[Nic Totopoulous is seen sitting backstage at a non televised TNT Wrestling event. He is sitting on a bench in the dressing room by himself. He is wearing a pair of shorts, a Nic Totopoulous T-shirt and a pair of running shoes. His head is in his hands as he leans over and looks down at the floor. His hair is down over his face gym bag is sitting next to him on the bench with a locker space behind him. He looks up at the camera. He pushes the hair out of his face and behind his ears. He looks very calm, surprisingly calm almost. With a match as significant as the one with Lyricz coming up within the next two days.]
You know something Lyricz, I can see that you are very good a scaring people. I can see that you're very good at intimidating people. With your words, you like to play mind games with all of your opponents. I've watched you Lyricz, you do a very good job. You can almost psyche out every opponent before you even get into the ring with them. That is a talent, a talent you should be proud to posses. As a Lyrical Genius as you so accurately put it, you have done very well for yourself. You talk trash very well Lyricz, very well. However as I listen to you, any bit of worry I might have going into a match with you seems to whither away little by little.
[Totopoulous leans forward and leans his arms on his legs in front of him.]
You don't scare me Lyricz. You can try all you like, but the more I hear what you have to say, the more I think you are trying to convince yourself that you can beat me. I think you're trying to convince yourself that the drug problems still bother, that Miranda is distracting me. I think you're trying to convince yourself that I have all of these problems to worry about, so I won't worry about you and the match at hand. That is not a mistake I have ever made in my entire career. I've lost matches in the past, and it's not because of an outside distraction, it's because I was just beat. My opponent was just better than me on that night. You should be proud of that Lyricz. You should be proud that when I beat you, I won't have my mind elsewhere. It will be exactly where I need it to be to beat you. Could you imagine what it would be like if I beat you, and I was worrying about everything other than our match? I don't know about you, but I know I hope my opponent's are focusing on the match. Not only because it's embarrassing to lose to someone that isn't focused, but because it's more fun in the ring.
[Totopoulous leans back on the wall behind him.]
I've got to be honest with you, competing in the ring is fun Lyricz. I love getting into the ring with someone I respect, or I despise, and letting out all of my frustrations, win, lose, or draw. When I wrestle and lay down a beating, I have fun. When I wrestle and get beat down, which happened enough when I first started, I had fun. I learned a thing or two, I got better, that's the way I live my life. Hell, if it wasn't fun, I wouldn't be wrestling this Sunday night against you. I would probably cower away from you and leave TNT Wrestling for good. I'm not made like that though. I love the challenge, I love the competition, and I think that's why I've been so good.
[Totopoulous leans forward again and looks straight into the camera.]
I know you think you're something special, and you probably are. You probably will go on after this match whether you win or lose and be very successful, and eventually become a World Champion in TNT Wrestling. However, when I say I've beaten better men than you, then I have beaten better men than you. I have taken much worse beatings than the ones you've given me, and then I've won the match I've taken those beatings in. Let's remember that each time you've beaten me down, I haven't fought back Lyricz. I haven't put up any effort to beat you. I want you to remember that. I've seen you in the ring, and you are good without a doubt. You aren't as good as you think you are though. I've beaten Michael Edwards, Blader Skum, Wall2K, Killa X, X-Kalibur, Kevin Cosmos, White Thunder. I've beaten some of the biggest names in this industry. You my friend are not one of the biggest names in professional wrestling. You like to think you are, but you aren't.
[Totopoulous pushes the hair back behind his ears again.]
Lyricz, I'm not worried about my back, I'm not worried about Miranda, I'm not worried about drugs, and I'm certainly not worried about you. You insult Miranda to try and make me lose my cool. I don't lose my cool Lyricz. You've been wrestling too many rookies recently. I noticed your match against Jimmy Vetalo didn't go so well last week. I don't know if you've noticed, but he's no rookie. He's been around the block, and your rhetoric wasn't able to faze him in the least. He came out focused, and that is what I'm going to do, just as I always do. I'm ready for a wrestling match Lyricz. I'm ready for a fight. I'm ready for a brawl. I'm ready for whatever you want to throw at me. Lyricz, at April Attack I stop talking, and you're going to have to too. You're going to have to put your money where your mouth is. Remember, I'm the legend, and you're still nothing. To quote a man that you compared me to, I must admit it is a honour that you would compare me to him because he is the greatest wrestler of all time, and you think I can go as long as he can, "To be the man, you've got to beat the man". Right now, I'm still the man Lyricz. You haven't proven anything to anyone until you beat someone of substance. Lyricz, I'll see you in the ring!
[Totopoulous gets up off the bench. He picks up his bag and carries it out with him. He exits through the door and makes his way down the hall as the scene fades to black.]
