A new beginning
[FADE IN. Karl is standing on the outside of a wrestling ring, watching two trainees going at it in the ring. The cameraman coughs slightly, distracting him. Karl turns to face the camera, revealing a plain white T-shirt through his open, standard jacket]
Karl: [reading the name on the cameraman’s shirt] Empire Pro? Ah, I was wondering when you guys would get here. Give me a couple of minutes; I have to keep an eye on these two.
[The camera pans round to show the two trainees. After almost a minute, one of them manages to make the other tap out, and the camera turns back to Karl, who is applauding]
Karl: Excellent, guys. Keep up the work; you’ll make it someday. [Turning to the camera]
Now, where were we? Ah, yes, you probably want me to talk about my upcoming match with Mike Diamond, right? Well, hope you don’t mind if I talk a bit about what I have in store for Empire first.
You see, following the closure of MCW, I’ve been waiting anxiously for the moment to step foot in the ring again. I look through the Empire roster, and I see some very familiar names; Christian Sands, Rocko Daymon, Adam Benjamin… all guys I’ve wrestled in the past. Three guys I was set to appear with at a Ballistic taping in a tag match. But that’s the past now. MCW has unfortunately gone, but now I have a whole new set of challenges to meet. Beast, Dan Ryan… the list goes on and on. Some great talent is here in Empire, and I’m looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead. I know a lot of the guys have a reputation in this business for their excellence in the ring. I’m going to enjoy seeing how I measure up against some of the greats in this industry, and also to facing a few familiar faces in a new environment.
Which brings me to my first opponent in this new company, Mike Diamond, a man coming back from an injury he suffered at the hands of Andrew Dalton. I’ve only seen him in action a couple of times, and I must say, I was fairly impressed by what I saw. He’s certainly got the skills to succeed, and I know he’s tough; he did, after all, take two of Dalton’s finishing moves before he lost. As I recall, that was the second time those two fought in MCW, and the score ended up one a piece. Should be an interesting experience.
Taking nothing away from you though, Mike, I can’t see you defeating me this week at Aggression. You’re coming back from a neck injury. I had a couple of those in my rugby career as a kid, and I know how long it takes to heal. Not only your neck, but also the fact you’ve been out of active wrestling competition for a bit now. If this was a chess match, you’d have one up on me, but I’ve been wrestling week in, week out, and since MCW closed, I’ve been keeping myself healthy and in good ring condition. Yes, I took a huge fall through the top of the Mayhem Mountain whilst in MCW, but I still kept going. So, in terms of recent in ring experience, I have the slightest of advantages. Yes, I know that it only takes one mistake to lose a match, but I don’t intend to make that one mistake. I know you’re going to say the same.
Trainer: [From out of shot] Hey, Karl, how’s about working with Alex here? He needs a good match
Karl: [calling to the trainer] Sure, just let me wrap this up. [To the camera] Well, this is an exciting time. A new company, new challenges, the chance to settle a few old scores, and the chance to surpass myself. Mike, I hope you’re at one hundred percent at Aggression; I’m looking forward to a great match.
[With that, Karl takes his jacket off, climbs into the ring, and locks up with his training partner. FADE OUT]