03-24-2025, 12:26 PM
The following footage was extracted from a MiniDV tape that was found left on the desk of CHBK at some point during Retribution and converted into a digital format for general viewing. As far as we know, Dexter actually wanted this for a change, as the only instructions left with the MiniDV tape were to “do as you will” with its contents but only make them publicly available if Glory Braddock released any public statement in video form herself about their match.
After a moment of nothing, we get a flicker of static before we see a good quality shot of Dexter Grant backstage at what we can assume to be the Alamodome. It appears to still be early enough that Retribution proper hasn't started yet, and Dexter looks sweaty and worn out to appear as though this may have been recorded not too long after his Disconnect Match. Judging from the way he's pacing back and forth, however, it's painfully clear that Dexter is furious, though he punctuates that by literally throwing the adrenaline title belt against the wall with little regard.
“You all don't get it...”
Dexter huffs as he keeps pacing, almost looking like he's talking to himself as much as he's talking to us.
“Not a single one of you gets the point of what I tried to do here today...don't even bother lying. I KNOW you'll all have your own little interpretations of what this match was supposed to be. I KNOW that SCW will somehow be able to show something about this match despite my best efforts...I was informed of a few people lingering around who didn't get the memo and have some footage of what happened. Give it up for SCW, everyone! They get to air what's probably very select footage and spin it to paint me as a coward, as pathetic, as whatever brilliantly original term you all want to use to act like you're superior to me in any fashion. That's the name of the game, isn't it? You're all so smart that you know for sure what this was all about, you'll go online and brag to anyone who will listen that you know me better than I know myself.
Cue your stupid little smiley faces with buck teeth and nerdy glasses punctuating a tired old claim of 'um, actually.'
I can promise that every single one of you, Glory included, missed the ENTIRE POINT of this!”
Dexter kicks a production crate, the sound echoing throughout the hallway before he turns to us, seething in a way that would have any sane individual scared for their life at whatever he could do if another person was right in front of him. Judging from the shakiness of the footage for a moment, whoever's recording, presumably Wendell, is actually terrified of that possibility.
“Glory! If SCW actually follows my instructions for once and doesn't doctor this in any way to suit their own narrative, I want you to listen carefully to what I'm about to say. Your ego will be screaming at you not to bother, demanding that you stick to your own perception, the perception everyone else tells you to believe. For once in your life, get your head out of your ass and LISTEN...because if I'm anything in this world, it's a man of my word. Laugh at that all you want, but when you've been fighting the war I have for as long as I've been on those frontlines, if you shelve your ego for five seconds you'll know that my word, my truth, is all I truly have in this world.
You passed.
I doubt you feel that way considering you aren't champion again, but this title?” Dexter points to the adrenaline title belt still lying in a heap on the floor against the wall. “It was never the point. Being champion was never the point. The point to ALL OF THIS was to make you UNDERSTAND. I'm sure, in the time when your father wrestled, he never did so in front of cameras or had an entire online world to bend over backwards for just to pretend to be something he's not. I doubt he ever competed in front of the crowds that SCW draws regularly. The whole point was to strip all of that away, leave it just down to you, me, and a referee. The real question all along was, when you strip away the fans to feed off of, leave no trace for anyone to witness, was Glory Braddock every bit the wrestler you've been claiming you are all along, or was it all nothing more than an act to build up a persona on a bed of lies because you had to make yourself seem like the wrestler the people believed you are?
I'll give credit where credit's due Glory: you're the real deal. And you don't need this to prove that.”
Dexter bends down for a moment, retrieving the scuffed up adrenaline title and holding it up for the camera to see.
“The unfortunate truth is that this was just as much a test for you as it was for this company. I wanted to see how much they would actually comply with my requests, prove that maybe they are capable of returning to their roots instead of spreading their own 'truths' for the mindless masses to eat up without a care in the world. In that regard...they failed. More importantly, Glory, they failed YOU. If they had just listened and done as I had asked, then had you beaten me, I would have verified the result and people would know for a fact that you would be adrenaline champion once more. Scoff at that if you wish, but pretending otherwise does my fight no favors. You think I wanted to just call the match like I did? I think I've made it abundantly clear that this belt in my hands is nothing more than a bargaining chip for me to leverage and nothing more.
But maybe now...you understand.
Maybe now you see things from my perspective Glory. YOU passed my test, proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are truly a wrestler's wrestler and not just pretending to pander to brainwashed idiots who only care about you enough to satisfy their own sick desires. I heard your little argument with the puppet who claims he's our boss not too long ago. He's blaming YOU for HIS failures, just as corporate talking heads always do when they're trying to gaslight everyone around them into sweeping it all under the rug and acting like nothing happened. That's how they get away with clinging to the power they've held for so long now, and we both know you're better than that!”
Dexter spits off to the side somewhere, running a hand through his hair as he at least makes an attempt to try and calm down. It's hard to tell how much it actually works given how his body is still trembling with anger, but he does lower the title belt at least in what seems like a more relaxed move.
“I guess the question now is where we go from here. I did my part, gave Glory the Disconnect Match. No fancy gimmicks, no convoluted rules, just a typical wrestling match but with no cameras, no audience, and no promotion. All I asked is that only myself, Glory, my faithful follower Wendell, and the referee assigned to do his job, Mr. Hollinsworth, be permitted to disclose the final results of the match as the only witnesses...and SCW left me no choice but to deny Glory the proper finish I'll admit she deserved. Hate me all you want, but this is all the fault of CHBK and the buffoons he allowed to spit in the face of the very simple instructions I gave them, intentionally on short notice so they couldn't let their marketing team spin this into something it never was. It's the sad reality that the more you allow social media to cloud your judgment with trends and misinformation so someone can get their two minutes of self-satisfaction for the day, the more likely you are to forget how to follow very basic instructions.
For as much as this company has failed me, it failed Glory even more, and she has every right to be pissed off with them about what I had to do to retain what little integrity my little idea had left.”
Dexter just stands there for a moment, looking at the floor and the title he's still holding in frustration before his head snaps up and he grabs the camera, forcing it into a close-up of his furious face.
“Glory can respond however she wants, but deep down I know that some of my message has finally gotten through to her, that she understands who the real problem is here. Here's what I'M going to do: I'm going to be at Breakdown, even if I'm not booked to compete. I'm going to find those two social media whores who's brains have become so thoroughly melted by digital bullshit that they actually believe they're Hollywood movie stars, and I'm going to send them to the Walk of Fame in bodybags. I heard talk of Glory being given a handicap match against those buffoons...she deserves to put them out to pasture even more than I do. That said, Glory...you want a partner who understands the injustice being done to you? I'll walk down to that ring and give you a partner. Believe it to be some trap if you wish, but the only thing I want out of Breakdown is to end the careers of those two so-called 'influencers' who are nothing more than two more tumors to this cyber-cancer.”
Dexter slowly raises the adrenaline title back into the shot, his cheek pressing against the belt.
“Once those two are nothing but forgotten code lost to the system, we can talk business. You can have this back if you want it. If you'd rather succumb to your ego and demand that you earn it 'the right way' then all I ask is that we do this in a way that sends a message to the puppet masters up top that THEY do not control US. We do this on OUR terms, NOT THEIRS. And if they have a problem with that? Fuck them! You, Glory Braddock...if you're willing to keep an open mind and hear me out, then I would dare to say you might be the first to be willing to Disconnect to Reconnect, that together WE can start making a difference and turning this entire industry away from these illicit practices and making people aware of the TRUTH.
That's all I ask of you come Breakdown once 'Hollywood' is reduced to what the victims in a snuff film would look like once you, I, WE are done with them. Keep an open mind, and I'm open to negotiate. I'm not the bad guy everyone has convinced you that I am, Glory...but you know how much this fight means to me and the lengths I will go to if it means surviving in a space where the odds are as stacked against me as public perception is. You think people won't see footage of your argument with CHBK and think you're just whining over a lost shot because how dare you make a valid point towards the boss?
Just think over my words Glory...together, we can help so many more people see beyond the digital veil, free their minds from the misinformation and gaslighting that people like SCW's higher-ups rely on to keep them brainwashed into believing whatever they promote to be the truth. Together, we can be the cure for cancers like Hollywood that are only spreading the sickness.
Together, we can help the whole world...Disconnect to Reconnect.”
Dexter stares into the camera a little longer, his frustration mixing with a surprisingly genuine look on his face, almost borderlining hope that maybe, just maybe, Glory has been detoxed enough that she finally understands things from his point of view. If he at least gained a potential ally out of this mess, then he'd be willing to consider the Disconnect Match a success to some degree. For now, though, it's clear he has to wait for a response, and as we see him let go of the camera and start to walk away, dragging the adrenaline title belt along the floor, we cut to black.