Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, whether they were up on the night or down for their gambling careers. Most of the people seemed to enjoy the camera as it rolled back away from the machines and over to the table games. Standing next to a roulette table sipping on a water was Dan Stein, SHOOT Project's resident pretty boy. He had on a black derby hat, along with a white dress shirt covered by a black woolen vest, along with black pants and matching black shoes. He leaned up against the table and tossed a chip onto the "black" square, looking around the casino as he did.

Across the little walkway between him and the slot machines were two people, a man and a woman, both of college age. Stein took a long glance at the woman, then turned back to the table as the dealer pulled his chip away. Again, he flipped a chip onto the "black" square and turned back to the two people across from him. As they sat at their respective machines, they sipped mixed drinks. The blonde woman occasionally spilled a few drops of her drink on her chest, and down the front of her dress. The man was focused on the game enough not to notice the woman reaching into his suit pocket and taking money. Stein glanced down as the dealer placed a chip on Stein's, and pushed it back to him. He grabbed the top chip and threw it back on "black", then pressed the extra chip against the rail.

Stein's attention turned back to the couple, just as the man noticed his drink was empty. Stein's stare was obvious now, and the man made a drunken face at Stein to turn away. Stein obliged, obviously, and turned to the table as he received another chip. Stein glanced over his shoulder as the man grabbed his date's arm and held a finger up to her.

"Whoa, Buddy."

Stein grabbed his chips and stepped away from the table, placing them in his pocket. As he walked across the walkway, the man stood up form his stool and stood up in front of Dan. Stein looked at the woman, and spoke again.

"Are you okay?"

The man was disgusted and snapped his fingers to get Dan's attention.

"Hey, fuck off, PAL."

Stein ignored the man and stepped forward closing what little space there was between himself and the man in front of him.

"Are you hard of hearing? I said go fuck yourself, Idiot."

Stein sighed, and barely looked at the man in front of him as he continued to try and speak to the woman. Instead, the man grabs the blonde woman's hand and pulls her up.

"She's fine, Dude. Go away."

He then threw his drink in Stein's face. Ice hit him in the eye, cheek and mouth and Stein quickly wiped his face and looked at the man with a blank stare on his face.

"What are you going to do, faggot?"

Stein looked across the walkway back to the table games where a pit boss, who happens to moonlight as a SHOOT Project roadie, nodded at him, giving him full support.

"Listen, Man. There are three things in life I love; women, drinking and fighting. I'm pretty damn good at all of them, except for one thing."

Stein stepped forward and looked at the man's hand wrapped around the woman's arm.

"I haven't TOUCHED a drop of alcohol. So, you have two options. You can take the money she's taken from your pocket back and leave, or you can get thrown out the hard way, have to press charges on this fine looking woman and probably lose more money in court fees than you would if you just left. Your decision."

The man laughed, letting go of the woman's hand. She quickly stepped back as the man bumped into Stein. Dan looked at the pit boss, and signaled to him that he was "safe".

"Oh yeah? And who's going to throw ME out? You?"

Poke. That's all it took. The man shoved his finger into Stein's chest, and before the man could wipe the smile off of his face, Stein had his hand twisted behind his back and his face smashed into the side of the slot machine, completely knocking the man out - mostly because of the alcohol. Stein looked at the woman, then down to his cup of water he just spilled, and sighed. As he looked at the woman again, he motioned for her to leave. Stein rolled the body over to see the blood trickling from his nose. The pit boss was standing next to him at this point in time, and patted him on the back.

"I'm going to assume there'll be no charges pressed?"

Stein laughed, turned around and patted the man on the shoulder, and walked back to the roulette table.

* * *

 "Relaunch Rumble. Master of the Mat. SHOOT Project World Championship tournament. Willenium thinks I'm a follower, not a leader. Osbourne Kilminster thinks I might be the guy that ended the best championship reign of all time, but he's not sure - even though I stated that I was, and he was a champion in the division, himself. Ainsley, is still boy crazy, this time I'm not sure if it's for Azraith, Evers, fucking CJ or Jared. Sinnocence is still a sex crazed succubus, only now she's got the next Chris Benoit wrapped around her finger - literally. Ron Barker saw me as an underwear model, his panties -get it?- got in a bunch and he couldn't WAIT but to call me out on it.

"I'm sorry, Ron. Canadian men just don't look as good as American men, on average. I think that's a stat or something. Look it up."

Stein smirked.

"Eli Storm comments on how Cade and Osbourne - what the fuck - are the next best technical wrestlers in the match to him... then fails to even ACKNOWLEDGE I'm in the match? Who the fuck does he think was the 'other' member of Teknikal X2C? Who does he think Cade TRAINED for so long? Who does he think was Iron Fist champion TWICE last go around? Who the fuck... who the fuck is Eli Storm?"

Stein smirked, again.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Of course I know who Eli Storm is. Everyone knows who Eli Storm is. He was the guy that was in Sons of Liberty, but wasn't really anything worth writing home about. He was the SHOOT Project World Champion, a title he won from Cade Sydal, a title he worshipped and held for all of... two months, because he shredded the most prized possession in the entire WORLD. I know you've learned from this, you said when you were in the Sons of Liberty, but really, Eli... what the fuck made you even DREAM about doing something like that?

"Sure, Ron Barker is a fluke that's done exactly nothing in SHOOT Project, but at least he respects the fucking title - so it's not a Canadian thing. Do you really think Azraith DeMitri, or Cade Sydal, or Dan Stein are going to LET you get a SHOT at the Master of the Mat tournament after that? Shit, man. I'm surprised you weren't blackballed from SHOOT Project after that. It's a disgrace to the belt, and a disgrace to the company that you're even up on that LIST.

"I'm sorry, Eli, but I have serious doubts that your amazing talent will carry you much further than first eliminated after this shit. 'The key is to think', right? What the fuck were you thinking?"

Stein nodded, taking the derby hat and tossing it off camera.

"This whole rumble thing is kind of fun, actually. Listening to everyone blubber on about how 'Cade was always the best', 'Cade carried Stein', 'Cade made Stein what he is' and how 'Stein's star has fallen'. It's absolutely fucking comical. Don't get me wrong, Cade Sydal is the best. Cade Sydal is better than Dan Stein, and I know that because... Cade Sydal is better than you. He's better than Ainsley Lake. He's better than Azraith DeMitri, Ron Barker and Osbourne Kilminster. Cade Sydal is the best wrestler to step foot in a SHOOT Project ring since... since... since it opened.

"Put the fact that you suck off on me, I don't give a fuck. Put the fact that Cade Sydal scares you off on me, I don't care. All five foot nothing, a buck twenty and nothing, Cade Sydal is the most feared man on the roster - obviously not because of his size. Obviously not because he's some looming figure that is the Hardcore Messiah or something. It's because Cade Sydal is the greatest wrestler in HISTORY, and he's bringing his best for this rumble, and, so far, this tournament. He is making this rumble, the build up to the Master of the Mat tournament FUN again, because he's giving me something to strive be like."

Stein paused for a second, looking at the camera.

"Of course, that's what I would've said last year. I would have blatently out and out stated that Cade Sydal is what I strive to be like. I would have made it WELL KNOWN that I want what Cade Sydal has, that I want to be a former SHOOT Project World Champion like he was, that I wanted to be a Laws of Survival Champion, a Revolution Champion, a... a SHOOT Project Hall of Famer. I would have said that, and I would've said it with a big ass smile on my face, as well."

Stein shook his head.

"Nuh uh. Not this year. Not this fucking go around. All of Cade's accolades are AWESOME. He wouldn't have them if he wasn't the greatest. He wouldn't have them if he wasn't the best. But I am not Cade Sydal. I am not the Technical Messiah. I don't want to be Cade Sydal - at least not anymore. Call it maturity, call it wising up. Call it a reality check, if you have to. About four months ago, I had my Johnathan Moxon moment - you know, 'I don't want yo' life' - I had that epiphany, if you will, and I sat back and saw the shit I was doing, the shit I was limiting myself to.

"Cade Sydal is the greatest wrestler in SHOOT Project history. I dare any of you to find a name that can supplant him. Real Deal? OutKast? Maybe. Del Carver? Meh. Cade Sydal is the epitome of SHOOT Project history.

"I am the epitome of SHOOT Project future. I am the epitome of SHOOT Project's present. Brutal? Inhuman? That shit's hardcore. People LOVE hardcore. GUYS love hardcore.

"Donovan King? Thug Life Playa Playa Wha Wha!? That's great and all, and I'm going to let you have your time, King, but Dan Stein is the greatest asset to SHOOT Project at this point in time. You won't say it, you won't admit it. Adrian Corazon - he's blood and guts and great, but he doesn't bring in the women. Dan Ste-...

"I bring in the women. I bring in the men with the shit that I do. I sell merchandise, I make tournaments like Sky High look silly, year in and year out, because I know how to attack someone with any skillset. I am the one that will lead SHOOT Project into the next decade and beyond, and I will be the leader that none of you seem to think I can be, because..."

Stein pauses for a second, running his hand through his hair as he thinks.

"Because... I want it SOO much more than any of you. I want it more than Azraith DeMitri, I want it more than Ainsley Evers, I want it more than Jester Smiles. I have lived the last three years of my life for this tournament. I have lost, I have gained. I have won title after title and I fell short of the one thing that I wanted more than any, because I let depression, anxiety and just...youthfulness get the best of me.

"No more. No more will I skip a show because some broad thinks I don't love her enough. No more will I skip a show because I feel like something I have no control over is my fault. No more will I miss a work out session because my back hurts, or Adrian Corazon punched me so hard I saw Jessica Rabbits running around the ring. NO MORE excuses.

"No more, no more, no more will I hit the gym because I want to be like someone else."

Stein looked at the camera now.

"After the Master of the Mat, no more will people be able to say that they are my champion. Because I will be champion."

Stein smirked.

"Because YOU don't think I can."

Stein's derby hat gets thrown back to him, and he puts it back on his head.

"Because I am Dan Stein. And, really... that's better than being you.

"Lights out."