With the conclusion of yet another commercial in a long line of them, Vendetta returns to the air, 'Sumeria' trailing off in the airwaves as Vladimir Strife stands in the middle of the squared circle, a microphone in his hand. His appearance is much changed from the previous week, bearing the bruises and marks of a difficult battle against the Black Heart Warrior, most notably a stitched wound over his eye that began with a chair that caught him across face early in the contest. He raises the microphone to his lips, speaking softly into it, his typical boisterous tone deflated.
"Last week... for the fourth time in my 8 year career.. I lost.."
A few cheers go out through the crowd and a few jeers, the majority remaining silent as he stands there before them.
"I'm not too happy about that. Not that it'd take a genius to guess that - no one likes losing. But I'm not here to piss and moan. I didn't lose because of you fans. I'm not going to quit. If Barnez wants to come down here and offer me a consolation title shot, I might be tempted to even take him up on it. Wait... actually, I have one. You see, Barnez did his homework. He knows that you fans want the KoX tournament to be bloodier and more violent than ever and if you're wondering what I'm getting at.. I'm not the only man to get beat by Akira lately... but I'm apparently in much better shape for it than Jakob Azazel, because I'm taking his place tonight and facing the new Lion Heart Champion, Jared Jerusalem."
The reactions are mixed to this announcement, with most vehemently against anything that keeps them from seeing Jakob Azazel.
"Oh, shut the fuck up. I mean, what kind of fucking warlock doesn't know a goddamn healing spell? If Azazel is half-fucking-dead, he deserves it for being the kind of selfish cunt that leaves his fucking tanks vulnerable like that."
More boos come in, with many members of the crowd entirely confounded by the statement. Vlad gives them a minute to calm down, then continues.
"Now, I'm glad to be back in the tournament and I'm eager to see what JJ is made of, but we'll get to that later tonight. See, I DO have something to say in regards to my match last week and I want to say that to Akira. Now, I'm not going to call him out here, because I understand that he's got the week off and who fucking knows how long it'd take for Ryu to track him down and translate what I was saying for him."
The Barbarian Lord turns his attention toward the lockerroom, looking on as though the man who beat him would emerge from the back anyhow.
"Akira.. Domo arigato.."
Strife looks down toward the ground and nods his head a little, reflecting upon things.
"For those of you who missed the 90's and that shitty little Roboto song, I'm thanking him.."
The GodKing looks back up, the crowd silent as their captivated by the uncharacteristic statement of the Romanian.
"I came here to XWA a few months back and, as you may recall, it's not my first stomping grounds. I've had success beyond my wildest dreams on a level that will almost certainly never be duplicated. So, when I did get back into the ring, I did so with the belief that I was untouchable. Throughout my career they called me the Undefeated Behemoth, a King, a Titan, a God.. and I bought into it. I felt like the world was my oyster. I'd come in here and I would just fell enemy after enemy before me without breaking a sweat. I allowed myself to become lazy and complacent, thinking that it didn't matter, that even a fraction of my effort would suffice to quell the whole of others. You proved me wrong though.."
The Barbarian Lord begins to pace back and forth in the ring, moving with the cogs of his inner sanctum.
"You didn't care one bit where I'd been or what I'd done. It didn't intimidate you in the least and make you slip up like those before you. And the effect was devastating. It hit me like a goddamn bombing... in the early mornings.. off of the coast of Hawaii. You caught me by surprise and you beat me. But, historically, Mr. Kobayashi... early morning bombing off the coast of Hawaii have consequences.."
Vladimir stops his strut, again turning toward the back.
"Devastating, life-altering consequences. The sort of horrors whispered in hushes about the world for decades to come. We have three weeks until KoX comes to a conclusion and now we find ourselves on opposite ends of it. We sit upon a course that could see us collide.. live on pay per view at the most extreme event of the year in an I Quit match. And if that happens, Akira, come prepared... because I won't hesitate to decimate and level everything within sight until you utter those two magical words and admit before the world that you are so thoroughly beaten that you have no option but to surrender. And, historically, I think we both know how that goes."
"Now, that said... Akira reminded me last week that I'm not a god.. but I've noticed a disturbing trend lately. See, XWA is becoming a bit of Ancient Greece here lately. We've got all these fucking 'gods' and 'kings' walking around. Former King of Xtreme Icon, a Ghengis, Maddox was a Titan, Danny Diamond is the God of Mousse with his own personal fucking shrine in the Pantene-eon. And it's just fucking confusing... So, tell you what, I'm going to make this a lot simpler. I may have taken my first loss here in XWA, but make no doubt about it that I am still the greatest wrestler this business has ever seen. If there be a god, a king, and certainly if there's a fucking GodKing around here, you're looking at him. So.."
The GodKing now reaches behind him, under his shirt and pulls the dreaded wooden cudgel that fell Maddox Paine, the bottom of it having been tucked in the back pocket.
"Consider this my Blade of Olympus. Whenever I come across one of these self proclaimed Kings or Gods or Saviours or.. Warlords.. they get the same treatment that the other 'Titan' did."
The jeers begin to poor in at the idea of more of XWA's idols and heroes facing the brutality the Behemoth met Maddox Paine with, any cheers present lost in the opposition. Vladimir drops the microphone into the middle of the ring and exits, ignoring them as he returns to the back to prepare for his match.
Subject: PROMO | Vladimir Strife - "Monotheism" 
