I just had the uncomfortable experience of watching Hayden Beaulieu's ring entrance in slow motion (with yours truly standing in the background) as I created the screen captures for this article. I hadn't realized that my emotions were so transparent, but I probably should have.
At any rate, words often fail to describe the behind-the-scenes atmosphere at a video shoot, so I'll just let these pictures do the talking. A picture is worth 1,000 words anyway, and the body language and facial expressions in these screen caps are particularly poignant. (And yes, I am fully aware of how I come off in this video -- and even in Hayden's introductory interview -- but c'est la vie, we are who we are.)
This is, of course, a special "no disqualification" and "no submission" match -- a radical departure from our previous presentations, which were partially based on the rules of amateur wrestling (and my own perhaps misguided sense of protectiveness toward the guys I hired). In other words, Hayden can yell, "I quit!" and "I give up!" and tap the mat until he wears a hole in it -- and none of that will have any bearing on the match. What a concept! (This should satisfy "Ringside at Skull Island" and all of the LRW fans who have been clamoring for more long lasting, painful, submission holds.)
Does Hayden rally and score a victory over his would-be Velvet Mafia tag team partner, or does "The Sandman" successfully utilize his patented finishing maneuver and send the sheltered, small town, Connecticut youngster into dreamland? (Totally defenseless, in the clutches of an emotionally wounded, admittedly obsessed federation owner and his mercenary henchman -- once again, what a concept!)
This video is 9 minutes and 47 seconds long, which includes the actual match and wrestler introductions (no post-match interviews were given).