( The promo video starts where it was left off to the sight of W1LH3LM in a state of shock. After the two individuals had a mini function on their sailing boat, QUANTUM accidentally tripped over the edge and fell into the waters. This is the second time these best friends have attained a significant distance between each other. Frozen in fear, W1LH3LM glances towards the edge while QUANTUM floats away. )
W1LH3LM: "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! QUANTUM, COME BACK!!"
( W1LH3LM grabs a heavy-duty dip net and attempts to cast it onto QUANTUM with mighty power, but it misses and instead gets caught up with something else. He struggles with the scoop net in a tug-of-war-like battle before hauling it one last time. The power of the yank throws him into the ground. Water violently splashes onto his face before he gets up and looks beside him. )
W1H3LM: "What in the fuck?"
( His eyes enlarge because he's somehow managed to catch a massive peacock flounder that appears to weigh roughly fifteen pounds. W1LH3LM immediately reels from the springing fluke fish while the camera gets a shot of his side view. He suddenly stops moving and stares vigorously into the massive peacock flounder, whereas QUANTUM disappears in the background. )
W1LH3LM: "A fluke………."
( The camera immediately zooms into his eyes as it flashes back to a scene of him and an older figure arguing in a kitchen. )
August 15, 2005: DAY OF THE CEREMONY
???: "I understand that you've been working your ass off diligently for four years to earn this position, but it's nothing personal. The committee has come to an agreement that your brother, Kody, will be featured as the top performer of the "2005-2006' Graduates. He's shown how dedicated he was and won his first world championship a few months into his first wrestling match. You both have proven to be the most hard-working individuals this academy has seen, although I'm not surprised since you two are my sons after all."
William: "Wow… wow, wow, wow, wow. You've got to be fucking joking me, dad. Are you kidding me? HOW IS KODY GETTING THE TOP PERFORMER POSITION? IN ALL RESPECTS, I'VE LITERALLY BEEN BETTER THAN KODY AT EVERY TRAINING ASPECT. I GOT MORE POINTS WHEN IT COMES TO AGILITY, VERSATILITY, AND PHYSICAL HEALTH. I MEAN, LOOK AT HIM DAD. HOW ARE YOU GOING TO HAVE THIS MCDONALDS-FAT-FUCK AS OUR TOP PERFORMER?"
Father: "WILLIAM! Can you show some damn respect for Kody? I didn't raise you to be this disrespectful. So what if you're faster and more versatile than Kody? Have you not learned from our lectures? At the end of the day, this art of professional wrestling isn't all about physical presence. Mental presence is very crucial to staying alive in this business and you need to stop bitching and complaining because this attitude is the reason why I didn't choose you."
William: "I? I thought the committee voted for him and it wasn't personal?"
Father: "No, no, no. I didn't mean to say it like that. Trust me I-"
William: "THIS IS A FUCKING FLUKE. KODY ISN'T BETTER THAN ME WHEN IT COMES TO PROMOS? WHAT DRUGS ARE YOU SMOKING?"
Father: "Boy, you better watch that mouth of yours. It isn't a fluke. As I said earlier, it's nothing personal, I promise. You just need to up the ante a tad bit when it comes to your work ethic, that's all. "
William: "A tad bit? Fuck off."
( A younger W1LH3LM storms out of the kitchen and transitions into a scene where confetti falls from the ceiling in a Calgary-based armoury. )
January 2, 2008: W1LH3LM WINS HIS FIRST CAREER WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP UNDER STAMPEDE WRESTLING
January 2, 2008: W1LH3LM WINS HIS FIRST CAREER WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP UNDER STAMPEDE WRESTLING
( He's acquired his very first world championship as Stampede's Wrestling top fan-favourite. W1LH3LM cries while he raises the historic Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship in the air. His father and Kody come running down the entranceway to congratulate him, but William overhears front-seat members calling his win a "fluke" and exits the ring before they could get to him. He confronts the three kids face-to-face and uncharacteristically rubs his championship victory in their faces. )
FANS: "FLUKE! FLUKE! FLUKE!"
W1L1AM: "Who the fuck do you think you are? I AM YOUR NEW STAMPEDE NORTH AMERICAN HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION!! LOVE IT OR LOATH-"
Kody: "Hey man, leave these kids alone. "
( Kody tries to intervene and William aggressively thrusts Kody out of his way before mounting himself once-again on the top turnbuckle to soak in the career-defining moment. The kids in the front-row continue to shout "FLUKE" repeatedly as he tries his best to block out the noise. )
( The flashbacks conclude with a shot of William with his first world championship and returns back to his current-day version. )
May 12, 2020: W1LH3LM ON THE ROAD TO GATEWAY TO GLORY
( QUANTUM is nowhere to be found as W1LH3LM contemplates in the corner of the yacht. The peacock flounder continues to bounce around the sailing boat while W1LH3LM remains speechless. )
W1LH3LM: "Maybe… I am a fluke after all…"
( W1LH3LM imagines sounds of ANDR3 WALK3R and JUZT1N W1NDGAT3 calling him a fluke as he gets back up to his feet and walks towards the birdcage. Throughout all these flashbacks, the messenger bird, Dwight, was able to deliver the recent content from Walker and Windgate. He suffocates the flounder in the steel container before making his way towards the birdcage.)
( W1LH3LM briefly closes his eyes, takes a deep breath and opens it back up. It shows a dried QUANTUM on the sofa chair. )
W1LH3LM: "QUANTUM!?!?! IS THAT YOU!!??! HOW IN THE HELL DID YOU GET BACK HERE?"
QUANTUM: "……"
W1LH3LM: "I KNOW!! I AM REALLY SORRY I DIDN'T GET YOU!!"
( W1LH3LM happily places QUANTUM on the hardwood floor and makes sure he's not near the edge before he sits back down on the sofa chair. )
**FAST FORWARD 1 HOUR**
I've been beaten up my whole life. I've been shot down, kicked out twice.
W1LH3LM: "One of the many iconic phrases from Kevin Abstract that very much pertains to how my life has panned in the last fifteen years. I've been wrongfully abdicated of my paraphernalia. I've been silenced and stripped of my freedom of speech. I've been on the end of countless witch-hunts and expulsions. All of these unfortunate events have been the result of good or bad things. Either it was a horrible mistake or a decision to speak up to the current management. Either it was standing up for the truth or carrying out dastardly deeds. There was always firm, rock-solid reasoning behind it, for so what I thought it was. I've spent these years proving to everyone why I wasn't a fluke. I poured out my heart and soul into independence. I didn't care if all the real rewards were going to be a cheap hot dog & milkshake combo. I shed every ounce of blood, sweat, and tear I had it into distancing myself from the term "fluke," and no matter what I did, or I accomplished, that phrase had single-handedly stuck with me for the past fifteen years. There is a particular time and place for when that passion begins to fade and for that fiery rage to burn out. I'm here to tell every single soul who's watching this that this passion will never die. The critics and the naysayers will never win. I'm going to make sure that I will be the one to prevail at every twist and turn and you can trust me on that promise. W1NDGAT3 and WALK3R want to insist on saying that I won't succeed in the trenches based on the single concept of merit. They're one-hundred percent right. My track record isn't exactly as equal to theirs. The W1LH3LM experience has been an inconsistent rollercoaster thus far and I am the one to blame. These two, including me, have a responsibility to prove who wants the EAW New Breed Championship the most. It's what we were scouted and signed for. It's what we've been working our entire lives for. Gateway To Glory is a culmination of all of our careers, but take this as a warning. This Saturday night will for sure go down as one of the most brutal New Breed matches of all time. While you two are far more established and settled in the land of Elite more than I am. While the EAW Universe knows about you two more than they know me. Make the decision to overlook and disregard what I am made out of, then at Gateway to Glory, those years of culmination will go to waste when I knock both of your heads clean off your shoulders. I understand that people such as Eddie Terrial and Ryan Wilson are on a completely different playing field than both of you individually, but my two victories over them were perfect examples of what fate you will meet come to Gateway To Glory. They felt directly what the authentic W1LH3LM experience feels like, and I'm here to tell you, that the authentic W1LH3LM experience is not the experience you seek. It is the fearful experience you most dread. So what if you've got more wins than me? So what if you've got more opportunities than me. No matter how strong, fast, or well-versed you are, no one, and I mean no one, can avoid the true W1LH3LM experience."
"Without a shadow of a doubt, I am walking into this match as the underdog from the underground. I know I am at the back of everyone's mind when it comes to the question of who will prevail. This is an opportunity that doesn't come by often and it is what I need at this point in my EAW career. This match is the chance for me to debunk everyone and establish my dominance, but first I have to go through the human-sized blockades that is ANDR3 WALK3R and JUZT1N W1NDGAT3. JUZT1CE, I know very well how important that EAW New Breed Championship was to you. I know how much a championship title can elevate your career and I respect you for that. I respect you for what heights you took that championship to. I respect you for everything you've done and accomplished within your previous championship reign, but it's time for you step aside to let QUANTUM and I shine in the limelight. Whether you like it or not, the Xtreme Era ended the second Jayln Garcia snatched that championship away from your hands, and that fact will be nailed deeper into the coffin when I walk out of Gateway To Glory with your championship opportunity. Your time is up and my time is now. I'd like to add that QUANTUM is not a possession nor an inanimate object. QUANTUM is not a piece of junk that you can just juggle around. Just like any other human-being, QUANTUM has a soul. So, you can stop objectifying and personifying my best friend. I get that you're not the same without your championship, but my connection with QUANTUM is on unfathomable levels higher than your relationship with the EAW New Breed Championship. Maybe the only similarity between them is that just like how I'd die for QUANTUM, you'd die for that EAW New Breed Championship. You had possession of a surefire rematch clause to earn back the New Breed crown but what did you choose to do with it? You could've gotten your rematch at Gateway To Glory and instead, you elected not to. You elected to put your opportunity on the line against two of the newest Dynasty prospects. I admire your perseverance and your dedication. However, you and I know that when WALK3R and I confronted you, you made an impulsive decision. You didn't care to think it through. You may see this as a way to cement your worthiness further, but this has a huge possibility to backfire. Your vision of restoring your championship reign can be jeopardized. You put your window of opportunity up for grabs against two individuals who are just as ambitious and hungry as you, maybe even more."
"When it pertains to the olive branch that has been extended by ANDR3, W1NDGAT3 couldn't have said it any better. I don't require the assistance of anyone to get what I want, especially ANDR3 WALK3R. Why should I abandon every principle I've lived by for fifteen straight years to form a temporary allegiance with ANDR3? I'm not stupid. I know what ANDR3 is trying to do, and it's quite funny. He talks about how he's going to takeover Elite Answers Wrestling. He talks so confidently about how he's going to take W1NDGAT3's opportunity, but come on. ANDR3, if you're so confident in your chances, then why do you need my help? Why do you need my talents to help you win? Judging from what you've so egotistically preached, you don't need my help. Even if I did accept your invitation, what would I profit from it? What would I gain from uniting with a despicable cumstain such as yourself? It's not going to make it easier for me because you're going to stab me either way, so what is the point? You crossed a personal line when you stole QUANTUM away from me. When I kicked your balls, it wasn't enough. When you apologized to me, it wasn't enough. Then, you make the brash decision to try and form a coalition with me? Excuse me? You're the last person I'd want to be in the same team with. As a matter of fact, I'd rather smoke Mary Jane with W1NDGAT3 then be in the same bubble with your dumbass. You can run your mouth all day about how flawless and impeccable we'd be as a collective, but the truth is, I don't need you and you don't need me. We don't need each other to make each other's time convenient. We don't need each other to speed up the process to fulfill our prophecies. I can do fine without you. ANDR3, I'll take your hand, alright. I'll twist it, yank it off your body and smack the shit out of you with your own arm. I know where my head is at, I know where my standards are at, I know where my virtues are at, and I know where my principles are at, and they sure as hell aren't with some Dr. DR3 copycat. W1LH3LM shares the spotlight only with those who are worthy. W1LH3LM shares the experience only with those who deserve it. ANDR3 WALK3R, you deserve nothing but the worst. You are worthy of the most painful experience possible. W1NDGAT3? You’re okay… But that doesn't mean you won't get the smoke. Just know, it's going to be nothing personal..."
Now, let's get the fuck out of here
( W1LH3LM extracts the video file out of the camera and gives it to Dwight. The messenger bird flies out of the cage. W1LH3LM winks at QUANTUM before raising the jib and sailing the boat back to the coast. )
( W1LH3LM extracts the video file out of the camera and gives it to Dwight. The messenger bird flies out of the cage. W1LH3LM winks at QUANTUM before raising the jib and sailing the boat back to the coast. )
