Sitting with a blank expression on his face. Quartz is shown in a seated position, his legs outstretched in front of him in his "Cowboy Quartz" attire. His growing hair is falling in front and to the side of his face. There is no usual joy. There is no typical arrogance. There is nothing.
The view continues to zoom further and further out. Quartz is shown sitting on a 4x4 square of tile, seemingly suspended in the purgatory that is his own mind. Blackness surrounds him as the sound of scratching is heard softly in the background. A sudden flash appears behind him. The black wall of nothingness splits into 4 grey sections.
I'm Ijitu Quartz, gah' dammit...
One section flashes on to a RIOT ring 1 year ago, as Quartz, in his first ever match, is hoisting Natoli Joe onto his shoulders for the first ever Black Phoenix.
The scene freezes just before Joe hits the mat, and a 2nd section flashes into an image of Ijitu Quartz standing victorious in the RIOT ring, bruised and battered after his RIOT 500 win.
I'm Ijitu Quartz, gah' dammit...
That scene freezes as well, the 3rd section flashes on. Quartz and Rust Cohle slide into the Anniversary 14 ring, smashing P3 with the championship titles.
The screen freezes as TTT stand triumphant in the ring, together for the first time. The 4th and final section flashes on in the bottom right, Quartz throwing Drago Cesar over his shoulders and screaming just before delivering the match winning Black Phoenix.
I'm Ijitu Quartz, gah' dammit...
As the 4th and final section freezes. 4 of Ijitu Quartz' finest moments are suspended behind him in purgatory. His face twitches slightly and the 4 freeze frames turn to black and white, before the 'wall' walls down backwards, causing a massive slamming sound to be heard.
Replacing it is a new wall, illuminating into Cowboy Quartz standing tall, with his 10-gallon hat perched proudly on his head. Ijitu Quartz' face again twitches and his feet begin to shake in front of him.
You want to try and take this all away from me?
Do you think anybody can take this away from me?
The large images of Cowboy Quartz begin to animate behind him, throwing up 'longhorns' with his hands and grinning into the camera, tipping his 10-gallon hat in a very southern way.
One last face twitch is immediately followed by a slamming sound, bringing the entire scene to black. A few moments later, the same sounds triggers reality, as Quartz is sitting in a bathroom floor, on that 4x4 tile space.
His eyes bloodshot, he props himself up using the wall and stands straight up, stretching his neck and arms. After picking up his 10-gallon hat from the sink, he places it on his head softly and takes one last moment to close his bloodshot eyes before grinning and walking out of view.
The scene opens on another corner of the arena, the camera facing the box office which is mostly empty, the exception being a few Madison Square Garden employees lazily watching some hubbub nearby. There is an even roar echoing through the cavernous corridor of the arena, which appears to be related to whatever the MSG employees are watching. The camera pans around, showing a large crowd surrounding something, jumping around and shouting. T-shirts are being flung over the crowd as OCW fans jump up, snatching the shirts out of the air and cheering as they catch them. The people around them increasing their shouts for their chance at getting a free t-shirt or whatever other item may be hurled out overhead. The camera begins to push through the crowd, finally stopping at a folding table where the One Man Revolution and current Pride Champion Bobby Minio is leaning down, scribbling his signature onto t-shirts with a sharpee before he tosses them into the waiting hands of the crowd.
Bobby Minio: No need to push or panic everyone! I’ve got plenty of shirts, I’ve got posters, I’ve got replica Pride Championships here and every five minutes, I’ll sign a Tiberius Dupree or Nate Ortiz Wrasslin Bro plush pillow and throw those out to you as well, just be patient. They don’t book me anyway so I’ve got nothing better to do than provide for my Revolutionaries!
The crowd surrounding him cheers as a response to his announcement as he tosses out a few more items over their heads and into their waiting hands. He turns to his cart and reaches into a box to find it’s empty, leading him to toss it aside. After a moment of searching, he seems to realize that he’s out of Bobby Minio t-shirts, but, another box of shirts is still on his cart. This one is a box of the new FAME shirts, featuring the faces of Pugh, Dupree and Ortiz posed similarly to the Bohemian Rhapsody video. The members of the crowd close enough to see what is happening begin to shout in anticipation as Minio scrunches his face up into a cocky grin, grabbing a few of the shirts and signing disrespectfully over the legend’s faces. As more of the crowd begin to learn what is happening, the energy level ratchets up to a much higher level.
The camera watches Minio cycling through signing and distributing the vandalized FAME shirts as the crowd begins to part, a gap wide enough for a man to squeeze through. The OCW staffer from the merch room is flanked by a few members of security, still fighting their way through the crowd as well, the staffer’s face plastered with distress. Minio sees the men, and the expression on the staffers face and he looks back down to the shirts he is signing, finishing his signature and throwing this one short, leading to fans to inadvertently clobber the staffer as he jostle for the signed merch.
Bobby Minio: I don’t suppose you brought me some more stuff for the fans…
OCW Staffer: Who authorized this?
Bobby Minio: Are you familiar with De La Soul?
OCW Staffer: …
Bobby Minio: ME, MYSELF AND I.
He looks up at the staffer, Minio’s familiar cocksure smile on his face as he stares into the staffer’s eyes for a response. The staffer turns to the two security guards.
OCW Staffer: We have to shut this down, this is a safet-
Bobby Minio: I would reconsider this.
There is a pause, the crowd has begun to quiet down, dozens, if not maybe a hundred people all eavesdropping on this interaction now. The staffer and the security becoming gradually aware of the attention on themselves.
Bobby Minio: See these people are here for an EXCLUSIVE, Pride Champion Bobby Minio signing. A lot of them have yet to get their signed item… do you want to be the guys responsible for preventing that happening?
The fans around the staffer and the security guards begin to crowd the three men, the space around everyone becoming noticeably more claustrophobic. The staffer, clearly nervous as his voice stammers out a response, begins to speak.
OCW Staffer: T-they can j-just buy the merch like everyone e-else…
Bobby Minio: Really? Can they?
Minio looks down, grabbing his own phone from his pocket. He quickly pulls up a video on the internet, the camera zooming in as Minio holds it up to the staffer’s view. It’s the video from the end of last week’s Riot, where Minio discovers all of the merch he had been signing for hours on end had been unceremoniously dumped into a garbage fire, before any fans could even get a chance to buy it. Whispers spread through the crowd like a beer fart, faces turning up in disgust and anger as they realize this staffer would enforce that these special collector's items be burned in a parking lot instead of given to them. The crowd again pushes closer into the staffer and security, now breathing down their necks.
OCW Staffer: I… I’m going to go talk to management.
Bobby Minio: You do that, and while you’re at it, you tell them if they’ve got an issue, they can come take it up with me and a few of my closest friends out here!
The crowd tunes up on queue with Minio’s statement, cheering with a rowdy disregard for the “rules” attempting to be imposes. The fun police in front of Minio looking annoyed, worried and defeated all at once. The crowd surges, pushing past the three men and surrounding Minio’s table, chanting his name as he watches on proudly. Dramatically, Minio raises his left hand up, a sharpee in his grip, as a response, the crowd pops, demanding more signed t-shirts in their own collective language.
A grinning Minio leans down and begins signing over the faces on the FAME shirts again as the camera pans out to the cheering fans. The scene fades back to ring-side.
LUMBERJACK MATCH
(
KASSIDY HAYES & MATSUDA) MUGEN vs H20
