The video begins and we find ourselves poolside in the evening at the home of Dark Fantasy’s Ravyn Taylor and Syren in Malibu, California. Syren sits on a deckchair by the pool, dressed in bikini bottoms and a Dark Fantasy t-shirt. She’s leant forward with her fingers cupped together and her elbows resting on her legs, while she’s resting her chin on her hands. “Hey guys. So, where do we even begin right now?” she asks before taking a deep breath and letting out a long sigh. “I guess there’s only one place to begin, isn’t there? That’s with what happened at Apocalypse, with what happened with the Monarchy, with what happened to CHBK being attacked from behind and having his back smashed between steel ring-steps, along with what happened in the main event. I’ve been trying to find a way to comment on it ever since it happened, been trying to find something to say about it that won’t just be full of rage, but… well, you guys have seen how active I’ve been on Twitter recently, huh? That’s because the only things I ever want to tweet are things I know are going to get me in trouble, in one way or another, and so I’m choosing to just say nothing. I keep thinking that’s the best option, but is it? In the old days it used to feel like it was us against the world, you know? Ravyn and me used to say it was us against everyone else. Now it feels more like that than ever before.”

“Part of me wonders what else we have to do. I mean Ravyn, Autumn, and me… the last six months of our careers have been defined by denied opportunities. Whether it’s groupies costing us matches, friends stabbing us in the back, or former allies fucking us over, right now it definitely seems like every week is just a constant struggle. It’s always been a struggle, you know? You don’t get to the top of anything in wrestling without there being a struggle, and Ravyn and me know what it means to get to the top. We’ve been the greatest tag team we could be, the longest reigning Tag Team Champions in history, and now we’ve both been to the top in singles competition as well, in very different ways. We’ve struggled, we’ve fought, and we know what it means to have people coming after us, people trying to hurt us, people trying to cost us everything, and yet as much as it’s been us against the world there’s been one other thing that’s been true as well, from the old days through today, and that’s that neither one of us have EVER given up,” she says with a fiery determination before smiling and lowering her arms. “Do you think that’s going to change now? Do you think that’s going to change ever? No. There are a whole bunch of former champions who’ve taken their balls and run along home but not us. We’re still here, and in spite of everything we still have hope.”

“Now that’s not the normal thing for someone in our situation to have, right? You have this ever-expanding group of asshats coming after you at every turn, attacking you after matches, beating you down four on one because it makes them feel big and special to stand over your broken body after they’ve taken their cheap shots from behind, because god knows they’ve TRIED to take those shots head on and they’ve failed, but when you’ve got that happening to you, when you’ve got more and more people supporting them, when you’ve got a management team doing nothing about it – as is pretty much par for the course, let’s be honest, we’ve ALWAYS been on our own and nothing’s changing now – and you’ve even got this ‘Watchman’ program with the head of it deciding to look the other way because he thinks what he’s seeing is justice, then it can be pretty hard to have any belief, pretty hard to have any confidence, and almost impossible to have any hope. Because we know how we’re supposed to react. We’re supposed to crawl away, right? We’re supposed to back down. We’re supposed to sit in the corner crying about everything that’s happened, crying about Kelcey Wallace’s interference in the ladder match, crying about Monarchy making our lives hell, and we’re supposed to crawl away in defeat, and yet we’re not. We’re not going anywhere!”

“So if that’s what this is about, if this is an attempt to drive Dark Fantasy away, if this is an attempt to make sure neither one of us ever gets to have any moment in the spotlight again, never gets to be on top again, if this is an attempt by four pathetic losers to team up try and steal away together what none of them could take on their own, then you know what? Keep coming,” she says before grinning at the camera and nodding her head. “Yah, you heard me. Keep coming! I’m back in the ring this Wednesday night. I’ll be in there fighting Dylan Howell. You guys like him, right? Of course you do. He’s as deluded as you are. So keep coming. I mean it won’t be like I’ll be hiding out in the back, waiting for my opportunity to jump any of you from behind. It’s not like I’ll be backing out of matches – personal reasons or not – only to show up to an event I have no business at to try to fuck anyone over. Nope, I don’t do that. I don’t need to do that! I’ll be where I always am. I’ll be standing in the middle of the ring with my head held high telling ALL of you to bring it on! Because here’s the truth: you can jump Ravyn after matches. You can jump me after matches. You can beat us down. You can cost us opportunities. You can claim that means ANYTHING, but I know the truth, Ravyn knows the truth and there will be twenty thousand fans in the Moda Center on Wednesday who know it too!”

“Hash tags don’t make champions. Twitter campaigns don’t make champions. A thousand photographs of yourself posted on social media don’t make champions. You want to know what makes a champion? It’s something that no one involved in this whole thing seems to understand. It’s standing in that ring, it’s fighting for what you believe in, it’s proving undeniably whether you win or whether you lose that you’ve given EVERYTHING you have, it’s picking yourself up again no matter the result, dusting yourself down and going hard again the next night, and the night after that, and the night after that, and the night after that, whether it’s in front of five thousand, twenty thousand or a hundred thousand screaming fans,” she says passionately and proudly. “Do you want to know what makes a champion? It’s fighting against all the odds, never giving up, never running away, and working your ass off each and every time to be better than you were before. And if you want to see a champion you don’t have to look very far, because come Breakdown, live in Portland, all you’ll need to do is look to the middle of that ring while I’m standing there without a stolen belt, without an army of lackeys, without a half-dozen sycophants praising my every action, and TWICE the champion that others around here claim to be.”

“Now you all saw Apocalypse and you saw what happened. I was meant to step into the ring with three of the best to have EVER laced up their boots in SCW, and as it turns out I only got to step in there with two, but that’s ok, that didn’t bother me too much, because at the end of the day I still did everything I said I was going to do. The first ever Double-Elimination match, and I’m the one who stood in the middle of that ring with her hand raised. I promised you guys a match you’d remember forever, right? I like to think I delivered. Now this week, for Breakdown, I’m going to make you another promise, and I’m going to deliver again. That promise is that I’m going to build on that momentum, that I’m going to give you guys something to cheer about, that I’m going to step into that ring against Dylan Howell and I’m going to build on the wave of momentum I’ve been riding ever since my setback at Retribution, that I’m going to move forward with pride, and that there is NOTHING that can stop that, not even the Monarchy,” she says before smiling again. “You see if you think for a moment that I don’t know that they’re out there then I don’t care, because every time they attack me from behind, every time they pull their bullshit, all they do is prove that everything I’ve said about them is true, and that there isn’t a single one of them that has the guts to step up.”

She stops for a moment before grinning. “Ok, now wait for it… pause the video here, and go and check Twitter. You see that oh-so-predictable comment from one of them? You see that oh-so-predictable sub-tweet? It’s proof once again that none of them have even got the guts to say it in any other form. But me? Well, give me a live microphone on Breakdown and I’ll more than happily say everything I’ve got to say there and then I’ll stand there and I’ll fight and I’ll back up every single word of it,” she says with a fiery determination. “Speaking of Twitter, and sub-tweets galore, however and that’s as good a segue as any to talk about my opponent for Breakdown, the man who wants to be our next United States President, Mr Dylan Howell. And why would anyone NOT vote for a man like this, am I right? This is a man who believes in family. This is a man who believes himself capable of being a leader. Not just any leader either, this is a man who believes he’s capable of leading the free world! And you’d need to be a fool not to believe in that, am I right? After all we’ve all seen what a great leader he’s been in the past when he’s been leading… um… Ok, maybe I need to rephrase. We’ve all seen what a fantastic role model he is for kids everywhere while he’s been… err… Goddamn it, ok one more try? We’ve all seen what a hero he’s been when he’s… yah, this is really hard…”

She stops to think for a moment. “I mean, ok there’s got to be examples of Dylan Howell being a hero, right? I mean there’s that time when he triumphantly came back from a near career ending injury, rallied the roster behind him, and led the fight against Rachel Foxx, Aiken Frost, and… oh no wait, he didn’t lead anything, actually he stood in the corner telling everyone he hoped their careers got ended and crying about how nobody was there to hold his hand when the bad people beat him up. Yah, that’s a leader right there. But he’s a role model, right? Because he absolutely embodies respect and honour with his plan to… win the World title and hand it off to someone who’s only making appearances via FaceTime right now because she’s sulking she got pinned at Rise to Greatness. Yah, that’s… um… role-modely I guess?” she scoffs and shakes her head. “Seriously, there’s a ton of things I do actually respect about Dylan Howell. I mean the guy did come back from a near career threatening injury, he’s a mainstay in the Adrenaline division with his unending quest to win the belt, and he’s a former World Tag Team Champion. But is he a leader, a role model and a US Presidential candidate? Um… no, no he’s not. In fact I’d sooner vote for Elmo to be President than I’d vote for Dylan Howell. Elmo’s actually probably got some better ideas too…”

“Fortunately however this week has nothing to do with the race for the Unites States presidential nominations. This week is about a man who claims he believes in family fighting against a woman who’s been embodying that for the last few weeks! Because when it comes to family Dylan, and fighting for your family, then that’s one thing that you and I can agree on absolutely, with the key difference being there isn’t a single member of my family who’s refusing to compete and whining about how unfair it is to have to actually earn something,” she says sternly. She then pauses and looks down at her shirt, straightening it out by pulling on the bottom so that the Dark Fantasy logo is even clearer, and then smirking again. “This right here? This is my family. And do you know what Dark Fantasy is all about, Dylan? You do. You’ve fought us enough times to know. We’re not about being sycophantic douche-bags. We’re about doing something you seem to have forgotten how to do: stepping in that ring and proving yourself in front of the world! And last Sunday, while you were so busy clamouring for Jonathan Knots as your running mate and busy telling the world how you’d be leading this company, trying to inspire anyone to actually give a damn about your ‘Presidential campaign’, you forgot to pay attention to someone who IS inspiring the world right now.”

“You see, Dylan, in your latest of many, many ‘returns’ to SCW you’ve failed to pick up on what those fans out there really want, and what they want isn’t someone like you who’ll talk down to them and fail to deliver, they want a guy like Gable Winchester who’ll fight back against EVERYTHING in front of him. And did you hear the roar on Sunday when Gable dropped you with the WIN-Chester and tossed you clean over the top rope? That’s because HE gave the people what they wanted to see, and it’s people like Gable Winchester that make this company what it is, Dylan. It’s guys like him, guys like Collin Cole, guys who’ll stand up and fight anyone and everyone just for an opportunity to prove themselves. These are the kind of people who are inspiring to me, the kind who NEVER give up their dreams of making it no matter how tough it gets, not the kind of bullshit politician who makes empty promises we all know they’ll never fulfil,” she says before shaking her head. “And here’s the thing Dylan, this latest comeback, this latest attempt to get yourself noticed… how is it any different to anything you’ve done before? It’s all big talk and empty actions. It’s just the same old bullshit we’ve heard out of you time after time in a new wrapper and sold like it’s all new, but we don’t even need to take a bite to know we’ve tasted it all before.”

“Do you want an opportunity to change that though? You’ve got one this week. This week you’ve got a chance to go one on one with a former three-time World Champion, with a woman who HAS been a leader, with a woman who tries her damnedest every time she gets in that ring to be a role model, with a woman who’s never believed in taking the easiest possible route to anything,” she says with pride before stopping herself and letting out a sigh. “Am I perfect? No. Hell, I’ve probably said things in the last few minutes that I’m going to look back on and wish that I didn’t. But I come at every match, every opportunity, with passion and desire, and it doesn’t matter whether it’s the opening match at a live event or a pay per view main event I approach every match with the desire to win. And yah, every loss hurts. Whether it’s a loss to a newcomer, a loss to a main event star, or anyone in between, every loss hurts, every setback hurts, but every one is also an opportunity. This week you’ve got the opportunity to prove yourself against me but I’ve got an opportunity as well, Dylan. That’s an opportunity to show that Portland what I can do, an opportunity to drop you on your face in the middle of the ring and an opportunity to shine. I never miss an opportunity to shine either, no matter if I’m fighting for a title, for my spot or just for fun.”

“That’s what I do, and I’ll never be ashamed of that. It’s who I am, and I’ll never stop being who I am. So this week you won’t see me making a mockery out of the electoral system, this week you won’t find me asking for running mates or giving speeches for votes, this week you’ll find me doing what I love to do, what I was born to do, and being damn proud of that. And I’ve been doing this for six years strong. And Dylan, in two months’ time when you’re making another ‘return’ I’ll be here. And six months after that, when you’re on the comeback trail again I’ll still be here. And in a year, or two years, I’ll STILL be here, fighting hard, fighting strong, and standing up against evil,” she says before seemingly laughing at the idea of her fighting evil. “I started this off by telling you that it was Dark Fantasy against the world, but that in spite of that we still have hope. That is something that we’re never going to lose. It’s hope that gets us through the darkest moments. Its hope that helps us pick ourselves back up again no matter what happens. And it’ll be hope this Wednesday that motivates me to fight. So Dylan, if this whole Presidential thing is anything but a joke, maybe it’s hope you should be spending your time talking about, because hope can give you strength, hope is something worth fighting for, and hope WILL let us reach out for a better tomorrow. This Wednesday night I have hope that after everything we’ve been through Dark Fantasy gets a chance at a little bit of retribution inside that ring, but I have absolute faith that this Wednesday night Dylan Howell, and everyone else who wants to see us fail, will just BE TOTALLY JEALOUS!”

She laughs before kissing her hand and blowing the kiss toward the camera. She jumps up off the deckchair then and walks off as we slowly fade out. The video ends at that point with the replay button flashing up on the screen.