The scene opens showing a lowly lit gym with a wrestling mat on the floor. A single spot light shines in the middle of the mat. You hear the door open and a figure walks in through the shadows. As the figure moves into the light, his features become apparent and you realize that the figure is Kurt Angle. A fast paced music with heavy drums beings to play as the scene cuts between Angle performing different amateur wrestling moves and stances on the mat. The change in scene is choreographed with the music. Cut scenes of Angle's previous profession wrestling matches are spliced between the gym setting, highlighting high impact moves and big moment's from Angle's career. The music tempo raises as the scenes begin changing quicker to match. The drums become louder with the quickening tempo until a loud strike ends the music and the scene shows an Angle Slam in slow motion. Another loud drum beat strikes and the scene changes to Angle holding onto an opponent's ankle, locking in his signature submission with extreme emotion on his face. Two more drum beats strike as the scene cuts back to the gym, the camera quickly panning around Angle who has both arms crossed. Quickly, everything cuts to black as white lettering appears on screen:
TONIGHT
June 10th, 2013. EBWF Warfare. Tonight is a night unlike any other. Tonight marks the return of some of EBWF's biggest names and, perharps, the start of another superstar adding his name to that list. Tonight marks the beginning of the path that undoubtedly cements any man's name in the pantheon of professional wrestling history. Tonight marks the beginning of a journey to a title so prestigious, it turns superstars into Icons. Tonight, we start the King Of The Ring Tournament. A tournament that hundreds have entered and fought for, shed blood for, and shorten their careers for only to fall short. Only 9 men have earned the right to call themself EBWF King Of The Ring, and tonight 32 men compete to add their name to that list. Tonight marks transformation from greatness to legend.
The Air Canada Center is electric as fans being to file in and find their way to their seats. The line outside the arena nearly wrapped around it's entirety, some fans arriving as early as 5 hours before the show started. They knew that with an EBWF show, there would be plenty of activity from the beginning. You can hear the dull roar of conversation from all patrons wondering what will unfold in the next few hours. As conversations commence, the house lights suddenly drop to darkness. The titan tron lights up and shows a man bouncing in a dimly lit ring. A note plays through the PA and the fans immediately come alive as the recognize the note to be the beginning to Kurt Angle's TNA theme music. But, instead of the rest of his theme, the note seamlessly transitions to a remix of Chevelle's "Forfeit." A spotlight encases the entrance in white light as professional wrestling's only Olympic Gold Medalist, Kurt Angle enters onto the stage. The house lights raise a bit and red, white, and blue spotlights circle the arena. The crowd are ecstatic at the return of the superstar, but some begin to remember his past especially with The EBWF. Which Kurt Angle are they seeing in front of them? The uncertainty translates into their cheers, but they are mostly drowned out by the marks who still yell for this return. Angle is wearing a black and gold version of his wrestling singlet and a black zipped hoodie with the sleeves cut off and hood down. Across his shoulder is draped an American flag which possibly also adds to the Canadian's crowd unrest. He makes his way down to the ring where a microphone is awaiting him. The house lights turn back up and his theme music stops.
Kurt Angle: It's been a while since I've stood in a ring that had The EBWF written on the pads and skirts. But it's also been a long time since I've had a clear viewpoint on my future in relation to the world of professional wrestling. As many of you know, I spent most of last year on a journey to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Summer games. That was a journey that was ultimately cut short by an injury. And, I'm not going to lie, I was pretty pissed off. So, I spent the following few months trying to take my frustration out on anything I could get my hands on, fighting my way through different promotions in an attempt to get back what I'd lost. Only, I didn't know what I'd lost.
I thought I did. I thought I lost the standings amongst the world as THE guy. And I thought that if I just fought as much as I could, I would regain it. It's funny, failure can change the very nature of a man. And, when I finally took the time to look at myself in the mirror, I knew that's exactly what happen. I had to admit that I failed and I was at a crossroads. I had to make the decision on whether my failure would mark an ending or a beginning. Because you see, failure is only as powerful as the what you allow it to be. When failure overtakes a man, the easiest thing to do is to quit. That's what the majority of men do. That's what each and every one of you would do. (the crowd begins to boo at this remark) That's right, boo. Because that's the type of response that a failure gives. I failed, but I am not a failure. I refuse to allow one event dictate my life.
But I do learn from it. And now I have a clear vision on the accomplishment that is most important to me. And that is Greatness. And yes, when this is later played on TV, the closed caption people better capitalize Greatness, but it is a noun. It is a name that I will make synonymous with Kurt Angle, because that is what I am. And the way that I am going to show each and everyone of you what Greatness looks like You see is by winning the EBWF King Of The Ring.
Now, many of my fellow superstars may come out here and tell you that it's their destiny to win The King Of The Ring, but that's bull crap. Destiny is not real. Fate is not real. What's real are the choices you make at the events put forth in your life and those choices build toward an end result. A result that's not predetermine, but created from preparation and skill. And there is nobody in the back that has more of that than yours truly. Especially, not Bully Ray
The was a mixed reaction from the crowd at the mention of Angle's first round opponent, but no side showed a majority.
Kurt Angle: It's funny, your reaction to his name shows exactly what Bully Ray is: mediocre. Bully Ray is a man who has been in the business for close to 20 years but really has nothing to show for it except a few scars and Tag Team titles. That's right I said Tag Team Titles. A belt that he couldn't even win my himself but instead needed the help of his so called brother to obtain. He's had his popularity, but that isn't the measuring stick of greatness. To tell the truth, popularity doesn't mean a damn thing in the grand scheme of things. The easiest thing in this business is to come out here and gets these puppets to cheer for you. (more boos from the crowd and Angle smiles to himself) And it's just as easy to get them to boo. Go ahead, dance monkeys. Dance! (The boos get louder as the majority of the arena has joined in. A slight "Asshole" chant begins, but it doesn't catch on) You see, their opinion doesn't mean jack! What matters is wins and losses. And when you compare Bully Ray to Kurt Angle, the difference is staggering. I have accomplished more in one year of my career than Bully Ray has in his career's entirety. And I didn't have to put myself through tables or jump off ladders to do it.
You see, Bully Ray is exactly what's wrong with this business. People are put on pedestals because they bleed themselves with barbed wire and thumb tacks. They are acclaimed for jumping off of 20 foot ladders and steel cages. And they are cheered for doing one dumb stunt after another because you people think that's wrestling. Well I've got news for you, it isn't. It's nothing more than a parlor trick to cover up the fact that they don't have the ability to perform in this ring the way real professional wrestlers do.
People like Bully Ray like to talk about being hardcore. Like he's part of some secret fraternal group of people that erect rings in their backyards and hit each other with light tubes and trashcan lids. Hardcore since day one. Hardcore before hardcore was cool. Hardcore was never cool. Hardcore is just an excuse for a bunch of kids to make each other bleed because their parents didn't give them enough attention or they didn't fit in at school. These people think if they're extreme enough, or if they bleed enough then maybe people will actually like them and it will fill that void inside of them. And that may actually work for those kids that are in the backyard jumping off their mother's rooftops, but that doesn't work here inside this ring. There are no light tubes or barbed wire here. Your mother couldn't afford to leave the trailer park and come to this arena and the roof is way too high for you to be jumping off of. Bully Ray may want to bring hardcore to my ring, but he will soon learn that it just isn't possible. Because between these ropes you're not special. You're not cool. And you're not hardcore. You're just one more stepping stone for me and another hash mark in your loss column. And there's nothing Bully Ray has that can stop me, not even his calves.
Angle laughs and rolls his eyes. He throws his free hand over his head and leans his head back in an over exaggerated gesture
Kurt Angle: Oh, and what great calves they are. Bully, you want to talk about a body part, how about the neck? Because as impressive as you think your calves are, they are nowhere near as impressive as what I did when this neck was broken. How extreme is that, huh? I won an Olympic gold medal with a broken freakin neck and you couldn't win some cardboard belt in your momma's backyard after hitting a guy with a nailed 2x4. You still want to talk about body parts? Those calves will not keep your ankle from breaking when I have you caught in the middle of this ring.
Bully, tonight, I'm going to show you what real wrestling is. And I won't need a foreign object to do it. You may need a weapon to get the job done The only weapons I need are these hands. Because with these hands, I can break any bone in your body that I chose. With these hands, I can have you turned inside out and upside down. With these hands, I can bring to you pain in which your hardcore days never saw. Tonight, I begin my journey to Greatness. And to start, I prove Bully Ray as the fraud that his truly is. There are no fall back plans for him in this ring with me. No hammer. No tables. Just two options: Tap or Snap. Oh it's true. It's DAMN True!
Kurt Angle stares into the ringside camera as "Forfeit" plays once more. The crowd doesn't boo or cheer, they just sit in stunned silence. The scene cuts to a King Of The Ring tournament promo.