(FADEIN: He strokes his bearded jaw with the right hand. He leans back crosses the right leg over the left. ALEX AUSTIN lays across a matted floor, perhaps an hour or two after his last training session, and looks up at the ceiling with one hand behind his head)
AUSTIN: We live in a world...
...where bad consistently triumphs over good. Wrongs are righted less than their written. Model athletes are overshadowed, time and again, by scumbags looking for a payday. Shawn Hart, I look at you and see the posterboy of this bad joke they call PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING.
Let me tell you what I AM. Top ten world submission grappler, HANDS DOWN. I mean it's not even up for debate. I placed top 3 at the Worlds, won gold in my weight class at Mundials, received an invite to The Abu Dhabi Combat Club submission grappling tournament.
That's pedigree, Shawn. Serious f*cking pedigree. You couldn't even BEGIN to fathom the ways I could hurt you. End your career, in fact. Pop of the knee here, separation of the shoulder there...broken arm, broken foot.
(Sits up)
Look, I'm just going to come out and say it. This whole industry, this PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING...it's a g*ddamn joke. You guys run around here spitting out catch-phrases, dressed in clown's attire, doing backflips and somersaults and all kinds of stupid crap that makes me shake my head and wonder, why the HELL anyone would pay a ticket to see that. You're glorified acrobats, plain and simple. And that's not what I'M about.
I feel that if you're gonna call yourself a professional, you should ACT LIKE ONE. You should display mastery inside that ring. Apply moves with such grace and efficiency that those who watch will be inspired to go and learn it themselves. Instead, little kids are paralyzing each other on trampolines trying to be the next Shawn Hart.
Don't get me wrong, I USED TO really care about that stuff. Now? Good riddance. If you're dumb enough to wanna be like Shawn Hart, I HOPE you break your neck. I hope it's a short life for ya, truly I do. One less idiot.
But what I won't have is for some bastardized carnival grappling to continue to PROFIT and PROSPER by making believe it's somehow ON THE LEVEL with what EYE do. This time, the good guys are going to win. I'm going to climb into the circus maximus and embarrass every single one of you, and highlight REAL ATH-LETES like myself.
When I make you tap a former "World Champion" like yourself in under a minute, Shawn, this whole INDUSTRY will be exposed for the joke it is and always was. And then the people can properly EXPERIENCE Alex Austin when they buy a ticket to see Grappler's Quest, or order the ADCC championships on DVD. Alex Austin versus PROFESSIONALS. Alex Austin versus WORLD MASTERS. Alex Austin- gold medalist, world champion.
Alex Austin is a champion among champions and masters. So what the f*ck do you think I am amongst carnies and hustlers like you?
Don't answer that. You don't have to. What you DO need to ask yourself, though, is if your ego can handle the humiliation. Because I don't think it can.
Take comfort, Shawn. I'm not here to make an example of just you. There's more to come- A LOT more. From Alex Austin- WORLD CHAMPION. WORLD MASTER. CHAMPION ATH-LETE.
(FADEOUT)