An edited version of Skrabal's debut vignette from Mile High Wrestling Episode One begins to play.
The video freezes and the sound fades out, replaced by a snippet of audio taken from Skrabal's first appearance on the Beer, Rap and Wrestling podcast, recorded on May twenty sixth, twenty eighteen.
"If it aint - If it ain't - If it ain't - ain't -'ain't - ain't ...
As the quote repeats and fades out it is quickly replaced by a snippet of audio from Skrabal's self shot promo video for his triple threat match against Deuce Holmes and Forge, recorded May twenty ninth, twenty eighteen.
"I ain't - I ain't - I ain't fly all the way around the world for nuttin' less - nuttin' less - for nuttin' less than top spot - top spot - nuttin' less than the top spot"
The edited version of Skraba'ls debut vignette resumes playing.
"And still all you prats ain't a - prats ain't a - prats ain't a - And still all you prats ain't a patch on this rhymer"
The video freezes again on Skrabal's face, his confident expression seeming as firm as stone, and the sound fades out again. A snippet from Skrabal's self shot promo video for his tag match with Samantha Hamilton against Candi and Laura Bratton, recorded June fifth, twenty eighteen, begins to play.
"And then I’m a snatch - I’m a snatch - I’m a snatch - And then I’m a snatch what’s mine - mine - mine - mine...”
The quote repeats then fades out and is replaced by a snippet of audio from Skrabal's self shot promo video for the same match, recorded June twelfth, twenty eighteen.
"Man is just gonna keep on doin' and sayin' - doin' and sayin' -doin' and sayin' - Man is just gonna keep on doin' and sayin' a whole lot of cool shit - cool shit - cool shit...."
The edited version of Skrabal's debut vignette from Mile High Wrestling Episode One resumes playing.
"Evolved from a troll - from a troll - from a troll to a towering king"
The video freezes and fades out to highlights of the closing moments of the Mile High Wrestling Championship match that saw Candi Bratton defend against Skrabz at The Rise In Phoenix.
"EVOLVED FROM A TROLL TO A TOWERIN' KING"
As the highlight video shows Skrabal being handed the Mile High Wrestling Championship it gradually fades out to the first promo image released of Skrabz with the championship belt, from July twelfth, twenty eighteen.
Location: Skrabal's Motel Room, Denver, Colorado
Date: February 16th 2020
Time: 3.10AM
The video opens to a shot of Skrabal Stanzas, the reigning MHW Ultimate and Phoenix Champion, sitting on the sofa in his Denver motel room with his Phoenix title perched on the sofas backrest behind him. He sits forward, hunched over on the edge of his seat, his head and his face partially obscured by the hood of his black Toll Gang hoody. In his lap sits the MHW Ultimate Championship belt, face up, and his eyes are set staring right down intently.
A trail of smoke drifts up through the shot as Skrabal begins to speak, his voice low and demeanour seemingly sombre.
“Fam I... Look it's not a ting but... I....”
He lowers his head further and supports it's weight with his right hand which is in turn supported by his right knee, as his remains seated, hunched over on the sofa.
“It's been a... I dunno how to...”
He leans forward and picks up a lit joint from an ash tray that sits on the floor out of shot.
“I mean... Shit...”
He takes a deep toke on his joint and exhales then snaps his head up, causes the hood to fall from his head as locks his eyes on the camera.
“What? You ain't really think man was gonna be stuck for words did ya? What now? Nah, I'm jus' fuckin' witchu... Not now not never and you dizzy as fuck if ya thought otherwise... So gather round innit, sit down and listen good. Now I seen one or two of 'em out there talkin 'bout those last show feels, yeah they in that fuzzy mood talkin' that gas about bygones be bygones coz we fixin' to shut up shop so I just wanna let ya know that as far as I be concerned it stay fuck each and e'ry one a ya till they drag me outta the buildin', standard!”
He takes a deep toke on his joint and then leans forward to place it back in the ash tray out of shot. As he leans back to an upright position he takes his MHW Ultimate Title in his right hand and looks at it.
“What ya see when ya look at this?”
He turns the title towards the camera briefly, then lays it back in his lap.
“Ya see the gold innit, yeah ya see the jewels embedded in the shit, you the see the shine. YIt's real pretty fam... Ya nah what I see when I look at the ting? I see near on two years a dedication, I see bodies stacked one a top the other reachin' up to the sky. I see Solomon Cain's suicide attempt, Bullet's downward spiral and Tykes tears...."
He leans forward and takes the joint from the ashtray on the floor and holds it in his right hand.
“Ya nah what else I see though? I see those years before all a that, those long nights I spent travellin' up and down those roads back home. I see the small crowds and smaller pay days, the hard work and no reward to show for it. That's why I had to keep it fam, I had to get mine. It's why I couldn't let nobody take the shit from me. I had to keep mine... This be why I'm hear blad, the only reason. It be why I wake up in the mornin', shit for the past two years it be about the only consistent ting man's had goin' for him. Rest a my life ain't nuttin' but temporaries, only tings stay regular is the dub and the strap.”
He looks down at his MHW Ultimate Championship belt while puffing on his joint.
“ Yeah I had this shiny shit for ever innit, five hundred and eighty four days to be precise but shit who's countin'... Check the ting though, there only been one Mi' High Ultimate Title match ain't have man like Skrabz in it, only been one more where I ain't been defendin' it. My name been printed large at the top a e'ry pay view and special event Mi' High done put on and that shit be for a reason too. Ain't no favourites here fam, shit while most of ya been sayin' the bossman had my back I spent half my time on top lookin' at him wit' the side eye, accusin' him a all manor a madnesses and to be real witchu I could do that same shit right now, wit' this two matches in one night ting he got me doin'. Yeah, last night at work and he got me pullin' a two piece, double duty for the duel wielder but on the level ya done know I wouldn't have it any other way.”
He takes another couple of puffs on his joint then leans down the side of the sofa for a bottle of beer.
"Coz I ain't afraid a the work bredda, nevr have been, nah! Not like some of 'em, my heart stay in this art till the end, trust!... But true say the bossman gimme a shot, one time, way back when he lined me up wit' Candi Bratton but shit that was almost two years ago and for real he made me work for it ever since. You heard it right blad this shit been work, it be hard ya nah, no matter how easy I might make it look. But yeah he gave me that chance but I ain't the only one, only dif'rence between me and e'ryone else he picked out is I ain't drop the ball, I caught it, held it close and I been runnin' wit the shit ever since while ya all jus' stumble behind me.”
He smirks smugly as he twists the top off the bottle and drops it on the floor.
“And if you ask me I'm a tell you I be best man for the job anyway, coz if ya listen to what they say ain't nobody else here care 'bout titles or dubs till they get them but ain't nuttin' mean more to me, never has never will.”
He pauses and takes a long drink from the bottle.
“And shit that brings me to the big man innit, the final challenger to the big strap packer. Coz his lil' pip squeak lawyer buddy made it known not too long ago that the strap ain't matter to man like Reaper, that's what he said fam. Imagine that, big man like that not wantin' the biggest prize goin'. I guess he gone spent too much wit' Tyke innit. I guess that be why he ain't really want it wit' Bullet too. Yeah he done hung out wit' Mister If Ya Can't Beat 'Em Run Away And Start Ya Own Shit for too long, he done caught that moistness. Shit, Tyke prolly done leaked all over him.”
He shakes his head and dramatically fakes a sarcastic shudder.
“That's nasty ya nah”
He shakes his head and takes another drink of beer.
“Not as nasty as those bones you be wearin' though. That's rancid fam. The fuck is wrong witchu?...”
He finishes his beer and drops the empty bottle on the floor.
“Oh but big man talks now too? Is that for me blad? Is man s'posed to be flattered or suttin?... Ya nah I got a feelin' that ain't the only ting that been for me either...”
He laughs arrogantly and shakes his head.
“I ain't flattered though, nah, not by a long shot.”
he shakes his head again then takes another deep draw on his joint before leaning down for another bottle of beer.
"But shit from what I hear this the match they been waitin' to see, yeah it seem ya lawyer buddy there done play the part a the blacksmith well, held those tools in the fire till they glowed hot and helped you forge yaself a spot here in Mi' High... They say you had 'em all runnin' for help but all I nah is last time me and you stepped together in that ring it was you who needed savin'. Still they try twist it, tell me Tyke protected me... What by smashin' mans face in wit' a fuckin' brick?...
A look of disgust falls over his face as he twists the cap from the bottle.
"Are ya dizzy blud?... I mean fam they got some agile minds for real, I heard a mental gymnastics but they brains gotta be doin' parkour to jump to that kinda conclusion, ya get me?"
He laughs arrogantly as he drops the bottle top on the floor, then takes a good long drink from the brow glass bottle.
“But I said it before fam, people love to talk. They think if they say suttin' often enough it a be true in the end, they ain't realise they gottta make it happen. Ya seen I said I was gonna be champ and made it happen, once I got the strap I said I was gonna keep it and I kept it e'ry time. I made it happen... I hear someone say they instil fear like no other. Maybe a few of been shook but fam I ain't do scurred."
He shakes his head confidently.
"Never that, nah!.. 'Specially not when you wearin' a fuckin' mask made a bones"
He laughs smugly and takes another quick drink from the bottle before continuing.
"But I repeat it again, some people jus' like to talk. Me included, you had that right Alloy Whee... nah fuck it, I'm a say it right. Aloysius Marcus Vance, there be one lil' tinge a truth to the words you uttered before Myrrhder She Wrote, man like Skrabz do like to talk. I ain't even care who listen s'long as it's heard. But as for the rest a that gas you been chattin' 'bout that nostalgia hittin' sometime down the line and man like Skrabz thinkin' back to his time at the top... Shit truth is I'm a keep it movin' and in jus' a short time this shit a be bit but a distant memory to me. You and the rest of 'em ain't ever forget it though, the shit I done be legendary status, on a tell ya grandkids vibe and one day each and e'ry one of ya might realise how lucky ya been to jus' witness it. I mean look at the state a play fam, they shuttin' the shit down coz ain't nobody left. Even some struch a luck, or divine intervention, if some way somehow Reaper do manage to pry that strap from my finger tips there nobody left for him either. I done seen 'em all off.... I mean there be people here who workin' elsewhere too, they doin' good, they big names in other places but they look kinda small when they step back to Mi' High, back in mans shadow. It's real dark there fam, cold too. You ask me they been doin' well jus' to survive in it.”
With his face a picture of sarcasm and arrogance combined his titles his bottle towards the camera briefly before quickly drinking what's left of his beer.
“But survin' all they been doin', ain't none of 'em flourish here."
He drops the empty bottle on the floor and intermediately reaches for another one, twisting the lid off before even returning to an upright position then taking a long drink before continuing.
"Coz not many of 'em had the initiative to step up on they own accord and I ain't been hard to find, all along I been right there posted in the back, biggest room going fam ya can't miss it, shit the door even got my name on it but still nobody ever came knockin', nah. Instead it's been whispered words in the hallways and sideways glances as I walk by coz ain't a single one of ya ever had the guts to step up unless the bossman told ya to do so, and ya wonder why I still got the strap? Coz not a single one of ya ever proved ya really been about it I mean check the ting fam, man a give ya prime example Gabriel Ohio, Mister Trauma himself, came back from the dead a time or two or suttin', what is he? A wasteman! Coz he had the opportunity to go for any strap he felt to. What one he go for? Not one a mine and fam I had two for him to chose from. Still got 'em too.”
He winks arrogantly as he returns his joint to his mouth and inhales it's intoxicating smoke deep in to his lungs.
“I mean fam for fucks sake Jansen Myrrh be the only one out here that told me she wanted it off her own back, let that sink in blad.”
He shakes his head, an exaggerated look of disbelief disp;ayed on his face.
“But still they bitch and cry 'bout it, beg and plead for somebody to take the ting off me. And Reaper they last hope fam, literally. So come episode thirty they can all gather round the screens in the back, or fuck it come right on down to ringside and grab yaselves a front row seat. Sit right there wit' the people and cheer and chant for Reaper, ya can even bring some signs if it's what ya wanna do but it ain't gonna make a bit a dif'rence. Coz while ya might all be expectin' to see him raise the strap and drop the mask what ya gonna see is man like Skrabz, once again, catchin' that dub like I been doin' since day... Then I'm a rip Reapers mask off myself and spit right in his face coz he actually think this be his moment, and he and his layer there gotchu all thinkin' the same misguided bullshit.”
He his head as that same exaggerated look of disbelief returns
“But Reaper ain't 'bout to pull no plugs, Mi' High ain't flat linin' bredrin, this ain't the end.”
He locks his stare on the camera as he confidently mouths the words "Never that.".
“You wanna nah why?"
His confident glare sets in firmly as he maintains his stare on the camera.
"Coz a the big boss, the top dog, the sensei, the grandmaster, the big strap packer, man like Skrabz. I be the Mi' High Ultimate Champion from beginin' to end fam, I gave this shit life...”
He finally takes his eyes off the camera as he elans to the side for his third bottle of beer.
“So it's only right I be the one to look Reaper in the face and tell him go fuck himself.”
He places his joint in his mouth and pulls through it while twisting the lid of the brown glass bottle. He drops the lid on the floor then takes the joint from between his lips and exhales another thick cloud of smoke. His intense gaze sets back on to the cameras lens.
“Coz Mi' High ain't dyin' on February sixteenth blad, nah. I'm a make sure it and man like Skrabz live on for ever.”
He breaks eye contact with the camera and takes a quick drink from the bottle.
“And the rest a ya can do what ya always done.”
He places the joint back in his mouth and draws through it again, inhaling deeply then exhaling another greyish white cloud of smoke.
“Jus' sit there and watch me do it.”
He pauses with his eyes locked on the camera, cutting through the smoke heavy air with intensity.
“Standard!”
He places the joint back in his mouth and it's ember burns bright as the video ends.
