AceAlleyWrestling.com Exclusive: Marcus Smart

[The video opens on Marcus Smart sitting in a folding chair, somewhere backstage at the Ace Alley wrestling school; the quality of the footage suggests a proper, professional camera, rather than the blurry smartphone videos Section 14 is known for. Marcus is in his Section 14 t-shirt, pleather pants, and his sleeveless indie-wrestler hoodie; his face is clearly in a bad way, with two massive black eyes and a bandage concealing a horribly bruised, probably broken nose. The AAW World Championship belt lies across his lap; Marcus is staring at it with a saturnine expression.]

I did it, Real Fans. I beat Nero Santana. Maybe not the way that goes on your highlight reel, but when you’re up against a corporate tool like Nero and a system that won’t reward greatness, you find a way to win. That’s what champions do. That’s what heroes do.

[Marcus runs a hand over the championship belt.]

But heroes also pay a price. Nero might have cheated his way to a richly deserved DQ, but he also cheated his way to putting me in the hospital. [He points to his bruised face.] Broken nose, fractured orbital bone, and concussion-like symptoms, they say. Six to eight weeks, they say. Six to eight weeks before I can go back to giving the Real Fans the Real Wrestling they deserve. Short enough I won't have my belt stolen, but too long to be away from the ring I nearly died for.

So to the Real Fans, the Section 14ers who believed in their VIP all along: I’m sorry. I’m sorry you’re stuck watching a Russian tank with hair, the leaders of Team Jacob and Team Edward, and whatever the hell Ron Steele is now instead of the man you pay to see. But I promise, Section 14 will make its voice heard; Iggy and Andrew will be there to show the fans what a real wrestler looks like. And the second the doctors stop protecting the company men and let me back in that ring, your champion will be right back to out-thinking and out-flipping every single one of our enemies, and I will hoist this belt high again, and again, and again.

And to the seat-fillers who still don’t understand the difference between a senton and a swanton: you remember this. [Marcus points at his bandaged nose.] You remember what I did for you. I broke my face for wrestling. I broke my back for wrestling. And I did it despite your insistence that someone more palatable hold the gold. If you had the slightest love for this sport, you would cheer me to the rafters. I am your Savior, even if you reject me; hell, because people like you reject me. I am the longest-reigning champ in AAW history, and I reign because I know wrestling is the only thing that matters. And whoever Ace throws at me when I climb back in that ring is going to learn exactly what you’re learning: when the system is unfair, you don’t fight fair. You. Fight. Smart.

And, one more thing...

[Marcus gestures to the camera, takes an offered microphone from Tom’s extended hand, and drops it; the camera cuts out on a panicked noise from Tom.]