Lynne McClinton: Mr. Copeland, what brings you in today?
Adam’s eyes fell on Wes Ikeda’s open office door. It was a weird policy. If Wes was available the door was ajar. It gave more meaning to the phrase, “my door is always open”. Adam suspected Wes was a high functioning sufferer of post traumatic stress disorder who hated being alone, and that was a better explanation for why he didn’t like sitting behind closed doors.
Adam Copeland: The boss in?
Lynne McClinton: Do you have an appointment?
Adam Copeland: I think you know I don’t.
Lynne McClinton: He’s pretty booked today.
Adam hadn’t masked his mood. He’d tried, but he hadn’t been able to get it past Lynne. Now she was trying to protect Wes from him.
Adam Copeland: This will only take a moment.
Lynne McClinton: Adam, I…
She should announce him. Call into Wes’ office and let him know Adam was here, but Adam moved past her desk and into the threshold of Wes’ office. Wes looked up when Adam’s shadow blighted the door.
Adam Copeland: We need to talk.
Adam closed the door behind him. Wes’ eyebrows raised a little.
Wes Ikeda: Sure, come in, Adam. Have a seat.
Adam Copeland: I’ll stand, thanks.
Wes sat up a little straighter in the executive, high back chair, behind his desk. He crossed his arms over his black t-shirt, and cocked his head. Adam nodded. Yes, it was going to be like that.
Adam Copeland: What the hell is this match on Monday?
Wes Ikeda: Just the luck of the draw, Adam.
Adam Copeland: Don’t give me that shit. Edge vs. Shane Helms. What do you expect us to do with that.
Wes Ikeda: Whatever you want to do with it, Adam. You know I don’t involve myself in…
Adam Copeland: Oh like hell. What a load of horseshit. You’re asking me to believe that you didn’t book this on purpose, which either makes you a liar or really, really stupid. I don’t want anything to do with Shane Helms. I don’t want to beat him either.
Wes Ikeda: I mean, I can arrange you losing to him if you’d like.
Adam Copeland: Oh, fuck off.
Wes Ikeda: Can you be professional?
Adam Copeland: Can I be…professional? Are you kidding me? Wes, I know I’m a bit of a cornball, but I’ve been very professional to my colleagues.
Wes Ikeda: Then you go out there and say what you want to say, and you wrestle the match straight up and it’ll be fine.
Adam sighed.
Wes Ikeda: Are you sure you don’t want to sit down?
Adam glanced at the chair, and then he walked over and sat down. He sighed again.
Wes Ikeda: Is this about Trish? She mentioned something to Nattie. I thought you might come.
Trish and Nattie. Adam should have known.
Adam Copeland: I haven’t said anything about this to Trish.
Wes Ikeda: When they know us, we don’t have to say anything.
Adam nodded.
Adam Copeland: You know, the internet is just going to go crazy with this. It’s just… scrutiny I’m not ready for, and then what? Then I have to face Randy? Just feels like one slap down after another.
Wes Ikeda: Wouldn’t be King of the Ring if you didn’t have to face, Randy.
Adam Copeland: I guess that’s true. I um… don’t know how many more of these I have left, you know?
Wes Ikeda: I do. I do know.
Wes was a couple years younger than Adam, but he still knew that you couldn’t outrun Father Time. No matter how successful Chris Jericho was at it.
Wes Ikeda: I’m keeping that in mind. But if you want to be King of the Ring, ya know what you have to do next.
Adam Copeland: Wrestle Shane Helms.
Wes Ikeda: Yeah. You guys were friends once.
Adam Copeland: I don’t have any bad feelings for him. I just don’t know what he’s trying to prove by being here.
Wes Ikeda: We never lose the bug, Adam. You know that. He made a decision to raise his kid, and take care of his body. Doesn’t mean he doesn’t want all this.
Adam Copeland: This is all I’ve ever wanted. I’ve never wanted anything else. I had a couple failed marriages, no kids, only child, so my family is the family I made. This is all I’ve ever wanted, Wes. I’m not going to let Shane Helms take this away from me, because he’s been bitten by a bug.
Wes Ikeda: Then you have to take that energy into Monday. And don’t worry about the internet. If they’re not on the road getting their asses kicked 300 days a year, who gives a shit, right?
Adam nodded.
Wes Ikeda: Plus he said ‘Extreme Best Wrestling Fans’ in his promo last week, I can’t let that stand.
Adam shook his head with a laugh, and finally grinned up at Wes.
Adam Copeland: Right. Well, thanks for the time.
Wes Ikeda: I don’t know if I helped, but…
Adam Copeland: I just needed someone to yell at.
Wes Ikeda: I can do that. I can be the guy people yell at.
That made Adam laugh, and he reached out to shake Wes’ hand as he stood up. Adam showed himself out, and left EBWF Headquarters, feeling a little less worked up than he had before.
Vancouver was on the other side of Canada from Edge’s home of Toronto, but nevertheless, it felt good to be in Canada. Adam was in the arena and knew that he’d be able to grab a cameraman or an interviewer and let his feelings be known, but instead he decided to go with a formula that had been working for him. He fired up his iPhone, and opened the camera app. He propped it up in front of him, and hit the record button.
Edge: Here we are in the quarter final, and this side of the bracket has 4 men. Me, my compadre Randy, and our respective partners, Shane Helms and CM Punk. I had to do a double take when I saw Shane’s name on the bracket. It was almost like seeing a ghost. I mean, I thought we put that guy to bed a long time ago. It’s not like the crowd doesn’t love nostalgia though. You got a weird Mick Foley thing going on, only it doesn’t work as well. I commend you for dusting off the Hurricane though. There isn’t a kid under the age of 10 in the arena who knows who that guy is, but sure, you do you, Shane-o.
Edge shrugged.
Edge: What are you doing here? What possible joy can you get out of having a couple of matches and then going away again? I’ve never known you to half-ass anything. You’ve never struck me as the kind of guy who wants to be a part timer. So… and pardon the phrase, what’s up with that?
Edge raised an eyebrow and smiled.
Edge: This has been real cute, Shane. Real cute, and thanks for being here. It’s time to bow out now. Bow out to the people who have been doing this for years, and have never left. Bow out now for the people who work hard all year long. Because my only goal tonight, is beating you and going on to the pay-per-view next week to become King of the Ring. And you can go back home to North Carolina and watch it from your couch, like you’ve been doing for the better part of the last decade. Don’t make me make you wish you’d never come back Shane. I would hate to have to do that, old friend.
Edge reached up and hit the button to stop the recording. Then he picked up his phone and texted the video to production to be uploaded onto Youtube.
