03-10-2021, 02:24 PM
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Well, the magical run for Ricky James as “SCW Champion of Television” came to an abrupt end on the February 25th edition of Breakdown, when Crystal Zdunich pinned Ricky to capture the title. The match, not unlike other Ricky James matches, was full of distractions. Between Lucy Huckabee Sanders, Lexy Chapel, and a “shirtless man”, there was perhaps more going on outside of the ring than inside the ring.These distractions ultimately cost Ricky the match. Not only was Ricky too distracted with Lucy and Lexy to stay focused, but Lucy also accidentally sprayed Ricky in the face with Lexy’s perfume, giving Crystal the opening to pin Ricky.
Distractions have been a theme for Ricky James, both in and out of the ring. When Ricky’s SCW career began, he was often distracted by his own thoughts during matches. He was haunted by his past as a masked wrestler in Mexico, and any allusion to masks would set him off. These distractions would usually cost Ricky matches, but at times he was able to overcome them. Lucy did provide Ricky with some mysterious medication, which has since helped Ricky avoid becoming distracted with flashbacks and visions.
Ricky would go on to have a winning streak after he began “medicating”, culminating in his Television Title win at Last Grasp of Reality in January. With the removal of old distractions came the arrival of new distractions, however. After being unhappy with their legitimate attorney, Karen, Lucy Huckabee Sanders sought out new legal counsel for The Silent Majority. She stumbled upon conman Rudy Powell, who has been able to convince Lucy he is a very powerful man who can help The Silent Majority - though it seems like all Rudy has done is eat, sweat, and hit on other members of The Silent Majority.
Ricky has been wary of Rudy Powell since meeting him. Ricky has not trusted Rudy and has failed to see what value Rudy brings to the table. Despite his reservations, Ricky has continued to go along with Rudy at the request of Lucy Huckabee Sanders, the woman whom he trusts the most in life. Like with many other things in life, Ricky may not understand why Lucy hired Rudy, but he ultimately has faith in Lucy that she is doing the right thing for his career. Lucy has rarely steered Ricky wrong, so despite the ridiculousness of Rudy Powell, Ricky still trusts her.
Ricky managed to work through these Rudy distractions for a few weeks, successfully defending his title against Jay Gold and Maria Salvatore. As the weeks progressed, however, the distractions began to mount up and Rudy Powell became more and more ridiculous. It was explained to Ricky that Rudy’s ridiculous behavior is excused because he plays a key part in the success of The Silent Majority. Rudy was somehow responsible for Ricky’s title opportunities, and his “lawsuits” have forced Sasha to cooperate with The Silent Majority.
As long as Ricky continued to win, it was easy for Lucy to spin the situation into a scenario where Rudy somehow helped. Despite being confident in his own abilities, Ricky believed Lucy. It wasn't Ricky’s in-ring performances that earned him opportunities - it was somehow Rudy’s legal work. Somehow whenever anything good happened to Ricky, it was Rudy’s doing. Whenever Ricky was booked to defend the title, it was somehow not Rudy’s fault and instead another conspiracy from Shady Sasha. We all know it’s tradition for the TV Champ to defend every week on Breakdown, but Lucy and Rudy were able to convince Ricky that he was being unfairly treated. Once again, Ricky will buy into anything Lucy tells him.
These distractions reached another level prior to the February 25th edition of Breakdown when The Silent Majority publicly announced two new members - Kelly and Kayleigh, younger sisters of Kellyanne, The Silent Majority’s top worker and organizer of Emergency Press Conferences/Ratings Reports. Referring to the three sisters - all with “K” names - as “KKK” did not seem to phase Lucy, Ricky, or Rudy. If anything the group embraced the acronym, going so far as to announce to the world that the KKK was joining The Silent Majority.
The Silent Majority is clearly tonedeaf - we all know that. This was just next level stupidity, though. Perhaps it is no coincidence that Ricky’s winning streak ended the same week that the circus known as The Silent Majority introduced the KKK. The charade The Silent Majority put on at Mall of America was one of the most ridiculous displays we have ever seen in wrestling, and that is saying a lot considering how low the bar has been set in this industry.
Perhaps the Mall of America fiasco was still in Ricky’s head during his title defense. We know he was distracted by the ridiculous scenes outside the ring during his match, but it wouldn’t be surprising if Ricky was thinking about how ludicrous his faction is becoming. Lucy has always told Ricky to focus on what is happening in the ring, but that seems like a difficult task when you consider everything else that is going on in Ricky’s world.
Aside from The SIlent Majority’s shenanigans, Ricky has also been focusing on some more personal matters. He cannot get over his feelings for Lucy. By now we know Lucy married Ricky legally to help Ricky gain US citizenship. Ricky has always seen Lucy as more than a “legal” wife and business partner, but Lucy clearly does not feel the same way about Ricky. Lucy would rather completely forget the two were married, but Ricky will never forget. These matters were complicated a few weeks back when Lucy and Ricky, being limited on time, shot an Emergency Ratings Report in the home of Lucy Huckabee Sanders. Ricky couldn’t help but look at the family photos in the home, which show Lucy in a completely different light as a proud wife and mother. We do not know the details of these other people. We can assume Lucy lives a second life as a wife to another man and a mother to children, but we do not for sure know the biological or legal status of those relationships.
Lucy has tried to keep this other life hidden from Ricky. He is well aware it exists, but he is unclear of all the details. Ricky attempted to gain more information, or at least make this other man in Lucy’s life aware of his existence. Ricky left a note behind in Lucy’s home, but the note was quickly intercepted by Lucy’s housekeeper before the other man could find it. Lucy confronted Ricky about this prior to the Mall of America Press Conference/Ratings Report. Ricky dropped the issue at the time, but as we are learning with Ricky, he definitely will not let the issue go completely.
Bringing it back to SCW matters, we all saw the immediate aftermath of Ricky James’ Television Title loss. Ricky James sat backstage with a blank look on his face while Lucy Huckabee Sanders began screaming at anyone who would listen. Lucy was wasting no time barking orders trying to get an Emergency Press Conference together, while Ricky seemed like he was accepting defeat. We now take you to what happened after SCW cameras stopped rolling backstage….
February 25th, 2021
Target Center
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Fresh off her Spanish tirade, Lucy Huckabee Sanders storms down the hallway backstage, followed behind by Ricky James, who seems to be a bit more at ease. Lucy barges into The Silent Majority’s dressing room. She sees Rudy Powell sitting on a couch with both of his arms around Kellyanne and Kelly. Kayleigh is also in the room, sitting in a chair looking at her phone.
LHS: RUDY! KELLYANNE! KELLY! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!
The women quickly stand up as Rudy Powell, flustered, lowers his arms and puts his hands up to Lucy in a defensive position.
RP: Whoa Lucy, calm down there.
LHS: EXCUSE ME?! DID YOU NOT JUST SEE WHAT HAPPENED THERE?!
Lucy, bright red in the face, breathes heavily as Rudy stands up and attempts to calm her down. She slaps Rudy’s hand away from her.
RP: Lucy, Lucy. I already made some calls. We will get this taken care of.
Lucy seems a bit skeptical of Rudy but ultimately nods her head and begins to calm down. Ricky walks into the room and completely ignores Rudy, walking over to the bathroom area and grabbing his bag. Ricky, still in his ring attire, tosses his bag over his shoulder and begins to walk back out the door, continuing to ignore everyone else in the room.
LHS: Uh Ric, where are you going?
Ricky stops in the doorway and sighs before turning his head back to Lucy.
Ricky: I’m heading back to the hotel. I’ll shower there. I just can’t be here anymore right now.
Ricky does not wait for a response and continues out the door and toward the employee/wrestler exit in the arena’s loading dock. Rudy Powell makes an incredibly feeble attempt to stop Ricky before lowering his arm and sighing. Lucy is again frustrated.
LHS: RIC! WAIT!
Lucy groans and then runs over to grab her belongings. She begins to give the others instructions as she packs up.
LHS: I’m going to go grab him and make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid. Rudy, go with the girls and start making arrangements for the press conference.
RP: Sure thing, Lucy.
Rudy creepily grins and licks his teeth as he looks toward KKK and back at Lucy. Kellyanne, Kelly, and Kayleigh smile and chuckle amongst themselves, blushing. For some unknown reason, the girls find this sweaty old man appealing. Lucy witnesses this scene unfold and just rolls her eyes as she finishes packing up. She throws her purse over her shoulder and hurries out of the room. Rudy watches as Lucy power walks down the hall after Ricky. He waits a few seconds before closing the door and turning back to the girls. We can only imagine what happens at this point, but that’s as far as we’ll go. Lucy meanwhile is able to run down Ricky just as he is walking out the exterior door to the loading dock.
LHS: RICKY! STOP!
Ricky stops in his tracks as he did in the dressing room. He does not turn around, forcing Lucy to grab him by the arm and pull him around herself.
LHS: What the hell’s going on? Why are you leaving still dressed like this? You haven’t showered - you look like Rudy right now for God’s sake!
This infuriates Ricky.
Ricky: DO I, LUCY? DO I LOOK LIKE THAT JACKASS?! You wanted to know what’s wrong? It’s him, Lucy! This entire charade! I’m done with it! I’m done with this shit! That guy hasn’t done anything for us!
Lucy takes a breath and tries to calm Ricky down.
LHS: Ricky, I know you don’t see it but…
Ricky: No Luce, I’m done with him. Fucking done. If it weren’t for him I’d still be champion right now!
LHS: Uh Ric, if it weren’t for him you never would have been champion! Remember how much you were getting screwed over before we brought him on?
Ricky: Screwed over, Luce? Like having to defend my title every single week? Where was Rudy on that one, huh?
LHS: Ric, we’ve been through this. The matches will be thrown out! Rudy’s already on the case. Look, these things take a while to go through the courts. This is why I’ve told you time and time again to just focus on the in-ring stuff. Focus on what you can control.
Ricky: Well it’s kind of hard to do that when there’s a fucking naked circus running around the ring! What the hell was that you sprayed in my face anyway?
LHS: Don’t turn this on me, Ric. I was just trying to help. Lexy and that god awful man were meddling in our affairs and brought a foreign object with them to the ring. This will be a slam dunk in court, Ric. There’s no way this result will hold. You will be champion again in no time…
Ricky rolls his eyes.
Ricky: I’m sorry Luce, but I don’t know if I can believe that anymore. I think Rudy Powell is full of shit. I defer to you on a lot of things and I trust you more than anyone, but I think you made a mistake here.
Now Lucy begins to get irritated again.
LHS: Uhhhh excuse me? Mistake? Ricky, you don’t know anything about litigation, okay? Who walked you through the process of becoming legal here? Who walked you through signing your SCW contract? Who handles all your legal affairs? Oh that’s right, that would be me.
Ricky shakes his head but knows Lucy is right. He sighs, yet again coming to the realization that Lucy handles the majority of his business and the ends usually justify the means.
LHS: And if you weren’t convinced yet, Ricky - do you know why you were put in that scramble match at Retribution? Do you know why you have the chance at an even better championship now? Do you know why you are now one step away from an SCW World Title match? It’s Rudy, Ric. He pulled some strings and got you in the match. Still think he’s worthless?
Ricky stares off blankly and appears to enter a trance. His face begins to turn red again and his body begins shaking. He abruptly turns to Lucy and begins screaming.
Ricky: RUDY?!! HE’S THE REASON I’M IN THIS MATCH?!!
Lucy seems oblivious to the fact that this has enraged Ricky and carries on as if he isn’t angry.
LHS: Yes, he helped you get this opportunity…
Ricky: OPPORTUNITY?! MORE LIKE DEATH SENTENCE! It’s a SCAFFOLD scramble, Lucy. SCAFFOLD. As in really really really high up. I could die out there! Why the hell would I want to be in a match like that?
Lucy begins clapping her hands after every word.
LHS: Don’t. Worry. About. The Scaffold.
Lucy does a terrible job at calming Ricky, who looks like he is about to destroy something. His entire body is red at this point.
Ricky: DON’T WORRY?! Lucy, I don’t give a damn what’s at stake - I’m not climbing a fucking scaffold and risking my life! I didn’t sign up for this!
LHS: What did I say, Ric? Don’t worry about the scaffold. We are on it. Rudy is on it. We’re going to make sure SCW makes the necessary changes to make sure this is safe. We have a plan…
Ricky: Necessary changes? Like removing the scaffold all together? How about we start there…
LHS: Ricky, relax. Stop your worrying. Focus on the fact that you’re one win away from a WORLD title match. Focus on your opponents. Just worry about beating them, and we will handle everything else, like we always do.
Ricky slowly stops shaking and tries to take deep breaths to calm himself.
LHS: We have some time. We will make sure the adjustments are made. Rudy was already able to cut a deal with Sasha to give you next week off. Just take a bit, relax, and regroup. I’ll meet you back at the hotel later tonight and we can go over the next steps once you’ve calmed down and you’ve...showered.
Lucy takes a step back from Ricky, wafting the air in front of her.
LHS: We’ll have a major press conference to announce the deals Rudy cut and some of our demands for the scramble. I’ll need you composed for that. Get yourself cleaned up and we will touch base later tonight. We have a lot of ground to cover.
Ricky stands in silence for a few moments, contemplating. He eventually looks Lucy in the eye and nods.
Ricky: Okay, Lucy. Will do. I trust you.
Lucy grins and nods.
LHS: Good. Don’t worry, Ric. I know we had a rough night. We are going to turn this into a major positive, though. In a few weeks, you will be the #1 contender for the SCW World Title. And a few weeks after that, we will become SCW World Champion. And no, you won’t have to worry about a scaffold. We will make sure of it.
Lucy winks at Ricky. Ricky flashes a quick fake smile and nods again before heading out of the arena. Lucy, apparently content with the situation now, heads back into the arena to follow up with the rest of The Silent Majority. Despite reassuring Ricky and Ricky agreeing, it does seem odd that Lucy would allow Ricky to head back to the hotel alone. As we’ve seen before, if Lucy isn’t with Ricky 24/7, Ricky has a tendency to do his own thing. Perhaps Lucy realizes Ricky needs a little time to himself before they move onto the next press conference. Maybe she does have an ounce of compassion. What’s more likely the case, though, is this being another oversight by Lucy. Ricky may think Lucy has everything together, but the rest of us know that isn’t the case. Lucy will likely regret letting Ricky go off on his own, even if she intended on meeting him later on the same night….
Later That Night
Minneapolis−Saint Paul International Airport
Ricky James sits back in his seat on a plane awaiting to take off from the airport just 15 minutes southeast of the arena. It appears Ricky went from the arena straight to the airport. Ricky did manage to freshen up and throw a shirt on, but he is still wearing his wrestling tights and boots as he sits on the plane awaiting takeoff. Not scheduled to leave Minneapolis until Friday the 26th, Ricky apparently went straight to the airport and booked an earlier flight back home without telling anyone.
Apparently Lucy’s words weren’t exactly reassuring, with Ricky just stringing her along until she was okay with him leaving. Ricky intended on flying back home all along. The only thing Lucy’s words did for Ricky was make him even more enraged. The revelation that Rudy Powell supposedly had something to do with Ricky being placed in the Scaffold Scramble (and we all know that is complete bullshit) had the opposite effect on Ricky that Lucy intended. Rather than be grateful for the opportunity and be sold on Rudy as a valuable asset to The Silent Majority, Ricky began to have even more doubts about Rudy upon hearing the news. Ricky is clearly not comfortable with a scaffold match - so uncomfortable that it makes no difference to Ricky that a world title opportunity is on the line.
This Scaffold Scramble is clearly stressing Ricky out, and perhaps that was on his mind during the TV TItle defense. Finding out that Rudy had something to do with Ricky’s placement in the match only added to Ricky’s stress and worsened his relationship with Rudy. Now instead of just thinking Rudy is a worthless conman, Ricky also thinks Rudy is responsible for putting him in serious danger. Lucy’s reassurance that they would “make the match safe” clearly did nothing to calm Ricky’s nerves, despite Ricky’s “acceptance”. Ricky hasn’t actually seen Rudy accomplish anything, so why should he now believe Rudy will do anything, even if Lucy was the one reassuring?
These thoughts run through Ricky’s head as he attempts to relax on the plane, which is now on the runway preparing for liftoff. As the plane picks up speed and leaves the ground en route for Florida, Ricky slowly drifts off to sleep.
Arena México
Mexico City, Mexico
16,500 fans have sold out Arena México and are on their feet as hometown hero El Cohete Rojo crawls over to a ladder placed in the middle of the ring. Hanging above the ring is the title belt El Cohete Rojo recently won, the first ever professional title won by El Cohete Rojo/Ricardo Jimenez/Ricky James. The Red Rocket’s opponent lay motionless in the corner of the ring, having just been planted with a top rope hammerlock DDT - better known by SCW fans as Ricky James’ “Art of the Deal”.
The young, masked Ricky James grabs onto the bottom rung of the ladder. He reaches up to the second rung with his right hand and begins to pull himself up. The Red Rocket makes his way to his feet, takes another look over at his incapacitated opponent, and then steps up onto the first rung. He slowly climbs to the second and then third of ten rungs, looking back at his opponent each time. The crowd begins their familiar “CO-HE-TE! CO-HE-TE!” chant, urging the young hero on. As he steps up onto the fourth rung, he begins to shake. Only four feet off the ground, Ricky is clearly uncomfortable. He frantically looks over to his opponent, who is beginning to stir. He then looks back up at the title, hanging maybe ten feet above his head at this point, but the distance seems much longer to Ricky.
The Red Rocket is now aggressively shaking, but makes his way up to the fifth rung. The apprehension is evident, but perhaps not clear to the fans, who attribute the slow climbing to the grueling nature of a ladder match and the toll it has taken on El Cohete Rojo thus far. The young Ricky repeats to himself “No mire abajo, No mire abajo” as he makes his way up to the sixth and then seventh rung. The championship belt is getting closer and closer, but still oh so far away. El Cohete Rojo’s opponent has rolled over onto his stomach and is using the ropes to pull himself back to his feet. The crowd continues to cheer in anticipation of a successful title defense from El Cohete Rojo, which is only three feet away.
The Red Rocket reaches up for the title, hoping to grab it without having to climb to the very top of the ladder. He is obviously well short of the title, which is suspended at least five feet above the top of the ladder. El Cohete Rojo realizes he is going to have to climb at minimum to the ninth rung to be able to reach the title. He continues to shake, his palms sweatier than Rudy Powell. Determined to retain his coveted championship, The Red Rocket manages to climb to the eighth rung, letting out a scream in the process. He nearly loses his balance but is able to hold onto the ladder. He looks over to his opponent, who is now almost completely to his feet.
Realizing the sense of urgency, The Red Rocket again reaches up for the title, but is still at least a foot short. He loudly curses, though the roar of the crowd is too great for anyone to hear him. He takes a deep breath and tries to brace himself for the final climb, now double the height off the ground where he first felt uncomfortable. Before lifting his foot, El Cohete Rojo looks down at the ring. Only a few feet above the height of the top turnbuckle (where El Cohete Rojo/Ricky James performs his finishing move), a mere eight feet above the mat, The Red Rocket completely panics. His entire body tenses up and he stops moving, causing the crowd to go silent. The silence is short-lived as the crowd then reacts to El Cohete Rojo’s opponent, who has begun to climb the other side of the ladder. The Red Rocket is completely oblivious, his eyes still locked onto the mat below. By the time he is able to realize what is going on, The Red Rocket looks up and is met with a right hand from his opponent, sending him falling off the ladder and crashing down to the mat below.
The crowd is in absolute shock as they watch the villain grab the championship and win the match, their hero having just frozen up on top of the ladder before being sent down to the mat. The brief moment of shock turns into loud boos throughout the crowd. The Red Rocket lay there on the mat, down but alert. The noise around The Red Rocket that had been completely toned out on top of the ladder is suddenly amplified. The young Ricky James can now hear everything - the disappointment from the crowd, the joy from his opponent, and specific fans in the front row cursing at him. One foot away from retaining his title, The Red Rocket let his fear of heights cost him the match. He continues to lay on the mat, too ashamed to get up, as he continues to hear it from everyone in the arena. He knows that he and only he is to blame for this loss. He was so close, but he blew it.
----------------------------------------------------
Ricky James lets out a gasp as he is awakened by a flight attendant. Ricky scrambles, trying to regain his bearings.
Flight Attendant: Sir, we’ve landed. It’s time to unboard.
Ricky looks around and sees the entire plane has emptied. He rubs his eyes and lets out a yawn.
Ricky: Wow, guess I slept through that flight.
The flight attendant smiles.
Flight Attendant: You sure did. I was surprised you were out cold through the turbulence there. You must’ve been exhausted!
Ricky: I’m just as shocked as you. I usually don’t do too well with flights. Never sleep through them…
Flight Attendant: Well I guess there’s a first time for everything! Anyway, enjoy your time here in Florida!
Ricky smiles at the flight attendant.
Ricky: I always do.
Ricky then stands up and grabs his bag from the overhead bin. He nods at the flight attendant as he walks off the plane, through the tarmac, and into the West Palm Beach airport, less than a half an hour north from Ricky’s home of Boca Raton. Ricky makes his way through the mostly empty terminal, as it is now past midnight. The few people Ricky sees waiting for their red-eye flights are mostly sleeping, and Ricky pays them little attention. Ricky stops dead in his tracks as he sees a man waiting for a flight.
This isn’t just a random stranger. No - Ricky knows this man. He knows him from somewhere. Ricky stares at the man, who has headphones in and is intently looking at his phone. Ricky knows this man from somewhere but can’t put his finger on it. It suddenly clicks. This is the man from the pictures inside Lucy Huckabee Sanders’ home. This is the other man in Lucy’s life. Ricky had been waiting for this moment for a long time, but thought it may never come after his note was intercepted by Lucy’s housekeeper. Still exhausted from the night, still in wrestling tights and boots, and looking like an absolute mess, Ricky approaches the man.
Ricky: Excuse me…
The man pays no attention to Ricky and presumably cannot hear Ricky with his headphones in. Ricky stands in front of the man, who begins to smell something foul. He sniffs around a bit before looking up at Ricky James. The man lets out a yell before putting his hand on his chest and taking his headphones out.
Man: Whoa there, you startled me.
The man continues to sniff and soon realizes he is smelling Ricky’s intense body odor. He gives Ricky a disgusted look as he notices Ricky’s attire.
Man: Uh look pal, I’m not sure if you got lost on the way to the comic book convention…or a homeless shelter or something but….you’re in an airport.
Ricky had thought about this moment so many times. He had recited what he was going to say over and over again in his head. But now, standing in front of the man he has wanted to meet for so long, the other man in Lucy’s life, he cannot muster any words. He just stands there, tired and sweating, looking like an insane person. The man becomes very uncomfortable and tries to subtly send a text message. Ricky picks up on this and is finally able to say something.
Ricky: No no no, no need to get security. Sorry, it’s been a long night. I’ve just been a little out of it lately.
Man: And how is that my problem?
Ricky: It’s not, I just…
Ricky starts to get flustered. He is finally face to face with a man he has wanted to confront, but all his preparation has been thrown out the window. The man becomes very wary of Ricky, clutching his bag close to him.
Man: You just what? Are you looking for a handout? You know, that’s what’s wrong with America today. Nobody wants to work anymore. People just want to sit at home and collect government checks. It makes me sick.
The man begins to look Ricky up and down and picks up on the fact that Ricky doesn’t look like a typical white American. The man has an inquisitive look on his face, and he begins to question Ricky.
Man: You’re not from around here, are you?
Ricky, trying to desperately salvage this meeting before it becomes a complete trainwreck, is able to answer the man.
Ricky: No I am. Boca Raton.
The man looks a bit surprised but not sold.
Man: Really now? When did you move to the area? Surely your parents are….
Ricky: Italian, yes.
Not wanting to fall into a trap of lies, Ricky quickly changes the subject before the man can ask another question.
Ricky: Hey do I know you from somewhere?
The man scoffs.
Man: Surely we have never crossed paths…
Ricky puts his finger to his lips and turns his head, pretending to be deep in thought.
Ricky: Are you sure I haven’t seen you on TV or something before?
The man suddenly leans back, smiles, and nods.
Man: Oh, hang on a minute.
The man unzips his bag and pulls out a small box, about the size of a glasses case. The box has a picture of a tiny vacuum on it.
Man: Remember these?
The man hands Ricky the tiny vacuum cleaner box. Ricky examines the box, having never seen anything like this before, but pretends to know what the man is talking about.
Ricky: Oh yeah….
Man: Battery powered. Handheld. Vacuum cleaners. Perfect when you’re on the go!
Ricky: Hmm…
Ricky continues to examine the box while the man watches on and smiles.
Man: You know what? You look like you could use one of these. Tell you what - that one’s on me. Keep it!
Ricky: You sure?
The man chuckles.
Man: Of course. I got thousands of those! I’m actually on my way to California now to finalize on a 10,000 unit order. Sanders Suckers are going to take off in no time!
Ricky can’t help but chuckle himself.
Ricky: Sanders Suckers?
Man: That’s right. Catchy, huh? We wanted to go with SS cleaners, but I guess that offended too many people. Man, people will get offended by anything these days…
Ricky awkwardly nods. He notices the “Sanders Suckers” logo on the box and has an “ah ha” moment. The man pulls out a business card and hands it to Ricky. Ricky looks at the card, which reads “Mike Sanders CEO Sanders Suckers Inc” and has a business address with contact info. Upon gaining this information, Ricky smiles.
Man: Give me a shout some time if you’re interested. Something tells me you may know some people who are passionate about cleaning…
Ricky has a massive grin on his face.
Ricky: Oh, I will. And I’m sure I could find a few “suckers” for you.
Mike Sanders laughs.
MS: Now you’re catching on. “Italians”, right?
Mike winks at Ricky, who chuckles back.
Ricky: Well, it was nice meeting you, Mike.
Ricky extends his hand, but Mike takes a look at the disheveled Ricky, shakes his head and puts out a fist instead. Ricky reluctantly fist pounds Mike.
MS: Sorry, I’m not a handshake guy, nothing personal….
Ricky nods, rolls his eyes, and begins to walk away. Ricky gets a few feet past Mike before Mike yells back to him.
MS: Wait! I didn’t catch your name!
Ricky turns back to Mike and pauses, unsure of what to tell him. He eventually manages to manufacture a name.
Ricky: Oh yea….Rudy. Rudy Juliano….
Mike Sanders begins laughing hysterically.
MS: Okay, “Rudy”. Great to meet you….
The man continues to laugh as Ricky breathes a sigh of relief and continues his walk down to ground transportation.
That meeting certainly did not go as Ricky planned, but it ultimately gave Ricky what he wanted. He got an idea of what this other man in Lucy’s life, Mike Sanders, is really like. The brief interaction with Mike explains a few things. Lucy’s stance on politics and her constant need to make everything in SCW political likely stems from being with Mike in some capacity. Mike’s extended absences are explained by the fact that he appears to be a traveling salesman. Ricky was able to see that Mike was a conman, which could explain what drew Lucy to him in the first place. That would also explain why Lucy sees something in Rudy Powell, who is very clearly a conman as well.
For the duration of their personal and business relationship, Lucy Huckabee Sanders has controlled most aspects of Ricky’s life. She is well aware of everything going on with Ricky, consistently making personal and business decisions for him. Ricky, on the other hand, is left in the dark when it comes to Lucy’s personal matters. It seems that Lucy defers to irrationally confident men like Mike Sanders and Rudy Powell, but likes to control less confident men like Ricky James.
For the first time, however, Ricky James finally knows something about Lucy’s life that she doesn’t know he knows. Ricky now knows the other man in her life. He knows what he does for “work”, and he has his business contact information. Ricky finally has a bit of leverage on Lucy, and despite coming off a tough loss, despite the arguments and the circus of The Silent Majority, and despite the very long night, Ricky is heading back home with a bit of confidence.
Now in the wee hours of the morning on Friday, February 26th, there will certainly be a fallout from all that just transpired. Lucy Huckabee Sanders has been blowing up Ricky’s phone all night with texts and calls that Ricky ignored. Ricky will have to answer to Lucy upon her return to Florida. Also, despite the personal “victory” in the airport, Ricky has a much larger issue to deal with moving forward: The Scaffold Scramble and his intense fear of heights. While Ricky may have gained some personal confidence with this new information, his major underlying issue with the logistics of the Scaffold Scramble - undoubtedly the biggest match of his SCW career - still looms.
Well, the magical run for Ricky James as “SCW Champion of Television” came to an abrupt end on the February 25th edition of Breakdown, when Crystal Zdunich pinned Ricky to capture the title. The match, not unlike other Ricky James matches, was full of distractions. Between Lucy Huckabee Sanders, Lexy Chapel, and a “shirtless man”, there was perhaps more going on outside of the ring than inside the ring.These distractions ultimately cost Ricky the match. Not only was Ricky too distracted with Lucy and Lexy to stay focused, but Lucy also accidentally sprayed Ricky in the face with Lexy’s perfume, giving Crystal the opening to pin Ricky.
Distractions have been a theme for Ricky James, both in and out of the ring. When Ricky’s SCW career began, he was often distracted by his own thoughts during matches. He was haunted by his past as a masked wrestler in Mexico, and any allusion to masks would set him off. These distractions would usually cost Ricky matches, but at times he was able to overcome them. Lucy did provide Ricky with some mysterious medication, which has since helped Ricky avoid becoming distracted with flashbacks and visions.
Ricky would go on to have a winning streak after he began “medicating”, culminating in his Television Title win at Last Grasp of Reality in January. With the removal of old distractions came the arrival of new distractions, however. After being unhappy with their legitimate attorney, Karen, Lucy Huckabee Sanders sought out new legal counsel for The Silent Majority. She stumbled upon conman Rudy Powell, who has been able to convince Lucy he is a very powerful man who can help The Silent Majority - though it seems like all Rudy has done is eat, sweat, and hit on other members of The Silent Majority.
Ricky has been wary of Rudy Powell since meeting him. Ricky has not trusted Rudy and has failed to see what value Rudy brings to the table. Despite his reservations, Ricky has continued to go along with Rudy at the request of Lucy Huckabee Sanders, the woman whom he trusts the most in life. Like with many other things in life, Ricky may not understand why Lucy hired Rudy, but he ultimately has faith in Lucy that she is doing the right thing for his career. Lucy has rarely steered Ricky wrong, so despite the ridiculousness of Rudy Powell, Ricky still trusts her.
Ricky managed to work through these Rudy distractions for a few weeks, successfully defending his title against Jay Gold and Maria Salvatore. As the weeks progressed, however, the distractions began to mount up and Rudy Powell became more and more ridiculous. It was explained to Ricky that Rudy’s ridiculous behavior is excused because he plays a key part in the success of The Silent Majority. Rudy was somehow responsible for Ricky’s title opportunities, and his “lawsuits” have forced Sasha to cooperate with The Silent Majority.
As long as Ricky continued to win, it was easy for Lucy to spin the situation into a scenario where Rudy somehow helped. Despite being confident in his own abilities, Ricky believed Lucy. It wasn't Ricky’s in-ring performances that earned him opportunities - it was somehow Rudy’s legal work. Somehow whenever anything good happened to Ricky, it was Rudy’s doing. Whenever Ricky was booked to defend the title, it was somehow not Rudy’s fault and instead another conspiracy from Shady Sasha. We all know it’s tradition for the TV Champ to defend every week on Breakdown, but Lucy and Rudy were able to convince Ricky that he was being unfairly treated. Once again, Ricky will buy into anything Lucy tells him.
These distractions reached another level prior to the February 25th edition of Breakdown when The Silent Majority publicly announced two new members - Kelly and Kayleigh, younger sisters of Kellyanne, The Silent Majority’s top worker and organizer of Emergency Press Conferences/Ratings Reports. Referring to the three sisters - all with “K” names - as “KKK” did not seem to phase Lucy, Ricky, or Rudy. If anything the group embraced the acronym, going so far as to announce to the world that the KKK was joining The Silent Majority.
The Silent Majority is clearly tonedeaf - we all know that. This was just next level stupidity, though. Perhaps it is no coincidence that Ricky’s winning streak ended the same week that the circus known as The Silent Majority introduced the KKK. The charade The Silent Majority put on at Mall of America was one of the most ridiculous displays we have ever seen in wrestling, and that is saying a lot considering how low the bar has been set in this industry.
Perhaps the Mall of America fiasco was still in Ricky’s head during his title defense. We know he was distracted by the ridiculous scenes outside the ring during his match, but it wouldn’t be surprising if Ricky was thinking about how ludicrous his faction is becoming. Lucy has always told Ricky to focus on what is happening in the ring, but that seems like a difficult task when you consider everything else that is going on in Ricky’s world.
Aside from The SIlent Majority’s shenanigans, Ricky has also been focusing on some more personal matters. He cannot get over his feelings for Lucy. By now we know Lucy married Ricky legally to help Ricky gain US citizenship. Ricky has always seen Lucy as more than a “legal” wife and business partner, but Lucy clearly does not feel the same way about Ricky. Lucy would rather completely forget the two were married, but Ricky will never forget. These matters were complicated a few weeks back when Lucy and Ricky, being limited on time, shot an Emergency Ratings Report in the home of Lucy Huckabee Sanders. Ricky couldn’t help but look at the family photos in the home, which show Lucy in a completely different light as a proud wife and mother. We do not know the details of these other people. We can assume Lucy lives a second life as a wife to another man and a mother to children, but we do not for sure know the biological or legal status of those relationships.
Lucy has tried to keep this other life hidden from Ricky. He is well aware it exists, but he is unclear of all the details. Ricky attempted to gain more information, or at least make this other man in Lucy’s life aware of his existence. Ricky left a note behind in Lucy’s home, but the note was quickly intercepted by Lucy’s housekeeper before the other man could find it. Lucy confronted Ricky about this prior to the Mall of America Press Conference/Ratings Report. Ricky dropped the issue at the time, but as we are learning with Ricky, he definitely will not let the issue go completely.
Bringing it back to SCW matters, we all saw the immediate aftermath of Ricky James’ Television Title loss. Ricky James sat backstage with a blank look on his face while Lucy Huckabee Sanders began screaming at anyone who would listen. Lucy was wasting no time barking orders trying to get an Emergency Press Conference together, while Ricky seemed like he was accepting defeat. We now take you to what happened after SCW cameras stopped rolling backstage….
February 25th, 2021
Target Center
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Fresh off her Spanish tirade, Lucy Huckabee Sanders storms down the hallway backstage, followed behind by Ricky James, who seems to be a bit more at ease. Lucy barges into The Silent Majority’s dressing room. She sees Rudy Powell sitting on a couch with both of his arms around Kellyanne and Kelly. Kayleigh is also in the room, sitting in a chair looking at her phone.
LHS: RUDY! KELLYANNE! KELLY! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!
The women quickly stand up as Rudy Powell, flustered, lowers his arms and puts his hands up to Lucy in a defensive position.
RP: Whoa Lucy, calm down there.
LHS: EXCUSE ME?! DID YOU NOT JUST SEE WHAT HAPPENED THERE?!
Lucy, bright red in the face, breathes heavily as Rudy stands up and attempts to calm her down. She slaps Rudy’s hand away from her.
RP: Lucy, Lucy. I already made some calls. We will get this taken care of.
Lucy seems a bit skeptical of Rudy but ultimately nods her head and begins to calm down. Ricky walks into the room and completely ignores Rudy, walking over to the bathroom area and grabbing his bag. Ricky, still in his ring attire, tosses his bag over his shoulder and begins to walk back out the door, continuing to ignore everyone else in the room.
LHS: Uh Ric, where are you going?
Ricky stops in the doorway and sighs before turning his head back to Lucy.
Ricky: I’m heading back to the hotel. I’ll shower there. I just can’t be here anymore right now.
Ricky does not wait for a response and continues out the door and toward the employee/wrestler exit in the arena’s loading dock. Rudy Powell makes an incredibly feeble attempt to stop Ricky before lowering his arm and sighing. Lucy is again frustrated.
LHS: RIC! WAIT!
Lucy groans and then runs over to grab her belongings. She begins to give the others instructions as she packs up.
LHS: I’m going to go grab him and make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid. Rudy, go with the girls and start making arrangements for the press conference.
RP: Sure thing, Lucy.
Rudy creepily grins and licks his teeth as he looks toward KKK and back at Lucy. Kellyanne, Kelly, and Kayleigh smile and chuckle amongst themselves, blushing. For some unknown reason, the girls find this sweaty old man appealing. Lucy witnesses this scene unfold and just rolls her eyes as she finishes packing up. She throws her purse over her shoulder and hurries out of the room. Rudy watches as Lucy power walks down the hall after Ricky. He waits a few seconds before closing the door and turning back to the girls. We can only imagine what happens at this point, but that’s as far as we’ll go. Lucy meanwhile is able to run down Ricky just as he is walking out the exterior door to the loading dock.
LHS: RICKY! STOP!
Ricky stops in his tracks as he did in the dressing room. He does not turn around, forcing Lucy to grab him by the arm and pull him around herself.
LHS: What the hell’s going on? Why are you leaving still dressed like this? You haven’t showered - you look like Rudy right now for God’s sake!
This infuriates Ricky.
Ricky: DO I, LUCY? DO I LOOK LIKE THAT JACKASS?! You wanted to know what’s wrong? It’s him, Lucy! This entire charade! I’m done with it! I’m done with this shit! That guy hasn’t done anything for us!
Lucy takes a breath and tries to calm Ricky down.
LHS: Ricky, I know you don’t see it but…
Ricky: No Luce, I’m done with him. Fucking done. If it weren’t for him I’d still be champion right now!
LHS: Uh Ric, if it weren’t for him you never would have been champion! Remember how much you were getting screwed over before we brought him on?
Ricky: Screwed over, Luce? Like having to defend my title every single week? Where was Rudy on that one, huh?
LHS: Ric, we’ve been through this. The matches will be thrown out! Rudy’s already on the case. Look, these things take a while to go through the courts. This is why I’ve told you time and time again to just focus on the in-ring stuff. Focus on what you can control.
Ricky: Well it’s kind of hard to do that when there’s a fucking naked circus running around the ring! What the hell was that you sprayed in my face anyway?
LHS: Don’t turn this on me, Ric. I was just trying to help. Lexy and that god awful man were meddling in our affairs and brought a foreign object with them to the ring. This will be a slam dunk in court, Ric. There’s no way this result will hold. You will be champion again in no time…
Ricky rolls his eyes.
Ricky: I’m sorry Luce, but I don’t know if I can believe that anymore. I think Rudy Powell is full of shit. I defer to you on a lot of things and I trust you more than anyone, but I think you made a mistake here.
Now Lucy begins to get irritated again.
LHS: Uhhhh excuse me? Mistake? Ricky, you don’t know anything about litigation, okay? Who walked you through the process of becoming legal here? Who walked you through signing your SCW contract? Who handles all your legal affairs? Oh that’s right, that would be me.
Ricky shakes his head but knows Lucy is right. He sighs, yet again coming to the realization that Lucy handles the majority of his business and the ends usually justify the means.
LHS: And if you weren’t convinced yet, Ricky - do you know why you were put in that scramble match at Retribution? Do you know why you have the chance at an even better championship now? Do you know why you are now one step away from an SCW World Title match? It’s Rudy, Ric. He pulled some strings and got you in the match. Still think he’s worthless?
Ricky stares off blankly and appears to enter a trance. His face begins to turn red again and his body begins shaking. He abruptly turns to Lucy and begins screaming.
Ricky: RUDY?!! HE’S THE REASON I’M IN THIS MATCH?!!
Lucy seems oblivious to the fact that this has enraged Ricky and carries on as if he isn’t angry.
LHS: Yes, he helped you get this opportunity…
Ricky: OPPORTUNITY?! MORE LIKE DEATH SENTENCE! It’s a SCAFFOLD scramble, Lucy. SCAFFOLD. As in really really really high up. I could die out there! Why the hell would I want to be in a match like that?
Lucy begins clapping her hands after every word.
LHS: Don’t. Worry. About. The Scaffold.
Lucy does a terrible job at calming Ricky, who looks like he is about to destroy something. His entire body is red at this point.
Ricky: DON’T WORRY?! Lucy, I don’t give a damn what’s at stake - I’m not climbing a fucking scaffold and risking my life! I didn’t sign up for this!
LHS: What did I say, Ric? Don’t worry about the scaffold. We are on it. Rudy is on it. We’re going to make sure SCW makes the necessary changes to make sure this is safe. We have a plan…
Ricky: Necessary changes? Like removing the scaffold all together? How about we start there…
LHS: Ricky, relax. Stop your worrying. Focus on the fact that you’re one win away from a WORLD title match. Focus on your opponents. Just worry about beating them, and we will handle everything else, like we always do.
Ricky slowly stops shaking and tries to take deep breaths to calm himself.
LHS: We have some time. We will make sure the adjustments are made. Rudy was already able to cut a deal with Sasha to give you next week off. Just take a bit, relax, and regroup. I’ll meet you back at the hotel later tonight and we can go over the next steps once you’ve calmed down and you’ve...showered.
Lucy takes a step back from Ricky, wafting the air in front of her.
LHS: We’ll have a major press conference to announce the deals Rudy cut and some of our demands for the scramble. I’ll need you composed for that. Get yourself cleaned up and we will touch base later tonight. We have a lot of ground to cover.
Ricky stands in silence for a few moments, contemplating. He eventually looks Lucy in the eye and nods.
Ricky: Okay, Lucy. Will do. I trust you.
Lucy grins and nods.
LHS: Good. Don’t worry, Ric. I know we had a rough night. We are going to turn this into a major positive, though. In a few weeks, you will be the #1 contender for the SCW World Title. And a few weeks after that, we will become SCW World Champion. And no, you won’t have to worry about a scaffold. We will make sure of it.
Lucy winks at Ricky. Ricky flashes a quick fake smile and nods again before heading out of the arena. Lucy, apparently content with the situation now, heads back into the arena to follow up with the rest of The Silent Majority. Despite reassuring Ricky and Ricky agreeing, it does seem odd that Lucy would allow Ricky to head back to the hotel alone. As we’ve seen before, if Lucy isn’t with Ricky 24/7, Ricky has a tendency to do his own thing. Perhaps Lucy realizes Ricky needs a little time to himself before they move onto the next press conference. Maybe she does have an ounce of compassion. What’s more likely the case, though, is this being another oversight by Lucy. Ricky may think Lucy has everything together, but the rest of us know that isn’t the case. Lucy will likely regret letting Ricky go off on his own, even if she intended on meeting him later on the same night….
Later That Night
Minneapolis−Saint Paul International Airport
Ricky James sits back in his seat on a plane awaiting to take off from the airport just 15 minutes southeast of the arena. It appears Ricky went from the arena straight to the airport. Ricky did manage to freshen up and throw a shirt on, but he is still wearing his wrestling tights and boots as he sits on the plane awaiting takeoff. Not scheduled to leave Minneapolis until Friday the 26th, Ricky apparently went straight to the airport and booked an earlier flight back home without telling anyone.
Apparently Lucy’s words weren’t exactly reassuring, with Ricky just stringing her along until she was okay with him leaving. Ricky intended on flying back home all along. The only thing Lucy’s words did for Ricky was make him even more enraged. The revelation that Rudy Powell supposedly had something to do with Ricky being placed in the Scaffold Scramble (and we all know that is complete bullshit) had the opposite effect on Ricky that Lucy intended. Rather than be grateful for the opportunity and be sold on Rudy as a valuable asset to The Silent Majority, Ricky began to have even more doubts about Rudy upon hearing the news. Ricky is clearly not comfortable with a scaffold match - so uncomfortable that it makes no difference to Ricky that a world title opportunity is on the line.
This Scaffold Scramble is clearly stressing Ricky out, and perhaps that was on his mind during the TV TItle defense. Finding out that Rudy had something to do with Ricky’s placement in the match only added to Ricky’s stress and worsened his relationship with Rudy. Now instead of just thinking Rudy is a worthless conman, Ricky also thinks Rudy is responsible for putting him in serious danger. Lucy’s reassurance that they would “make the match safe” clearly did nothing to calm Ricky’s nerves, despite Ricky’s “acceptance”. Ricky hasn’t actually seen Rudy accomplish anything, so why should he now believe Rudy will do anything, even if Lucy was the one reassuring?
These thoughts run through Ricky’s head as he attempts to relax on the plane, which is now on the runway preparing for liftoff. As the plane picks up speed and leaves the ground en route for Florida, Ricky slowly drifts off to sleep.
Arena México
Mexico City, Mexico
16,500 fans have sold out Arena México and are on their feet as hometown hero El Cohete Rojo crawls over to a ladder placed in the middle of the ring. Hanging above the ring is the title belt El Cohete Rojo recently won, the first ever professional title won by El Cohete Rojo/Ricardo Jimenez/Ricky James. The Red Rocket’s opponent lay motionless in the corner of the ring, having just been planted with a top rope hammerlock DDT - better known by SCW fans as Ricky James’ “Art of the Deal”.
The young, masked Ricky James grabs onto the bottom rung of the ladder. He reaches up to the second rung with his right hand and begins to pull himself up. The Red Rocket makes his way to his feet, takes another look over at his incapacitated opponent, and then steps up onto the first rung. He slowly climbs to the second and then third of ten rungs, looking back at his opponent each time. The crowd begins their familiar “CO-HE-TE! CO-HE-TE!” chant, urging the young hero on. As he steps up onto the fourth rung, he begins to shake. Only four feet off the ground, Ricky is clearly uncomfortable. He frantically looks over to his opponent, who is beginning to stir. He then looks back up at the title, hanging maybe ten feet above his head at this point, but the distance seems much longer to Ricky.
The Red Rocket is now aggressively shaking, but makes his way up to the fifth rung. The apprehension is evident, but perhaps not clear to the fans, who attribute the slow climbing to the grueling nature of a ladder match and the toll it has taken on El Cohete Rojo thus far. The young Ricky repeats to himself “No mire abajo, No mire abajo” as he makes his way up to the sixth and then seventh rung. The championship belt is getting closer and closer, but still oh so far away. El Cohete Rojo’s opponent has rolled over onto his stomach and is using the ropes to pull himself back to his feet. The crowd continues to cheer in anticipation of a successful title defense from El Cohete Rojo, which is only three feet away.
The Red Rocket reaches up for the title, hoping to grab it without having to climb to the very top of the ladder. He is obviously well short of the title, which is suspended at least five feet above the top of the ladder. El Cohete Rojo realizes he is going to have to climb at minimum to the ninth rung to be able to reach the title. He continues to shake, his palms sweatier than Rudy Powell. Determined to retain his coveted championship, The Red Rocket manages to climb to the eighth rung, letting out a scream in the process. He nearly loses his balance but is able to hold onto the ladder. He looks over to his opponent, who is now almost completely to his feet.
Realizing the sense of urgency, The Red Rocket again reaches up for the title, but is still at least a foot short. He loudly curses, though the roar of the crowd is too great for anyone to hear him. He takes a deep breath and tries to brace himself for the final climb, now double the height off the ground where he first felt uncomfortable. Before lifting his foot, El Cohete Rojo looks down at the ring. Only a few feet above the height of the top turnbuckle (where El Cohete Rojo/Ricky James performs his finishing move), a mere eight feet above the mat, The Red Rocket completely panics. His entire body tenses up and he stops moving, causing the crowd to go silent. The silence is short-lived as the crowd then reacts to El Cohete Rojo’s opponent, who has begun to climb the other side of the ladder. The Red Rocket is completely oblivious, his eyes still locked onto the mat below. By the time he is able to realize what is going on, The Red Rocket looks up and is met with a right hand from his opponent, sending him falling off the ladder and crashing down to the mat below.
The crowd is in absolute shock as they watch the villain grab the championship and win the match, their hero having just frozen up on top of the ladder before being sent down to the mat. The brief moment of shock turns into loud boos throughout the crowd. The Red Rocket lay there on the mat, down but alert. The noise around The Red Rocket that had been completely toned out on top of the ladder is suddenly amplified. The young Ricky James can now hear everything - the disappointment from the crowd, the joy from his opponent, and specific fans in the front row cursing at him. One foot away from retaining his title, The Red Rocket let his fear of heights cost him the match. He continues to lay on the mat, too ashamed to get up, as he continues to hear it from everyone in the arena. He knows that he and only he is to blame for this loss. He was so close, but he blew it.
----------------------------------------------------
Ricky James lets out a gasp as he is awakened by a flight attendant. Ricky scrambles, trying to regain his bearings.
Flight Attendant: Sir, we’ve landed. It’s time to unboard.
Ricky looks around and sees the entire plane has emptied. He rubs his eyes and lets out a yawn.
Ricky: Wow, guess I slept through that flight.
The flight attendant smiles.
Flight Attendant: You sure did. I was surprised you were out cold through the turbulence there. You must’ve been exhausted!
Ricky: I’m just as shocked as you. I usually don’t do too well with flights. Never sleep through them…
Flight Attendant: Well I guess there’s a first time for everything! Anyway, enjoy your time here in Florida!
Ricky smiles at the flight attendant.
Ricky: I always do.
Ricky then stands up and grabs his bag from the overhead bin. He nods at the flight attendant as he walks off the plane, through the tarmac, and into the West Palm Beach airport, less than a half an hour north from Ricky’s home of Boca Raton. Ricky makes his way through the mostly empty terminal, as it is now past midnight. The few people Ricky sees waiting for their red-eye flights are mostly sleeping, and Ricky pays them little attention. Ricky stops dead in his tracks as he sees a man waiting for a flight.
This isn’t just a random stranger. No - Ricky knows this man. He knows him from somewhere. Ricky stares at the man, who has headphones in and is intently looking at his phone. Ricky knows this man from somewhere but can’t put his finger on it. It suddenly clicks. This is the man from the pictures inside Lucy Huckabee Sanders’ home. This is the other man in Lucy’s life. Ricky had been waiting for this moment for a long time, but thought it may never come after his note was intercepted by Lucy’s housekeeper. Still exhausted from the night, still in wrestling tights and boots, and looking like an absolute mess, Ricky approaches the man.
Ricky: Excuse me…
The man pays no attention to Ricky and presumably cannot hear Ricky with his headphones in. Ricky stands in front of the man, who begins to smell something foul. He sniffs around a bit before looking up at Ricky James. The man lets out a yell before putting his hand on his chest and taking his headphones out.
Man: Whoa there, you startled me.
The man continues to sniff and soon realizes he is smelling Ricky’s intense body odor. He gives Ricky a disgusted look as he notices Ricky’s attire.
Man: Uh look pal, I’m not sure if you got lost on the way to the comic book convention…or a homeless shelter or something but….you’re in an airport.
Ricky had thought about this moment so many times. He had recited what he was going to say over and over again in his head. But now, standing in front of the man he has wanted to meet for so long, the other man in Lucy’s life, he cannot muster any words. He just stands there, tired and sweating, looking like an insane person. The man becomes very uncomfortable and tries to subtly send a text message. Ricky picks up on this and is finally able to say something.
Ricky: No no no, no need to get security. Sorry, it’s been a long night. I’ve just been a little out of it lately.
Man: And how is that my problem?
Ricky: It’s not, I just…
Ricky starts to get flustered. He is finally face to face with a man he has wanted to confront, but all his preparation has been thrown out the window. The man becomes very wary of Ricky, clutching his bag close to him.
Man: You just what? Are you looking for a handout? You know, that’s what’s wrong with America today. Nobody wants to work anymore. People just want to sit at home and collect government checks. It makes me sick.
The man begins to look Ricky up and down and picks up on the fact that Ricky doesn’t look like a typical white American. The man has an inquisitive look on his face, and he begins to question Ricky.
Man: You’re not from around here, are you?
Ricky, trying to desperately salvage this meeting before it becomes a complete trainwreck, is able to answer the man.
Ricky: No I am. Boca Raton.
The man looks a bit surprised but not sold.
Man: Really now? When did you move to the area? Surely your parents are….
Ricky: Italian, yes.
Not wanting to fall into a trap of lies, Ricky quickly changes the subject before the man can ask another question.
Ricky: Hey do I know you from somewhere?
The man scoffs.
Man: Surely we have never crossed paths…
Ricky puts his finger to his lips and turns his head, pretending to be deep in thought.
Ricky: Are you sure I haven’t seen you on TV or something before?
The man suddenly leans back, smiles, and nods.
Man: Oh, hang on a minute.
The man unzips his bag and pulls out a small box, about the size of a glasses case. The box has a picture of a tiny vacuum on it.
Man: Remember these?
The man hands Ricky the tiny vacuum cleaner box. Ricky examines the box, having never seen anything like this before, but pretends to know what the man is talking about.
Ricky: Oh yeah….
Man: Battery powered. Handheld. Vacuum cleaners. Perfect when you’re on the go!
Ricky: Hmm…
Ricky continues to examine the box while the man watches on and smiles.
Man: You know what? You look like you could use one of these. Tell you what - that one’s on me. Keep it!
Ricky: You sure?
The man chuckles.
Man: Of course. I got thousands of those! I’m actually on my way to California now to finalize on a 10,000 unit order. Sanders Suckers are going to take off in no time!
Ricky can’t help but chuckle himself.
Ricky: Sanders Suckers?
Man: That’s right. Catchy, huh? We wanted to go with SS cleaners, but I guess that offended too many people. Man, people will get offended by anything these days…
Ricky awkwardly nods. He notices the “Sanders Suckers” logo on the box and has an “ah ha” moment. The man pulls out a business card and hands it to Ricky. Ricky looks at the card, which reads “Mike Sanders CEO Sanders Suckers Inc” and has a business address with contact info. Upon gaining this information, Ricky smiles.
Man: Give me a shout some time if you’re interested. Something tells me you may know some people who are passionate about cleaning…
Ricky has a massive grin on his face.
Ricky: Oh, I will. And I’m sure I could find a few “suckers” for you.
Mike Sanders laughs.
MS: Now you’re catching on. “Italians”, right?
Mike winks at Ricky, who chuckles back.
Ricky: Well, it was nice meeting you, Mike.
Ricky extends his hand, but Mike takes a look at the disheveled Ricky, shakes his head and puts out a fist instead. Ricky reluctantly fist pounds Mike.
MS: Sorry, I’m not a handshake guy, nothing personal….
Ricky nods, rolls his eyes, and begins to walk away. Ricky gets a few feet past Mike before Mike yells back to him.
MS: Wait! I didn’t catch your name!
Ricky turns back to Mike and pauses, unsure of what to tell him. He eventually manages to manufacture a name.
Ricky: Oh yea….Rudy. Rudy Juliano….
Mike Sanders begins laughing hysterically.
MS: Okay, “Rudy”. Great to meet you….
The man continues to laugh as Ricky breathes a sigh of relief and continues his walk down to ground transportation.
That meeting certainly did not go as Ricky planned, but it ultimately gave Ricky what he wanted. He got an idea of what this other man in Lucy’s life, Mike Sanders, is really like. The brief interaction with Mike explains a few things. Lucy’s stance on politics and her constant need to make everything in SCW political likely stems from being with Mike in some capacity. Mike’s extended absences are explained by the fact that he appears to be a traveling salesman. Ricky was able to see that Mike was a conman, which could explain what drew Lucy to him in the first place. That would also explain why Lucy sees something in Rudy Powell, who is very clearly a conman as well.
For the duration of their personal and business relationship, Lucy Huckabee Sanders has controlled most aspects of Ricky’s life. She is well aware of everything going on with Ricky, consistently making personal and business decisions for him. Ricky, on the other hand, is left in the dark when it comes to Lucy’s personal matters. It seems that Lucy defers to irrationally confident men like Mike Sanders and Rudy Powell, but likes to control less confident men like Ricky James.
For the first time, however, Ricky James finally knows something about Lucy’s life that she doesn’t know he knows. Ricky now knows the other man in her life. He knows what he does for “work”, and he has his business contact information. Ricky finally has a bit of leverage on Lucy, and despite coming off a tough loss, despite the arguments and the circus of The Silent Majority, and despite the very long night, Ricky is heading back home with a bit of confidence.
Now in the wee hours of the morning on Friday, February 26th, there will certainly be a fallout from all that just transpired. Lucy Huckabee Sanders has been blowing up Ricky’s phone all night with texts and calls that Ricky ignored. Ricky will have to answer to Lucy upon her return to Florida. Also, despite the personal “victory” in the airport, Ricky has a much larger issue to deal with moving forward: The Scaffold Scramble and his intense fear of heights. While Ricky may have gained some personal confidence with this new information, his major underlying issue with the logistics of the Scaffold Scramble - undoubtedly the biggest match of his SCW career - still looms.
![[Image: QEi4Ejt.png]](https://i.imgur.com/QEi4Ejt.png)
1x SCW Television Champion
Wins:12 (Jobber, Jobber, Derek Adonis, Konrad Raab, Blake Mason, Tommy Valentine, Kelsai Adamson-Mason [TV Title win], Jay Gold [title defense], Maria Salvatore [title defense], Ace Marshall [via DQ], Gavin Taylor, Cid Turner/Selena Frost/Purity Pixie [w/Ace and Kandis, Trios 2021, pinned Purity])
Losses: 8 (Gavin/Powers, Jay Gold, Asher Hayes, Last Laugh 2020 Battle Royal [Last eliminated by Asher Hayes], Crystal Zdunich [TV Title loss], Retribution 2021 Scaffold Scramble, RTG 2021 TLC Match for Adrenaline Title, UA 2021 EC for Adrenaline Title)