*Rat was in his office, sitting at a desk doing paperwork. His phone rang, and he activated the speakerphone*

Rat: Hello?

Voice: Rat, are you ready for your appointment?

Rat: Yeah, yeah, who is it again?

Voice: ...Athena.

*Rat sighed and shook his head*

Rat: Send her in... *Rat stood up and smiled as Athena walked into his office. He extended his hand, which Athena ignored* Athena! Great to see you! Have a seat, make yourself comfortable. *Both sat down, Rat still smiling, Athena all business* What's the problem you seem to be having?

Athena: My problem is the lack of respect you have for women’s wrestling.

Rat: This again? You got to wrestle in a match the other week! You even won! There shouldn't be anything to complain about!

Athena: I've been HAW Women's Champion for 551 days. I have yet to defend that title.

Rat: Ah, so you want to be stripped of the title? I can make that happen!

Athena: No! I want to defend it. I feel since Annie Bonkers teamed with me and won, she deserves to face me in a one on one match.

Rat: Hmmm....interesting proposal. But is that fair to Crystal Cyclone? She didn't get pinned.

Athena: But she hasn't won anything yet. I do think she should be next in line after Annie, but I want to defend my title against Annie. She deserves a shot.

Rat: I think we can work out a deal. I don't see Annie as number one contender material...YET. So what if your little friend gets a match tonight...if she wins, she becomes the number one contender for your title. Is that fair?

Athena: Who is she facing?

Rat: I don't know yet. I have to find someone. This is really short notice! I'm doing the both of you a huge favor! I'm advancing women's wrestling! Isn't that what you wanted?

Athena: ...I feel your change of heart is probably more having to do with sponsors being upset at your remarks, than actually having respect for us.....but I'll agree.

Rat: Good to hear! *Athena and Rat both stood up, and Rat extended his hand again. Athena reluctantly shook it, then walked out*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*Gregory Greystone was backstage, standing next to “Baby” Luke Barnson*

Gregory: I'm here with Luke Barnson. Luke, tonight you face Jet Black. You have some history with him going back to your debut match when he pinned you. How important is it for you win this match?

Luke: Extremely important. The way I see, I unofficially pinned the HAW World Champion in this Baby's first match. Everyone knows at this point, it was a three count. Bigg Pimpin' Alex should have lost. And in all that chaos, Jet Black came out of no where and pinned. It ticks me off. I should be the HAW World Champion! I've proven I can do it! But, I can't just face Alex tonight. I have to prove myself. So what better way to show Alex that I mean business, than by beating the man that got him into the championship final?

Gregory: Is it wise that you already have your sights set on Alex, and not your opponent tonight?

Luke: What has Jet Black ever done? He was HAW National Champion for like, a day. Then, he cheats to beat me. Well tonight it's going to be one on one. I know I can beat him, and I know that at the next PPV, I'm going to be the new HAW World Champion!

Gregory: Strong words from Baby Luke Barnson. Good luck in your match, next!

*Backstage, Gregory Greystone was standing next to James Calhoun*

Gregory: Allow me to introduce a competitor for the HAW National Championship, James Calhoun. James, we haven't seen you compete yet in HAW. Most new wrestlers competed in the qualifying six man tag matches, yet you chose to sit those matches out, why is that?

James: Well that is a very fair question Gregory. Some people may say that perhaps I'm a coward. Others may say I'm a Southern gentleman who won't hurt a fly on a steak. But the truth is much more simple. It's all about opportunity. Is it smart to rely on two other men, who would then be your opponents, for a match? Of course not, your fate is in their hands. At the same time, I saw Rat had a roster problem. I said, "Why not let me get a bye to the National championship match?" He agreed. Your average fan may think this isn't the wisest move, foregoing a shot at the World title for the National. But I find that the names of titles mean nothing in the long run. What matters is that you have a title to your name.

Gregory:But first you must beat Ruslan Panov, who had to win a qualifying match to be in this title bout.

James: Exactly my point! He had to fight to get in. He had to fight, after he lost! Two grueling matches and he's here. I haven't had to lift a single finger. He knows nothing about me, I have the scouting report on him. Now trust me, I know I still I have to beat him. But I'm maximizing my chances to win. Now if you'll excuse, I have a match to attend to. Good day Mr. Greystone.

*James Calhoun exited the screen*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


*Backstage, the chart breakers were warming up, wearing some sweat jackets with hoods up. The O'Toole Brothers walked up behind them*

Fergus: Rinaldo Gomez and Mika Kempi....You got your first match tonight, against us. And it's for the HAW Tag Team Championship. I hope you guys are prepared.

Sean: We've wanted these titles for a long time. Tonight.....is our time to shine, ya hear?

Fergus: We'll respect you as opponents before the match, and after. But anything we do in the ring is business.

Sean: It's just a warning. Remember that when you're looking up at the arena lights while lying on your back!

*The Chart Breakers turned around, put their hoods down, then pulled off a pair of earbuds*

Mika: Were you talking to us?

Rinaldo: We didn't hear anything.

*Sean and Fergus looked at each other, shook their heads, and walked away*

Rinaldo: We'll see you guys in the ring, ok?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


*Rat was in his office, staring into the camera*

Rat: HAW Fans, get ready for one hell of a main event. You can thank me now, or if you still don't believe in me, you can thank me later. Either way, enjoy six strong competitors...enjoy four HAW veterans, and two HAW rookies. And if you hate the outcome and want a refund, screw you!

*Rat was walking backstage, saying hello to different crew members, when he stopped in his tracks*

Rat: Oh...it's you again.

*Athena walked up to Rat*

Athena: No one cares about the Women's champion, hm?

Rat: That's pretty much correct. Did you know that you're actually wasting valuable air time right now? The only thing offsetting the expense is that I'm on TV with you now.

Athena: So being misogynistic makes for good TV?

Rat: Whoa there! I don't hate women! There's a women's tag match! In fact, I signed a new women's wrestler that's debuting tonight! The thing is, she's good looking. You're just sorta.....ehh...too manly, I guess.

*Athena shook her head*

Athena: Rat, I wish you all the luck being owner of HAW. You're really going to need it with an attitude like that.

*Athena pushed Rat aside and walked off*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



*Backstage, Gregory Greystone was conducting an interview*

Gregory: Tonight we've got a four way match, with the winner getting a shot at the HAW National Championship. Joining me now are "Baby" Luke Barnson, Chet Citrus, Ruslan Panov, and Drizzles the Clown! Guys, are you prepared to face each other tonight?

Baby Luke: I'm the youngest wrestler HAW has ever hired. I'm the baby in this company. I bet the average wrestler backstage will say that I'm NOT prepared. Maybe I wasn't last week. But I see how things are. I got screwed over by a ref in my first match. That opened my eyes. I need to ALWAYS be prepared in HAW. Opportunities are tough to come by. I know that if I apply myself every match, at the end of night, my opponents will go home crying their eyes out!

Chet Citrus: Ooh...I like that, I like that. I got a little bit more experience than the Baby here, but I like that. You got yourself a little catch phrase, right? You opponents crying their eyes out? And you're Baby Luke? It's brilliant. Good self-promotion right there! I've been trying to market myself too, and I've been looking for a good catch phrase! So my catch phrase...is a catch phrase of the week! So this week's catchphrase is...."Sit Down....Or Citrus!" Thank you, I'll see y'all in the future!

Ruslan Panov: Catch phrases....that's what you guys are worrying about. No wonder we lost last week. I had an unprepared rookie and an unmotivated wrestler on my team.

Chet Citrus: That's a bit uncalled for Ruslan...

Ruslan Panov: We're not partners tonight. We probably won't be in the future. We were a randomly assigned team, and we lost. It's nothing personal, but right now, you guys are my enemies. The HAW World Championship would have been nice, but I can't win that now. So I'm going to do everything, and I mean EVERYTHING to make sure I get the victory tonight, AND next week.

Gregory: Drizzles, you've been awfully quiet, and you had an entirely different match last week, what do you think of all of this?

Drizzles: Drizzles is here, because of the O'Tooles. They lost me my match, but those are the rules. But on my own, I am tough like a boss. Drizzles guarantees that there will be no more loss. I laugh at my opponents, ha-ha hee-hee....for soon you will be pinned, 1-2-3!

Gregory: .....Uhhh...thanks Drizzles. Good luck to everyone in the match tonight!

*With the HAW theme music playing, the show opens, crowd cheering and pumped up*

Edward Findleton: Yes it is true! We're back on the air! It's HAW! I'm Edward Findleton, we have a great show tonight and-

*The HAW theme fades out, Rat's music comes on, and the crowd quickly changes to boos*

Edward: Well it looks like things are going to get started! Rat, the owner of HAW, is making his way to the ring!

*Rat reached the ring, took a mic, and smiled at the boos being directed at him*

Rat: I'm back! And you know what that means? HAW is back! You people now have a purpose in life! Now, you can give all of your money to me, while I send out guys in front of you willing to risk debilitating injuries on themselves! Everyone is a winner now! Except of course, our title holders...You see, after I beat some stupid lifesaving geek two years ago, I won control of the company. I was thrilled. But you know who was upset? Sponsors. Networks. Corporate Suits! They took HAW off the air! However, I think that was for the best. That allowed contracts to expire, and I could cut loose some people I just flat out hated. Others, eh...I let some others come back. But by letting contracts expire, 80% of our titles are vacant. No Tag Team champions! No National champion! And certainly, no World champion! Of course, our women's champion stayed....but no one really cares about that, right?

So let me get down to business on what the plan is. Vacant titles are useless titles, so we need some matches. At our first PPV, the Tag, National, and World championships will all be decided! For the most important title, the World championship...we will have a tournament! This week, there will be TWO 6 man tag team matches! The two winning teams will move on to the World championship match, in a 6 way free-for-all elimination match! National championship...we're going to have a bit of a loser's bracket. The winner of the loser's bracket will go on to face a man who agreed to give up his World championship spot in return for a bye to the national championship, James Calhoun! And for the tag titles, an alternate loser's bracket. We'll pair two guys up, and they'll face a newly signed team...The Chart Breakers!

Do you have all of that? Doesn't really matter, we're having our first qualifying match now! Bigg Pimpin Alex, Jet Black, and TJ Street take on Chet Citrus, Ruslan Panov, and “Baby” Luke Barnson!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*Rat was backstage in his office, when a door burst open and in walks Ruslan Panov, Chet Citrus, and Luke Barnson.*

Luke Barnson: What the hell was that?! Did you see that match out there?!

Rat: Yeah, you got pinned...in your first match! That's really pathetic.

Chet Citrus: I had a view on the apron. Baby Luke had Alex's shoulders on the mat, that ref refused to count three! He stopped an inch above the mat!

Rat: Wow! It's almost as if the only team in this tournament that was filled with rookie HAW wrestlers was prevented from competing for the World championship because it would do terrible buyrates, right? That's the theory you guys are going with, right? Look, all it was....was a simple mistake. I'll talk to the ref later, we'll find out what happened, and you guys have fun in the loser's bracket, ok? Now get out of my office. *Chet and Luke reluctantly left. Ruslan approached Rat and stared him down*

Ruslan: You're setting a tone your first night in charge. You mock people, you don't worry about anyone but yourself. Rat, you better worry about me. If not, this may be the second season in a row an HAW owner ended up in a coma. *Ruslan pushed Rat out of the way and walked off*