- neither of them came out. Morrison and the Miz ended up fighting Hawkins and Ryder instead.
His phone rang and he picked it up. "Alright, you have a point," Matt said. "It does look like they're starting the strike, on ECW at least."
"Why, though?" Jeff asked. "I mean, Vince wasn't exactly thrilled that we were expanding this beyond Raw in the first place. Why would he take it a step further and have people back out of matches without giving the fans any sort of explanation?"
"I guess because it would make it more believable if the people who took part in the strike actually went on strike," Matt said. "You know, instead of just coming out to the ring and not doing anything."
"Man, Vince is playing with fire though," Jeff said. "I mean, it may just be for one week only, but this is going to affect ECW next week as well. They ended up having people back out of two matches in one hour. Considering how many Smackdown people we put on that list, can you imagine what Friday's show is going to be like if they start the strike over there as well?"
"It's going to be chaos. If every Smackdown superstar on our list has to back out of a match, that's five or six matches that are going to be affected- not counting the Diva matches," Matt said. "They're going to have a hard time keeping the show together this week if they go that route."
Matt and Jeff watched Smackdown together that Friday so they could find out if the strike was really starting early on all the brands, though they were pretty sure that, if ECW had started the strike, Smackdown would start it as well.
The show opened up with Vickie in the ring. "Now, as some of you may know, this past Tuesday on ECW several superstars decided to not show up for their matches," she said. "Now, while Theodore Long may let them get away with that over there, this is Friday Night Smackdown and I'm in charge. If anyone skips out on a match tonight there will be serious repercussions."
Batista's music hit, much to Matt and Jeff's surprise, and the Animal made his way down to the ring. "Look, Vickie, I understand you have a show to run here," he said. "And I know that having five or six, hell maybe even seven or eight, people back out of matches just makes your life that much harder. But there are some things that are more important then worrying about what unfair match we'll be stuck in next week, which is why I'm telling you right now that I will not be fighting in my match tonight."
Jeff stared at the TV, his mouth open slightly in shock. "They had Batista- Batista, of all people- come out at the beginning of the show and announce that he isn't going to be fighting tonight?"
"You said it on Tuesday, Jeff, they're playing with fire," Matt said. "Either this is going to work brilliantly, or it's going to blow up in their face… and right now I think they're taking this a bit too far."
As the show progressed it became clear that the writers were going to take this as far as possible. Every single superstar and Diva that they had put on their list backed out of a match. Rey Mysterio, Finlay, Hornswoggle, Shannon, Jimmy Wang Yang, Michelle McCool- everyone. There was one, maybe two matches that didn't involve someone having to fill in for someone else.
"This is just excruciating to watch," Jeff murmured as yet another replacement had to come out for a match. "I don't know what they were thinking, but this just isn't working. It's completely incoherent and none of the matches are even decent."
"They're going to have a hard time dealing with the rebound from this," Matt said. "I mean, what are they going to do next week? Just sit back and act like nothing different happened, except they're all going to be put in unfair matches and most likely lose?"
"Whatever they're planning, they've certainly made your job a lot harder," Jeff said. "You need to bring together all the loose ends from not only Raw, but ECW and Smackdown as well. You're going to have your work cut out for you…"
XXXXX
When Jeff and Matt arrived at the arena that night it was nearly complete chaos. Twenty or so people had been waiting for them to arrive and, as soon as they walked in, they were immediately bombarded with questions, the most frequently asked one simply being What's going on tonight?
"Okay, quick run down of events," Matt said above the noise of the mini crowd, which quickly quieted down to listen to him. "How many of you have matches tonight?" Several people raised their hands. "And do you know that you're going to be backing out of them?" They all nodded. "Good. At least we're on the same page then.
"Anyway, at the end of the show I'm going to be out in the ring, basically telling Vince that I warned him this would happen. I'm going to ask you guys to come out to the ring. There's been a change of plans- Shawn, Punk, and Batista, you guys are going to be spokesmen for your brands, instead of just one or two for everyone. Mickie, you're going to be spokesperson for the Divas."
The four of them nodded and Matt continued. "At any rate, Vince, Theodore Long, and Vickie are going to come out at that point and basically threaten to fire us- but we point out that if they fire us they're losing too many wrestlers at one point, and wouldn't that be such a huge blow to the company, etc. I demand that he rehires Jeff, eventually he says that he'll rehire him, but he'll be suspended until Wrestlemania. Any questions?"
"Yeah, what are we supposed to do back on ECW and Smackdown after this is over?" Someone muttered. "Seems like we're risking our necks to save his, when he knew what was going to happen when he did that Swanton."
"Yeah, I knew what I was doing," Jeff said. "And I know I've dragged all of you into this mess and I am sorry for that. If you don't want to be here, well, with any luck you can completely forget about this after tonight. If you're here willingly then I thank you for coming here to save my ass."
There was some murmuring in the crowd, but other then that no one said anything. "So, I guess just treat this like a regular show, then," Matt said. "Get ready, talk to friends, hang out in catering- do whatever you want, just make sure you're reading to go out for the last fifteen or so minutes of the show."
Although Jeff and Matt were the first ones to arrive at the arranged meeting place it wasn't long before the others began to arrive as well. Matt watched the growing crowd apprehensively; it was starting to sink in just how important his part in everything was going to be. Either he would do his job well and everything would go smoothly or twenty or so people would walk out to that ring and get out of the situation by sheer luck after having botched their performance.
"Calm down, Matt, everything's going to go fine," Jeff said softly, so that only his brother could hear. "This isn't the first time you've gone out there to do a promo or anything."
"No, but it's the first time that my promos needs to seem like it's convincing enough to not only persuade Vince to rehire you, but to not fire everyone out in the ring," Matt pointed out. "And I'm not sure if I can be that convincing."
"Matt, all you're doing right now is freaking yourself out. Don't think about this like it's any different than any other promo. Just go out there and do your best. You'll be fine, trust me."
Matt just nodded, double checked that everyone knew what to do and, as soon as his music hit, made his way down to the ring.
"It's been an interesting week in the WWE universe," he said casually. A few clips of people skipping out on their matches played on the Titantron. "Interesting, isn't it, that so many people would start to skip matches all at the same time…"
Vince's music hit and down to the ring. "Look, before you say anything, I just want to remind you that I did make you a deal," Matt said. "Either you agree to rehire my brother, or this continues and your show basically gets destroyed."
"Or, since you're the one in charge here, how about I just fire you now?"
Shawn's music hit, followed by Batista's, CM Punk's, and Mickie James's. The four of them came out and made their way to the ring as well. "Well, no one said that Matt here was the only one in charge of this," Batista said. "I mean, there was no way that he could organize things over on Smackdown."
"Or ECW," CM Punk added.
"And the Diva's wouldn't listen to him- no offense, Matt," Mickie said.
"Not to mention he's been kinda busy dealing with that little mystery you left him six or so weeks ago," Shawn said. "He wouldn't have had the time to organize things on Raw and deal with that."
"Then I'll fire all five of you!" Vince yelled.
Matt just shrugged, a grin starting to spread across his face as the show's theme music hit. Vince spun around to face the ramp, where the remaining superstars and Divas were starting to come out. "Well, we weren't the only ones to take part in this, though," Matt said. "So either you fire all of us or those that stay behind continue this for however long it takes. It's your call."
"You think I won't do it, huh? I'm not afraid to fire all of you!" Vince yelled.
"Can the shows handle it, though?" CM Punk asked. "I mean, there may only be three ECW people out here but look at who they are- Evan Bourne, Kofi Kingston, and me, of course. Do you really think that your smallest show can handle the loss of three of its most promising wrestlers?"
"And you'll be losing two of the few tag teams left in the WWE and two former world champions over on Smackdown," Batista said.
"Raw will lose three of it's top superstars- Triple H, Cena, and myself," Shawn said. "As well as a tag team and Kennedy over there."
"Think about how the Diva's division will be impacted," Mickie added. "Can you stand to lose so many of us at once?"
For the first time that night Vince visibly hesitated. "Fine!" he yelled. "Your damn brother can stay with the company." The crowd cheered and Vince had to wait until they calmed down before he could finish talking. "But he'll be suspended until Wrestlemania at which point, if you don't have an answer for me, his moves won't be permanently banned, he'll just be fired again!"
XXXXX
Jeff pushed through the crowd that had just come backstage, ignoring the people who were grumbling about how much of a waste of time that was and how they shouldn't have had to save his ass, etc. He finally found Matt and told him, "Hey, good job out there."
Matt shrugged. "It wasn't bad," he said. "I never want to have to do that again, but at least it's over and done with now." Seeing that Jeff was about to start apologizing again, he quickly changed the subject. "So, I guess we should probably start working on figuring out whose behind all of this again, shouldn't we?"
Jeff nodded. "Only two weeks left to figure it out," he murmured. "For some reason, that doesn't seem like quite as much time as it did before…"