-Fade In on the interior of the Basham Schultz Wrestling Academy. The camera sweeps along a wall of vintage wrestling posters from an era long forgotten. Many posters are of small regional stars who never made it out of their territories. Some are of slightly widely known recognition. Only a handful feature a wrestling star a casual fan may have heard of. The posters are worn and faded for the most part, save for one that the camera focuses on. A black and white photo of a gangly duo of guys dressed in miltary fatigues, with scowls on thier faces. Standing behind them is a smaller, slightly older man wearing a drill instructors hat, with a riding crop carried underneath the crook of his arm. His expression is one of stern determination as he looks into the camera. Under the picture, in bold black type reads...
JASON PAYNE & CHRIS MCMILLAN - THE DOGS OF WAR w/the D.I.
As the camera has panned along the pictures, we hear Jason Payne's voice in the background.
Payne V.O. - "This business is built, not on fame, and stardom, or money. It's not built on promotions that can carry their product from one side of the country to another. It's built on the blood, sweat, and tears of performers whose names will never be known. People who had a dream. People who had a desire to do something beyond what they thought they were capable of. In the process of trying to attain their dream, they were eaten alive. Either by lost hope, or injury, or failure to crawl from obscurity. However, a select few, a lucky few, are sometimes fortunate enough to conquer thier obstacles, and actually make it in this business we call professional wrestling. And an even fewer number of us, if fate deals us the right hand, can go on to something beyond..."
The camera fades from the Dog of War photo, to another angle of the interior of the Basham-Schultz Wrestling Academy. In this shot we see the arena proper, with rows of chairs surrounding a small ring. The canvas of the ring is black with the logo of the wrestling school emblazoned in the center, with red, white and blue ropes enclosing the ring. Standing in the ring with his back to the camera, is a man with shoulder length brown hair. He is wearing military pants matching the ones shown in the Dog of War picture, with a black tanktop. His arms folded in front of him, he is much larger than he was in that old photograph. Slowly turning to his left, Jason Payne is revealed. His arms folded over his chest, he looks at the camera with determination, as it slowly zooms in on him.
Payne - "Which is exactly where I find myself right now. You see I have been sucessful wherever I have gone. I won the tag-team title right here in this arena with McMillan as the Dogs of War. I went on to the NWA and took the Hardcore Title there with little difficulty. From there, I found myself winning the ACF, later, NAWA Hardcore, and Tag Team titles. Currently I find myself within grasp of NEW's Television Title. And now, after years of hard work, I am being given a great opprotunity. An opprotunity not only to join a prestigious organization such as the CSWA, but to also represent them as their Presidential Champion."
Payne slowly unfolds his arms and walks towards a corner in the ring. The camera pans around so that it faces the corner as Payne climbs up to sit on the second turnbuckle. Brushing a stray hair back into place, his eyes bore into the camera as if he will suddenly burst forward to tear the place apart at any given moment. However he remains calm, and collected as he speaks yet again.
Payne - "However, as is the case with this business, something is not just handed to you. You have to earn it. In my case, we are having ourselves a little tournament to seewho is worthy enough to wear this new strap. My opponent this week is RT Savage, someone that Payne is not too familiar with. But that doesn't deter me. Anyone who knows anything about me knows that I am already studying my opponent, learning his every move, his every weakness. And come this week, when the smoke is cleared, RT Savage is going to be just another name on the wall of those who had the chance, but could not captalize on it."
The camera slowly zooms in and stops when the shot consists of Payne's face, and his shoulders. His eyes still burn fiercely as they bore into the camera.
Payne - "Savage, you can come out and talk about how you're going to beat me, or how you might get DQed. It don't make a bit of difference because Jason Payne is going to get a hold of you, and make you miserable for about ten minutes before I decide I'm done, and put you out of your misery with the Payne Killer. It's just a matter of time Savage, and yours is quickly running out. And if you think you are going to come back and haunt me later in this tournament, well then, after I'm through with you this week, you might have second thoughts about that."
The camera zooms in slowly once again, showing his face, and then finally his eyes as Payne continues speaking.
Payne - "And if you don't have second thoughts, then be prepared to have what will be left of your career taken from you, because if my lightning has to strike you twice, then I will make sure that you will be rendered asunder. Count on it..."
Payne's eyes tighten as he stares into the camera. FTB