The Champ is Here!

Wrestlers filled the balcony. Some sat quietly, nursing an injury or a loss. Others cheered and celebrated. Rugged Robbie V, wearing his newly won championship belt, was atop a table, cheerfully demonstrating martial arts type kicks. “Be careful up there champ!” called out Mr. Cantiflas.

Robbie grinned back. “Yes sir Mr. Bossman!”

We moved through the crowd, past masked men, martial artists, and French-Canadians. A table near the bar was empty and we sat there. Jaz breezed by, playfully mussed my hair, and took Mr. Cantiflas' drink order.

Casually, Robbie jumped from his table, over an entire table full of drinks and wrestlers, to land in the aisle next to our table. If I make this action sound simple, well, it looked like it was for Robbie. The skill involved to create enough power to clear a table and people, while yet controlling himself in order to land in a space that was perhaps only two foot square is impressive. That's not a big target to hit.

“I didn't mean anything by being on the table Bossman,” Robbie explained. “I admit I was showing off a bit but you want your champ to be skilled, right?” A big grin formed on his face. “Cause, I mean, you don't want some muscular lunkhead with no charisma up as the leader, the ... figurehead!, that's the word, of your company. You want someone smooth and slick. That's what you got in me, Rugged Robbie V.”

“He's a confident man,” I noted to Mr. Cantiflas.

“Hey,” Robbie noted, “it's not bragging if you can back it up.”

“And you can,” I agreed.

“That's why I'm the champ,” he responded. Quickly, Mr. Cantiflas officially introduced us. “Oh man, you know El Pantera Plata? Does he ever, like, talk to you?”

“Occasionally.”

“And you've never been a worker, right?” Robbie checked. I confirmed that I'd never wrestled, only watched others wrestle. “Man, you're, like, my new hero. I've wrestled El Pantera Plata and he barely talks to me. He's quiet.”

As Robbie sat himself at our table, I stated “El Pantera Plata is a bit shy I think. Luckily for him, being silent works well with his tough guy persona.”

Cantiflas nodded as he swallowed some of his beverage. “This is true. He has been my friend for many years but he can be very quiet when he's around people he's not familiar with well.”

“What you should do is approach him with someone that he's already familiar with, like Mr. Cantiflas,” I recommended. “Then he'll relax and you'll start to hear his stories.”

Like this one.