Final Confrontation between Punish and Angel before Quarantine

When World Champion Brett Angel’s music hits, the already amped up crowd comes unglued, screaming at the top of their lungs as the watch the man himself make his way down to the ring. After dazzling the thousands in attendance with the legendary lean, Angel steps into the ring and wastes no time getting to his point.

ANGEL: I guess there are two things that won’t ever change. One: when people talk to me, they go after the low-hanging fruit, and two: when people talk to me they say that I don’t deserve to be where I am. Funny. I remember when I first got here, a rookie who barely got his boots ties and his wrist tape on.

Angel chuckles at the thought.

ANGEL: The bright lights almost blinded me. The thousands of pairs of eyes--watching me, judging me--nearly paralyzed me. But I kept moving. I got to the ring and gave Kryminal the fight of his life. I did that week after week. I learned from the wins and from the losses, and soon people began to take notice.

The crowd cheers--many people start to remember when they first became fans of Angel.

Angel’s voice remains calm and even.

ANGEL: You can call the Royal Rumble a fluke. There’s nothing luckier than being the last to come out in a match like that. Then again, we only just saw recently enough that winning the Rumble is only half the battle. A world title is never guaranteed, Marko. And when you’ve won this title as many times I have...there are certain arguments that start to fall a little flat.

He adjusts the title on his shoulder to punctuate the face that he is indeed the champion.

ANGEL: And Marko, it’s telling that you of all people is the one make these arguments considering that I’ve already beaten you twice. With and without the title on the line. The only thing left to complete the trifecta is to defend this belt against you. Because if you can’t beat this washed-up up boxer, that says a hell of a lot more about you than it does me.

Angel’s voice is starting to get an edge to it as he gets worked up.

ANGEL: You’re good, Marko. Even taking your size out of the equation you’re as big of a threat as they come. And that’s why it bothers me that you carry yourself the way that you do. You stood there the other day...you stood there and you lied. You said that I’ve had everything handed to me. No, Marko. What I’ve won in NXT will never make up for what I’ve lost.

Angel lowers his voice.

ANGEL: Imagine if you were anywhere close to being in my shoes, Marko. Imagine if your darling sister, who you’re so proud of…

Marko Punish: Rose Punish is ten times the woman your wife ever was Angel!

*All eyes are on the stage as Marko's voice booms through the sound system. He wastes no time making his way down to the ring so that he can continue this face to face. The crowd goes silent, the arena fueled with tension as the two behemoths of this industry look across the ring at each other. Brett taken slightly off guard by Marko's comments, however Markowithout hesitation continues on.*

Marko: You keep hammering on that you fight for your wife, YOUR WIFE IS GONE, and she's not in heaven looking down on you, no no Brett, she's down in hell with the devil where she belongs, and you'll join her after I put you six feet under at Quarantine. Nobody will stop me from getting back what is rightfully mine! You leave for all these months, and for what!? You don't deserve to walk back in here for my Title, and at Quarantine I'll show you the difference between someone who has been here week in week out, fighting for something REAL, and someone who takes holidays, coming back to fight when they pick and choose, fighting for a lost cause, your wife is gone Angel. Don't you ever make the mistake of comparing Rose with a corpse, Rose is one of the best performers in this industry, who exactly is your wife? Somebody I had never even heard of. She is a joke, her life was a joke and if I ever meet the man who hit her with that car, I'd like to give him a beer.

*Marko lowers the microphone for a brief moment, watching across the ring as Angel clenches his fist, grinding his teeth, evidently irritated by Marko's words, however Marko continues on, showing no remorse.*

Marko: Oh did I strike a nerve? Is the washed up old boxer getting upset over a rotten old corpse? SHES DEAD! Get over it, fight for something that is real, because if you come to Quarantine on Sunday with this stupid sob story about you trying to fight for the legacy of some dead woman, you'll fall flat, while I fight for something REAL. Our match at Quarantine will not end with you completing any kind of trifecta, no, it will not be your legacy, it will not be your destiny, it will be your swansong and you will not wake up, you will be in hell with your wife looking up at me basking in all MY GLORY.

*Marko stares a hole into Brett as he waits his next move or response*

Angel regains his composure and his face becomes a kind of deadly calm, that’s somehow more intimidating than any burst of anger could be.

ANGEL: If I hadn’t heard it all before, what you’ve said might have bothered me. Instead, all you’ve done is shown that I did this company a favor by beating you for this belt. Someone who tries to stoop so low to compensate for not being able to get it done in the ring can only hurt the prestige of this title.

Angel pauses for a moment as the crowd bursts into loud cheering.

ANGEL: You keep bringing up the fact that I left. You’re trying to use that against me. But at least I came back, Marko. You left Raw with your tail between your legs and never looked back. And I don’t blame you, Marko. I’ve faced Justin Sane, and if everyone over there is half as good as him, I can understand why you’d rather strike oil over here. And let’s face it. You’re not mad that I left; you’re pissed off because I came back. Cause that means you’re right back where you started: in my shadow.

Punish tenses up, and that doesn’t go unnoticed by Angel.

ANGEL: And for all you’ve said about my wife, at least I know she loved me until the very end. Meanwhile, Rose left NXT, and I bet it was because she couldn’t stomach being that close to you. She’s gone and trusted another man with her career instead of asking you for help. And how quickly did she lose that ladder match, Marko? She spent so much energy running from you, she didn’t have any left to wrestle that match.

The crowd is really starting to get into it nearly drowning out everything Angel says.

ANGEL: For as good as you are, Marko, for the incredible career that you could have had in this business, it’s your attitude that’s been holding you back. The aura of entitlement that surrounds you where you think that things should be handed to you because you’re bigger and stronger than everyone else. But all you’ve gone so far is make a strong case for being one of the biggest disappoints in…

A swift kick to the groin stuns Angel mid sentence. The champ falls to his knees and Punish towers over him. The boos are delivered ferociously, the crowd absolutely enraged that it’s come to this. Angel struggles to his feet as Punish back into the corner. Fans beg, plead for Angel not to turn around, but he doesn’t quite know where he is. Punish charges forward and just about slices Angel in half with a devastating spear. The mask is hiding his face, but you can still sense the smugness and arrogance that Punish is exuding. And the last thing we see before the cameras fade to black is Punish holding the World Championship high above his head...the same sight that we could very well be treated to at Quarantine.