The FFW logo appears on the screen before “Focus” by Ariana Grande begins to play. Then we see the studio being set up, the glass table sat in the center being cleaned, two cups sat on opposite sides of the table. Next we see Zack Hudson tying his shoes and checking himself in the mirror before he heads out to the set as a producer puts a microphone on his shirt before sitting down. When he looks across, we next see the various women who make up FFW and Future Shock flash by in images from their career until it finally stops on Cody Kincaid.
The next shot takes us into the familiar Focus studio and finds Zack sitting across from Cody at the glass table with two coffee cups set in front of them. Zack greets the viewers from there.
Zack: Welcome to another edition of Focus, where we try to get to know the talented men and mostly women behind everything you see in FFW. Today, I’m joined by Cody Kincaid, who was here from the earliest days of the company. Day one really, and that’s about when the rollercoaster began, wasn’t it?
Zack turns his attention back to a nodding Cody.
Cody: That’s about right, yeah. A whole lot of ups and downs from that day, but I’m sure we’ll get to it all before it’s over. I know you always like to start with the parents, right?
Zack: Hey, you’ve been watching the show! That’s exactly right.
Cody: Of course, I watch the show. Haven’t missed one. Well my parents are James and Natalie Kincaid. I grew up in Fort Lauderdale with Christian, who happens to manage several talents between both of the rosters. He’s the older one of the two of us by 4 years. I had a pretty close relationship with both parents. More my dad than mom though, because our interests weren’t very aligned. He loved sports, particularly basketball. She didn’t care about them at all. I ended up joining my high school basketball team as a point guard. Christian was more into wrestling and had a penchant for liking awful movies. Still does to this day.
Zack: I know that name, Natalie, rings a bell. But she was never at a show, was she?
Cody: No. It’s probably because of a team called the Blondetourage who came through a few years back and wanted to rename Scarlett that and get her to go blonde. She was fairly opposed to the idea, and certainly didn’t want to share the name with my mom. I don’t imagine most wives or girlfriends want their men to associate them with their mother.
Zack: Yeah, I can see how that might make it a little awkward in a few situations. Were you a good student?
Cody: Lord no. I barely got my diploma and ended up taking a course or two twice. I’ve always been terrible with numbers, and I was a bit of a mess anyway. Always in trouble, even got kicked out of the house. I’m lucky I got where I am today when you look at those days.
Zack: I’ve come to find that your education often doesn’t make a huge difference on whether or not you achieve success in life. You said your brother was into wrestling, were you?
Cody: Not really. I mean I would sit and watch some of the stuff he did. Then he started wanting to become one after meeting one as a bouncer at a club. Then I got dragged along to a lot of shows because he wanted me to go. Met a few of the girls involved in the sport. They got me more involved than he did, because as you know, the majority of women who compete are usually in terrific shape and I was about 19 at the time so…
Cody shrugged his shoulders with a smile as Zack continued.
Zack: Yeah, I think I know what you mean. Been there myself. Is that how you ended up meeting Samantha Star?
Cody: Pretty much. Christian got a contract with a company called EWC, and I went to several of their shows. They had a women’s brand called Velocity, coincidentally why I ended up naming our second show after it. But Samantha ran that, and I got to talking with her during those shows and we built a good rapport. So when she decided to leave and start FFW, she asked me if I would work for her. She said the fact that I wasn’t an industry veteran made me more valuable and that she felt she could trust me more not to try to undermine her. I really had nothing else going on in my life of great importance and could use a stable income. So the next thing you know, I’m second in command of a little fledgling women’s wrestling promotion that has turned into…
He looked around at the studio and gestured with his hands.
Cody: It turned into all this 14 years later. Turned out to be another rollercoaster ride, but it’s where I met my future wife so I’d say the good outweighed the bad, to say the least.
Zack: I imagine that was a lot to take on, especially considering you had no prior experience dealing with talent in the wrestling business.
Cody: It was, but I thought I knew everything. What I ended up doing for a while was leaning heavily on Samantha for insight into how to handle situations. Admittedly she made a lot of decisions and I just took credit for them so people wouldn’t think I was a pushover. I learned quickly though, and the biggest idea I can say was all my own was a show idea I had called Future Shock.
That brought a grin to Zack’s face.
Zack: I’d say it’s certainly flourished since then.
Cody: I was really into reality television at the time, and the show I founded became a whole other animal compared to now. It was just a low budget show to drive traffic to the website. Now it’s a multi-million dollar arm of FFW that draws in hundreds of thousands of people a year to shows and millions more watching on television. I can’t take credit for that entirely, because Adam had a major hand in overseeing that growth.
Zack: What made you decide to leave FFW after a few years?
Cody: Well… If you had asked me then, I would have told you it was ambition. I really wanted to run my own promotion. After the years as Samantha’s right hand, so to speak, I felt like I was ready and I knew she wasn’t going to let me just have FFW or buy it from her. That’s why I was pretty sure the whole thing with Stryfe this year was going to go bust. I was sure I could do it. Asking me now, the answer would be a case of arrogance on my part because we all know how that went when I went to SVW and ended up running it.
Zack: SVW closed at the end of 2021, as most already know, under your leadership. What did that feel like?
It was at this point that it was clear that Cody was having a bit more trouble with his answers to the questions. He looked down at the glass table for a moment as Zack waited patiently before finally beginning.
Cody: It…ruined me, Zack. I spent all those years… all those years thinking I could do it and it just got to be too much. I was trying to do everything, trying to micromanage on every level just like I’d seen Samantha do it while I was in FFW. And… it was too much. It started to crack under that kind of pressure. I was second guessing myself privately. To have to admit I was in over my head was brutal. To have to sell SVW to FFW because I lead the company into the position it fell into..
He shook his head as he looked down to his hands.
Cody: I mean I could blame other people for this or that. But everything ran through me, so I took it all on myself as the reason SVW isn’t open today. I blamed myself. I do it now. To have to let all those talented men and women know that it was over as far as SVW went…especially the ones who had been there from the start….it wrecked me. I didn’t want to do anything after that. I didn’t want to face anyone. I had zero confidence in myself, so I pretty much went into seclusion outside of friends and family
Zack: Watching the shows, I could tell it was changing you into someone I didn’t recognize anymore. I think the one who saw it most was Adam, who until that point had been one of your best friends.
Cody: He was, and that’s a relationship I wrecked. I treated him very poorly, it’s something i regret to this day. I know I’ve apologized more than once, but I can’t say I blame him for not trusting me to this point. I hope that will change one day though. He swore he’d never work under me again anywhere, he meant it. Now the tables will be turned in the new year, and hopefully I’ll still be able to prove to him that I’m not just an asset to the company but can still be a friend too. It’s part of why I wanted to come back to FFW, Zack. I wanted to rebuild the image I had tarnished in the last days of SVW. I didn’t want to be remembered by fans and colleagues for those days. It was a chance at redemption honestly. And I couldn’t be happier to be here having that chance. It’s like coming home again.
Zack appeared hesitant to bring up the next topic he wanted to discuss.
Zack: Now…one thing that happened last year.. I don’t know if you want to talk about it. If you don’t, it’s fine and we’ll just edit this out of the show like it never happened. You’ve told me about it but I don’t know if it’s something you want to share. It’s fine if you don’t.
Cody was silent at this point, almost seemingly frozen in place before he finally nodded his head.
Zack: Alright. If you change your mind, we’ll cut it out in post. Do you want to tell everyone about the shooting this year?
More silence from Cody. Zack was about to speak up after a few seconds until Cody began talking.
Cody: I saw…I was witness to a shooting inside a mall. There was a lunatic looking for….
He looked away from the table for a moment.
Cody: My brother and I were heading to a bookstore… We heard shots being fired after we had separated. Next thing I know, there’s a gunman walking around shooting people randomly. One was a mother…who was trying to get away with her daughter. He shot her in front of her daughter, and…
The words got caught in his throat as Cody looked away again. He shut his eyes tightly and pressed his fingers against his face.
Zack: We don’t have to talk about this, Cody.
Cody held up his other hand, silently asking for a moment to which Zack obliged.
Cody: It’s something I’ll never forget. It’s etched into my brain for the rest of my life, Zack. I was lucky not to be one of the victims that afternoon. I just think sometimes it should have been…
Another pause follows before he rubs his face again, causing Zack to continue.
Zack: Listen, just let me know and we’ll cut this out before it airs.
He looked towards the camera next. Meanwhile, Cody was wiping his eyes and face as he was trying to pull himself together.
Zack: This will be the jump point if Cody doesn’t want this aired.
Then he turned his attention back to Cody with a half smile on his face.
Zack: As someone who has been put into a similar position that the new CEO is in now, do you have any words of wisdom as someone who has been there before?
Cody: Yeah. Don’t do everything yourself. FFW has a large staff who are all there for the same purpose: to see it grow and prosper. Don’t try to do everything on your own, it doesn’t end well. At least it didn’t for me. Lean on people. Lean on your executive team. Lean on the office staff. Lean on your wife. Don’t try to carry it all on your shoulders. That’s my only concern for Adam. If he can do those things, I think he’ll make the company bigger than it’s ever been. I have full faith in him and his vision for the future. I just want him to be sure he doesn’t try to do everything himself.
Zack: I think that’s excellent advice for absolutely anyone. I want to thank my guest today, Cody Kincaid, for joining me on this edition of Focus. It’s been a pleasure getting to sit down and talk with you like this.
The host reached across the table and shook Cody’s hand before patting him on the shoulder with the other hand. Zack resumed his seat before he continued.
Zack: Coming up on Focus, I’ll be having more of the talent from both FFW and Future Shock joining me, and thank you for watching here on FFW All Access. Coming up soon will be Jamie Winters, Gwen Margolis, Vivi Traeger, and Lilly Arthur. I’m looking forward to talking with all of them. I’ll see you next time and happy holidays to our fans around the world.
A happy holidays graphic shows on the screen before the credits roll and Focus fades to black on FFW All Access.
