**The video finishes playing and the lights come back on. The fans in the arena cheer for a few seconds and then lower their voices as The Sandman begins to speak.**

The Sandman: "Well I'm glad to see the eHw fans still know how to rock the house! I knew all you sick mother fuckers wouldn’t forget about us, and how eHw always delivers. And I know that all those sick mother fuckers in the locker room haven't forgotten how to bring it in this ring because come Redemption. . .all bets are off and all life insurance claims better be paid off. Because all hell is going to break lose when this company gets back on the right track and starts moving ahead with steam again. I tell ya, eHw was cookin like I hadn't seen it cookin in years. In the second week of August it looked like we had one of the strongest, most solid rosters in our history, and in professional wrestling history."

The Sandman: "There is one thing that eHw has never once failed to do, and that is to separate the men from the boys. This is not a school yard playground, and it isn' a tool for a multi billion dollar sports entertainment outfit. This is the ultimate destination for balls to the wall, hardcore wrestling. This is the place you come when you are tired of all the glossed over bullshit political sports entertainment world, and you wanna get back down to what pro wrestling is all about. That is what eHw offers it’s fans and it' wrestlers, and I guess it can just be too much for some. Because around here you have to live up to your word. You have to back up your words with actions whether it is in the ring or in the back and when it comes down to it, most people who set foot in this company are just a bunch of boys who want to be men. Paul Heyman, who has only shown himself to show a step above piss poor judgment in his life, decided to let a lot of these boys in at once. And because of that, he let them all almost tear this place down to the ground after guys like me, Scott Steiner, and even my opponent Al Snow have spent years building it up on our blood, sweat, tears, and beers. Well guess what? We aren' going anywhere! The more things change, the more they stay the same. eHw is going to stay atop of the wrestling world, and likewise, I'm gonna stay atop eHw as the Undisputed eHw World Heavyweight Champion."

The Sandman: "I have been the eHw World Champion more than anybody in this company's history. I have been the world champion more times than Sid Vicious, Al Snow, and Scott Steiner put together. A six time eHw World Champion, do you know what it takes to become the world champion, once, let alone six times? Becoming the world champion of a company like eHw is one of the hardest physical and mental tasks a human being can take on. And it is a task that more than ninety percent of the people that take it on fail and fail miserably. There are people that have been in this industry, that were supposed to be the next great world champion, but could never get to the top of the mountain. There have been people in the wrestling that were given the title at an extremely early age with the thinking that they would be the next great world champion and would build a dynasty for themselves and the company for years to come. But in the end, ended up just running backwards by putting the title on a kid who wasn't ready mentally or physically to carry an entire wrestling company on his back. In some cases the pressure drove the man out of the business, in some it just drove him into a career of mediocrity. And those have been title reigns in sports entertainment, or weak wrestling companies. Imagine becoming the world champion for an extreme, hardcore wrestling company. Where the physical tolls taken on the wrestlers are unmatched by any wrestling promotion anywhere, ever. Imagine all of the blood, barbed wire, ladders, bones, explosives, chairs, thumbtacks, and Singapore Cains have been lost, broken, dented, maimed, detonated, and destroyed along the way to one title reign, let alone six."

The Sandman: "Al Snow has been a staple of eHw since he entered it's doors in near middle of the year two thousand. By the time had wrestled his first couple of matches, I had already gone through my first couple of world title runs. Let that fact sink in for a few seconds, because it is a point that may not register in importance in the brains of many of you out there. By the time he had wrestled his first couple of matches, I had already held my first couple of world titles. And ladies and gentlemen, that isn’t even counting the five runs I had with the ECW World Title before coming to eHw. Eleven times I have tasted the sweet gold of a world title belt over my decade and a half career compared to what of Al Snow, one time? Once? He thinks he can put himself in the same league as me when I have held eleven world titles and he has held one? Well you know what, I've regained a lot of respect for Al Snow over the past few weeks, since he has shown that he has a pair of balls and even more pride and loyalty by sticking it out during eHw’s hard times. Al Snow has proven himself to be one of the toughest son of a bitches this company has to offer now, or ever. He has gotten into the ring with the best of them in this business. He's one a few, he's lost a few, but he has always stuck around and has gained the experience and knowledge in this business to let the good times equal out the bad. And he has earned every title belt that he has ever held in this business. But that doesn't change the fact that at Redemption, when he gets into the ring with The Sandman, that he is stepping into a whole different world, with a whole different class of wrestler."

The Sandman: "Al Snow has been flapping his gums back and forth over the past month or so about how I have lost my credibility. He has been talking about how I have fallen from greatness. He has been talking about how I have lost his respect, and that I have lost the respect of the locker room. . . . . Well you know Al, I have eighteen pounds of gold that tells me that I have the respect of the people in the locker room. It has my name on it, and above that, it has eHw World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion written above it. So I don't think, I know I have the respect of every mother fucker in that dressing room, whether they want to respect me or not, because I have the thing that tells them and the world that I am the god damn very best that this company and the industry of professional wrestling has to offer. And when you are the best Al, and you are the best for more than one run, and for longer than one month, maybe you'll realize that. Maybe you'll realize that being liked and being respect are two very different things. Some of the boys may not like me, but they all damn sure respect me. Because for over fifteen years I have come out here busted my ass, and put my body on the line like few that have come before or after me and my results can speak for me. But since I'm more than just a crazy bastard daredevil, I have some things that I can say for myself too, and can say them better than any around me, which is another reason why I have eighteen pounds of gold that says I am the best, and why I have the respect of everyone in the locker room."

The Sandman: "Now, as for me falling from greatness or losing a step. I can't deny that I'm not the same person that I used to be in this ring. I'm not in my twenties anymore, hell I'm barely still in my thirties. But you know what I am, I am still the toughest, not one of the toughest, but the toughest son of a bitch that this company has ever seen. And even in my barely still thirties, I am still tougher than you'll ever be Al. I have not only learned a lot during my career full of being broken through tables, abused with chairs and ladders, thrown on piles of thumb tacks and light bulbs. I have grown thick skin both literally and metaphorically. What doesn’t kill me, only makes me stronger. And after all of the intense battles I have been in in my career, let alone here in eHw, and to not only have survived them all, but won the majority of them, I'm damn near bullet proof. At the rate I am going, someone is going to have to bring a gun into the ring to take me down for the one, two, three. But I have made up for my evaporating physical gifts, by increasing the mental warfare that goes into winning a match. It's because of that, that yes, as much as I hate to admit it, and hate even more have had to do it, I have. . . .give me a second this is rough. . . . . I have started. . . . . . . . . . *Sighs*. . . . .I guess there is no shame in admitting it. . . . . . .I have started drinking light beer."

**The crowd gasps in complete shock.**

The Sandman: "I know, I know it's hard to believe I would ever do something like that. But I can't fight the clock as easily as I'm going to be able to fight Al Snow. My metabolism is slowing down, the pounds are piling up faster than they once did. It happens, and I have to adjust my lifestyle, and adjust my game, to stay ahead and on top of the game. That is what makes me truly great, greater than people like Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair. People who even though the years and especially the pounds piled up on them, they refused to change anything about themselves. And went from being wrestling icons, to being old, sad, pathetic pieces of shit that stuck around this business too long and over stayed their welcome by a decade a piece. They wouldn't change their life style or their in ring style, they wouldn't adapt and that is the very thing that doesn’t make them great. But me, I am going into this match a little slimmer, and a lot wiser than usual. And my preparation time, well, I am actually making some time for match preparation besides downing a case of beer or two and a carton of cigarettes. Because this isn't going to be a fight, I was mistaken in saying that earlier. This match against Al Snow is not going to be a fight, it is going to be a wrestling match. A wrestling match is what Al Snow wants, and a wrestling match is what Al Snow is going to get. I am not stranger to regular wrestling matches. I was in regular wrestling matches for almost six years before I dove into the more hardcore wrestling style. I had a traditional training and breaking into the professional wrestling business. I had a couple of straight wrestling matches during my short time in WCW. And let's not mistake what my hardcore wrestling matches in ECW were. They were ECW style hardcore wrestling matches, not WWF and WCW weapon fests. Al Snow you of all people should know the difference between what real hardcore wrestling is, and what the WWF and WCW style of hardcore wrestling is. ECW style of hardcore wrestling is aggressive, moved based wrestling with moderate weapon use. That is the style of wrestling that made you a cult hero in the wrestling business. Then there is the WWF style of hardcore wrestling which is just hit your opponent with as many weapons as you can as fast as you can so the real matches can get under way. You know all about this style of hardcore wrestling Al, because this is the style of wrestling that turned you from a wrestling cult hero, into a sports entertainment joke and an announcer. Now even though I mastered both styles, the style of wrestling I am most known for is the ECW style of hardcore wrestling. The moved based wrestling with moderate weapon use, that is the style I am known for, because that is the style I made famous. I have always used wrestling moves to win my matches, and my many world titles. I have never won a world title by hitting my opponent with my cain twenty nine times until the referee called for the bell. Al you are already making a dangerous mistake by thinking you can just walk over me by putting me in a wrestling match, don't make an even bigger mistake by thinking that I can't wrestle at all. If I had only one world title and a bunch of mid card titles like yourself, I might be a little more worried about my chances in this match. If I was someone who had worked my entire life to win a world title, then won it and lost it in a month and was going up against an icon of wrestling, then I might be a little more worried. But I am none of the those, I am the six time eHw World Heavyweight Champion, the Hardcore Icon, and the King of eHw. I am the face of this company because I've done the most and I've won the most."

The Sandman: "Al you have been saying for a while now that I have fallen from greatness, or fallen from where I used to be. That I'm not the same person I used to be, that I am inferior to The Sandman of old. Like I said, age is starting to catch up to me. All of the beatings and all of the smokes and beers are starting to take their toll. They are only starting to take their toll, and I can promise the fans that I'll get out of the way when I start to decay unlike Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan. But I still have a lot of fight left in me, I still have physical skills, I still have some great matches left to give. But Al you are right in the regard that I have fallen a little bit, and that I'm not the same Sandman that I used to be. I'm not sure that the old Sandman would've liked someone winning the world title in the main event match of this companies biggest pay per view of the year, then falling asleep at the wheel and disgracing himself and the title by almost giving up the title the next month so his so called rival could have some of the glory that he didn’t earn. But Al, the old Sandman isn't completely gone, he is just mildly fading away and is just starting to fall out of sight and yes I have fallen from my peak a bit. But you know what? Wherever I have landed, is still miles and miles ahead of where you’ll ever be able to reach in your career. You are a tough son of a bitch, you are persistent, you are loyal, you are proud, but what separates you from me is the very same thing that separates good, from great. You can have all of that, but you have to be a winner. Now Al you have been a winner, in the mid card. And yes, you did finally get your win in the big main event match, then tarnished it by falling asleep at the wheel and pretty much giving up the title the next month. BUT, you still one the big won, and I congratulate you. Now, win the big one five more times and you can stand on the same level as me. Win the big one, and hold onto it for over three months, the you can look down on those who aren't as good as you, as I look down on you who isn't as good as me. Al, you are good. You have been a good wrestler, you are a good person, you are good to eHw, and you have helped this company out on the lower end of the ladder in the same ways I have helped it out on the upper end. But you are part of the lower end of the ladder and I am part of the upper end, and although you reached the upper end, you reached it for a brief time. I have told you what the difference is between good and great, and at Redemption, in the ring, in the Iron Man Match, I am going to show you what the difference between good and great are. And I'll show you that a Sandman that has fallen from his greatness, is still enough to beat you at your own game, and is good enough to out wrestle you, and retain the eHw World Heavyweight Title."

The Sandman: "But, but, this isn't going to be a game show. No world title of mine is going to be determined based on points. If you want a point system, I suggest you go play college football Al. This is eHw, not the fucking Match Game. If you want an Iron Man Match, that is fine by me. I'll go as long as you want and take you to your max, for ever last second that we are in that ring together. But if you want an Iron Man Match, then we are going to have an Iron Man Match. You want count outs and disqualifications? You want to make sure that I can't use weapons? I'll give you that too, I'll show you just how good of wrestler I can be, because a world champion is more than a person who can just swing a weapon around. When you hold the world title more than just once and for longer than a month, you might learn that some day. But we aren't going to conduct this match under a point system, we are going to conduct it under the rules of common fucking sense. Pin falls, submissions, disqualifications, and count outs, the person who has the most falls at the end of the sixty minutes gets the win. When you are the world champion, you can make some changes like that to the match, especially if it involves taking the person who came up with the match's head out of his ass. A point system? C'mon Al, you're tougher than that. I mean you're not nearly as tough as me, but I figured since you aren't a drinker that you'd have enough brain cells to be smarter than me, or at least smart enough to know what all of these fans who cheer for you out here are thinking. Do you really think any of our hardcore eHw fans wants to see the biggest prize in this business, the eHw World Title decided under a point system? Hell mother fucking no! Now do they want to see The Sandman take on Al Snow in an Iron Man Match? I think that answer would be mother fucking YEAH!! So Al, take the small remaining time until the match and work on your endurance, because come Redemption, in the Iron Man Match, I am going to take you to the absolute limit, in the longest sixty minutes of your life. And when it is all said and done, I am going to have physically taught you the difference between what it is to be good like you are, and what it is to be great like the six time eHw World Heavyweight Champion, the Hardcore Icon, and the only King of eHw, The Sandman!! AND YOU CAN TAKE THAT TO THE BAR!!!!"

**The Sandman tosses the mic out of the ring as "Enter Sandman" by Metallica begins blasting again and the crowd is split between Al Snow fans booing and Sandman fans cheering. The Sandman again holds up the world title belt with one hand and the Singapore Cain with the other. The Sandman poses for the crowd for a few minutes, standing on the second turnbuckle of each corner of the ring, then exiting the ring, and exiting the arena by going up the entryway ailse and through the curtain.**