Heel? Face? What's that?

As Rob entered the interview room, he saw three men sitting across a table in front of him. They were all suited up and looked like the perfect example of a corporate businessmen. If they thought that they came off as intimidating and professional, then they would vomit blood if they knew what Rob thought of them as. In Rob's mind only one word flashed at the sight of them - boring!!!

After seeing countless videos of Good Old JR and Stone Cold conduct interviews in their casual clothes in his previous life, watching these men sit across him in their suits made him want to yawn. While there were quite a few wrestling industry personnel who wore suits, whether it was Cody Rhodes, Triple H or Vincent Kennedy McMahon, they had the charisma to pull it off.

Watching these guys in front of him, only one person came to his mind. John Lauranaites...

Rob had to stiffle his urge to laugh at them. He, unhurriedly took the interview seat in front of them in a calm manner. From the side of his vision, he saw the one on the left purse his lips in dissatisfaction. He didn't know what he did wrong to start off in the wrong foot already, but he resolved to himself to be careful with the interview. If one of the interviewers had a bad impression of him already, it would be hard to pass the interview.

The moment he realized that he could change the world of pro-wrestling, Rob ditched all his other plans and searched for a way to get into the pro-wrestling industry. Luckily for him, he didn't need to search very hard.

Arena Wrestling Fraternity was on the lookout for personnel to join their management team. AWF was one of the oldest pro-wrestling companies in the country Rob was living in. Consequently, Longham City that Rob lived in was also a meeting ground of pro-wrestlers. It had two pro-wrestling companies - AWF and Longham Wrestling Center, also known as LWC.

AWF was a behemoth in the world of pro-wrestling with over twenty years of operation. They had filled out arenas and out sold other promotions within the country. While AWF had a long history of pro-wrestling, LWC was relatively new. They have been operating for a mere three years and we're considered to be upstarts.

To every pro-wrestler, AWF was their ultimate goal. AWF fielded a roster of superstars who were well-known across the country. Consequently they had a bigger share of market than all the other pro-wrestling promotions. Almost all of their special events were sold out. From the onlooker's perspective AWF was strong and unshakeable.

However, Rob didn't think so. While it was true that AWF held a prestigious position, they were also like every other promotion out there. Every pro-wrestling promotion out there in this world followed the same formula when it came to booking their card. They had a weekly program of 120 or 90 mins based on the size of their roster. Every two or three month they doled out a special event to round up their booking.

A weekly program usually had five or six matches. Most of them were booked in the 1 vs 1 format. Very rarely was a 2 vs 2 match booked. And if they booked it, it was hyped up as the main event as they usually put two stars together instead of an actual tag team. In short, they followed the format of a boxing match or a MMA fight. When they deviated, they hyped it as a special and almost always booked it for the special event. This routine had been beaten to death.

Even that could be tolerated if they built a proper storyline. The extent of storyline building went as far as to a challenger challenging the champion. Nothing intense or even an attack angle was created. This basically created a dearth of storyline and in turn made it look like a choreographed fight. That was the main reason pro-wrestling was in such a slump.

AWF, being the behemoth, had two weekly events and one special event every two months. The roster was rotated between that to keep the freshness. Considering the number of wrestlers present, they could easily book matches for two years without repeating the same program. It kind of played into their advantage. So, they were not facing much negative impact due to over-exposure. And with internet just being in the budding stage, everything was rosy for them. Add to that they had weekly TV spot, they were truly set.

Initially, Rob was little reluctant to join this behemoth as he thought that he wouldn't be able to do much in AWF. But, what made him come here was the fact that AWF was where the money was. And with weekly TV spot, he could kickstart the Attitude Era very easily if he made a big enough splash. He didn't need to jump through hoops to get his ideas to the public.

"Hi, my name is Rob Williams. I am an ardent fan of pro-wrestling and wish to be a part of this prestigious promotion," Rob introduced himself systematically as he gave his resume to the one sitting in the middle across him.

Before things could progress any further, the one who was sitting to Rob's left spoke up without even glancing at the resume Rob had submitted.

"So, you know we are a prestigious promotion, right?" the man asked mockingly.

Rob didn't know what this man's problem was, but he knew that this man had it out for him. So, he calmed himself down and made sure not to react to his mocking, before replying evenly.

"Yes,"

"Then, I have to ask you whether this is how you show your respect to a prestigious promotion," the man drawled making Rob to scrunch up his eyebrows.

"Pardon me, I don't think I follow you. How have I disrespected AWF?" Rob replied a little testily.

He knew that it was not wise to antagonize this man now, but if he didn't address the accusation this man had thrown out, he wouldn't get the job no matter how brilliantly he performed in the interview.

"Look at you! Look at how you are dressed. What do you think this place is? Do you think you can walk in here with dressing however you want?" the man ridiculed Rob leaving no room for him to interfere.

The atmosphere in the room shifted immediately. Rob could feel the awkwardness rising up a notch. Unlike others, he was dressed far more casually. He didn't suit up, but had arrived in a casual plain blue shirt and black pants. Luckily, he had tucked in his shirt or else he would have been in bigger trouble.

"Hmmm, forgive me sir, I don't think I have disrespected this promotion. Not everyone owns a suit, you know. We have to make do with what we own," Rob chuckled trying to lighten the atmosphere.

"I am not talking about suits. I am talking about the way you have folded up your sleeves. You don't look like a professional at all. In fact, you look like a hooligan posing as a professional," the man retorted angrily.

Rob winced internally as he realized what the problem was. Wearing full sleeves and folding them up back to just below the elbow was one of the habits that had been ingrained into him. He just felt comfortable that way. He didn't even think about it. It wasn't a conscious decision. It was just a habit that he was accustomed to.

Rob didn't immediately reply to that accusation. He knew that not everyone felt good about such habits. His ex had grumbled about this habit of his for a long while when they were dating. So, he didn't want to get into an argument regarding fashion at this particular moment. So, he reluctantly remained silent.

A glint of victory flitted across the man's eyes as he leaned back into his seat. Just then, the one in the middle cleared his throat to shift everyone's attention to him.

"Rob Williams, I have went through your resume. It is clear that you have interest in wrestling. It says you have participated in Junior Wrestling Tournament at high school level. But, after that, you have nothing noteworthy to speak of."

Rob internally winced hearing the unspoken question. What happened after that tournament? While the interviewer didn't outright ask him that, he knew he should explain. However, he knew full well that he didn't have a good explanation at all.

The only reason he was able to participate in that tournament was that the original competitor of his high school team was injured just days before the match. As the original owner of the body acted as training partner for the original competitor, he was allowed to participate due to time constraints. He didn't even pick up a win, to be honest, and was eliminated early on in the tournament.

After that, the previous owner of this body even gave up on wrestling. The only reason Rob included that in the resume was to boost up his own profile compatibility with the job and get some brownie points. He never expected that the first question right off the mark would be related to that. He briefly wondered whether this is what they meant by stabbed by one's own knife.

Well, he couldn't possibly give a honest answer to that question. That only meant one course of action - bullshitting.

"Well I suffered an injury days prior to the match. As my high school didn't have any replacement and the time was very short, I had to participate despite my injury. My injury worsened due to that and then I was forced to stop training for a few months," Rob said hoping to earn some browny points with the interviewers. He saw the man in the middle nod thoughtfully, while the one on the left snorted.

"When I came back, the old injury still acted up from time to time. So, I eventually decided to quit wrestling professionally. But, wrestling has always been my passion. If I can't be a wrestler, then I wanted to be involved in wrestling in some other way. That's why I decided to apply here. AWF is a long-standing prestigious promotion and I am sure I would learn a lot from here," Rob finished his speech with a heavy dose of flattery just to earn more sympathy points.

He saw the man in the middle nod in understanding. The one on the left was staring at him with a displeased expression, but Rob gave up on creating a good impression on him after their spat regarding his dressing habits. So, he didn't mind his staring that much.

"Where were you injured?" a voice came from the right causing Rob to internally swear.

He had forgot about the one on the right. Unlike the other two interviewers, the one on the right wasn't fit. He looked like a typical middle-aged businessman with a slight pot-belly and rectangular spectacles on his face. When Rob turned to look at him, he found that the man's gaze was sharp. Rob knew people like him had a well-developed bullshit detectors. He could only lament his luck on running into a man like him here.

"Ah, I suffered a ligament tear in my left knee," Rob said trying to shift the topic away. He knew that ligament tears in the knee area we're serious things if not taken care of properly. So, he used them as an excuse.

"Are you telling me that your coach allowed you to participate in a tournament with a torn ligament?" the man in the middle asked in a stern tone.

"Well, we didn't know it was ligament tear at that time. We thought that I had sprained my knee, but when we checked after the tournament I had a small tear in my ligament," Rob said trying to appear as sheepish as possible to sell the story.

The man in the middle nodded in acceptance, the one in the left grumbled about unprofessional conduct. The one on the right however, was stone faced and still eyed Rob sharply.

"Moving on, what are your expectations regarding your work here?" the man in the middle asked.

"Well, I am mostly interested in learning about how to book a show and learn about the backstage intricacies that are involved in creating a program. I have always been interested in the technical stuff that is needed to book a proper show. This would be a great opportunity to expand my horizon," Rob gave off a brilliant ingratiating smile.

"So, you are not interested in being in the ring?"

"Even if I want to, I can't. Considering my injury..."

"You can still work as a referee or as a ring-announcer,"

"No, while those would be great, I still prefer to be involved in the managing and creating aspect of the show,"

"Hmmm, good. Most people think of a job in management to be a gateway into becoming a pro-wrestler. I like your attitude and approach. So, tell me, if you were given the job of managing a single slot in a program, what would your priorities be?"

"My priority would be in preparing a proper face and heel," Rob began.

Well, this was it. Rob knew that if he could convince these interviewers of his view and vision, then his job would be set. If he could successfully pitch the idea of building a storyline with impactful heel and face, and use them to promote a match instead of just booking an attractive card, he would be given an ideal position to give it a try. Everything hinged on whether he could sell this pitch.

But, just as he began, a disharmonious voice interrupted him rudely.

"Wait a minute. What the hell are you blabbering about? Heel? Face? What the hell is that? We are not here for anatomy lesson boy," the one on the left showed his displeasure openly.

Rob's mind blanked immediately. How in the hell did not know what is a heel and what is a face? That's something even a casual fan knows and these people were promoters for God's sake.

Anatomy lesson your mom!!!!