Taking the Crown

The scene opens to show Chuck Matthews standing backstage in front of a large blue screen. He wears his usual leather jacket and sunglasses, and just as always, he has a wide grin on his face.

Chuck Matthews: "Good evening ladies, gentlemen, and Chuckoholics everywhere. I'm the man who needs no introduction, but I'll give it anyway for sake of tradition. My name is Chuck Matthews. Yeah, the guy who is currently undefeated in NLWF with a record of 2-0, and who will have a 3-0 record by the end of the week. And that's what I want to talk to all of you about."

Chuck Matthews: "I fight King Hardcore this week, in an 'NLWF Ultra-Violence Match.' Wow. As Shakespeare would call it, that's 'Much ado about nothing.' An ultra-violence match? Come on, let's just call it what it really is: An ass-kicking. I know what you're thinking. 'Chuck, you can't possibly think you're gonna beat King Hardcore in his choice of match!'....uh...yeah, I can think that. Why? Let's take a look at the ever-popular 'Tale of the Tape.'"

Chuck Matthews takes a few steps to the right, the camera shifting to keep him in frame. Chuck stops next to a large easel, where a giant poster hangs. The poster shows a chart, comparing various statistics of Chuck Matthews and King Hardcore.

Chuck Matthews: "As you see by this chart, this looks to be a fairly decent matchup. Two great wrestlers, two superstars, going head to head in an all-out brawl, right? Let me point out a few things to you. Number one: I am currently 23 years old. King Hardcore, you're thirty-five. Now, twelve years older may play a part in a match like this, if only he had twelve years of experience to match. Which leads me to my next point. King Hardcore has been wrestling for eight years. That means he's been in the ring since he was 27. That also means he has two more years in the ring than me. Oh, damn, I'm done for. Right? Wrong again."

Chuck flips the poster over, where the accomplishments are listed.

Chuck Matthews: "In eight years, King Hardcore has two title reigns. Two whole titles? Impressive! Yeah, well I held thirteen. Thirteen, King. Allow me to say it once more for emphasis: THIRTEEN. Not only that, but one of those reigns was a Hardcore Title reign in RWF, and if you know anything about them, that's saying something. How many hardcore belts have you had, King? Now I know, you specialize in hardcore stipulations, you love weapons in the ring, you can take a hundred kendo stick shots and still stand. I undertand why you would choose that your first match here would be something extreme like that. Your mistake was the man you challenged. Not only did you decide to fight a man who is at his prime, who's undefeated in NLWF, but you chose a man who is no stranger to hardcore matches. In fact, you challenged the man who created the most hardcore match in history, Anything Goes."

Chuck Matthews: "You see, King, I've taken a lot of punishment through my career. It's paid off. I've held thirteen titles. I invented the Anything Goes match, and by the way, I never lost one either. Now, in NLWF, I'm a contender for the Junior Heavyweight Title. I'm on a freight train of momentum, and there's no chance in hell some washed-up scum like you is gonna stop it. Saturday, King, you had better hope and pray that I'm off my game. Because that's the only chance you're going to stop a guy like me."

Chuck pauses for a moment, then looks back to the camera.

Chuck Matthews: "And one more thing. To you six guys, competing in the Junior Heavyweight qualifiers? You need to do some serious thinking before you step in the ring Saurday night. If you win that match, you'll step in the ring against me. Take it from NC-17 and Crazerage, the last thing you want is to see is my face staring at you right before the bell rings. It might be in your best interest to throw that match."

Chuck stands and grins at the camera as it fades to black.