RP #19- Sic Semper Tyrannis

[Promo - The Undeniable Words #19, 7/14/08]

All I have to say after the last Disclosure is one phrase- in Latin, weird as that may be: sic semper tyrannis. The English translation of that- thus ever for tyrants.

Couldn't have been applied any better last week, I must say. I don't know what it was that finally put the starch in everybody's spines- maybe Joshua Payne finally crossed the line when he put his hands on Angel, maybe everybody just finally had enough of it, maybe I finally started paying the Cartel enough to mount an insurrection, or maybe it was just a whole lot of luck happening at the same time, but judgment was finally passed on Payne and everybody took retribution on him for the pain and the suffering he's put us through. Personally, it might have been nice to take his title to truly leave him belittled at my hand- but hell, a job done is a job done, and at Disclosure, the day belonged to the wrestlers and staff of Platinum Dynasty Wrestling.

To boot, I finally showed a couple of... sycophants... that I've finally had about enough of their crap. Nicholas Jaxx, Giovianni Aries. For weeks, weeks, I've had to put up with those two little weasels putting the boot in and helping Payne out. I've had to put up with Jaxx partaking in attacks on me, and I've had to tolerate Aries running his mouth and helping with that crucifixion and beatdown. Well, last Disclosure, I finally took action against that. Some would call it excessive. Christy Matthews will no doubt get all melodramatic on us once again and claim that I did it to satisfy some sick violent perversion I've got going on. Truth be told, it was a necessity, but it had to be done. Those two had to learn that I would eventually fight back- and they also need to learn that if they want to follow their masters so blindly, then they will share in the fate that awaits their masters. So I took action. Jaxx got a Kobrakai off the stage, and Giovianni... well, he just went through a window.

But I suppose Jaxx probably got the better end of the deal. Oh, sure, he's banged up and probably feeling very, very sorry for himself right now, but at least he can rest safe in the knowledge that at least his punishment is over and done with for the time being. Unfortunately, Giovianni Aries can say absolutely no such thing. In fact, the Apostle of the Pantheon has the very grave misfortune of being put into a position where I can get my hands on him and where it's legal- even encouraged- for me to do absolutely anything and everything I happen to want to do to him. Jaxx's punishment's over for now. Even Payne's punishment is over. Aries' punishment? It's just getting started.

I know you're there, Giovianni. How's the head, mate? And the shoulders? And the arms? And... well, just about every cell in your slimy, grubby little body? I do hope you're not feeling too sore, and I do hope you have a speedy recove... OK, screw it, I'm not a very good liar. As you can no doubt tell, I'm not sorry one bit, I don't have the slightest shred of pity for you, and to be quite frank, I think you deserved every little bit of misfortune that befell you on Disclosure. All things considered, I think I went pretty easy on you.

I suppose a lot of people are going to ask the question- why am I even bothering with Aries? Payne is finished, right? He's not coming back any time soon. It's seemed to be him that I've been swearing revenge and retribution on, so surely it's all over and we can all go back to being friends again, right? Well, no, doesn't quite work that way. My war is against The Pantheon, and as much as I'd like to pretend it's fallen apart, it hasn't. Ebdon is still out there, and he's no doubt desperate to maintain what little control he still has. Jaxx is still there and he's still every bit the obnoxious little dickwad he is, and I imagine very soon I'm going to be forced to step on his neck once and for all. Christy Matthews is still out there, and I still regard her my enemy until I get some kind of unconditional surrender- and apology. Star Deveraux- hell, who knows? We don't know one way or the other where she stands.

And of course, Giovianni- you are still out there. As long as the unit functions, you will still be out there, and you will continue to partake in attacks against me. For these reasons... I simply cannot allow bygones to be bygones. Until the Pantheon disbands or you leave it, you remain a hostile in my eyes, and you must be neutralized. There is no other way. And let's face it... you're probably seething in anger and desperate for revenge after you got to see the Spectrum's windows up close and personal. You'll no doubt try to put me away out of vengeance- or possibly to put me away as a trophy for the Pantheon. And I simply cannot allow that, Giovianni. So make no mistake about it, that's what a lot of this match is going to be about- showing you just how bad of an idea it would be to continue to cause me any problems.

[MAIN STORY]

DATE/TIME: 3:30 PM, Sunday July 13, 2008
LOCATION: Office Complex, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

[CAST]

As Steve Jason manoeuvred the cold, sterile, pristine office corridor in front of him, he had to admit one thing- finally, things seemed to be looking up.

The king was dead. After weeks of having to look over his own shoulder and after weeks of taking beatings, threats and countless intimidation attempts from Joshua Payne, he'd finally gone too far and an angry PDW roster had descended on Payne and taken him out of the game by force- something Steve himself participated in. While it gave him no particular joy to contribute to Payne's removal from the sport, Steve candidly had to admit it was a victory. The Pantheon were down one member- arguably the one pushing them towards doing the most heinous activities- and a serious threat on Steve's well-being had been removed. And the Platinum Championship was liberated, to boot. Were it not for Angel Deveraux taking the bullet, Steve would have conceded it was the best night he'd had in quite some time.

Of course, it wasn't over. The war would continue. The Pantheon would try to recoup their losses. Odds were, Ebdon would be the one to take command now. Hell, even Christy was still likely to remain on Steve's untrustworthy list for the foreseeable future. And Steve still had to fend off Giovianni Aries, no doubt desperate for payback after Steve finally took action against him. Then there was Jaxx. But at least for a little while, there was peace, there was a certain sense of triumph, and Steve could relax and attend to other matters.

Such as finally getting back to one Talia Richards about her request to once again become his agent. That was what brought Steve to this office complex, lost somewhere in the mix of Philadelphia's far larger and far more prominent buildings and businesses.

Fall Out Boy's cover of Michael Jackson's 'Beat It' was blasting through iPod earbuds into Steve's system, providing him with a certain sense of motivation as the rhythm and guitar blasts- surprisingly hard and edgy for a band that usually specialised in pop-punk- reverberated through his ears and deep into his brain. Despite the fact he was wandering through the bland, gray walls of an office building- albeit an empty, after-hours one- he was not precisely dressed in office standard clothing, wearing a simple tan-colored short sleeved shirt, unbuttoned and open to reveal a black tanktop underneath, blue jeans and white and blue sneakers. As he continued to walk down the featureless corridor, he finally came to a simple white door, which he opened, removing his earbuds as he stepped into the room.

Talia Richards seemed to be settling in to Philadelphia nicely- almost too easily, it would seem. The ease with which she'd been able to procure a functional office in a city a fair distance out of her company's power base almost seemed to un-nerve Steve, and he figured it was probably better not asking questions about. The office itself was an ornate one- polished and pristine marble floors stretching out into a narrow but somewhat long rectangle of a room. The ceiling and walls were a cream color with surprisingly little extra decorations, while on the very far end of the room was a glass window overlooking various buildings which towered around the office complex- and overlooking a quiet, cafe-lined street four stories down. It seemed like it had been the first office Steve had been in for a while to not be a high-rise- but that was always Talia's style outside of her sphere of influence. Blend in.

The heiress herself sat at a pure white modern-looking desk that looked that it might have been constructed out of plastic directly in front of that window. A filing cabinet was set off to one side of the desk, while an expensive-looking laptop- no doubt one of those rip-off Mac types- was set up in front of her. That had been set aside for now thought, and Talia herself, decked out in a black business jacket and skirt over a white blouse with her blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail, was not alone. She was talking to none other than Sergei Volkov, who was himself dressed rather business-like, wearing a sportcoat and slacks over a black mockneck. He was looking rather pleased with himself, brandishing some kind of document in his hand- no doubt the topic of the discussion.

"Yep, it's just that easy, Sergei," Talia practically purred at him, "Just tell your boys what's going on now, and I'll tell you what I want done from there. Dougy tells me you're pretty competent running security at the Shack, so I know I can count on you. Sound good?"

"Sounds very good..." Sergei chuckled quietly to himself, reading through the document with a very pleased look on his face, "We'll be in touch, Ms. Richards. I look forward to working with you."

"Me too, honey, me too." Talia finally seemed to spot Steve out the corner of her eye, then she smiled up at Sergei, "Better go break the news. SJ's showed up, and I've got to go and talk with him now."

Sergei nodded in agreement, pocketing the document before making his way out towards the door, passing Steve as he went.

"You seem pleased." Steve observed.

"Oh, SJ, I'm far more than pleased." Sergei chuckled, "Your long-time friend over there just made my month. Hope you have the same kind of luck."

"I'm already on a bit of a lucky roll, but hey, little more can't hurt," Steve smirked at his friend, "See you later."

With that and a smirk, Sergei was out the door, leaving Steve alone in the office. Talia shuffled through her filing cabinet, putting whatever file it was she was discussing with Sergei away, then she finally looked up at Steve, flashing an almost angelic smile at him before steepling her hands in front of her at the desk.

"Glad you had the time to drop on by, Steve. Sit down."

Steve did as he was instructed of course, taking several echoing steps across the marble floor before pulling back a chair in front of the desk and unceremoniously dropping himself into it. Unlike Talia's refined, businesslike pose at the desk, Steve just let himself sink into the chair casually- almost too casually for such company. But then again, Talia had known him long enough now for it to not really matter. She grinned back over at him at that.

"First of all, I just wanted to let you know how glad I am to know that you're alright and that things went so well as they did for you at Disclosure. I was really starting to wonder if you were getting in over your head after that crucifixion, but it looks like you might actually be able to breathe easy for a little while."

"I'm not so sure." Steve disagreed, "This isn't over yet. I've still got to deal with Giovianni at the absolute very least, and I'm sure he'll be desperate to try to recoup his masters' losses. And I'm sure Jaxx is hanging on for revenge. Yes, it's a victory, but it's not the end yet. And we don't even know where Selters and the Benjamins are at with us yet. But I know what you're saying."

"I'm glad to see that. Anyway, to the core of the matter." Talia's smile was almost radiant now as she reached into her filing cabinet and pulled out yet another document- it looked official, it even had that rich kind of smell that accompanied official documents, "I take it you've had some time to think about taking me up on my offer to be your agent again?"

"I've been thinking about it." Steve agreed.

"That's awesome, because I've kinda taken the liberty of getting a contract all prepared for you. It's pretty much the same deal we used to have- I'll work on your PR, negotiate certain things with management if you don't want to do them yourself, handle all your hotel bookings and the like. And of course, you get entitled to hang out with me and go to all sorts of places that someone as privileged as me can get into." Talia had never been the modest type, and she emphasized that with a classy flourish of her hand, "And of course, my advice in all matters is yours- although I'd kinda do that anyway, since you're my friend. But now you're officially entitled to it."

"Sounds good, but I want to know for absolute certain that I have executive control this time," Steve insisted, holding a hand up, "Half the reason I came here to Philadelphia was to go into business for myself and to make my own path. You can advise and help, but the decisions are down to me this time. Got it?"

"Of course." Talia agreed, "Seriously, Steve, I know how important it is to you. Let's face it, most of this is just for show. It's just us hanging out like old times again, me helping you out like I used to. We're just making it..." She smirked, "...official."

"So I've gotta pay you to be my friend?" Steve was more than a little amused at that, his brow raising.

"Oh, very clever, wise guy. That's just to cover expenses. So..." She motioned to the contract and pushed it forwards, "Skim it if you want. I know I would."

Steve nodded and did just that, pulling the contract towards him. Not that he really needed to, of course- he trusted Talia Richards with his life, and he'd probably have blindly signed anything she pushed under his nose. As ambitious as she was, she was loyal to a fault and wouldn't have screwed Steve over. Nevertheless, it helped to at least know everything he was signing on for. His eyes quickly skilled line after line of legislation, making sure it was all golden, then finally he pulled out a pen and uncapped it before signing on the dotted line. As he slid the contract back over, Talia beamed.

"Awesome. You won't regret this. Let's get our first act underway right off the bat." She slid the contract away, then suddenly grinned almost impishly, "You wanna tell me what's going on, Steve?"

"Um... in what sense?" Steve raised a brow in confusion.

"Angel Deveraux, huh?" There was a mischievous twinkle in Talia's eyes as she grinned impishly at Steve, "What's going on there, hmm? Is there something you should be telling me about?"

"I dunno. Should there be?" was Steve's mild reply, a brow raising. Talia, of course, would not be brushed off so easily.

"Steve, I've known you like a brother for the last five years. That entire time, you've been cold as ice the vast majority of the time and let very little in the ring phase you. Yet when Joshua Payne laid a hand on her, you ran out there, broke a rule not to touch him and almost got yourself fired. Something must have had you pretty riled up to lose control like that..." The smirk on her face broadened suddenly, "...and I dare say it might be because you've got a bit of a soft spot for her. Hmm? Am I right?"

"Oh, Jesus, not you too..." Steve groaned at that, rubbing his temples for dramatic effect. It had been... interesting to hear the number of comments he'd gotten after he came charging out to come to Angel's defence. Just about everybody had something to say about it, it would have seemed- PDW reporters, fans on the street- a number of which had not-so-subtly tried to encourage Steve to do something crazy- and even Christy Matthews herself had made that smug little 'lovebird' comment when she'd caught Steve at Angel's hospital bedside. About the only solace Steve could have taken was that Dougy himself hadn't hounded Steve endlessly about it. Dougy's wife, on the other hand? No such luck.

"I'm sensing some discomfort here, Steve. I wonder, could that be you getting all edgy at being found out?" She sure as hell didn't give up easily.

"Look, I'm really not up for discussing it..." Steve began, falling back into his favorite tactic for defusing situations that definitely shouldn't have been aired at the time. Talia merely scoffed.

"That dirty trick might work for confusing reporters and it might get some silly little girl like Christy Matthews off your trail, but I know you far too well for it to work on me, Steve. Spill."

To emphasize the word 'spill', Talia used perhaps her most devastating tactic to pull Steve in line. She didn't threaten anything, or use charming words, or even speak for that matter. Instead, she used a variation of a tactic of psychological warfare that Steve himself used regularly- but while Steve was merely a professional at using it to his advantage, Talia was nothing short of a master of the tactic.

All she did was lock her blue-green eyes onto Steve... and then suddenly hammered in hard, locking him into a vicelike stare. It was either look away or hold the stare. To look away would be as good as a confession. And to hold that stare was something Steve knew he probably wouldn't be able to do for long. When Talia Richards locked in that piercing gaze, it wasn't a case of if she'd get what she wanted- it was a matter of when. Steve shifted in his seat, but already he could feel her eyes cutting at him like a razor...

"Honey? I'm HOOOOOOOOOME! Oh! Esh-Jay! You're here too?"

And then, naturally, Dougy McNamara saved the day, crashing abruptly through the office door, causing Talia to break off her stare- much to Steve's relief and her own chagrin. Dougy seemed to be... well, it appeared as though he had been out celebrating something or other. Steve could tell this immediately by the garland of brightly-colored flowers hanging around Dougy's neck above his Hawaiian shirt and jeans- and he could also tell it by the fact that Dougy's blond curls were completely covered up by what appeared to be a fuzzy purple lampshade. Finally, to boot, an entire bottle of Malibu rum was held in his free hand, which he still took sips from occasionally.

Saved by the drunk, it would seem.

"Oh, dear. Hi, sweetheart..." Talia sighed with obvious exasperation at Dougy's heavy drunkenness, giving Steve a meaningful look that means only one thing - 'this ain't over, boy'. Steve, on the other hand, merely grinned and folded his arms behind his head, leaning back in his seat.

"Well, well. Dougy. You look absolutely shattered. What's the occasion?"

"You didn't know?" Dougy blinked a couple of times in bafflement, "I sent you like fifty text messages!"

"I didn't get a single one. Evidently, you've been sending them to the wrong people."

"Hmm. That would explain why the local Reverend rang me up and started shouting at me for the evils of drinking..." Dougy observed owlishly, "It would also explain why you missed your own 'SJ doesn't have to worry about douchebags trying to kill him any more' party!"

"You're kidding. You hosted a party to celebrate Payne getting taken out?"

"Sure, mate! I figured it was a cause for celebration!" Dougy made his way over to one of the office's spare seats, then crashed on down into it, "So I called up a bunch of my drinking buddies and decided to propose a number of memorial toasts to Steve Jason's safety! It was kinda strange that you didn't show up to your own party. We should have done it after the show, but you had to do that 'oh, I've gotta make sure Angel's alright' thing, so the scheduling was a bit hectic."

"Evidently." was Steve's dry, cynical remark.

"Anyway, let's try to get on to the important matter at hand..." Talia seemed to be struggling to try to get her point across as she shot another meaningful look at Steve, "You know what you stand to gain if you win at the PPV, right? I've done a bit of research for you, but it's probably better if you know yourself."

"As I understand it, the winner of Aries' and my little skirmish gets to quite literally run the show," Steve answered matter-of-factly, "As in, we get to book at least one Disclosure. Not just one pissy little match. Effectively, whoever wins this is going to be the boss. So there's quite a bit to gain. I get a bit of hands-on experience with booking, which I've never had before- and more to the point, I get quite possibly the biggest strategic advantage against the Pantheon anybody's ever had. Taking Payne down was a major blow in itself, but if I walk away from this one victorious..." A sly grin crossed Steve's face as he spread his hands, "...I could potentially have the chance to make this the turning point. It could go from being about survival to being about cleaning up. All I've gotta do is get through one more guy."

"We'll come right back to how you're going to get an advantage over the Pantheon in a moment..." Talia smiled sweetly- the kind of smile that immediately told Steve that she either wanted something, or wanted Steve to be in the position where he could do something, "Are you aware of just how much power you could potentially have in your hands? How... big this could be? From an entertainment point of view, this ability would be something that people in my line of work would kill for!"

"Ah." Steve smirked, "I see where you're going with this."

"No, no, no. I don't want it to sound like I'm trying to usurp your power if you have it, Steve." Talia raised her hands suddenly as if to emphasize what she'd just said, "If you win it, it's yours to do what you please with. I guess what I'm saying is... well, I know a thing or two about business and entertainment, and I might have a few very interesting, very exciting ideas for what we can possibly do for booking."

"We?"

"You, Steve, you. Sorry. Honestly, I'm not going to try to push it on you, but..." Again, her smile almost went sickly sweet, "I've got some really good ideas for what could make a good show! Just hear them out if you win. You don't have to do them, you don't have to use them. But I've always really, really wanted to offer input on a wrestling show..."

"I, on the other hand, am not gonna be passive aggressive about this." Dougy raised his voice and finally spoke back up, a bright, thoughtful grin on his face- bad news in combination with the bottle of rum, "I'm simply gonna go right out and say it. Steve, when you're done splattering Aries all over Newark, I insist, nay, demand that your first act be to book the entire female roster in some kind of lingerie-in-a-giant-jell-o-pool battle royale. I will not accept no for an answer. If you are truly my friend, my brother in arms who I have fought beside for the last twenty-seven years, you will do this for me. To do otherwise would be to break your soul brother's heart."

"Um..." Steve was at a complete loss there, trying to find the most diplomatic way to get out of the situation. To outright deny Dougy in this state would lead to very bad news, probably followed by tears and imploring cries of 'I thought we were maaaaates!', but Steve knew Dougy would hound him until he got a definite yes. The thought of outright lying through his teeth and hoping Dougy wouldn't remember when he sobered up occurred to him...

"I don't think so!" Talia whirled around, an irate look on her face at Dougy's demand, "You are not squandering Steve's one big chance to make a serious footprint on sports entertainment history on your perverse desire to see every woman in PDW in lingerie. It's not happening, Douglas."

"Why not?!?" Dougy protested right back indignantly, "Every man on this planet who's not gay wants to see it! This is my dream, and I can finally see it realized and deliver a priceless gift to my fellow gender!"

"It's not your opportunity! It's Steve's, and he's going to use it to create a major impact on professional wrestling!"

This was most definitely getting out of hand. Steve's eyes flitted back and forth between the hormonally-charged husband and the business-obsessed wife, and to be honest, he wasn't a hundred percent he wanted to go with either line of thought. And it was far too early to be talking about this yet- he still had to get through Aries before he could even think about it. But this was bound to explode into a full blown argument, and Steve wanted to be absolutely nowhere near the scene when it happened. As such, he decided to make good his escape, hopping up from his seat.

"Well, these are both very compelling ideas and schools of thought, and I'd love to get back to you on them, but unfortunately I don't think it wise that I commit to a particular idea until after I've won the match. So... um... just sit on those ideas and I'll deal with them when the time's right! Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a very important... thing to attend to, so I'll talk to you later!"

It was a temporary solution. Dougy might forget everything Steve said in the morning, particularly given his inebriated state, but Talia wouldn't. She'd be like a hawk, and the second Steve won that match, she'd get her talons into him and keep proposing all the ideas that had been bubbling through her head. Still, he'd at least bought himself a few days- and the couple seemed to be too busy arguing now to protest.

"Why won't you allow me to realize my vision, Talia?!?" Dougy demanded almost tragically.

"Because your vision is a stupid idea that only testosterone-obsessed losers would actually enjoy, Dougy!"

Well, at least Steve had a clear exit path. They were too busy arguing now to even notice him as he turned around, leaving them debating with each other as he stepped away towards the door. Somewhere behind him, the argument turned into Dougy's immaturity and Talia's continual stifling of Dougy's desire to have fun as Steve began to phase out their voices, sighed dramatically to himself, and pushed the office door wide open. Before he stepped back out to the foyer, he had to admit one thing.

The headaches might not come to an end after Speak no Evil. They might have just been set up to become migraines of epic proportions.

[CONTINUED: Promo - The Undeniable Words #19, 7/14/08]

The hilarious thing about the leadup to this match, Giovianni, is that usually I have to wait for my opponent to say something stupid in the leadup to this match before I can start ripping into them. You? I don't even have to wait! You've said enough stupid crap both about yourself and about yours truly in the last couple of weeks that I can literally take all of that and start running with it right here, right now. I have to hand it to you, you may be one stupid, irritating douche, but you're kinda the gift that keeps on giving in that regard. But hey, I suppose it doesn't matter how moronic you are or how much ammo you seem to be giving me without knowing it- because you're a ten billion-time NCAA champion!

Oooh, NCAA champion. In amateur wrestling! That's pretty intimidating right there Giovianni. Except for the fact that we're not in amateur wrestling, and this sure as hell isn't going to be a match solely decided on amateur wrestling. So you're an NCAA champion. Congrats. How come you couldn't even get past some 'over the hill' wrestler, as you put it, like Dante Poole, then? I've been a professional wrestling champion in multiple federations, including this one. World Championships, intermediates, tag teams, battle royals, extreme and hardcore. You name it, I've covered it, and it's got far, far more validity than anything those college boys could ever support. So you're got grappling skills? That's awesome- so do I, and they've been specially engineered and tailored for this line of work. Oh, and I actually know how to fight, something that's going to be very useful in this match. Shotokan karate, for one. And Krav Maga, too- you know that martial art they teach IDF soldiers to kill people with their bare hands? Yeah, that one. And hell, my time as the Bloodshed Champion even taught me more... unorthodox ways of fighting.

So you can take the 'I was an NCAA champion, oh look at me, I'm so tough' attitude and cram it halfway back up your colon, because quite frankly, I think I've got a far broader spectrum- and a far more relevant one. Remember, this is Last Man Standing. Pinning's gonna do absolutely jack, Mr. Amateur. It's about doing some real damage, and that means you're gonna have to fight. It means you're gonna have to ditch your prissy rich boy attitude real fast and come back down to the real world, because I really don't care how much Daddy paid the plastic surgeon for your face, I'm beating down on it with everything I have regardless.

Oh, but it gets even funnier. I couldn't help but notice your reasoning for joining the Pantheon, and this is what really cracks me up. You claimed it was a 'smart business decision'.

Wait, wait, were my ears deceiving me there? A 'smart business decision'? I have to stop and freakin' laugh at this- smart business decision?!? This, coming from you? Weren't you like one of those punks who had everything handed to him from day one, leeching off Daddy's hard work, only to completely FUBAR it up the second you're in charge, get busted by the feds and lose every last cent? If there's one thing that's been proven, it's that you've got all the business acumen of a cockroach! And you honestly base your membership on the Pantheon off your business instincts? Jesus Christ, if I were Payne or Ebdon, I'd have rejected your application the second you tried to join based solely off that, because it's obvious that anything you have a good business feeling about will end in a catastrophic explosion that'll make Enron look like a minor hiccup. Hell, I've got a good mind to encourage you to stay with the Pantheon and have you eliminate them for me by blowing all their finances on cocaine and Nigerian bank scams.

It's almost as stupid as your claims that I'm on my way out of this company. That's right, big guy, I saw that. I just had to draw myself up short and start laughing- hard- when I remembered you saying this back when you were going up against Tatiana. Apparently I was finished, I was done. You were subscribing to Payne's fucking moronic belief that he'd actually be able to drive me out. Yet... guess who's gone? Wow. Damn. Ironic, ain't it? Are you really sure you wanna try to follow that line of argument? Cause there's a fairly large chance that if you try to back me into a corner, you'll end up like he did. Besides, who's gonna end me now? You? Ha!

And since I know she's watching- yes, Christy, this is Comedy Hour With Steve Jason again.

I'll candidly admit it, Giovianni- in the past few weeks you have in fact proven yourself as a very faithful affiliate with the Pantheon. It does show in your promos and your matches, and despite the contempt I've shown for you this entire time, I'll concede that your faithfulness is on par with a hound, devoutly loyal to its master right to the end.

But sometimes those hounds go too far, Giovianni. Sometimes those hounds get too carried away with their status and the fact their owners let them get away with murder, and then the hounds decide to try to bite somebody they really, really shouldn't be trying to bite. They don't know any better- they don't think- they don't use their brains until it's too late and finally, they try to take a bite out of the wrong person. And do you know what happens then, Giovianni? Do you know what happens when the hound finally takes that step that places him past the point of no return, past the point of forgiveness?

There are no excuses. There are no apologies. There are no extenuating circumstances. His stupidity and his foolishness go unforgiven, his masters can do absolutely nothing to get him off the hook, and faithful old Fido gets put down.

And that... IS UNDENIABLE!