(FADE: A dimly lit studio set.  Sitting in front of a large backdrop featuring some of New ERA’s most memorable matches is Jason Tripp.  He nods at the camera as the shot zooms closer in.  As it slowly comes to a stop he fixes his tie and picks up some flash cards.  Taking them into his hands, he straightens them before placing the pile back on the table in front of him.)

TRIPP:  “Welcome fans.  My name is Jason Tripp.  It is my honor to be with you on this DVD to take a trip back through the years to some of New ERA’s most memorable matches.  I’ve been with the company since the beginning, starting off as a lowly backstage interviewer, and then becoming an announcer on the RAPTURE program.  Through the years, the good and the delayed, I’ve had a chance to meet a large number of superstars;  some have been incredibly courteous, others have been undeniably rude, but every one of them have put their heart in the ring.”

(Tripp turns his chair to the backdrop, looking at it for a second, allowing the silence to convey his message further.  He turns back to the camera.)

TRIPP:  “This is Live, Love, Lariat … WFW:NE’s first of what will hopefully be many DVD releases highlighting those wrestlers, those matches, that most entertained the fans.  Live, Love, Lariat will highlight ten New ERA of Wrestling matches.  From the very beginning to the most recent.”

(Tripp pauses and reflects.)

TRIPP:  “New ERA of Wrestling was created way back on January 29, 2004 and held its first television event the Centrum Civic Center in Worcester, Massachusetts.”

(The “RAUCOUS” logo comes on screen.)

TRIPP:  “With sixteen wrestlers on the roster that first night, New ERA began its Battle Bowl Mania to crown the very first World Heavyweight champion.  Four matches, randomly drawn teams.. the winners move on until there were two teams left.  Those four men went on to a Battle Royal where, as we all remember, Larry Tact became the inaugural New ERA World Heavyweight champion.”

(A photo of Tact holding the World Heavyweight championship comes on the screen.)

TRIPP:  “Battle Bowl Mania started in Worcester, on the very first RAUCOUS.  The first match we will go to was the main event on that very first RAUCOUS.  A Battle Bowl Mania match featuring Suicidal Killer and his partner, future New ERA World Heavyweight champion, Shawn Hart as they took on Scotty Michaels and his partner the American.”

(The camera cuts to a different angle of the room.  Tripp adjusts his chair and looks into the camera.)

TRIPP:  “To say people were shocked by the result of this match would have been an understatement.  Scotty Michaels was the WFW World Heavyweight champion.  He had beaten Shawn Hart for the championship only weeks before.  The American was, bar none, one of the most highly regarded wrestlers on the New ERA roster at the time.  But alas, things don’t always turn out like they are planned.  Here it is, in its entirety; the main event of the January 29, 2004 edition of RAUCOUS!”

( continued... )