The penthouse suite of Davenport Holdings sits forty-seven floors above Birmingham's glittering skyline. Floor-to-ceiling windows frame the city like a painting. At the same time, three massive monitors glow against mahogany walls—one showing ICW social media feeds, another replaying highlights from tonight's show, the third tracking financial markets that never sleep. Crystal decanters catch the city lights. The custom UTA Trust Fund Tag Team Championships rest in a climate-controlled display case, spotlights illuminating the white crocodile leather and gold plates, which gleam like artifacts in a museum.

Todderick Davenport III loosens his paisley dinner jacket and pours three fingers of Macallan 25 into a lead crystal tumbler. The ice clinks with the sound of money. He's still riding the high of orchestrating a perfect evening—every variable accounted for, every outcome favorable to Trust Fund interests.

TD3: (settling into his leather chair, raising the glass)
Gentlemen... to liquidity.

The Rich Young Grapplerz are sprawled across the Italian leather sectional, still in their tailored suits but with ties loosened and sleeves rolled up. Jacoby scrolls through his phone while Darian operates a tablet, both monitoring the digital pulse of their performance.

JACOBY: (without looking up)
Twitter's melting down. #TrustFundChamps is trending in Birmingham. Half the marks are big mad about us "stealing" championships, the other half are calling us the future of tag team wrestling.

DARIAN: (tapping the tablet screen)
Instagram engagement is through the roof. The coronation photos are getting more interactions than anything ICW has posted in weeks. We're not just heels—we're premium content.

TD3 takes a satisfied sip, his eyes drifting to the monitor showing tonight's main event replay. Eric Dane Jr. is frozen on the top rope, distracted by the New Untouchables, while Jesse Collins rolls him up for the upset victory.

TD3:
Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. The Crown Prince had his moment of glory in his grasp—the Stardriver Three locked and loaded—and our... associates... reminded him that attention is a finite resource.

JACOBY: (finally looking up)
Daniels and Rothlesberger played it perfect. No contact, no disqualification, just pure psychological warfare. Junior lost focus for one second and paid the ultimate price.

DARIAN:
And meanwhile, Princess Parker is probably still pounding on that locker room door. (chuckles) You think she figured out it was a setup?

TD3 swivels his chair toward the window, Birmingham spread out below like his personal kingdom. The Foundry's lights are barely visible in the distance—a small, gritty venue that houses dreams he intends to own.

TD3:
Oh, she knows. Graysie Parker isn't stupid—just predictable. She wants to play the noble champion, the defender of wrestling's honor. But honor doesn't pay dividends, gentlemen. Control does.

He stands, moving to the display case containing their newly minted championships. His reflection fragments across the protective glass.

TD3:
Look at these. (gesturing to the belts) Not handed to us by some arbitrary authority. Not won in some contrived tournament. Earned through vision, execution, and capital investment. We saw a gap in the market and filled it with a superior product.

JACOBY:
The escrow system is genius. Teams actually have to put something valuable on the line just for the privilege of losing to us.

DARIAN: (pulling up a spreadsheet on his tablet)
I've been running projections. If we charge reasonable rates—say, 15% of their guaranteed purse plus merchandise percentages—we could generate revenue streams from every title defense. Win or lose, we profit.

TD3: (turning back to them)
Lose? (laughs) Darian, we don't operate in markets where losing is a variable. We create certainty. We manufacture outcomes.

The social media monitor chimes with a notification. Jacoby glances over.

JACOBY: Oh, this is rich. Some blogger just posted a thinkpiece called "The Trust Fund Problem: When Money Corrupts Wrestling." They're calling us a "cancer on the sport's integrity."

DARIAN: (snorting)
Cancer? We're chemotherapy. Wrestling's been dying a slow death from nostalgia and false authenticity. We're the cure.

TD3 returns to his chair, fingers steepled as he watches the main event replay loop again. Eric Dane Jr.'s frustration, Jesse Collins' shocked celebration, the New Untouchables' mocking applause.

TD3:
The beautiful thing about tonight—and I mean this genuinely—is that we didn't need to get our hands dirty. We simply created conditions where our enemies destroyed themselves. Junior's pride made him vulnerable. The Untouchables' pettiness made them tools. Parker's... romantic complications... made her easy to manipulate.

JACOBY:
Speaking of which, what's our next move with the lovebirds? We've got Parker locked up and Junior humiliated. Do we press the advantage?

DARIAN: (pulling up another screen)
The tag tournament bracket is wide open. Brothers Gluck advanced; that unholy alliance of Reichert and Vaughn moved on. If we time our entry correctly, we could walk into the finals as fresh as morning portfolios.

TD3 swirls his whiskey, ice catching the light like diamonds.

TD3:
Patience, gentlemen. Great investments require time to mature. Junior will want blood after tonight—his pride demands it. Parker will want revenge for the embarrassment. Let them come to us desperate and angry. Desperate people make poor negotiations.

JACOBY:
And in the meantime?

TD3: (standing, moving to the windows)
In the meantime, we continue upgrading the product. I'm thinking... a Trust Fund Invitational. Bring in talent from other promotions, charge premium ticket prices, donate a tax-deductible percentage to charity. Good publicity, better networking opportunities, and we position ourselves as industry leaders rather than mere wrestlers.

DARIAN: (typing notes)
I love it. We're not just competing in their sandbox—we're building a better beach.

The replay monitor switches to highlights from their coronation ceremony. The two Rich Young Grapplerz raising the championships, the string quartet, and the museum-quality presentation. Even on screen, it looks more legitimate than half the title changes in wrestling history.

JACOBY:
You know what the best part is? We actually are that good. Strip away the money, the suits, the business model—we'd still be championship material. We're not buying success; we're properly pricing it.

TD3: (raising his glass again)
Exactly. We're not cheating the system—we're optimizing it. And optimization is what separates markets from chaos.

A soft chime indicates a new message on TD3's phone. He glances at it, smiles.

TD3:
Interesting. Eric Dane Sr. returns to commentary next week. The Kingpin himself, back from his involuntary vacation courtesy of Chris Ross.

DARIAN:
Think he'll have something to say about what we did to his precious son?

TD3: (setting down his phone)
I'm counting on it. Nothing legitimizes new money like old money's disapproval. When the ICW establishment comes for us, it proves we're doing something right.

JACOBY: (stretching)
So what's the timeline? 

TD3 moves back to the championship display, placing one hand against the glass. The belts seem to glow brighter under his touch.

TD3:
When the moment provides maximum return on investment. Not a second before, not a second after. Trust Fund doesn't chase opportunities—we create them.

DARIAN: (closing his tablet)
Well, gentlemen, tonight was a masterclass in market manipulation. The coronation was flawless, the trap was executed perfectly, and our brand value just skyrocketed.

JACOBY: (standing, stretching)
Birmingham's about to learn what happens when you let real professionals into the wrestling business.

TD3 turns from the display case, his reflection multiplied in the window glass behind him—three versions of the same calculating smile.

TD3:
Gentlemen, tonight wasn't just the successful execution of a business plan. Tonight was a hostile takeover. Iron City Wrestling just got... upgraded.

He finishes his whiskey in one smooth motion, the empty glass catching the city lights one final time.

TD3:
Same time next week?

JACOBY & DARIAN: (in unison)
Wouldn't miss it for the world.

The monitors continue cycling through social media reactions, highlight reels, and market analyses as Birmingham sleeps below, unaware that their wrestling promotion has just been acquired by forces beyond their understanding.