A small TV is shown in a dark room. The screen cuts from static, to a video of Meltdown 18, where Downward Spiral came from out of nowhere to eliminate Big Will from the Elite X Battle Royal. The TV cuts back to static, before it is turned off, and muffled laughter can be heard.
The shot backs away to reveal Downward Spiral standing in a dishevelled, untidy room with newspapers and other rubbish covering the dusty floor. He throws the remote away as it clatters to the floor. Spiral sighs heavily, before laughing again. He falls back onto a tattered, worn lounge, and what little light is coming through the filthy window shines onto his face, revealing him to be clearly tired and unshaven. Spiral turns to face through the window; wincing as his bloodshot eyes are exposed to the first amount of natural light he has seen for a long time.
Spiral: “The element of surprise. It’s either your best friend or your worst enemy in professional wrestling. One week, you can be riding high; on top of this world we like to call our own….and the next…someone can come along from nowhere, completely unwelcomed, to tear that all away from you. That’s what surprise can do.”
Spiral sits up as his wry smile no longer remains.
Spiral: “And how did it feel, William?”
Spiral stares straight ahead with trademark cold, dead eyes.
Spiral:“Is this how you expected me to be living months after you made me lose my job? Alone in this dank, run-down hovel? You wouldn't have even known the slightest ramifications of your actions. As you can see, you didn’t just take away my profession.”
The anger in Spiral’s face is replaced with melancholy, as he turns towards the window once more.
Spiral: “You robbed me of my life.”
Spiral rises to his feet and walks towards a grimy glass cabinet. He stops and caresses it slowly with his hand, while resting his head against the glass. His stance becomes rigid as the shot zooms in just enough to see that the cabinet is full of championships and photos from Spiral’s wrestling career. He drops his arm before turning around swiftly.
Spiral: “This here (gesturing to the cabinet) was all that I once was. Everything you can never be.”
Spiral gazes at his surroundings, shaking his head with a slight twitch in his face. He kicks gently at some of the trash on the floor.
Spiral: “Look at this Will. Look at everything you’ve done. You turned up one night, got lucky, and tore away years of my dedication and my determination and reduced me to this. And you’ve never given it a second thought. You never stopped to think just what you did, you were just free to continue as if I never existed.”
Spiral sighs before he moves towards a dirty sink, gripping it tightly. With a shaking hand, Spiral turns the water on and washes his face; scrubbing away at the filth before ripping a moth-eaten cloth off the sink and drying himself. He looks up and stares into a cracked mirror for what seems like an age. Slowly he turns around, seemingly re-invigorated and smiling.
Spiral: “But not anymore. That’s all in the past now. Yes, a distant memory. Gone are those sleepless nights where I wonder why you were able to get away with doing this. Gone are the days where I sit in here feeling sorry for myself. At Meltdown, I climbed the first rung on the ladder towards redemption. Unfortunately, Will, I intend to continue climbing.”
Spiral: “This is not about WZCW. This is not about the fans. This is not about championships, accomplishments, money, fame, power…this is about you and I. It may have been months ago that you put me out of a job, but that doesn’t mean that I am any less determined to see that you suffer the same agony I was forced through and the same helplessness you forced me into!”
Spiral throws away the cloth with a familiar anger returning, before smirking and breathing slightly heavier.
Spiral:“So were you surprised when I returned? Shocked? That’s exactly how you should feel. I bet you’re still uncomfortable while you’re sitting in your nice, lavish home right now…aren’t you? That’s a good thing Will. It means I’ve finally awoken a sense of awareness in you. From this day forth, you’re not going to be able to live a moment in your life where you aren’t watching your back. When I took you out during your match, I made you understand just how it felt to have the element of surprise used against you.”
Spiral: “Take a look around me Will. This may be my past and present, but it is not my future. Consider every miserable, horrible thing about this room and my life as a collective torch. A torch I am passing on to you. When I do, I will finally be cleansed of this torture. I can live my life again.”
Spiral takes a clean shirt and puts it on over the top of a ripped singlet. He takes a black bag and hastily throws assorted clothing into it before zipping it up and standing once more to gaze out the window thoughtfully.
Spiral: “Our match is being held at an event I couldn’t have named more appropriately: Apocalypse. The end of a world. (Looks back towards the camera) Your world. Your life. Just like me, everything you’ve ever achieved will simply be taken away from you...and replaced by this.”
Spiral lifts the bag up and puts it over his shoulder. He turns to look at one of his old wrestling posters in the cabinet, moving slowly towards it. He stares through the glass at it for a while, before he twists his head with a sly smile on his face.
Spiral: “In case it’s been too long or your head’s not right, I am still Downward Spiral and I will always be great. I was born a wrestler, and despite what I’ve been through, I will die a wrestler.”
Spiral moves towards the only door in the room, stopping as his hand reaches to open it. He turns his head around slowly before speaking with a menacing coldness…
Spiral: “I look forward to seeing you again, Will. Be ready...I have been.”
Spiral opens the door, being covered in sunlight, as he pulls out a pair of expensive sunglasses and puts them on, smiling, before closing the door behind him. The shot zooms out of the room, before fading to black.
