A black sheet hangs in the back of shot.
In front of it is stood Jack Griffiths.
He is shaking, not with fear but with anticipation and a hint of anger.
He shuffles from foot to foot, unable to steady himself.
His beard slightly more scraggy than normal, his hair is messy.
"Why?"
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Griffiths: When Vaughn Babb let RJ Stone into MY title shot against Lucas Black I assumed that his hands had been tied by Stone's money.
(Jack pauses, he is clearly masking something.)
Griffiths: When Rachel Beckett granted Stone his rematch, I thought she was doing it to test me.
(Jack pauses again; a hint of sarcasm enters his speech.)
Griffiths: Hell, when she refused to grant me a one on one rematch for the title her little "test" cost me, and added Watkins, Bagwell or Trendkiller. I assumed that she was doing to for publicity reasons.
(Another pause, and when Jack speaks next there is an air of a "scoff" in his tone.)
Griffiths: I was even on board when she chose to make it a five and later six-way Ultimate Glory match because I could see how that did make good business sense.
(The calm portion of his address over, a hint of unrest enters.)
Griffiths: But when she added Kade Williams, the man who "ended" my career, as the special referee because Stone and Barnes can't control themselves around men in striped tops, that's when it dawned on me.
(And following the unrest comes the venom, the anger.)
Griffiths: The WWA and Rachael Beckett have it in for me; they want me out and they seem hell bent on trying to piss me off so that I quit.
(The anger builds.)
Griffiths: They added Stone in a desperate attempt to steal my moment, and they succeeded. Its apparent to me now that I only got my rematch as an attempt on their part to make it seem like they weren't trying to hold me back.
(With the anger comes a sense of disappointment.)
Griffiths: So when I won they knew they had to do something about it, and despite the fact that Stone decided to assault some WWA fans and treat them with disrespect.
(Disappointment at Stone's actions once again becomes vitriol at the situation he finds himself in.)
Griffiths: Despite that Beckett gave Stone his rematch, only, and I realise this now, it wasn't to test me. No... It was because they didn't want the belt around my waist and Stone was best placed to be the man to take it off me.
(But somehow, beneath the anger, Griffiths seems almost philosophical; a realisation that a lot of what of has happened was in retrospect obviously part of some plan.)
Griffiths: And the thing I realise now is that had I won, they were never going to invoke the no more title shots stipulation.
(But as soon as the realisation is over, the anger returns, supplemented with exaggerated hand movements.)
Griffiths: They would've just kept putting him in front of me until he finally got lucky, until he finally managed to catch me on a bad day.
(A slight chuckle precedes the next statement, not everything had gone to their plan.)
Griffiths: But they got lucky first time, they didn't account for Stone being a psychopath and trying to kill me the week before the match.
(But the laughter is very short lived, as the annoyance returns.)
Griffiths: So then, when it came time for me to claim my contractually stipulated rematch, they knew they had to find another way to lengthen the odds of me winning; so they settled on a three-way match.
(Annoyance finds it self replaced by sarcasm.)
Griffiths: And how lucky were they? Instead of a three-way, they suddenly found themselves with a four-way match; but even that wasn't enough for them.
(And the sarcasm becomes a form of annoyed confusion.)
Griffiths: Inexplicably they added Trendkiller, a man who, like Bagwell had no credible claim to a title match, but a man who in the past had beaten me. A man who, like Stone, has shown neither of them any respect but, crucially, a man with a bad attitude and a mean streak.
(An inexplicable wry smile replaces to confusion, as the stipulations are discussed.)
Griffiths: And then they gave me nowhere to run, trapped inside Ultimate Glory. Trapped inside a steel hell with only six other men for company.
(The hand gestures return as Jack counts off the people involved.)
Griffiths: An assassin, a big bald badass, the human hype machine, a mystery man, one potential ally and Kade Williams.
(The mere mention of Kade's name, even by Jack himself is enough to stoke the fires of anger again.)
Griffiths: He may not have ended his career by his own hands, but it was his will that was done on that fateful night when I suddenly found myself out of both contract and a career. It was his will that found me in hospital that night, fighting for my very being.
(The anger crescendos again.)
Griffiths: They are trying to cover this decision by claiming that we all, except Bagwell, have a past with Williams but it is I, and I alone who had his life most drastically changed by his heinous actions, in fact Stone seemed positively delighted by this insertion.
(The anger has reached fortissimo.)
Griffiths: His reaction was proof, if proof were needed of this deliberate attempt to hold me back; these decisions have been made to restrict me from becoming the legend and icon I could be.
(But suddenly it is gone, replaced by confidence.)
Griffiths: But what they don't realise, what they haven't accounted for is my determination, my desire and my innovative ability.
(And now it's the confidence that continues to grow.)
Griffiths: I've shown in the past that I am best when I am caged or when I have a high platform to launch myself from, just look at my track record.
(And grow.)
Griffiths: I beat Kyle James when we were trapped in a cage by deliver a Shooting Star Press from the top of the cage.
(And grow yet more, with each passing moment Jack sounds more and more confident.)
Griffiths: I beat Chris Dumont in a ladder match just weeks before Kade Williams and his Damned tried to destroy my career.
(Another smile fills Jack's face, this one not so much wry and beaming.)
Griffiths: When I claimed the biggest scalp of my career, Lucas Black, it was inside a cage.
(The confidence now and overwhelming sense of pride.)
Griffiths: Hell, I invented the X-Cage, a match that combined aerial action with the confines of a cage and I reigned supreme.
(Pride, twinned with determination so strong that it seems almost like arrogance.)
Griffiths: So it doesn't matter who they trap me in a cage with, I will reign supreme because that's what I do.
(The confidence tinged with anger once more.)
Griffiths: Everything they have tried to do has played into my hands, I may have lost the title but I tasted the gold despite their best efforts.
(And once again the anger grows again.)
Griffiths: I discovered what it felt like to wear the belt around my waist and I want that feeling again, I want the prestige and the honour that they have taken from me. That they have dared to deny me what is rightful mine and now I have to take it back.
(Before the last line is so angry it is snarled.)
Griffiths: I have to take it back.
(Fade)