Glory before Honor

[Covenant]

[Our view opens up on the man known only as Covenant, lounging against a wall backstage. He holds a large, presumably smelly cigar in one of his big, meaty hands. He flashes his infuriating grin into the camera as he begins to speak.]

"The Code of Honor is a joke. It's completely unenforceable against truly determined opposition. Which you just may have in the near future. I'm just saying."

[He takes a long puff on the cigar, billowing smoke back out which briefly obscures the camera's view.]

"It may not fit your view of what real wrestling is, Mr. Kelly, or mysterious real owner, or whoever. Whatever. You can manipulate the wins and the losses and call it honor. But what you can't manipulate is that guys like me, we put butts in the seats. Fat, unwashed butts, sure, but that's your fan base, Kelly. You can't blame for all of your pimply, adolescent problems."

[He smiles again, as though imagining the shocked and dismayed reactions of the fans, which is like nectar to him.]

"The point is, you can't afford to just get rid of me. And that's the only way you could really stop me. So long as you keep cutting me a paycheck and letting me work out my aggressions in your ring, well, somebody is going to get hurt. Sometimes it's even me, for those of you out there whose gears that might grind. But, to borrow the names of your weekly shows by way of illustration, glory is far, far more important than honor. And, so long as I'm making my appearances on Glory!, that is true of your shows as well. So it works on two levels."

[Covenant drops the cigar, grinds it into the floor with his right boot, and walks away.]