(FADEIN: ‘The Wolf’ MIKE RANDALLS walking the corridors of the Merritt/Thomas Auditorium. It was eleven years ago he first walked these halls at the age of eighteen. Years had passed, his life had changed. In his hand, he held an envelope. The shadows grew the longer he walked, his grey cloak adorned and his hood over his head. He stopped finally and peeked a door open, looking inside…as he stepped through, the scene changed to a locker room. Non-descript due to the various CSWA posters hanging on the walls. RANDALLS placed an envelope on the table and smiled slightly, then quickly exited the room…

The screen faded to black as RANDALLS’ voice began talking…

“Where I had fallen could only be described as hell…”

(cueup: ‘In the Light’ – Led Zeppelin. CUTTO: RANDALLS falling through a vortex of fire, flames swirling and shifting violently…)

“At no point when I decided to slit my wrists was I seeking redemption. My choices in life up to that point were in desperation and out of denial…at this particular moment in time, I had finally accepted the fact that much of my life was a waste. What I could have done, What I should have done – these thoughts started entering my mind. For eighteen years, I only wanted to pay back God for all the pain and suffering he had exacted on me with no sin of mine being the precursor. He had started the fight and I intended to finish it.”

And if you feel…..that you can't go on…
…And your will is sinkin' low…Just believe and you can't go wrong…”

“As I fell, I understood how wrong I had been for the last ten years. How I had made my point long ago and my actions had nothing to do with my past, but only my present. I could not find closure, because I could not find God.”

…In the light you will find the road, You will find the road!

(CUTTO: As RANDALLS falls he looks up and squints…from the distance it looks like a large bird is flying towards him, its feather’s colors blending in with the flames…RANDALLS slowly closes his eyes as he falls further, his arms outstretched…)

“That is why I decided wherever I landed, whatever my fate be I make one final stand, one final fight worthy of remembrance and in honor of a life that should have been…”

(As RANDALLS falls a giant Phoenix swoops into the vortex, grasps him gently within its talons and glides away from the fire…)

“Redemption was never the intention, but it was the choice I made. Everyday, people ask themselves where does it begin? How do I save something that is already lost? The answer is to make that choice and believein it and never let go.”

(The screen goes black…all that is heard is a flatlining heartbeat on an EKG machine…)

”CLEAR!”

(An electric shock treatment is heard, all of a sudden the heartbeat comes on…)

“My god…he made it…”

“He was dead for 13 minutes…that’s almost impossible…”

(FADEIN: ‘The Wolf’ MIKE RANDALLS walking in the shadowed corridors alone, the vibrations of a sold out auditorium reverberating off the walls…he looks up and smiles…BLACK.)

(CUEUP: “Sweet Child O’ Mine – Guns’n’Roses)

(CUTTO: Merritt and Thomas in the middle of the ring, addressing the crowd in Merritt Auditorium on the CSWA’s First Show.)
(CUTTO: First Show. Melton bulldogging Mark Windham.)
(CUTTO: First Show. Hornet body slamming the 500 lb. Dark Knight.)
(CUTTO: CS Express executing their finish, “The Rocket Launcher.”)

She's got a smile that it seems to me
Reminds me of childhood memories
Where everything
Was as fresh as the bright blue sky

(CUTTO: Bill Parsons Frank’n’Parsons on Mickey Benedict.)
(CUTTO: Mike Randalls driving a stake through GUNS’ knee.)
(CUTTO: The Dream Warrior bench press slmamming Hornet.)
(CUTTO: Lex Vicious holding the EN World Heayvweight title on the top rope.)

Now and then when I see her face
She takes me away to that special place
And if I stared too long
I'd probably break down and cry

(CUTTO: Mark Windham pinning Monte Farriss for his first US title.)

Sweet child o' mine

(CUTTO: Joey Melton and Tom Adler circling each other in the ring.)

Sweet love o' mine

(CUTTO: A younger looking Sammy Benson and Bill Buckley in front of a CSWA PRIMETIME backdrop.)
(CUTTO: Rudy Seitzer interviewing a fresh-faced Eliminator and Poison Ivy.)
(CUTTO: Hornet and Windham from LAST CALL I.)
(CUTTO: GUNS pinning Hornet at FISH FUND.)
(CUTTO: Hornet addressing the FISH FUND crowd in his farewell speech, right foot over GUNS’ chest.)
(CUTTO: Wanda and Hortense wrestling.)
(CUTTO: Eli and Randalls in the WHEEL OF DEATH.)
(CUTTO: Troy Windham cutting a promo from his old Sweetwater bedroom.)
(CUTTO: Eli taking the Nestea plunge off the top of a cage.)

She's got eyes of the bluest skies
As if they thought of rain
I hate to look into those eyes
And see an ounce of pain

(CUTTO: Hornet scaling a cage then stopping Manual Juarez’s hand from counting “3”.)
(CUTTO: Juarez mouthing, “NO ENGLISH! NO ENGLISH!”)

Her hair reminds me of a warm safe place
Where as a child I'd hide
And pray for the thunder
And the rain
To quietly pass me by

(CUTTO: Jim Williams taking a chair to Hornet’s head.)
(CUTTO: The Professionals, cig in mouth, celebrating after a match.)
(CUTTO: Mark Vizzack and Sunshine cutting an in-ring promo.)

Sweet child o' mine

(CUTTO: Arrogance (Melton and Steven Flair) clutching the World Tag belts after a blood bath.)

Sweet love o' mine

(CUTTO: Deacon coming off the top rope.)
(CUTTO: Eddy Love watching Sweet Melissa go through a table.)
(CUTTO: Love and Troy Windham fargo strutting in Mobile.)
(CUTTO: Shane Southern having his hair cut.)
(CUTTO: Dan Ryan walking out of Key West Arena to a thunderous reaction, World Title strap around his shoulder.)
(CUTTO: A still photograph of the workers backstage after the CSWA’s First Show in Greensboro, NC circa spring of 1988.)

(FADE: Music and video.)

(FADEIN: The Merritt Auditorium in Greensboro, NC. Lights are out, and twenty-three thousand strong roar with approval. Rhubarb Jones, still single after all these years (but he’s had cyber sex, and in Jones’ book that counts), signaled the count down that ended seconds before video fed.

It’s an honor to warm up the crowd, preparing them for the better-equipped entertainers, whom Merritt actually pays to work the crowd. In Boston, in April of ’94, Rhubarb welcomed the two-minute mark by breaking into some racist standup material he’s honed in his basement since high school.

We all make mistakes.

He kept his job by agreeing to attend racial sensitivity training, and well, more importantly, spotting the hotties in the crowd (sketching their seat and section number on a small notepad) and discreetly escorting them back to Merritt’s office after the show. Never tasted the fruits of hard labor himself but feeling like David Lee Roth at his prime with Van Halen was enough.

Point. “You there. Wanna see a real show?” Point. “You’re not by chance a submissive seeking a master, are you?”

The crowd roars again, Jones weaning them off his cue. Many in attendance camped out in the parking lot last night, just to be a part of the morning’s “Joey Melton’s CSWA Breakfast Of The Stars” where local models, too imperfect to be Playboy material, but ideal fodder for Melton, hosted a Vegan prepared meal in a lost effort to remember the CSWA’s sixteen glorious years, and preach about the wrongs of eating meat. More specifically, how the animals slaughtered in mass production were mistreated. A twenty-minute PBS sponsored video ran between 10 and 10:20 as a bacon substitute was passed around like good weed, the kind you break out for Allman Brothers’ concerts.

A dozen or so fainted, and one woman who trekked all the way from Charlotte actually had a heart attack. She lived, and truth be told, Melton was slightly upset. He promised a level of impact on par with “The Passion Of Christ.” Mel Gibson got patrons to die; Joey settled for a close call. He knows the glass half-full side says half of the women in attendance asked for recipes, but that notwithstanding, he hates to lose to Gibson again. First time being a ping-pong tournament on the lot of Lethal Weapon 3. 26-24 in the third set. Not an embarrassment, but Danny Glover stood beside him once Melton was up 17-11 and talked a serious game of trash. Serves them right, he thought at the time, that the movie sucks.

Merritt disapproved heavily of the Vegan push, and the general lack of CSWA stars, sans Melton, Lindsay Troy, and Little Voltron. Ryan’s Steakhouse has been a sponsor of the league since 1990. Money’s tight now, Merritt apparently told Joey, best not to crap in the cereal you’re selling for breakfast.

Eventually Benson showed, slurring his words and running from tent to tent, kissing women’s breasts because it was an election year.

“Government should be governed!”
“Two million dollar campaign spending cap!”
“I don’t care if donations are considered free speech!”
“Free Health care!”
“They’re the Olsens now, not the Olsen twins. Please respect their wishes...”

Merritt pulled Benson from the scene as the soybean cupcakes arrived around noonish and berated him for becoming a socialist. Like, you know, when did this happen?

The breakfast, road bumps aside, was a success. Melton signed thousands of autographs for $75 a pop, and Chad moved outdated merchandise like hotcakes.

As the party dispersed, the excitement dipped, however slightly, until Rhubarb gave a silent “one” and CSWA’S ANNIVERSARY 15 event went live!

The patented CSWA laser light show, lifted from Europe’s big tour in the late ‘80s, sprang to life. The fans have seen it before, but it’s like tracks 7-10 on Nirvana’s “Nevermind.” They suck, but the man’s an icon now, you have to listen. To skip would be in poor taste.

The house lights turn on, and the idiots who smuggled in air horns show their lack of wit.)

(CUTTO: Bill Buckley and Sammy Benson in tuxedos at their broadcast post. Both with bigger grins than usual on their faces.)

BB: Hello fans! Welcome to CSWA15! It’s ANNIVERSARY for free here on NCN! And we wouldn’t have it any other way, if you were here to join us. By my side is my faithful sidekick for fifteen years, Sammy Benson, aka the commie.

SB: Stop it, Buckley. That’s just a nasty rumor, and besides Democratic Socialism is a great thing.

BB: I won’t go there. We’re where it all started in 1988 Sammy, the Merritt Auditorium!

(The camera gives a quick pan of the Auditorium and the bedlam in making.)

SB: You say that as if we’re supposed to be proud our lives haven’t progressed. Look at these idiots surrounding us Buckley, you think they’ve matured, or moved up in the tax bracket? No, fifteen years plus has just been amble time for them to breed and conquer.

BB: Lovely insight from my co-host, as usual.

SB: You want me to be happy about a quarter-century of my life being spent here, then tell Merritt to clean the (censor) off the toilets, some of those stains have been there since...

BB: A quarter-century is twenty-five years...Sammy.

SB: (Benson gives Buckley a sour look.) You just love correcting me, don’t you. It’s your lot to make me appear stupid in front of the viewers. Thanks Buckley! I have it on good word that scouts for FOX News watch me each week!

BB: Now I know you’re lying. We haven’t run weekly since ’92.

SB: (laughs) I’ve trained you well.

BB: Indeed you have. Fans, you know the lineup, if you don’t...

SB: Then why the hell are you ordering?

BB: It’s free, Sammy.

SB: Oh then, it’s Ryan/Southern for the World Title, Hornet/Adler for the US title, The Pros vs JJ Deville and my man Troy Windham for the World Tag Titles, Kin vs Jean for the Greensboro title, Randalls/Aho for the Paper Unified title, and in an “I Quit” match Mark Windham vs Eli Flair.

BB: Well done! (rolls eyes.) These fans are ready, so are we...without further delay CS Enterprises presents CSWA ANNIVERSARY 2004: CSWA15

(CUEUP - "Shapes of things" by the Jeff Healy band.)

(The crowd gives a good pop as Jean Rabesque steps through the curtain dressed in his black wrestling gear, Greensboro Title on his shoulder, house mic in hand.)

(Rabesque stops at the front of the stage art set, and soaks in the atmosphere before unleashing on Hiroshi, who’s already in the ring.)

RABESQUE: Over the past few months, many have continued to doubt me and everything I stand for. Everything's a fluke, right? Well, here we are, right here in Greensboro, North Carolina. (cheap pop) This is the city that started it all for the CSWA and I am proud to walk into this arena as this city's champion.

Kin Hiroshi is convinced he can get the job done tonight. But tonight is the night where I prove to everyone going that Jean Rabesque is THE force of the CSWA for 2004. No one thought I could be a contender, and here I am a champion. So tonight, after I get done dispatching with Hiroshi, I place out an open challenge to ANYONE in the CSWA that would like a title shot with me. Name the time and the place and I will be there.

I will be honest, I have much bigger fish to fry, and either Ryan or Southern, whomever comes out of tonight with the belt, I'm talking exactly to you. But right now, I plan on defending this Greensboro Title with the honor this city deserves it.

Kin, I've already made your ass tap once, I think it's about damn time we do it again.

(Jean starts his walk to the ring...)

(He steps through, hands the Greensboro title to Ben Worthington, and turns to Kin.)

BB: Kin wasting no time tonight, nailing Jean with more than a muffin.

SB: And the gimmick continues... and now that I think about it, having a muffin salesman as the Greensboro champ is almost appropriate.

BB: Kin tosses Rabesque down the rampway and into the ring. This match has started, but it's started with a decided advantage for Kin Hiroshi. Rabesque is still stunned, trying to get his bearings. Kin off the ropes and a solid kick into the side of Jean Rabesque, spinning him into the air and back to the mat. Kin sitting on Rabesque's shoulder, pulling back on the arm to work the shoulder.

SB: Are you sure he's working the shoulder?

BB: What else could he...

SB: He's ... working his thumb.

BB: Come on, Sammy.

SB: I'm serious. You KNOW I don't actually call these things, but he's twisting Rabesque's thumb!

BB: I... I... don't believe it. And I don't think Jean believes it either.

SB: It's cause he's in SO much pain. I stubbed my thumb one time... couldn't hold a longneck for the next week.

BB: You could've used your other hand.

SB: No I can't.

BB: Why?

SB: I'm right handed.

BB: So.

SB: The thumb was on my RIGHT HAND... idiot.

BB: Didn't you say the other day that you had carpal tunnel in your right hand? Hiroshi stands up and is stepping onto the hand of Rabesque. Kin is a small man.

SB: But the thumb is a small digit... and no one works out their thumb. I work out my middle finger, mostly on the drive to work.

BB: You can drive?

SB: I... uh... never mind.

BB: Several stomps and... Kin with an elbowdrop... to the thumb.

SB: Do you think the authorities will be watching this?

BB: I don't - -

("Learn to Crawl" by Black Lab begins to play for the second time tonight. The fans, immediately perplexed, moreso now than at the sight of one grown man working over another grown man's thumb. One group knows what's happening... the CROSSovers scream as Nathan Cross steps out of the curtain.)

BB: What's he doing here?

SB: Who? They're coming to get me!

BB: Nathan Cross is making his way to the ring, giving Hiroshi a pause in the ... action. They jaw for a minute but... he shouldn't be out here!

SB: Nathan who?

(Nathan sits down at the announcer's table & puts on the headset.)

BB: What are you doing here?

NC: I'm here to cut down on Sammy's airtime. My CROSSovers loved his little 'vacation' and would like a repeat. I'm OBVIOUSLY not the guy in charge, otherwise I'd have had a stake in this match instead of wasting away with Joey Melton.

SB: I'll take a vacation.

NC: Sorry Sammy, but this isn't about you. I'm not Eddy Love so you hate me.

SB: Actually, I don't know you.

NC: Put the bottle down and you will. What tonight is about is these two men in the ring. I'm here to call it, add some color to this pay per view.

BB: But you already performed tonight.

NC: For free... but if you were able to get ANY of my CROSSovers to buy this tanking ship, I'm the reason why. Last week on my website, I TOLD them I'd be here. You can thank me for the spike in payrates. OH YEAH! Rabesque took advantage of Kin's confusion.

BB: That he did, nailing Kin from behind with a clothesline. Shades of the beginning of this match when Kin caught him by surprise.

NC: I'm gonna call it fair, these men are champions... where I should be.

SB: But who ARE you?

NC: a "Love" child. Happy?

SB: You're one of MINE?!

NC: Shut it already sammy... we do have a match going on.

BB: Rabesque quick to take the offensive, a snap suplex on the smaller Hiroshi. He rolls Kin over, grabbing at Kin's knee, and jams it into the ring.

NC: Jeannie is wasting no time going for the finish. Not a bad plan considering he already got one tap out.

BB: That is how he won the title. A repeat would be nice. Rabesque locking that leg, Hiroshi squirming to get loose.

NC: Ya know, sitting here and watching this is really pissing me off. I should be out there, on THIS show, busting it for THAT title.

BB: I thought you said tonight was about them.

NC: I DID! But let me tell ya, I went to a draw with Hiroshi FOR the belt. Did I get a rematch.

BB: Actually, I think you did.

NC: NO! I got Jeannie sticking his nose in MY business... and what'd he get? A title shot. MY shot.

BB: Hiroshi spins around, kicking Rabesque off, but Jean is quick to move back on the attack. INSIDE CRADLE! 1...2...thr-NO! Hiroshi was a split second away from winning the title back. Jean back on the attack and drop toe hold by Hiroshi. Rabesque's throat lands on the top rope.

NC: Every bone in my body is screaming to bash his head in with this chair.

BB: Kin hits the far ropes and slides down, slamming Jean's neck into the rope. He springs back into the ring.

NC: Then again, I could do the same to the "muffin" man.

BB: Hiroshi climbs back onto the apron as Jean slowly gets to his feet. Springboard and leg lariat! Jean is down and Kin springs off the ropes, inside the ring moonsault with another cover. 1...2...Kickout by the champion.

NC: He has a title, but he stopped being a champion when he interrupted my match... a match that SHOULD've been a five star affair.

BB: And Hiroshi grabs the arm of Rabesque and... this again?

NC: All the respect I had for Kin is slowly seeping away. He's putting my CROSSovers through this... this... what the world is THAT.

SB: He's working the thumb.

NC: Go back to your bottle.

SB: Go back to your curtain jerking.

BB: Hiroshi has his leg across Rabesque's back, sitting on his back, and pulling back on the thumb. This is the most unusual...

NC: 1!...2!...thr... at least the 'champ' decided that MY fans wouldn't want to sit through more of that thumb crap... I can't believe I just said that.

BB: Hiroshi back up, as is Rabesque. Knee to the midsection, doubling over Jean, and a double arm DDT. Kin holding the butterfly and... back to the thumb?

NC: This is really pissing me off. This match is for a championship? People are ACTUALLY paying MONEY for this crap?

BB: But Kin is determined to work over the thumb, and he's doing a good job of it.

NC: Play this tape after the show, and then shoot yourself for the statement you just made.

BB: And Kin is asking for the referee to check for a tap out.

NC: You've gotta be freakin' kiddin' me?

BB: No tap out.

NC: This is the same man that ... put on such a great match with me?

SB: You wrestled before?

NC: once or twice (censor catches the end of it... Sammy, best at inciting curse words from people since 1992)

BB: Kin is set on this gameplan. Maybe he knows something about Rabesque that we don't know.

NC: Like... he can't wrestle.

BB: Not exactly what I had in mind. Rabesque gets to the ropes, forcing the ref to break the hold.

NC: Again, play this when you get off tonight... try to believe what words just came out of your mouth in regards to this 'move'. You're selling it like it's an elevated Boston Crab or something.

BB: Kin breaks the hold by the count of 5.

NC: OH PLEASE!

BB: Jean with a solid right hand, the ref with a warning... and another right. Kin with a knee to the midsection and a neckbreaker. He stands up, playing it up to the crowd. Gets Rabesque up and a whip into the ropes. Dropkick but NO ONE HOME! Rabesque grabs the legs and flips over for the pin. 1...2...Hiroshi bridges out, rolls through, backslide - 1...2... Jean flips out of it and Hiroshi out and kick to the midsection and a DDT! Rabesque for the cover.

(Kin is up barely, inciting a pop from the fans who was happy with the faster pace)

BB: The champ wasting no time, lifting Hiroshi up...

NC: He's no champion.

BB: And DOWN! Vertical suplex.

NC: Yeah, you can do those moves without using your thumb. Amazing, isn't it?

BB: Rolls through and we've got another pin attempt.

NC: He'll kick out.

BB: And he does, at the 2 count.

NC: I'll give them credit, at least in the last few minutes they've done some work... but most of this match has been as tired & old as Joey Melton's headlock.

BB: Kept you at bay.

NC: Whatever.

BB: And the champ is kicking the back of Hiroshi's leg, really working those hamstrings.

NC: Champs don't chair shot their way to a title.

BB: REAL challengers don't whine and complain.

NC: THey do when they got kicked off a show that THEY made watchable... for no freakin' reason.

BB: Rabesque turning Kin over, putting him in a single leg crab. He's working that leg over.

NC: Well, at least it's better than a thumb.

BB: He has been working that leg for some time, raises Kin's leg up and SLAMS it down onto the mat! You just KNOW he salivating for that figure 4.

NC: Or a chair shot... whatever gets him to the belt.

BB: He has the belt AND he has Hiroshi's leg locked up.

NC: But Jeannie does not have a champion's heart. Tonight he said people thought it was a fluke. It wasn't a fluke, it was a joke. Fluke's aren't funny, and his name with the word 'champ' beside it most definitely IS.

BB: And I think he's ready. He spins the leg and- - HIROSHI WITH A CRADLE! ALMOST A TWO! Both men up and HIROSHI with a thumb to the eye!

NC: He couldn't have done that if Jeannie would've went after the thumb like Hiroshi's gameplan has been.

BB: Ref with the warning, but Hiroshi ignores him. He grabs Rabesque in a front facelock and is climbing the corner. TORNADO DDT!

SB: OR NOT!

BB: Rabesque with a one armed Spinebuster and he's holding the leg. It's TIME! FIGURE FOUR! FIGURE FOUR! Kin is in serious trouble now, trying to roll... to grab the ropes, the ref, anything that'll get him out of it. But he can't get it. That legs been worked and- - he's turning the move and- - NO! He can't. Kin reaching for the ropes and - - NO! He can't get there. He's trapped. He's hurting.

NC: And he can't get to Jeannie's thumb.

BB: KIN IS TAPPING! This match is OVER! The champion ret-

NC: The Champion? This champ... is no champion. He's a guy with a belt, and ya never know when that's going to change. But THIS champion, Nathan Cross... is out of here.

BB: Thank goodness. Either way, Jean Rabesque held onto the title. We'll see if anyone takes him up on his challenge before the match tonight.

SB: I'll give you one guess who'll be first in line.

(Nate Cross stops in front of Sammy)

NC: I'm not even going to bother WITH the line, Sammy.

BB: Nate picking up a chair. He points to it, to the title that Rabesque is raising and- -

SB: We've got trouble!

BB: No? Nate only tosses the chair to the ground, shaking his head 'no'. Well, we've got some questions with that behavior, but we have the answer to just WHO IS the Greensboro Champ - Jean Rabesque. We'll be back in a few.