Matt makes his big debut and endures life on the road but life can change at a moment's notice

Matt was taken aback by Vince's offer, it was almost like a dream to him. There was no warning, no way to alert him that he was going to be promoted, no indication that his hard work was paying off. Vince was Vince and his word was law, Matt Simpson had been promoted from the Next Evolution Wrestling roster to Global Championship Wrestling main roster.

He thanked Vince and walked off, needing time to comprehend how his life had just changed with the stroke of a pen from Vince. He got changed into his street clothes and stood in the Gorilla Position as the ladies had a battle royal to determine the #1 contender for the NEW Women's Championship. He felt jealous that he couldn't be out there with them, but the feeling passed as he saw Araña give her all and put up a fight until the end in a losing effort.

The ladies celebrated Tanya's victory, with her buddy/tag partner Anya showing a bit of jealousy that was really keeping in character for their budding storyline of being "frienemies" and likely to face off in the future as their tag team imploded. Matt congratulated them all and enjoyed a night of fun as the ladies celebrated a fun night for all. The match of the night turned out to be Matt's match, with their own battle royal being second to it while the other matches were a distant third.

Matt revealed to them that he had gotten the call-up from Vince himself, with King Reigns being put in his place and put on notice that he wasn't going to be allowed to do his usual antics anymore. There was a cheer from all of them, with Tanya and Anya hugging him while Araña wished him luck as he was going to need it. He countered that King needed it more, he got a huge dose of reality and was in a world of trouble to the point that he might actually be fired by his own father-in-law.

The ladies laughed at that and went back to celebrating at their hotel rooms while Matt was told to head to the conference room to talk with the GCW writing staff and producers. The writers were in a state of panic when he entered, their own battle royal was suffering from King's temper tantrum over Matt being around leading to him pulling out and getting some of the surprise entrants to go with him. Matt was expected to add his input but he sat back and let them show to Vince just how bad they were if they didn't have someone who knew what they were doing overseeing them.

Vince looked at Matt who nodded, to which Vince told the group "you are being too clever. You have a bunch of guys sitting around doing nothing except publicity. Use the NEW guys to fill-in. If the Hall of Famers don't want to do it then the youngsters will. The guys who weren't involved tonight are free, use them to fill the ranks and give a stronger match."

They had a bunch of interest from some of the fringe veterans, most of whom were in town sponging off of the GCW's presence to line their depleted pockets, Vince looked to Matt who was going over the list and saw who he had circled and laughed. He had found some of the best gimmicks they had done 20 to 30 years before and had them itching for a chance to shine again. All Vince had to do was get the money ready for their fees and they'd have a full roster plus alternates.

The planned title bout was changed from a no-decision to being a pinfall, with the champion winning it clean. It was also moved from the main event, with the battle royal being removed as a way of getting the contender back into the main event at WrestleCade. Matt's notes were what Vince had in mind, they needed a new contender since the current one was one of King's choices and he was coasting by based on his relationship with King yet saw little character development and abysmal merchandise sales.

The writers worked furiously while Matt helped craft the next month of TV shows alongside them. He was purposely keeping himself out of the action and had himself doing the jobber matches to draw heat for the heels but Vince turned it around on him. Matt was filling a need, he was a new face that could be a counter to the current mid-card heels while working his way up the roster.

Vince had to convince Matt to accept his fate and be part of the program, with Matt giving in to the need to appease Vince and help the GCW. Matt thought things over and told Vince to continue what he had been involved in with NEW: the underdog who is climbing the ranks and winning thanks to heels who were overconfident and who would draw heat and put Matt over without trying. It was simple, yet was something that fans liked and the 15,000+ fans at the arenas GCW worked in would eat up quickly.

Vince liked the idea, especially as it gave Matt time on each show while giving the heels a chance to be put in their place by fans while also allowing the heels to build on the loss as they claw their way into the title scene. It was a tough job to hold down but Matt had the right characteristics to do the job. Matt had something going for him that others didn't: he was genuinely versatile and needed little writing support as he could be used without any set-up nor follow-up to the matches.

Matt refused the invitation to compete in the battle royal, instead opting to wrestle in a pre-show match that gave him a soft introduction and allowed the heel doing the challenge to start down a feud with one of the babyfaces that congratulated Matt after his victory. It was going to be a fun moment as the heel went after the two only to have them step aside, have the heel fall down, then do a joint takedown maneuver that set the heel up for the babyface's finisher. It was quick, but the crowd would love it.

The night was interesting as he put on Taylor's clothes and enjoyed a calming night's sleep, holding off telling his family until later that he was called-up by Vince. It would spoil the big surprise, his parents would see it live but his wife and in-laws would see it from home causing him to endure shocked and angry phone calls from Betty and her parents while his brother-in-law Richard was bouncing off the walls with excitement. He finally had what he hoped to have, his brother-in-law was competing in the GCW and was by default the coolest older brother in the entire Orlando area.

The match itself was pretty straightforward, Matt endured the dirty tricks such as weapons and illegal strikes before getting his opening as the guy he was facing gloated. He hit a pop-up enzuigiri that stunned him then performed his normal hurricurnana then climbed the ropes for his 450 corkscrew frog splash leading to him pinning the prone opponent. His opponent tried to fight it but it was too little too late as Matt scored the pinfall and led to the entire arena laughing hard at the heel for his arrogance.

Matt got congratulated by Garnet Houston Pete, the #3 babyface in GCW allowing Matt to have some pop from the crowd while the heel whined about kicking out despite it being a clean 3-count. Pete let him complain then saved Matt from being struck from behind leading to the feud beginning and Matt getting over with the fans. The two hit the finishing move and had the crowd roaring with cheers as the new guy enjoyed the spotlight while the veteran got his chance to be part of the show in another way.

Matt and Pete left to Matt's music playing, a piece he had helped put together back when he was only 12 and done during a morning when the crew was ahead of schedule and their resident composer was at the arena. It was a clear sign from Vince that Matt was part of GCW in full as it was Vince who had not only approved of the music but kept it saved all of those years.

Backstage, Matt endured the wrestling press as he talked about his first match in GCW and how he felt about coming up through the ranks so fast. Matt happily told them all "it was fast, but I've been part of the wrestling business since birth. Like so many others, it's in my blood. Unlike others, my parents are in the back helping put together shows. I got to see all aspects of the business and took part in many of them at a young age. I've been in the crowd, produced matches, written storylines, and done a lot of the small work for GCW. It's a dream to perform for GCW, helping is just so different from performing."

His answers were sensations as social media went wild at the born-and-raised GCW brat was now part of the company. His family's connections to the GCW were well documented so the only real shock was that claim that he had produced and written matches. Stacy Turner happily pointed to just a few of the GCW matches that she could recall off of the top of her head, with Matt's favorite wrestler, the ever popular Impossible, in his first championship match being his biggest success so far.

King Reigns tried to quell the talk about Matt and flat out denied him ever working any of the matches that were claimed. His refusal to talk about Matt further fueled speculation that it wasn't a work and that Matt did actually do what was claimed. King grew angry and refused to answer any questions, he claimed he wanted to focus on that night and not on the past but it was clear that he had a strong dislike for the new guy and there in itself was yet another story that would be looked into.

The matches that night were run of the mill as King was putting all of his attention into the main event. The battle royal was setting-up the championship match but having it go before the main event upset his plans for having his choice become champion while Vince exerted his authority over everyone and left the matches where they were and scrapped King's plans in favor of Matt's ideas. King walked out of the show, going unnoticed by fans but going on a tirade on social media over the matches being the worst matches he had ever seen in his life.

Fans thought that it was all a work, while Vince shook his head and told the writing staff to prepare a new feud that had King facing off against Matt at Wrestlecade. It was going to be King's farewell, he had finally pissed Vince off enough to get written out of GCW. Vince called his corporate lawyer and had a preemptive strike ready to go in case King went overboard and tried to do something to the GCW before they were ready, with King set to lose all that he had accumulated as husband to Stacy when he finally stepped over the line and intentionally tried to harm the GCW and struck against Matt.

In a private meeting during the women's championship, Vince had his legal team go over the company's rules regarding indecent behavior especially regarding gay and transgender employees. Matt was not a fulltime employee but his additional pay as a producer counted as him being an employee, thus he fell under the rules for conduct should King try to play dirty and air Matt's dirty laundry. He would not be the least bit afraid to go after Matt's being transgender especially if it hurt the company.

Vince told them firmly "King Reigns will go after Matt Simpson. Matt is a fully diagnosed transgender woman, thus is covered under our HR code of conduct. If he uses that against Matt, invoke his poison pill and destroy him financially. Stacy will divorce him and take everything: the house, the kids, his shares in the company, and his seat on the board of directors. Matt Simpson is family, King isn't."

He turned his attention toward the upcoming battle royal and looked over the list of entrants and shook his head at some of them. He saw a couple of the retirees and removed one from the event. The man's health wasn't the best and as much as Vince would have loved to have him in it just for the pop it would give the man wasn't going to do much and might hurt himself when he landed after being eliminated.

He moved the retiree onto commentary, giving the lovable longtime heel Killer Gagne his spotlight and allowing him to offer his unfiltered opinions about some of the wrestlers competing. Matt was inserted in his place, giving Matt yet another chance to be part of the fun while also allowing him to have a big introduction to the wrestling world as his style could be put to use during the middle and later part of the match. Killer's connection to Matt was going to be a shock to viewers at home, but the man was going to do more for Matt than any other person could- all by being given a chance to speak openly.

Matt was told to get dressed again, then told that he was going to be the last to enter the ring as he was put into the spotlight again as the last to enter was always a mystery per tradition. When he did enter, Killer lost it and was cheering loudly to the point that he was at a loss for words and had tears in his eyes. He offered Matt a hug as Matt circled the ring, wishing him good luck over an open mic that was caught by all including the other commentators.

The other commentators were shocked to see that kind of reaction, but Killer happily told them "Matt Simpson is one of the finest young athletes ever to set foot in a ring and one of the best students that I ever had. His abilities will be on display here as he does everything possible to stay alive in the match. He could win this easily if he is careful, you never underestimate a man of his size. Never."

The match was your normal melee battle that saw the lower-card wrestlers tossed out one by one by the mid and upper-card wrestlers. Matt was able to battle off attacks and managed to earn three separate eliminations by using his body and momentum of his opponents to flip them over the top rope. Matt wasn't expected to last long but he endured a while as the crowd was loving his moves and was making others look better as they wisely avoided him or accepted his moves and countered them.

He lasted into the top 8 but was finally eliminated by three heels from the same stable as they played possum on the ring floor and pulled Matt down while he was about to perform a move on the apron. It was a dirty move but got the crowd to give the stable heat and give the remaining wrestlers in the ring to go after them in a unified effort. It was just what the match needed, with the final five battling it out in a brawl that lasted a solid 10 minutes and saw them wearing each other down until one finally gave the final elimination to win the match.

The performance of the new guy stole the match, but it was worth it in the eyes of the others as he gave the match the perfect pop that it needed and led to the main event match being given the excitement it needed as the winner was facing off against the winner of the battle royal at the next pay-per-view, with the match being a much-anticipated match-up instead of an average match-up. Matt was surrounded in the locker room with the wrestlers showing him respect and their thanks, especially the heel stable as they were set up for a great run against the top babyfaces due to their actions. It wasn't much to Matt, it was all of them doing their best to sell the anger and frustration which he had nothing to do with.

The championship match was a snoozer as far as Matt was concerned. He didn't see any attempt to sell the moves and the two involved were too arrogant to take a clean pinfall. Vince shook his head at the antics and told Matt "you called it. If we went with the original plans this feud would have gone on for too long and cost fans' attention. The main event at Wrestlecade would have been a disaster and saw them turning on us again. The new feud is better, the champ is losing his title at Wrestlecade. He's done as champion, you don't no-sell in a 'big four' pay-per-view just to keep your title."

Back in his hotel room, Matt finally answered his phone and endured Betty's anger at him keeping his being part of the pay-per-view a secret. He let her vent then softly explained that he couldn't refuse an offer from Vince. She understood, but it still stung that he didn't tell her that he got the call-up.

The next phone calls were from his in-laws, but it was Richard's enthusiasm that caused him to cringe as he told Matt just how awesome it was that he was going to be on TV every week and that he had just had a Hall of Famer giving him a huge boost. Richard was talking as a fan and as his brother-in-law and was giving him an earful as he wasn't afraid to hold back when Matt needed to hear things. Matt let the 17-year-old have his way and after he finally calmed down, told him "it wasn't planned. I was put in there because Killer Gagne was too ill to perform. I was only moved up because Vince needed to do some last minute changes and has all but run King Reigns off form GCW."

Matt didn't mean to tell him that, but it came out too quickly to take back. Richard demanded that he tell him what happened, so Matt added "King tried to ruin the battle royal by having guys in his pocket pulling out but Vince countered by putting in the retirees. It's why so many were involved, it wasn't part of the plan. He tried to interfere with the main event and have his guy lose then come into the battle royal but that was scrapped when Vince moved it to the main event. King's plans are shot to heck, the whole of the staff is on edge and rewriting everything. I'm not involved in any of that, I'm only doing the mid-carders for now. It's why I was on the preshow, I set up the feud with Garnet Houston Pete."

Richard was satisfied then told Matt "you better get to bed, Taylor needs her beauty sleep." Matt gave him an angry groan but it was his way of telling him that he'd need time to himself to let things settle. He was happy for his brother-in-law, but he needed Taylor to have a good night's sleep.

Taylor went to sleep with a smile on her face. She didn't bother with makeup, she didn't need it and it wasn't worth the effort. She slept better that night than she had in a while, waking up only when the phone in her room rang and told her that she was needed down in the breakfast room by Vince.

She showered and got dressed as Matt, with Matt carefully hiding Taylor's things as he got ready to check out. Matt walked out and was stopped by Vince, who told him to head back upstairs as he was needed the next two nights as he would be helping revamp the two shows while performing that night. Matt didn't argue, he went back to the room, dropped his suitcase, then went back downstairs to talk.

The two talked for a while, plotting how the shows would go while Stacy sat silently as she awaited her cue to talk about the women's title picture and the storyline for them. The trio hammered out a simple yet believable road to Wrestlecade, abandoning some of the unnecessary swerves and weird turns that had been planned but made no sense while adding in some ancillary feuds that would feed into the pay-per-views that were in-between that night and Wrestlecade.

After four hours, they had a framework for how to do things which were then sent off to the writers to set the matches, dialogue, and promos. Matt's own matches were glossed over, he wasn't scheduled for any feuds and was kept out of any of the storylines in case he needed to be inserted due to injury. He was fine doing that, his matches were meant to be filler and keeping him free meant that he was able to be with them in the Gorilla Position so they could rework the matches as they were in progress.

Matt's closeness to Vince made the rounds of the wrestlers, with those who didn't know being told the truth while those who did know were happy to extol the virtues of being a "company man" like Matt and having the clout and history of success to be able to tell Vince that he was wrong to do things the way he might be trying to go. It was a great honor to tell Vince how to do something, and if you were at that level of trust you were someone whose voice had to be listened to. King wasn't at that level, yet the younger Matt was virtually telling Vince word for word how to conduct the show that night.

Matt did the whole thing over again the next night, only this time he did it alongside Vince and did so as his #2 in place of King. King went straight home after getting booted by Vince, with Stacy telling Vince that he's with his mistress so he should be doing fine. Vince nodded and gave her the unspoken agreement that their time together was over, Stacy had chosen family over her husband.

Matt paid the King situation no heed, doing Vince a solid by doing Vince's job while he spoke with Stacy. He was good at it and had the announcing team on their toes as he tossed them lines to speak. He had an eye for good one-liners, letting the team get some great ones as they described the action.

After the Tuesday show, he was finally able to head home. Vince had him assured that he had a place in the show and wouldn't have to do too many house shows, Matt caught his drift and was able to get the needed money together to buy an RV like he had planned. He wasn't the only person doing that, it was actually something that the superstars who were afraid of flying did to get around the country.

The kids embraced Matt as soon as he opened the door and wanted to know what's going on. Betty had them go back to playing then asked the same thing, only not letting him give her any kind of excuses. He sat her down, then happily told her "he gave me a few days to get things in order. I have a couple of RVs ready to look at, we just have to withdraw Vinny from school so we can head on out."

Betty wasn't too happy but knew this would happen sooner or later. She had her official resignation from the hospital she worked at ready to go, now she had to do some finagling with Vinny's school but it wasn't anything serious. She kissed him and told him that she was proud of him, this was what he had wanted his entire life and now he was going to live it to its fullest.

Taylor spent the week relaxing as she worked on Matt's affairs, finding a new RV that was able to be written off thanks to help from the family lawyer and her father-in-law Jerry's help. Betty's resignation wasn't received well but the fact that she had worked continuously for two years and had banked eight weeks of vacation days there was little that they could do. She was owed quite a bit of money for those vacation days, which she happily sold back to them and got a bonus of having them compensate her for the amount of work she had done due to their cutbacks in staffing due to clerical errors.

Taylor stayed home with Davis while Betty withdrew Vinny, knowing that if she had gone she would have been questioned about who she was and what her relationship was to the kids. Betty was able to handle Vinny's principal and teacher easily, Matt would have had trouble and if he was recognized it would have meant a lot of unwanted attention and free publicity that he didn't want to endure. She gave Davis undivided attention to keep him happy, while also helping to calm herself until Betty returned.

Matt had to return for a couple of hours so Matt could clear out his locker at the NEW complex. It was awkward to be there while the others were training, knowing that they were jealous of him for getting a big jump over all of them despite only a short time with NEW. If Davis and Vinny hadn't been with him he might have had a confrontation, but the two were able to keep him moving and not let anyone get too close especially with the boys' grandparents acting as escorts for the trio.

There was one person who was surprised by Matt's return. Araña noticed the boys and fought for a way of asking about them, with the boys giving her smiles as they recognized her from her training at their house with their "Aunt Dawn" as Matt had told them to call her whenever Araña was over. The two hugged her when she passed them, with Matt encouraging her to go along with it so they get it out of their system and let her move along again.

After finishing cleaning his locker, Matt stopped off in the producers' offices and gave them the scripts for the call-ups and listened as they complained about the number of changes needed to allow for the few who were leaving. Matt let them vent, then explained angrily "these aren't huge changes, these are easy swaps that don't take any rewrites. I held back some of the biggest changes, Vince wants to get rid of half of your guys because they are regressing or getting stale. These changes might save their jobs. If they can't improve with the new changes then their careers are over with NEW and GCW."

The name drop was huge. Matt then added "this is the start of changes. There's a lot more coming. The company is moving away from King Reigns' control so his guys aren't protected anymore."

Matt and the boys left, with the boys giving their grandparents affection and smiling at the ladies as the father in Matt showed strongly. Before he left he whispered into Tanya, Anya, and Araña's ears and had the trio smiling brightly. They refused to tell the others what he had told them, but all three were on the verge of tears of joy as he left with a smirk on his face over giving them the biggest news of their NEW careers: they were getting called up to GCW after Wrestlecade!

The boys were rambunctious at home but enjoyed a swim with Taylor while loving having her home again. Vinny happily listened as his mom told him "your mommy is going to be your new teacher. We are going to drive around the country from now on so you won't be able to attend regular school. In a couple of years, I'll be able to do fewer shows so mommy and I can send you back to regular school with the kids in your class. By that time your brother will be in school too so you won't be alone."

He cheered while Davis shrugged at the news. The boys wore Taylor out by the time Betty returned home after her final shift at the hospital, bringing with her cake and the thanks of the nurses. She was in tears as she hugged Taylor, it was a sad day for her but being with the boys and Matt/Taylor was more important than her being at a place that wore her down.

The family took delivery of their new RV that weekend, but wouldn't be able to use it until mid-week due to Matt needing to be in Arizona that Monday. It was going to be his last solo trip, but it was still a big event for him as he appeared in his televised match on the GCW's flagship show "Monday Night Wars". He wouldn't have to be on their "Tuesday Lightning" show, but he would have a hand in some of the storylines as a consultant for the producers.

Matt's first match was a rematch from the pay-per-view, with Matt winning again and showing that his win wasn't a fluke as it was claimed to be. The crowd gave him a huge pop and gave the heel perfect heat, ensuring that Mat was over and on his way up. His opponent happily told him that he had gotten him more heat than anyone else and ensured that his feud was going to send him further up the roster than he ever would have gone, which was the whole intent and what was best for both.

Matt went to the ring in his new t-shirt design, which was something that he nearly cried over seeing as it was a design that he had created back when he was a kid. It had bold colors and text that said: "Matt Simpson: living the dream" which was what he had always told the staff his being part of GCW was. It was tough to keep himself together, but when he was given shirts for his own and Richard he lost it.

He flew home that night, giving his brother-in-law his own shirt and told him that it wasn't to be given away nor lost. Richard happily wore it to school and told anyone who would listen that it was the 3rd one ever made causing him instant popularity while he flaunted his new status. He enjoyed lording over the snobs and popular kids in his school, he listened to them for years insult Matt and his pursuits so the t-shirt was something that not only proved that they were wrong but Matt was simply awesome.

The family's new RV was large yet not obscene. The kids had their own "room" while there was a bit of space for Taylor's clothing. They had special locks installed on the closets so Taylor wasn't discovered when they were in the arena, with the kids learning to never mention Taylor to anyone not in the family.

The trip north for the shows was fun as the kids enjoyed watching the scenery and their own TVs as they drove. Taylor drove at times, but only on the interstates and only after dark. Matt kept to the speed limit as her, it was tough to not speed but it wasn't worth risking embarrassment or being arrested.

Seeing the family arrive the night before, Vince had to let out a laugh. Matt was a genius, he would be able to have his family with him and enjoy the solitude to be Taylor without anyone being able to see her. He was happy that he was taking his family seriously, too many of the superstars were barely home and those who were home weren't the best fathers to their children.

The boys were happy to see Stacy and loved meeting Vince. They put on the "I'm a cute kid" act but he didn't fall for it, causing them to get frustrated while Matt could only shake his head in disappointment. Stacy introduced them to Vince and saw the kids giving Vince big hugs, causing him to soften while doing his best to keep from appearing too soft to the crew which they didn't buy for a second.

The trio talked shop while Betty and the boys kept quiet, with Betty enjoying seeing Stacy being the big mother to the company and showing just why the women's division was her baby. Matt was just like any other writer and producer, only he enjoyed the benefit of her ear and the fact that she was able to see his ideas for what they were and fill in the gaps. Vince was the one who got the writers to get on things and make the visions come true while keeping them in a prominent role in the shows.

Matt's match wasn't much, but the storyline he was involved in was one that had fans enjoying as the heel kept trying every excuse on the book to explain how he lost to Matt only to see him lose three times in three different ways. He first lost via pinfall after Matt went for a quick pin after his opponent gloated to the crowd, then via the Muta Lock as they restarted the match and he was again gloating, finally via Matt's 450 corkscrew frog splash after a frankenssteiner causing him to angrily vow revenge but only causing him again to run afoul of his counterpart in his feud, Garnet Houston Pete.

Taylor drove for two hours before turning in at a rest area in the next state. She drove again the next morning, with Betty putting the boys through school as she worked with Vinny then helped Davis try to learn his letters and number. The drive was long but it was fun as the boys listened to Betty and did their work while earning their reward of TV time while Betty relaxed beside Taylor.

The foursome got into a groove of driving, stopping to enjoy time as a family, then settling in an RV park or highway rest area. The family driving allowed Matt to take on house shows as part of the roster and give more matches to a few of the undercard wrestlers who could use the exposure as they tried to stay on the roster. The shows were basic shows that were not meant to drive any storylines but were where the non-top tier superstars earned most of their money, letting some guys get more paychecks.

For Matt, it was no different than the GWF, SWL, and FWA again. The guys were the same kind from the indies, but with more money and a larger following. Matt got along with them more than the top tier wrestlers, most had little respect for King and were kept in place in favor of King's buddies which Matt trying to change and was appreciated by them.

Driving to the next city often gave the family a chance to get there before others so Taylor could enjoy a day or two with the family without anyone knowing. She took full advantage of this by going to parks and play places that the boys enjoyed while the couple enjoyed romantic strolls. The two would enjoy a lot of nights of passion thanks to those family days, with Betty happily enjoying the eroticism of the two reigniting their passions for one another.

It was a great time for the family, with the boys doing their best to be on their best behavior. The time went by fast as each week brought them to a different location and different crowds. By the time of the first pay-per-view event, the family was accustomed to life on the road and their new routines.

The pay-per-view didn't require Matt's attendance as a wrestler, he was there as a producer and had the role of helping the women yet again. The ladies were reluctant to work with him but Stacy put them in line with her force of will, explaining how he was the best person for the job. Her orders were not to be argued, Matt was new and young but he was respected by the producers and writers more than anyone.

The drive took a while and Matt had to fly to his next destination in preparation for the show. Betty was able to do the driving on her own, the boys were overtired so slept much of the day as she got only a few hours sleep but was still used to that thanks to her hospital experience. Matt kept Taylor from being out due to others being nearby, but he made concessions with her panties being worn to bed.

Matt's first storyline was about to unfurl as he stepped into a feud as a tag team partner in place of the injured champion contender allowing him to be in the mix for his first title but also to be utilized in the role that was tailor-made for him, that of the helper who worked with the others but wasn't seeking the glory that they were. He had a plan of action to allow him to wrestle the guy he was replacing when he returned allowing him to slip into his old job while Matt went back to his normal role. It was easy to do and required no setup, especially as the injured wrestler was a babyface like Matt.

The match was a basic tag match, but things changed when the opponents were in trouble due to one big botch making Matt and his teammate have to cover for the win allowing them to advance and face the champions while the botch was played out as an injury. Vince hated those blatant errors and for the team that committed it, they were looking at months toiling as jobbers for others until they earned their place back in the top tier. Matt wasn't looking for gold, but the storyline worked for Matt to be the tag team champion building his eventual loss of the title to his predecessor at the next pay-per-view.

The next week, Matt won the tag team title and endured the publicity of being a champion. He had to endure multiple hours of interviews with major media outlets as well as annoying questions from the dirtsheets that brought up just about everything imaginable that had nothing to do with the titles. It was annoying and he gave answers that made the media laugh while putting the offenders in their place, leading him to casually tell the reporters that he was happy to answer questions from people who were not "in bed with King Reigns" which set off a firestorm as the dirtsheets tried to deny the accusations but were shown to have been overly friendly with King for too long to not be "on the take" with him.

Matt's passive-aggressive responses were brilliant in Vince's eyes, especially as it was the truth that the dirtsheet "reporters" were fed all of their rumors by King as it made his guys look good while those he disliked or hated looked terrible. Matt was their newest target and would have been put in the line of fire by them until he gave them what they wanted- ammunition against him to bury him publicly. He didn't play along, which was infuriating them while the legitimate media got a juicy story of their own and were about to bury the dirtsheets by exposing their unethical style and true information source.

The title run came to an end after two weeks, with his former partner thanking him for making it worth the swerve even if it wasn't something anyone intended. Matt was happy to help, he had his name in the history books and was going to live on forever even if it was just a footnote in the duo's actual history. He was already recorded for all time on the pay-per-views, but the title run was even stronger history.

Taylor spent much of her drives thinking about things and after hours without speaking finally told her wife "we need to put money aside for a contingency. I'm making over $600,000 a year now and have a lot banked, but I'm getting a gut feeling that something is going to happen shortly that hurts all of us."

He had the suspicion for days as he just couldn't believe that King was truly gone nor that King would just let his wife walk away unscathed. It was going to be him or King soon and if she chose Matt he might do something to harm the GCW and Stacy, especially as he had nothing else to lose. He was already facing a divorce over his infidelities and mistreatment of the company, his next step was hurting his family by hurting Stacy through those she loved- Stacy's sons and Matt.

Stacy talked with him about his future in case he had to give up wrestling. Matt insisted on clean breaks as the pain of giving up his dream job would be too much to take. He had a career as a doctor waiting for him, but to continue as a producer and writer were too much to take.

Vince was left wondering what was going on. Stacy read between the lines and told him "he's seeing the signs. King will be back, and with dirt on him. Taylor will be exposed to the world in a last attempt to hurt Matt. Matt's protecting all of us, he's tossing away his future to protect us."

Taylor was let out as much as possible but she always kept an eye open for trouble just in case. She was in a constant state of heightened awareness, never leaving without pepper spray nor her male ID. It was a pain to do, but she had read too many horror stories about women like herself and what people would do to them if they had the chance especially overzealous deputies and police officers.

Her awareness wasn't lost on Betty. Betty tried to get her to calm herself but seeing how people gave her a lusty leer and whispered about seeing two women together she understood why Taylor was being so cautious. It was a terrible situation to be in, but it was something that they had to endure if they were going to be seen together as a couple.

After weeks of being on edge, her fears were justified as she saw someone following her and Betty as the two were out on the town with the kids. The man followed them back to their RV and disappeared, but popped up in the next city doing the same thing. She was scared of what he might do to them, he clearly wasn't a fan and was eyeing the couple for other reasons.

They went to a children's museum for several hours to let the boys burn off their excess energy, only to return to find that their RV had been broken into and Taylor's closet had been pried open. They called the police and got a sympathetic officer, the closet was explained as being Betty's and given that Taylor and she were so close in size it wasn't questioned. Matt endured two hours of questioning and having their fingerprints taken, then were told that scans came back as belonging to a private investigator who was known to have shady practices and several convictions for breaking and entering.

The man was arrested at his hotel the next morning, with several bags found that belonged to the family found in the room. He was caught in a bind and quickly gave up his employer, telling the officers that he was hired by King Reigns to get dirt on Matt Simpson and if need be ensure that he did something to be used against him by King. King had paid him good money to break into the RV and follow Matt, ensuring that whatever he found was sent to him and paid for him to take the legal hit even if it meant having a criminal record.

Matt knew the jig was up. They were on the final push towards Wrestlecade and King was going to put him out of the GCW and the wrestling world for good. King had nothing left to lose, when he finally went after Matt he was doing it with the intent of making himself a fortune- even if Matt's life was ruined in the process.