(So�?what do you do when your fearless leader- when your revered general takes his steady hand and his pace-making nature�?and disappears? What do you do when the guy everyone looks up to is no longer around to set the standard? Well�?apparently you shut down and pretend you can’t walk without someone there to hold your hand. Apparently you just become stagnant and are as unproductive as possible in his absence. That’s what W2K’s roster did and has done during Ryan Cain’s little vacation. Who’s been the outstanding superstar the last couple of weeks? No names really come to mind. And what the hell happened to the God of Wrestling Tournament? Is it really not worth enough to compete over just because Ryan Cain isn’t in it as the measuring stick? How self-piteous and annoying. If the attitude around here is going to be as defeatist as that, I may as well just forget to tell Ryan that it’s time to come back to work�?because who would want to represent a company like this? Not me, that’s for sure.

But I guess it doesn’t really matter what I would do or want to do in Ryan’s situation, because no matter what, I’ll never be Ryan Cain�?and neither will anyone but Ryan. The fact is, in this time of absolutely dire boredom, Ryan Cain is the one guy that can come back strong and pick up the entire company. He can hoist it onto his shoulders and carry it unto the horizon, and then the next horizon, and then the next, until the people he’s carrying finally decide they’re brave enough to try to walk on their own. He’s the defibrillator to W2K’s dormant pulse, and I feel like that should be common knowledge by now. What’s funny is the fact that I know Ryan’s about to hear nonstop all about his little “disappearing act.�?Anyone on the roster that sees him in a light anywhere near negative �?and I don’t doubt that’s a lot of people �?is going to take a dump all over his name because he needed a little break, and that’s so much nonsense, it’s beyond ridiculous. Ryan Cain’s Title Reign, at this point, is among the longest in W2K’s long history, and he’s been bracing the company’s foundation almost single-handedly for about twice the amount of time he’s been wearing the belt around his waist. That’s nothing short of a fact, but still, we’ve got a bunch of douchebags running around here green with envy, and they can’t wait to drag the W2K Champion through the mud behind them. They’ll take every selfish chance they can to make themselves feel better, and it really pisses me off a lot of times. Just listening to some of these pieces of crap�?it makes me want to vomit all over their mothers�?again. A few names come to mind, one of which neither I nor Ryan are going to mention at all this week�?and probably ever again, *despite* the fact that Ryan’s facing him this week with one arm literally tied behind his back. See�?Ryan and I decided a while back that we’d never verbally acknowledge the existence of someone freaking lame enough to step outside the boundaries of the wrestling world as far as integrity goes.

Saying something along the lines of “the only times you’ve been successful have been when Cross was doing the booking�?is, frankly, unacceptable. You thought Ryan stopped talking about you because he was so scared and intimidated and felt put in his place? You REALLY thought that? Wrong. The fact is, Ryan would rather take a loss than have a damn thing to do with someone like you. He’s not about to promote or encourage spitting in the face of the game’s integrity by spurring you on. Plus it’s more fun to see the looks on people’s faces when he beats them after never once even expressing any kind of focus on the match. Kinda like he’s going to this week�?yes, with one arm behind his back.

With that said, Ryan’s looking at this as more of a welcome back kind of match. One match in the coming line gets to be the first, and this one happened to draw the short straw. After his little vacation, Ryan’s energized, he’s feeling good, he’s ready to go�?and he’s sick and tired of the boring product that’s been spawning from W2K’s airwaves. It’s time for him to do what he does, and add a little excitement to the mix. It’s time for Ryan to make Wrestling 2000 really pop a little for the first time in weeks. And one arm is more than enough to do it in style. You can thank him for it afterwards.

What you’re about to see is just a little reminder. It’s meant to refresh your memory on why Ryan FOCKin Cain is the Champion of Wrestling 2000 and you aren’t. As you watch, I want you to really consider what might happen if you were ever unfortunate enough to be placed across the ring from a motivated Ryan Cain. I want you to picture your skin turning from its natural color and tint�?to a very unnatural black and blue. I want you to think about every broken bone you’ve racked up over the course of your wrestling career �?whether long or short �?from day one until now. I want you to recall every time you’ve woken up unsure of when, why, or how you fell asleep. And I want you to picture a boot’s black sole as it nears your face at a rate you’ve never before witnessed. And then I want you to reevaluate your attitude and the amount of “effort�?you’ve been putting into this�?because if you ever want to be as good as what you’re about to see�?it’s gonna take a lot- A LOT of work.

Enjoy.

Drawing through the darkness, we get a black and white shot of the ring inside the W2K Arena. The camera strafes around the perimeter, and as it moves around one of the ringposts, we hear a footstep, which is quickly followed by another, and then another: they definitely seem to be coming closer. A new shot bleeds through now, this one providing a rotating image of the ring inside the empty arena from overhead while the footsteps keep coming. And now we move up the ramp, toward the entry curtain. The shot stops at ground level right in front of the curtain as the footsteps seem upon us at this point�?and the curtain parts, revealing two legs and the faceplate of the W2K Championship Belt swaying beside them by the man holding it in his hand. Almost as soon as we see the belt, we hear the blaring beat of a bass drum pounding like a machine gun accompanied by a violent guitar riff.

The instruments pause momentarily, and then come just as quickly again as we’re shown an image of a silhouette in a dim locker room, sitting down and taping his wrists up.

After another pause, the drums pound out their rhythm, once more, and we cut to see the same silhouetted figure bent over lacing up his wrestling boots.

One more pause before the drums explode again, and this time we cut to a close-up on the face, specifically the eyes of the W2K Champion�?Ryan Cain.

And finally, the music really picks up and we dive into “Dead Man Walking�?by Fear Factory. The song is fast and furious, and with the cadence we’re shown an image of Ryan pounding his fist into his open palm. We cut to see him walking down the hallway dressed for competition and craning his neck from side to side. Another cut to see him bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet getting loose�?with his Title belt draped over his shoulder.

After a very short pause in the music, it picks up just as quickly again�?leading right into some rapidly changing action shots. The first is of Ryan stepping through the curtain on the night of his return to Wrestling 2000. We quickly cut to see him in the ring with the entire Texan Connection: Sef Kinsley, Johnny Legend, and Nic E. Dangerously. Another cut, and we see him holding up his W2K contract up at eyelevel while getting right into Dangerously’s face. The last shot we see from this scene is one of Ryan Cain’s Zero Superkick �?BOOM! �?flooring Johnny Legend.)

All of you here now are secretly dead
Just lifeless shells, consumed and dread
Oblivious to reason and you are blind
Follow the trends to share a single mind

(The next series of images to compliment present Ryan Cain standing across the ring from Jacob Mitchell, pointing his finger in Mitchell’s direction, and then down at the ring, saying “it’s just you and me.�?We cut quickly to see Mitchell swinging a steel briefcase at Ryan’s head, which Ryan ducks before turning around quickly and spearing Mitchell onto his back and going crazy on his face with right hands. Cut forward, once more, and we see Ryan hit Mitchell with a devastating Zero Kick�?and then fall on top for the three-count.)

You are so blind! You are so blind!
You are so blind to the lie!
I can see, I can see into the void of your mind
Hiding behind eyes of black a dead man I will find

(We move forward to later in the night now�?to see Ryan entering the Anarchy Battle Royal as entrant number three. Another quick jump forward and we see Ryan eliminate Mikhail Kozlov by dumping him over the top rope. Cut forward again, and we see Ryan Cain and Dante Cross out on the apron of the ring, before both suddenly drop down and pull the top rope with them, causing Con Escobar to fly over the top, to the floor. The next shot presents Dante Cross and Ryan Cain working together, once more, this time eliminating Matt Matlock by suplexing him over the top rope. Another flash forward just in time to see Ryan Zero Kick The Goon straight over the top rope. A very similar image comes next, and this time Ryan’s Superkick sends Johnny Legend over the top rope and to the floor. Another Zero Kick for Dante Cross. Next we see both The Freaks �?Ryan and Cross �?hurl Tyler Hayden over the top rope by his head. And finally, we see Ryan dump his own tag team partner and brother in arms, Cross, over the top rope and to the floor, winning the Anarchy Battle Royal.)

Find! Find!
Kneel to the savior who really cares less
His holy eyes fill you with fear and dread
Obey those rules from ancient history

(Next, we see Nic E. Dangerously holding up his W2K Championship Belt and yelling some trash talk across the ring at Ryan, who just turns his head to crack his neck. Later in the match, Ryan is shown leaping from the middle rope, up to the top rope for a springboard�?before coming down and grabbing Nic’s head for a vicious DDT. The next shot is of Ryan ducking a clothesline from Dangerously before scaling the turnbuckles and springing backwards to connect with the SCORE! And the final shot from the match is of Ryan Cain, bludgeoned face and all, poised in the corner of the ring�?before uncoiling with the Zero Superkick, connecting with Nic’s face, flattening him on his back. He throws his hands in the air, wipes the blood of his face�?and hooks the leg for the three-count, winning the W2K Title.)

Forgotten words that mean nothing to me
You are so blind! You are so blind!
You are so blind to the lie!
I can see, I can see into the void of your mind

(And finally, we see Ryan standing across the ring from Exodus, his eyes absolutely teeming at the brim with bleeding intensity as he clinches his fists. The next shot is of Ryan flying from the top rope and driving Exodus to the canvas with a leg lariat. This is quickly followed by a shot of Ryan flying over the top rope to the outside and catching Exodus with a headscissor takeover. The final shot we see is, of course�?Ryan Cain hitting Exodus square in the jaw with his Zero Superkick, retaining the W2K Championship.)

Hiding behind eyes of black a dead man I will find
I can see, I can see into the void of your mind
Hiding behind eyes of black a dead man I will find
Find! Find!

(As the song closes out, we see the empty W2K Arena, once more�?this time as Ryan walks shirtless up to the top of the ramp, his W2K Title Belt still draped over his shoulder and his head hanging in exhaustion. Before he gets to the curtain, the frame freezes�?and two lines of bold text bleed onto the bottom of the scene.)

Walking a path you'll never find...
... through a war you could never win.

(We fade to black�?but only for a moment. It’s not long before we come through the darkness, once more�?and find the back of Ryan Cain walking on an eroded, cracked, and broken road through a very desolate landscape. The entire area is nothing short of war-torn, and Ryan somehow manages to bear a demeanor that says nothing seems unusual. We swing around to his front�?and he begins.)

Ryan: So�?I guess you guys missed me, yeah? You weren’t starting to think I was gonna bail on my match this week, were you? You didn’t think I’d fail to deliver on the things I had to say last week, right? Of course you did. I guess I can accept that, because somewhere along the way, I somehow managed to earn myself the stigma of fleeing without any kind of notice. What a lot of people either don’t realize or will refuse to acknowledge for the sake of their lacking creativity is the fact that I *did* give ample notice of my absence that was to come. I gave management a heads up well in advance, and that’s a fact. I didn’t just up and leave because I felt like it. I had business to take care of, and now that it’s been taken care of, I’m back�?and I’m ready to pick right back up where I left off. I’m ready to increase the visual definition of my mark on this business, and I’m gonna start by making it clear that I’m gonna stretch this Championship reign of my all the way unto the horizon. I’m gonna make this streak of mine last until no one- until *no* *one* can dismiss it as favoritism, luck, or what-the-hell-ever anymore. I’m gonna keep walking the path I signed my name to a long time ago, and I’m gonna keep doing things that no one is supposed to be able to do. I’m gonna break records that were never meant to be broken. I’m gonna climb mountains declared unclimbable. I’m gonna conquer the wrestling world all for the sake of myself, for the W2K Championship, and for the people�?and Wrestling 2000 is going to be my vessel for doing so. All comers are welcome. I won’t turn one damn person away, no matter how undeserving he or she may be. I’ll pour all of myself into this place with everything I do, and I won’t quit on it for a second.

(Lifting one hand, Ryan pushes the hair back out of his face. He seems a little stressed.)

Ryan: I’m sick of sitting back and watching people half-ass it. I’m sick of looking at W2K Television and seeing people in the stands with looks on their faces that scream dissatisfied. I’m gonna give this thing a jumpstart the likes of which it’s never experienced before. I’m gonna send a jolt through it so strong that it’ll never think about slowing down again. We’re gonna get to a peak higher than any we’ve ever seen before, and the thought of a valley will never occur again. This isn’t a question of ability, because that’s obviously present. This is a question of willpower. This is a question of motivation. Those questions are going to be answered 100% in full, even if I have to do it all by myself. If they have nothing else, the fans will have me to tune in for. They’ll have Ryan Cain to look forward to. They’ll be able to rest assured in the thought of the W2K Champion putting on a show for them worth watching, and that’s going to be week in and week damn out. I’m starting all the engines back up this week, and I’m going full-speed ahead until we reach the finish. Ryan Cain and his W2K Championship are among your ranks, once more�?so you’d better hold on to your focking hats.

(And with that, Ryan Cain continues forward in determined silence. We swing around to his back, once more, before gradually drawing backwards. He gets smaller and smaller as we climb higher and higher toward the sky. All around the path he’s walking are little tokens of destruction �?burnt-up cars buried halfway up the wheels, buildings torn literally in half. And in front of Ryan, in the direction he’s walking, the sun is rising from the horizon. And we fade to black.)