Crest Fall

"...so I was thinking, if he truly is available, we should try to bring in---"

Jeremy Borash was cut off by a loud slamming of the door. Every head of the TNA Booking Committee turned to look at Raven, some with great surprise on their faces. Dear me, has Jarrett not informed you all that you are all now my little pets? No, even Jarrett looks surprised. Interesting.

"Why so surprised?" snapped Raven as he limped across the room, shooting a glaring glance in Jeff Jarrett's direction as he pulled out one of the chairs and eased into it, heaving a sigh even though he was anything but comfortable. "Hoped that I would have passed out and forgot all about last night, eh, Jeffery?"

"Erm---" began Jeff, but Raven cut him off.

"Nah, even if I did, I would have wondered where all the paychecks were coming from. I know I mean I know I've put my name on all sorts of things and even wrestled in some backyards for a bottle of Mountain Dew, but I'm not that big of a whore. Anyway, what are we discussing today?"

Raven pulled over a chair occupied by a scrawny man, barely out of his teens, and booted him out. He pulled it closer and placed his feet up on the newly-vacated chair. Almost comfortable.

"Please, spare me all this enthusiastic discussion, it's too much for my puny brain," growled Raven, glancing around at the group. Jim Cornette had previously had his head buried in his arms until Raven arrived, and now he had a rather cocky grin on his face, occasionally glancing over at Vince Russo. Mike Tenay was glancing back and forth between Raven and Jeff, and whenever one of them would look over at him he would nearly spill his coffee in an attempt to busy himself. Jeremy Borash had been fingering several different types of charts and graphs, but when raven arrived, his mouth dropped and his eyes beamed. Kurt Angle was there too, looking over at Raven with disgust. Don West was drunk, asleep, and smelled like piss. The sound of Jeff Jarrett clearing his throat took everyone's attention from Raven and back to the owner of TNA.

"Everyone, allow me to introduce to you the new Commissioner of TNA," murmured Jarrett, as though ashamed to admit it. Because he is ashamed. "Raven."

There was a light clapping but Raven put a stop to it by waving his hand.

"Oh, get fucked all of you," said Raven with a grin.

There were a few uncomfortable laughs and then Don West snapped awake, muttering something about salt water taffy before slipping back to sleep. Raven rolled his eyes over at him.

"Jeremy, would you be so kind as to roll Don West out of here? We have important things to discuss."

Jeremy hurried over and literally rolled Don West out of the office in his chair, closing the door behind him with a snap. He returned over to his charts and graphs, but one glare in his direction told him that Raven did not intent for Jeremy to return. So Borash scampered off, looking somewhat relieved actually. Raven yawned and turned his attention to Cornette.

"What was he about to say when I came in here?" asked Raven.

"Everyone's thinking of bringing in---" began Cornette, but Russo cut across him, leaning half way across the table with a finger outstretched. Cornette glared over at Russo as Russo smiled up at Raven. Cornette probably wants to snap that hairy little finger. Who am I kidding? So do I.

"It's nothing, Raven. Besides, Talent Relations aren't really of any interest to a TNA Commissioner."

Raven raised an eyebrow and Russo raised one of his own in response, sinking back into his chair as Raven sat up and began to speak.

"As a matter of fact, it is," said Raven sternly. Raven looked over at Jarrett, whose face was so scrunched up it made it look like he was trying to disappear. "Jeff, Jeff, Jeff... I admit that I am disappointed. This is not how you conduct business, let alone run a professional wrestling company. As for what you just said, Vince, as the lead TNA booker, it is of great importance who and who isn't in that locker room. Secondly, as the head of Talent Relations, it's of great interest to me."

Russo gaped at Raven, then glanced at Jeff as Mike Tennay pretended to drink some coffee from his empty cup, trying to cover his face as much as possible as he looked back and forth between them.

"Head of Talent Relations? You're kidding! Right?"

Russo shot a look in Jarrett's direction, almost a pleading look. I knew having you around would be amusing, Russo. Jeff shook his head and Russo nearly fell out of his chair.

"So what were you about to say, Jim? I value your opinion."

"Thank you, Raven. We were talking about the recent release of that Hardy kid and were wondering if he would be of any use to us."

"Hardy kid? You mean Jeff?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, he'd be of use to us," said Raven with a smirk.

At that, it was the first time Raven had seen Cornette faulter in this meeting. Cornette quickly gathered himself, looking at Raven and trying to control his voice.

"But you know why he was released, right?" asked Cornette. Failing to control his voice. "He failed another drug test. That's the rumor going around, but his contract was up anyway and Jeff didn't have any intentions to re-sign. So they just let him go, not announcing that he had tested positive. Wouldn't it be a bit---" and Cornette trailed off, trying to choose his words carefully. "Controversial, if we were to sign him?"

Oh, it'd be controversial, and that's exactly why I'd want to sign him. Well, other than the fact that girls orgasm at the mere sight of him and rush to the concession stands to buy his new t-shirt. Controversy does create cash, right? Whoa... Eric Bischoff was of some use to my career, after all.

"Sure, but he's not too bad. The fans love him. Surely we can find a place for him on the TNA roster."

"But his failed drug test---" began Cornette, murmuring.

"I'll just have to have a talk with him, won't I? Anyway, Mike Tenay, you haven't said much," said Raven, casting an eye in his direction which made Tenay drop the cup from his mouth. "So say something."

"Erm," began Tenay, picking up the cup and setting it upright. "I thought of an idea for one of our new guys. I think Cornette hired him, but well, he hasn't been used much..." Raven glared at Russo. "His name is Eddie Kingston. And I thought of some things we could do with him."

Raven shrugged. He'd never heard of Eddie Kingston, but Tenay looked excited beneath all the nervousness. "Alright, you can tell me about it later, Mike. Kurt, you haven't said much either. Care to give your two cents?"

"As a matter of fact, I would," snapped Kurt, glaring at Raven and then the room as a whole before his mean slitted eyes settled on Cornette. "I don't know if Jim is spiking Jeff's coffee or if Jeff has no control whatsoever anymore, but the new guys he's brought in make me sick. All these young kids. And then there's this British punk named McGuinness. None of these guys are deserving of lacing my boots, let alone wrestling in the same ring as me! We need to bring in---"

Raven cut across him.

"Kurt... shut up. We don't need to bring in anyone, especially with the job you've all done recently with bringing in talent. Bringing in talent? Check. Making talent?" Raven smirked at the gathering at first, then decided it wasn't appropriate and decided on a look of utter disappointment. "Let's not even talk about that. Anyway, that's why I'm here. Of course, there were some pieces guys like Cornette simply could not touch, but I on the otherhand, can. Kurt, you fucking bore me. The Main Event fucking bores me. You all need a change. When I told Booker that I was planning on releasing him, he nearly kissed me. Scott Steiner, well, who cares about his opinion anyway? Sting, we can keep around. Nash, we can keep around at least as an announcer anyway. I mean he can't even get to the ring, it's pathetic. But you, Kurt, you're as stale as month-old bread. As stale as Triple H, actually. So I know you're naturally a dickhead, but try to cope with being a face for once."

Kurt looked like he was about to explode. Maybe Kurt will be the source of comedy at these meetings, not Vince Russo.

"As for this McGuinness... eh I've seen him before, and I've liked what I've seen. Congratulations, Kurt, you're in a program with him. As for guys we need to bring in, there are few that come to mind, but let me list some: The Human Tornado, The Young Bucks, Chuck Taylor---though I think he just lost his hair in a match a while ago. Nah, we'll wait for him to regrow all that hair before we think about bringing him---"

"Or we can make give him a Neo-Nazi gimmick!" puffed up Russo. Everyone turned to Vince, who had a huge look of satisfaction and excitement on his face until he caught all of their looks.

"Vince Russo, you're fired," snapped Raven, making Vince and Jarrett look up in horror. Vince remained seated, but when one of Raven's eyes twitched, he nearly crashed through the door in his attempt to leave. Wait a minute. Chuck Taylor, a Neo Nazi? That's a fucking brilliant idea! Get him back in here! Meh, perhaps not. I guess that's just my dark side. "Oh, there was one other and his name escapes me at the moment, but it doesn't matter. We have to work with the tools we have, and we have to commend Jim Cornette for giving me a tool shed with some fancy new toys."

And Raven gave him a wink. Dear me, I almost made the old bastard blush. Raven looked around the room, everyone extremely comfortable, most especially Jeff Jarrett. Raven got to his feet, looking at the graphs and charts on the large paper pad Jeremy Borash had drawn. He looked at it for a moment, shaking his head at the low ratings that the graphs represented, then tore the pages away and found a blank one that he could write on.

"I like to work my way from top to bottom" muttered Raven, looking around at the committee. "It's just that I find the Pay Per Views to me the most important. Sorry if it feels different to any of you, try to keep up. So for the first Pay Per View..."