Sean is sitting in his apartment when the scene opens up. He’s catching up on some of the new activity on the HWA portal when his phone starts pinging like crazy. Notifications from different social media platforms all reporting on his promo that aired on the HWA app and the responses to it.

He immediately starts catching up on everything that he’s missed. Everyone was seemingly talking about “The New Sean Parker”. Wrestling Observer Online, Busted Open Radio, Chris Van Vliet, Drainmaker, WrestlePurists, Jim Cornette, Vince Russo. You name it. And then the responses from within the company. Sean can’t help but shake his head, a derisive snort escaping his nose. He immediately goes to his computer and boots it up, logging into the HWA Talent portal and sets himself up for a response.

(Sean): F***ing hell, guys. Can’t a guy go away for some surgery to fix a problem that’s likely to plague him the rest of his life and then come back with a renewed sense of purpose? Wow. You regain some semblance of self-confidence and get yourself into fighting shape for the biggest and most arduous tournament on the sporting calendar. Suddenly you’re conceited, arrogant, egotistical and whatever other disparaging adjective you can think of to describe.

You’re all losing your shit but why? Because someone decided to actually take this tournament seriously? Because someone is treating this more than just another pay-per-view? Because I've given myself a moniker?

The Baron. The Human Horror Reel. The One Man Tartan Army. The Dragon. The Reaper. The Rebel. The Real Stuff. The Virus. Demon Hunter. The Franchise. The Reflection of Perfection. Nary a word when all those nicknames stuck when superstars past and adorned themselves with catchy nicknames.

But Sean Parker decides it’s time to rebrand himself with a name befitting of his skill and aerial prowess and suddenly I’m the most egotistical wrestler that’s ever walked the earth.

Or is it because this isn’t the Sean Parker you’re used to seeing and hearing?

Lemme guess… you want poor, shy, reserved down-on-his-luck Sean back? Sitting in a hospital bed feeling sorry for himself Sean? All brooding, brow furrowed, throwing his toys out the pram Sean? The kid who had potential but just didn’t know how to get to the next level.

I bet you all want him back, because he wasn’t a threat. Oh, he was good, but he wasn’t great. He was skilled but he wasn’t dangerous.

Sean sits back in his chair, lightly chucking to himself, shaking his head again before leaning forward and adopting a more serious expression.

(Sean): Do you know what I saw when I looked at him? I saw a reflection of disappointment. So I buried that kid in a grave of his own failures. And now that I’m back with a new attitude, a new demeanour and a new outlook. Now, suddenly every man and his dog has a problem with me?

Another snort of derision.

(Sean): You know what that sounds like? A “you” problem. That sounds like fear. See, people don’t like confidence in others. It rubs them the wrong way. They can’t stand it when someone knows they can push themselves beyond their own limits because they’re afraid to break the chains that tie them to their own comfort zones. They don’t like it when the status quo changes. And believe me, now that I’m back and fighting fit, the status quo isn’t just changing, it’s getting turned directly on its axis.

That’s you, Maniac. A creature of habit, comfortable when things are going his way. But when someone throws the tiniest wrench, you don’t know what to do, do you? You’re nothing but a walking contradiction. A tortured cliche, wrapped in a meme, tied up in a ribbon of hypocrisy, filled with a cringey, gooey rhetoric centre.

I mean, the fact you even think my own success is built on some protection from Butch and Wisdom is laughable. Once again, you hear and see only what you want to. Are you forgetting that it was Butch and Wisdom who suspended me from the return episode of Havoc? Who nearly fired me for not having my head up my arse?

If I’m wrapped in this protective Parker blanket you think I am, why did Butch book against Fallen? Why did he allow me to complete my match against Stu-E Price when I was concussed?

You wanna talk about illusions and reality? Step into the real world and out of that twisted land of fiction you’ve created for yourself where logic doesn’t apply.

Sean then points a wagging finger at the camera.

(Sean): You cried and bleated about how you needed to be free of DreamMaster’s influence and how you were going to be a new man. You even tried to convince everyone you were different by sneaking into Michelle’s hospital room and telling her how sorry you were! Where’s that same man now, Maniac? Surely not the man stomping around, laughing maniacally like a B-movie Bond villain like nothing changed. Or is that just a new personality that’s taken the light? Lemme guess, that was Patricia? Or was it Hedwig? Or Tyler Durden?

You’re an embarrassment, Maniac. Your…

Sean makes air quotes with his fingers.

(Sean): …“success” was born from being in the right place at the right time but every time the big moments came, you shat the bed. Every. Single Time. Face it, every time you were given a choice of stepping up to a challenge or running for the hills, you put on your running shoes every single time. You had the two most forgettable World Championship reigns in HWA history, one of which came to a whimper because you didn’t even have the stomach to fight through the pain and defend it!

You think you’re a HWA legend? You’re an insult to that word, Maniac. You always managed to get the glass ceiling but could never smash through it. All you could do was press your face up against it and watch the success of others. Hell, even Bryan Deas has had a more successful career than you!

When HWA was rife with bonafide legends at the peak of their powers with guys like Butch, like Hans, Ronnie McNeil, Renegade, Michael Dredge, Talon Wilkinson, shit even Eddie Phoenix, where were you? Where was the indomitable Human Horror Reel? Hmm?

And when HWA came calling again with a young roster filled with names that anyone outside of the cult following we had in our YouTube days, guess who was the first to crawl out of the doldrums of anonymity? No Butch, no Ronnie, no Talon, no Buff to outshine you.

You couldn’t wait to jump back and be the big veteran name, right? Try to be the big fish in the small pond? But you didn’t expect someone like Matt to show you up.

Just like every major opponent you’ve ever had in your career, he’s the reason anyone even paid attention to you. You think people tuned in to watch Maniac put on a five star match? They wanted to see Matt Miller put you in your place! You got found out as the jealous, overhyped backyard wrestler you’ve always been.

You couldn’t bear to see genuine megastars-in-the-making like Jeremy, me and Matt doing what you could only have dreamt of doing.

So you tried to latch on to us offering us your pearls of wisdom, disguised as a tear-stained air mattress in the back of a windowless van. And what happened when you were rebuffed? You turned into the same Maniac that’s been skirting around the periphery of greatness for the past 20 years.

And you know what? Truthfully? There is only one man on this planet that actually deserves to be the next HWA Champion but you stopped that from happening the minute you ended his career. That’s your legacy, Maniac. Ending the career of probably the most exciting and talented HWA has ever had.

And come Ring Master, I’m going to make sure that if Matt Miller can’t become HWA Champion then I will. Meanwhile, for you, this event all but represents a last hurrah for a career that’s nothing short of a dying ember. Desperate to feel enough oxygen to help it ignite one more time as you stare at the horizon, waiting to fall off the edge of the map.

Sean doesn’t say another word, he just hits the “End Recording” button and the scene fades to black.