Karlos Krap

Raw; September 3rd, 2012

Karlos Charisma stood in front of the backstage monitor, arms crossed over his chest as he rolled his brown eyes. A smirk rested on his lips as he watched Austin Blake, his "rookie" and tag team partner, as he enjoyed himself at the commentary table. As the Latin Superstar continued watching the monitor a figure caught his attention through the corner of his eye.

"David... ah, scratch that, Mr. Otunga." the veteran Superstar called out as he walked over to the Harvard Law School graduate.

The legal adviser to the former general manager looked at the approaching man with a scowl, still bitter about their last encounter. "Karlos."

"Oh, come on." Karlos scoffed lightly. "Mr. Otunga, let's let bygones be bygones... Besides, I'm in need of your services."

"I already have a client."

"I know that. I just thought that someone of your caliber could handle more than one case at a time..."

"Now hold on a second, I never said that I couldn't. What exactly do you have in mind?" asked the Harvard-educated Superstar as he straightened his bow tie.

The now-former Tag Team Champion smirked. "Let's set up a meeting. You bring the knowledge and I'll supply the coffee."

"You've got a deal, Mr. Charisma."

And with that the two men shook hands and began walking down the halls of the Allstate Arena as Raw went to commercial.

********

SmackDown!; September 7th, 2012

The SmackDown broadcast faded from ringside commentary to a shot of General Manager, Booker T’s office. The five-time WCW World Champion sat on one of the leather couches, a phone pressed to his ear as he engaged in a serious conversation with an unknown individual. Mid-sentence, a series of loud knocks resounded around the room. Booker T gave an exasperated sigh when Karlos Charisma and Austin Blake, collectively known as Sexy Charisma, walked into the makeshift office.

“Let me get back to ya later, dawg.” And with that, the SmackDown GM ended his phone conversation to focus on the former tag team champions. “Ya know, you could have waited for me to let you in…”

“Oh, c’mon Booker, you of all people should know that time is money. Besides, you were the one to call us to your office. I at least hope it involves some sort of match to get us back in the title picture, which we were so unjustly removed from.”

"'Unjustly removed from'? Is that really how you see it?"

"Absolutely. How else can it be described?"

"Necessary." The blue brand's GM looked between the two as he spoke. "Your actions, following that attitude change you two suffer from, were completely disrespectful to the entire tag team division. As such, I have come to an agreement with the board of directors. Sexy Charisma... you are banned from the tag team division until new champions are crowned."

Cheers could be heard from the Moline, Illinois crowd as the two members of Sexy Charisma fumed over the decision.

Booker huffed as he waited for the team before him to settle down some. And that's when he noticed something odd. Though fuming, the younger of the two Superstars said virtually nothing. "And what's up with you dawg? Cat got your tongue?"

Austin snorted, violently rolling his eyes before he answered though gritted teeth, "I've been advised by a good friend of mine, a lawyer mind you, to hold my tongue."

"That actually brings me to my next point." Karlos paused, composing himself while patting his partner's shoulder before continuing. "As you may or may not know I have enlisted the help of WWE's very own Harvard Law School graduate, David Otunga. He'd be here right now but, considering he has a match earlier tonight, he's a bit indisposed. But prior to his grueling match he had advised us to take some time off and detach ourselves from this unjust system. And considering the circumstances presented to us, I guess we have no choice. Just remember this Booker, without us, the tag team division is pathetic."

Pinching the bridge of his nose, the former King of the Ring went on to give another message to the former champions. "Listen, as much as I would love to just get rid of the two of you right now and end this conversation, I do have one more thing to say two you. Considering you two are the former champions--"

"Still the champions considering we never lost the title..." Austin muttered under his breath, earning a glare from the general manager.

"Former champions, the board has allowed you to make a match for the vacant titles. The winners of which will be allowed to choose which titles they want to keep, the old titles which the two of you brought back or a version of the ones you two destroyed."

"Wow. We get to choose who we'll eventually take those titles back from. Yay." sarcasm oozed from every word Austin spoke.

Booker shot at the young star, "I thought you were advised to hold your tongue boy?"

Said star merely looked away from the GM, biting the inside of his cheek so not to truly speak his mind.

"I'll expect you two to decide on the match and announce it later tonight."

The two Superstars scoffed before taking their leave and exiting the office.

******

SmackDown was well underway, already in it's second hour when the familiar tune of Shinedown's "Junkies for Fame" played through the arena's speaker system. The night's crowd showered the team of Sexy Charisma in boos as they walked onto the stage, microphones in hand.

Austin was the first to speak, having had enough of holding his tongue (for the most part) in the general manager's presence. "First we get stripped of the titles that we made relevant again. Then we're banned from tag team competition until new champions are crowned. And to top it all off we have to make the match that determines the new champions. Isn't that peachy."

Karlos stepped forward to address the crowd. "But you know what the problem is about making just one match?"

"No Karlos, what is the problem with making just one match?"

"It's forgettable! Especially since every team this day and age is forgettable to begin with." The Mexican Superstar rolled his eyes at the crowd's boos and continued. "So Austin and I got to thinking, something I'm sure all of you here in Moline have a hard time doing, and we've come up with an even better idea than making just one match."

"And before you even come out here Booker, we've already cleared it with the board of directors. Which is apparently the only way to get things done around this insane asylum. Honestly, this place is worse than Arkham."

The elder Superstar nodded in agreement before continuing. "As I was saying. We've come up with an even better idea. Why bother with giving you all one boring match when we can still contribute to this suffering division and offer you a tag team tournament?" A series of cheers were heard from the Moline crowd following their series of boos in response to the insult from Karlos earlier.

Austin stepped up to the microphone once more (so to speak). "So here's the deal, starting next Monday on Raw all the way though to Night of Champions, a series of tag team matches will be held to determine the the top two teams left in this pathetic division. They will then go on to compete at Night of Champions for our rightful titles. After which Sexy Charisma will be back to claim what's rightfully ours."

"But for now, we're going on a long deserved vacation."

"Disneyland here we come."

And with that the the dynamic duo know as Sexy Charisma walked off the stage as "Junkies For Fame" once more played through the arena's speaker system.

********

SmackDown!; November 23rd

Carlos Belmonte sat backstage with one of the members of the production crew, getting a full preview of the video package that would be playing before his match later that night on the show.

******

A quick snippet of The Offspring's cover of "O.C. Life" played as the crowd was both a mix of cheers and boos. A slow motion shot of Karlos Charisma walking down the ramp followed.

"Karlos Charisma is back ladies and gentlemen, and does he look ready for business." the voice of JBL was overlaid on the slow motion shot.

A microphone was in the man's hands as he stood in the middle of the ring, casually dressed. "Over the last few weeks I've had match upon match with a series of tag team partners." A series of clips from his previous bouts were shown as the Mexican Superstar spoke. "And the ones that didn't cost me the matches were out right pathetic. Curt Hawkins. Justin Gabriel. Alex Riley. Hunico. Johnny Curtis. Every single one was a waste of my time. It actually reminds my of a tag partner I once had, you might remember him, a nerd that thought he was sexy?" Another set of clips was shown, a mix between his most current bouts and some from past Sexy Charisma matches. "I really thought I could make something of him. But I guess I was wrong. Not every charity case is worthwhile."

A final series of clips of Sexy Charisma was shown, both from their face and heel days, before being quickly played in reverse and fading to black as Karlos Charisma's final words were echoed.

"Not every charity case is worthwhile."

******

"O.C. Life" faded out as the bell rang. Karlos Charisma was a completely changed man and this match was just the first step to it all....