[Opening backstage]
[The ring techs are racing around, preparing for their biggest show...ever. This is the pay-per-view debut of Central States Wrestling, and no one wants to make a mistake. This is the kind of program that can make or break a worker�s career... and that goes for wrestlers too. They are all about the Savvis Centre as well, talking, warming up, jogging lightly... Some are conducting interviews, planning strategies, plotting their actions for the evening. The back doors accessing the locker room and exercise/training area swings open from time to time, revealing yet another superstar of the sport... Near the door stands Traci-Lynn Brisbois, heralded reporter for the CSWA television networks...awaiting the appearance of anyone who catches her eye. With about a half hour until show time her eyes perk up with the entrance of a Canadian veteran of the squared circle. She waves over the young man, who stops, reluctantly, and walks over quietly. He bears a noticeable limp in his right leg, and is favouring his arms.]
[BRISBOIS] Ladies and gentlemen, I�m standing �ere backstage before the big show, End of Days...the first ever pay-per-view for the Central States Wrestling Alliance. The name of the show has special significance in many of the matches tonight, but none any more so than the �ird and final match in easily the most brutal and frightening series of stipulations matches ever seen on cable. The final match, moved to pay-per-view because of its �orrendous nature, is called Crystal Dreams. With me �ere now, is one of the two competitors in this amazing match-up, Jeff Kushner.
[The fans in the arena who could see on the CSWAtron screens, rise to their feet and cheer loudly...]
[KUSHNER] Hello Traci...
[BRISBOIS] Let us get straight to it Jeff, your life has gone to �ell lately...�ow can you expect to compete against the younger, more energetic, and more popular Python?
[Kushner simply stared at Traci, his eyes boring a hole in her skull... His face strained with the pain in his legs and arms, and the anger in his heart, but he quietly, and for the moment calmly remarked...]
[KUSHNER] I�m going to leave everything I have in that ring. Tonight, pain means nothing, and victory means little more. Python and I are putting on a show for the fans tonight...plain and simple. I want to win...but it�s more important to fight, and fight hard.
[Traci-Lynn rolled her eyes at his comments...]
[BRISBOIS] Come now Jeff... are you trying to convince these fans dat you don�t want to �urt �im? Dat you don�t want to �break �im apart� as you so eloquently put it? Don�t tell me that after all dat �as been said in court, that you want the fans to believe you�re not a violent man...? Even your so called �friends� in the Authority probably think you�re guilty just like everybody else!
[Kushner is furious...and speechless...he slowly steps closer and closer to Traci-Lynn, who suddenly realizes that she had overstepped her bounds... but before Jeff could proceed with whatever he had in mind, a third voice entered the mix, very familiar to CSWA crowds, eliciting a chorus of boos instantly from the faithful in Missouri.]
[MARSHALL] Traci...Traci...Traci... You know better than that... This man is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, and the very fact that he�s here tonight, despite all his personal problems, shows how much heart...how much character he has.
[Brisbois is speechless, and simply hands her microphone over to Marshall, backing off... Jeff meanwhile, is simply staring his boss in the eye, waiting for the other shoe to drop.]
[MARSHALL] Now Jeff, may I call you Jeff? Jeff, I just wanted to tell you what an amazing job you and Python have been doing lately... and how glad I am to see that you�re here tonight...
[KUSHNER] What do you want...Robert?
[Marshall balks slightly at the use of his name so sharply.]
[MARSHALL] Jeff, I don�t want anything, but an opportunity, to sit, discuss, and toss around some ideas with you. That doesn�t sound terribly threatening, does it? Perhaps I have some insight on your current personal dilemma...
[KUSHNER] Alright Robert, we�ll talk...
[MARSHALL] Excellent... Come to my office in a few minutes... I just know we�ll accomplish so much together...
[Marshall walked off, and Kushner simply watches him go with a look of concern on his eyes.]
[FADE OUT]