time: wednesday evening

day: october fifteenth

Matthew Engel: "I think you're wrong, Vanessa. I believe the real reasons to why our boy Viktor is silent is because he's hunting. And like every hunter knows, patience and silence are virtues in tracking and taking down your prey. He's waiting and waiting. I don't know what he's waiting for, as I believe these promos we do week in and week out help us prepare even more for our matches, but I know that he's waiting for the right time to strike. Whether that be sometime in the next couple of days, or in London on Friday.

But it's not arrogance, and certainly not cowardice. Viktor doesn't know the meaning of either word."

(A cough.)

Matthew Engel: "Not to say he's dumb, and I'm certainly not trying to build him up, but Viktor is a talented individual and I'm sure will be a worthy opponent this Friday. Oh.. this Friday.. it's going to be a mess. The odds are entirely stacked against me, I will definitely not be walking out of there on my own account; normal men would be shaking, terrified at that thought. 

Thank God for being abnormal because when I hear people talking about how both Scott Nash Strader and Viktor Stone are going to tear me apart, my hand is steady, my mind is clear, and my focus cannot be distracted. I welcome those words with open arms and I pray that these men of terror and revenge can finish the job, or I'm going to finish them for good.

You can't hold back, either one of you. You hold back for a second and you're going to find yourself on your back. You hesitate for one moment, and I'm going to drive my foot into your face. If you so much as think about giving me mercy, you'll find yourself in a world of pain. This isn't a threat; I'm not trying to piss you off so your rage will blind you when you're attacking me. I'm telling you how it is, guys, and I want you prepared. I want your absolute best, because when I survive my first title defense and come out victorious, people will know that the best of Viktor Stone and Scott Nash Strader wasn't enough to stop me in one of the most dangerous matches in PWA history.

In conclusion, if you want to win then you must be willing to sacrifice everything."

(I talk a gulp out of my water; yes, water tonight. I had fun earlier.)

Matthew Engel: "Scott, you and I aren't so different. The more I've talked with you and faced you in the ring, I've come to realize we're more similar than meets to eye. You talked about how the PWA was your last ride and last chance to capture something that has been out of your grasp a few times now. I, myself, have deemed the PWA my last ride and my main goal was to capture the World Title, something I've only done once in my career that spans seven years. I've done that, but it isn't enough to win the World Title and leave it at that. I'm trying to create another legacy and earn my spot in the PWA Hall of Fame; I'd love to be an even better champion than McNasty was. I would love to turn this World Title into a bi-weekly defense and be successful at it.

There are many things I have left to do here in the PWA, so I'm not even thinking about retirement yet. I'm not Brett Favre. I mean, as much as I love the guy, he talked about retirement for the last four years, and now he's playing with the Jets. Think he'll get to the Superbowl on that team? No way. He should have stayed with the Packers, but Ted Thompson is kind of an idiot."

(I shake my head in disappointment.)

Matthew Engel: "Completely off-track there, but that's alright. My point there was I'm not even close to hanging it up yet, and if I do talk about it, it won't be some long drawn-out process that gets played on Sportscenter twenty-four seven. There is a lot left I have to do, and most of that I owe to certain people. My family and friends, namely. Like I said, Scott, we're not that different. Over the last four months, we have been very different and I've caused your family unnecessary pain. I'm not going to sit here and beg for mercy, I won't sit here and tell you I'm sorry like some kind of idiot. But I will tell you that I'm going to man up and take responsibility for what I did. You have your chance this Friday to take me down, and out if you truly want to.

But I don't think you do.

Nah.. I really don't think you want to take me out completely. You need me. Even if you walk away World Champion, where would you and your family be without a nemesis, or some kind of arch rival? No where. You'd be wrestling empty, heartless matches as the PWA's Champion and you wouldn't get the satisfaction you would get from beating me this Friday. No, you need me, Scott.

The rush you would get from destroying me and winning this Friday could never, EVER be experienced again unless I was across the ring from you. If I wasn't around to fill in that need for you, you'd have no where to go but down. And nobody wants to come down from that kind of high."

(Some latenight fireworks go off on the beach. Kids.)

Matthew Engel: "On the other side, if I win, well that's pretty self-explanatory. Your goal as becoming World Champion wouldn't be achieved, and I'd still be strutting around like I'm the.. how do you put it? The cat's ass? Yeah. So either way, win or lose, you need me. I want you to realize that during our match and I want you to fight me with tenacity, heart, and skill. This time, I'll tell you to leave the rage at home. I'm not worried about what you plan to do to me, and I'm not worried about what's going to happen. I've already accepted the fact that you and I are going to brutally bash each other until one of us can't move anymore. But, if you come at me with all the rage in the world, you're going to be embarrassed. I taught you this lesson a month ago, but I'm just reiterating it so you don't forget.

The last time I fought you, I really didn't want to. I didn't want to face the facts of what I did and I didn't want to face you in the ring. It wasn't because of being scared or guilty, it was due to the fact that it would be too easy for me to make you trip over your own feet. I got the best of you, verbally, and you stumbled. I don't want that to happen again, not this week. This week is too important for both of us.

Just like Vanessa said, rage is blinding.

And your assumption of my retort was entertaining, but I'm going a different route. I'm not going to place my belief in winning on the fact that rage is blinding; I'm placing my belief in winning based on the fact that I am better than you. It's simply put, and you can take it however you please.

That's the angle I'm coming from, and I've been working too hard and for too long to think otherwise. I've put more sweat, blood, and tears into this place than you could possibly fathom and I'll be damned if the only thing I get out of it is a shotty two-week reign as World Champion."

(More fireworks. Some of them a little closer than the last.)

Matthew Engel: "My answer? I don't know, Scott. Maybe I'll send you a letter sometime, but the last four months have been just a.. blur for me. I immediately took claim to what happened to your family because I wanted you to fear me. I wanted your whole family to fear me. That was then, and now? I don't have an answer for you. Some people think I was under some spell with Ridel, and I did things I would never, ever normally even think about. My family believes the same, but as the saying goes, there's always a bit of truth behind a drunken idiot.

I may have been in a 'trance', or what have you, but I knew what was going on, and I did nothing but give in to the evil that had already consumed my body and soul. What can I tell you, Scott? I can't give you an answer right now. Right now, I have to think about how I'm going to survive you and Viktor. But, you're right; I owe you and your family an answer. I owe you some kind of closure, but not right now. Preparing and exhorting to you and yours about the deepest regret I'll ever have is a mental marathon that I don't want to go through until this weekend is over.

Nothing's going to distract me on Friday. You are either going to beat me, or you're not. There isn't any two ways about it, because you seem to forget that we're locked inside a cage and the match won't end until there's a winner or until we three are unable to continue.. and in this day and age, we'd have to be either dead or unconscious for that to happen. I'm sure that if any one of us has consciousness, we will be fighting and trying to win, no matter how battered our bodies are. So no, nothing is going to distract me. My arrogance or my confidence is either going to help me or hurt me, but it won't distract me from the battle that's going on right in my face. 

You might think it will hurt me.. and that's fine. You're supposed to think that way. I don't like to call myself arrogant, as I think I've damn well earned my spot as World Champion and earned my right to tell you I'm better than you. I have the most wins, I've held three different PWA titles, and I've beaten you several times, Scott. The facts are right there and they speak for themselves, but there's more than that. I'm never going to give up."

(The fireworks have stopped.. I guess the mother got a little angry.)

Matthew Engel: "Most men would complain about there being a third party in their title defense. A lot of guys would shudder at the idea that the two men they're facing are threatening heinous acts of violence. Not me. I've got a little experience in that area, if you look back to Summer Sizzler. I had Wilkie and McNasty going after me throughout most of the match, and if it wasn't for some stupidity on their part and some great moves on my part, I probably would have been eliminated. But, I got Wilkie.. and then I had McNasty, but we all know how that story ends.

Bullshit.

And now? Same kind of match, the only thing different is that I'm the champion, and history shows I'll be walking out still champion.

I do not forgive.

I do not forget.

Don't hope for a lucky, lucky catch to save your game-winning drive."

(fade.)