“I ain’t gonna argue, Box. I ain’t never thought a’ you as a steppin’ stone... A placeholder, maybe. But a steppin’ stone? Not a chance.”

Alceo Dentari stood, as sharply dressed as ever, flanked by his two, less than sharply dressed ‘associates’. Their presence, while inadvertently emphasising Dentari... vertically challenged stature... certainly assisted him in cutting a much more intimidating figure.

“‘Cause I ain’t never needed nothin’ from yous to make a name for myself.” He said, “I did that all on my own when I went out there an’ beat the Defiance World Champion worse than you could ever dream. An’ that’s sayin’ somethin’ knowin’ what goes on behind them eyes a’ yours.”

“From that moment on Alceo Dentari wasn’t just any name... Alceo Dentari was the name, capiche?” Dentari continued, making sure to place as much emphasis as he could on the ‘the’ as he possibly could, “People weren’t talkin’ ‘bout you no more, you was old hat, past it, yesterday’s news...”

“An’ yet Elijah Goldman still turned to you.” He said, sounding more than slightly disgruntled, “He still insisted on havin’ you at his right hand, thinkin’ yous was his best shot at winnin’ the Masters a’ Wrestlin’ league.”

“But you weren’t... I was.” Alceo added pounding on his chest “An’ so I did what I had to in order to make sure Goldman saw it that way too. An’ look at what happened. From week one all the way through to WarGames I led Evolution. For damn near a year I proved to the world, you included, that I was the best hope Evolution had a’ winnin’ the league... An’ if it weren’t for Kai Scott, week in, week out, doin’ everythin’ he possibly could to sabotage me... eh, fuhgeddaboudit.”

“You can think what yous want though, Bronson, just know this. When I brought that pipe down across your neck, an’ I planted my foot in the side a’ that big bald head a’ yours, I didn’t do it out of jealousy, I didn’t do it outta spite, and I sure as hell didn’t do it outta fear.” He said with a shake of his head. “I did it ‘cause you weren’t the right man for the job no more.”

“There may once a’ been a time where yous just might a’ had what it took to win the Grand Championship. But when yous is gettin’ beat by Jack Bryant, an’ rolled up by Dragon Jones?” Dentari paused and weighed up the possible ramifications of the aforementioned indiscretions, “Well that’s just evidence that time has long since passed.”

“I hate to sound clichéd, Box. But it weren’t nothin’ personal when I took yous out, it was just business.”

“So if yous wanna hold a grudge, hold a grudge, I ain’t gonna lose no sleep over it.” He said shaking his head once again, “‘Cause there ain’t nobody in Defiance that still sees you as the big, bad Boxer.”

Dentari contemplated that point for a moment.

“‘Cept for yourself... An’ that’s just kinda pathetic, don’tcha think?”

More Propaganda | View Alceo Dentari's Biography