It’s nighttime. The camera cuts to Edgewater Beach on the shores of Lake Erie outside of Cleveland. Standing on the beach, backs to the Great Lake, are Raiden and “The StarChild” JP Reeves, the duo known as NDR. Both are wearing matching black hoodies with the street art/graf style NDR logo on the front. Raiden is also wearing a knee brace over his jeans, stemming from the attack on him from The Company Men just a few weeks earlier.

JP Reeves:
Company Men! Dubya! Cristiano. And, of course, Tabitha Kinsey... I’m sure you’re feeling yourselves right now. I’m sure you’re feeling real good about the success of your plot. First taking out Teri Melton. Then inserting yourself in our debut match on DefTV and stealing the victory from us, and damn near taking us out for good. You had your finger on the trigger and ended up not pulling it. 

JP chuckles.

JP Reeves:
Yeah, you got us. But all you did was put a little more of a chip on our shoulder than what’s already there, and all you did was just make us hate you a little bit more than we did already. So, let’s go over a few things about me and Raiden here just so you know, and everyone in The Faithful, knows where we come from.

Raiden rubs his hands together and looks menacingly at the camera.

JP Reeves:
Yeah, our dads were tag specialists back in the day. WildStar and Tsunami, tag champs the world over! In fact, managed by Teri Melton herself. You might think we’re just two mat rats who had a bunch of advantages handed to them. But that’s where you’re wrong. My dad? I love him to death, but he’ll be the first to tell you he was shit with handling his money. All of what he made just went right out of his wallet immediately. I remember my mom crying when we had to move out of our big house after it foreclosed. Or how my dad had to pawn off a bunch of his old titles and his prized record collection. Or how much he tried to keep his head up when he had to finally hang up the wrestling boots to make a steady income wearing a Planet Fitness golf shirt as a personal trainer, tending to the pilates needs of the middle aged women of suburban Delaware. He’s good now, co-owner of a gym. But, yeah, we struggled.

JP looks at the side at the memories.

JP Reeves:
I was a real good amateur wrestler in high school. I spent a lot of time at my dad’s gym. But I also had to contribute to the household finances, starting at a real young age. I was a busboy at my friend’s dad’s diner. And I didn’t resent it. I friggin’ loved it. I loved the hustle of the kitchen. I craved it, in fact. I ended up doing vegetable prep, then worked for some real good kitchens up in Philly, thrown into being a sous chef, and you name it. Hell, I even spent a year up at Culinary Institute of America before I realized that my heart and soul was in pro wrestling. When I say that we’re Your Next Top Chefs looking to get some Michelin Stars? That’s just a reminder of the burns on the hands and the screams of the executive chef and the pissed off patrons and the crazed coked up mania of some mama’s boy “restauranter” who couldn’t boil water trying to boss us around. Hell, I even put in a bunch of lunch shifts and catering events when we were in BRAZEN.

Raiden spits to the side.

JP Reeves:
My brother-from-another Raiden? He’s never liked to talk much. But he’s got that chip, too. Parents living on separate continents for a few years will do that to you. When my guy here wasn’t doing his homework or his martial arts training, he was tossing up hoodies like that at night to go around putting his spray tag on any wall he could find. He had to be a getaway artist and he had to throw fists if he scribbled his name over someone else’s. He got caught one time too many, but thankfully a judge had mercy and put him in a diversionary art program. Now? 

Raiden turns and pops his hoodie that has a Shephard Farley-style drawing patch with Dex Joy’s stenciled face that reads “Dexy Baby Baby Baby” in a scribbled font. 

Raiden:
I express myself in my street art... and cracking jaws.

JP Reeves:
Yeah, so we aren’t what you think is on the cover of the book. And you think we got welcomed with open arms in BRAZEN? We got pulled aside when we got there and were told ‘we already have second generation wrestlers here. And people actually remember their parents.’ We had to outwork them - to be fair, not that hard - and everyone else. 

JP lets the Lake Erie night sink for a few seconds.

JP Reeves: 
That’s not what you two did, isn’t it? Cristiano? You were a laughing stock pretty boy. Dubya? Some rich daddy’s kid who did the bare minimum. The Company Men didn’t become a thing because of what you did in training or in the ring. You got here because Dubya had his business school spreadsheets and Cristiano has smooth skin and Tabitha Kinsey pulled a bunch of levers before we even knew she was around. You never had to grind. You’re everything we are against.

Raiden starts to smirk and flicks his half-mullet.

JP Reeves:
So next week? We don’t care. This is against doctor’s orders. Me and Raiden? Yeah, we want some of that, Company Men. Run it back. This time, you’d better pull the trigger. Because this ain’t no joke, and this ain’t no smoke. We hate you to the grave. And we’ll die trying if it means we take you with us. 

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