We click play on the video and as we do, a small loading icon appears in the middle of the blank screen, turning slowly as the video buffers for a split second before it disappears and the video begins to play. And now that it's playing, the first thing we see is none other than Supreme Championship Wrestling star and Hall of Famer himself, David Helms, standing in front of the desk of his home-office in the Hollywood Hills. He wears a grey AnteUp t-shirt with the academy logo on the ffront and a pair of ripped black jeans that show various parts of his tattooed legs beneath. With a smile on his face, David brings a finger up to his brow to knock out a casual salute to the camera and as he does so a date stamp appears in the bottom left hand corner of the screen which reads [02.03.2020]. As he lowers his hand back to the pocket of his jeans again, the date stamp fades and Dave quickly begins to talk. “Sup guys,” he says, smiling warmly, as if he still did this every week, rather than having spent four years away from the ring until his masked return as Venti. “So yeah… how about Trios, huh?” He asks, bringing a hand up to run at the back of his head, looking a little awkward but still grinning all the same. After a moment, he slowly lowers his arm again. “Gonna just say it now, I am fucking astounded that I stand here right now knowing that I played my part in ensuring that Team Ace picked up the victory back in Dallas, but that is the case. Man, talk about a baptism of fire, coming back and leaking straight in at the deep end the way that I basically did, from unveiling at Day Of Infamy to standing victorious in one of the toughest tournaments this company has to offer… and now I have to figure out what I’m gonna do with it, huh?” he asks, giving a small shrug that’s barely visible. “I wish I could say that I have all sorts of bright ideas, I wish I could say that I thought about what I’d do if or when we won as soon as Ace picked me for his team, but I genuinely haven’t thought about what I’d do with that contract if we won and standing here right now I still have no clue. I didn’t come back with any big picture ideas, goals I wanted to achieve or anything like that. That’s Lucas’ wheelhouse, he’s the one with plans for what he wants to do, me? I guess I’m just gonna enjoy the ride, and see what happens. Can’t say that there won’t be plenty of people looking to get a chance to knock me down a peg or two anyway, right? That used to be the case anyway, before I retired; people loved the idea of trying to humble me or show me I wasn’t all that, like I’m some smug egotistical asshat… names Dave, guys, not Zoe. Not Sienna or Bree. Dave. But hey, if you think I need to suffer some humility and bring me down a bit, more power to you bro, I’m not gonna try and argue with stupid…”

Dave chuckles to himself as he shakes his head a little before returning his attention to the camera. “It’s always been funny really, that people feel like they have to try and knock me off of my high horse, you know?” he asks thoughtfully, reminiscing about years gone by and how people have approached facing him in the ring. “I know I have a bit of a habit of climbing onto my soap box, or I used to do in the past at least… guess it’s just not in my nature to let assholes run riot but each to their own. But it’s how I’ve always been, guys. Apart from the brief twelve to eighteen month period where I was one of the assholes I guess? But apart from the aforementioned dark period that we don’t talk about, save for pointing out the one saving grace in that it’s when I met my wife, I’ve generally tried to be that guy who stands up to people, you know? I’ve tried to be that guy who says no when all the assholes are clamouring for who can scapegoat the boss most or who can claim the system is fucking them the hardest in order to justify acting like a douche canoe. I’m not perfect, I’m pretty far from it in fact. I’m not the world's greatest wrestler and don’t claim to be… but what I am is a fighter. What I don’t do is give up, and I think that’s kind of what set me apart over the years I guess, the fact that I don’t give up easily, I dust myself off and climb back on the horse whenever something or someone metaphorically throws me off of it,” David continues, finding his flow. After so long away from the business he had worried he may have forgotten how to do this but fortunately that turned out not to be the case. “I guess that’s part of why me and Lucas made the choice to come back. I know Jason returned with us and I’m glad he did, but the original idea was just me and the Brit, and in a way, our reasons for returning all link to the things that kept me going over the years. The business right now feels broken, you know? It’s got people in it that are dragging it down, hurting it… and while we’re not gonna claim to be the cure for that, because we’re only human at the end of the day and I wouldn’t wanna be that egocentric, I do know that when someone is sick, you need help from people that can deliver a cure. It’s not just me, not just Lucas or Jason, it’s not Owen Cruze or Aaron Blackbourme. It’s all of us, and more. Marie Jones, Peyton Rice, Selena and Regan, a whole host of people, it’s everyone together. Collective effort just by fighting back when pushed, instead of just accepting defeat and giving up without even trying! And I’m not a quitter. I may have retired once and then come back, but I did that for others rather than myself, something I both look at as the best decision and also a huge mistake in equal measure, but now I am back I SCW I’m not gonna waste any time in going right back to what I always did best: sticking up for this company, this business and the people who love it!”

Righteous fury was once a term thrown around to describe the passion that filled David and while he wasn’t exactly one to use that term himself it was particularly fitting. And that same fury is burning behind his eyes now as he speaks, his gaze locked on the camera. “So I guess it’s fitting really that my first proper match back is against the people it’s against, huh? People I have a long and storied history with, people that I have fought against, teamed with and in Zoe’s case, loved too,” he says, alluding to his former relationship with Zoe Sperling, or Syren to the fans. “There’s no love lost now though, that much I can assure you of… and it feels like this is a dance that’s been going on for years now, you can take the routine all the way back to those days where me and Lucas also stood on the opposite side of the ring from one another, physically on many occasions and morally for the majority of our history. The Brotherhood versus Infamous was one of this companies most historic feuds, two groups on polar opposites of the spectrum when it comes to how they operate and what they want. This place has seen some wars In the past, but I’m calling it now, everything pales in comparison to that period, whether that bruises egos or not. And now… we’ll, I didn’t think they could get any worse, but Zoe, Alexis and Christy, they’re more self-centred, more self-serving and more fucking demanding than ever before!” he states, as if undeniable fact. For most in SCW that probably is the case anyway, but he seems so certain of himself as he makes his statement. “I know that a lot of the beef between me and those three has been personal, and all three hold victories over me at various times in my career, but the same can be said for the flip side, I’ve beaten them too. And it’s interesting that my first match back outside of trios isn’t against someone new or some throwaway match against local talent getting a break, giving me a chance to get back into the swing of things but against old enemies that I know all too well… It’s almost like SCW knows me too well, huh? They know who I am, what I stand for and what I have pretty much always stood for, brief period of douchebaggery notwithstanding, and they’ve thrown me in where I can be useful. I have to admit I’m not majorly happy about teaming with Blake given our own history, but Owen I trust despite what people seem to think after recent developments, and I had a hang in his training so I know first hand what he can do and how skilled he is. I know Blake is equally as skilled inside of a ring and the best don’t make excuses or try and lay the groundwork for them at any rate, they go out and plan to do their best regardless of the situation, don’t they?!”

“And while there may be no love lost between me and those three across the ring from us this week, that’s something I can say about Zoe, Alexis and Christy… they are three of the best in that ring, even if they’re also three of the biggest ass-hat’s,” David goes on, glossing over his chequered history with Blake Mason and the drama surrounding Owen and his new relationship with David’s own daughter Jennifer. It didn’t bear any importance as far as the match was concerned and he wasn’t going to air dirty laundry in public. He was David Helms not Jason. Zing. “You also have to consider that we’re talking about three women that aren’t just thrown together like me, Blake and Owen. Sure, there’s skill on our side of the ring, but while I may have had a hand in Owen’s training, no matter how you spin it we’re never gonna have the same connection as the one that Infamous have. They’ve been around SCW for more than a decade, won countless titles between them and two thirds of the group currently hold the SCW World Tag Team Championships, belts that I’ve held here in SCW twice myself. This isn’t gonna be easy… but nobody said it was gonna be easy either, did they? This business isn’t easy, but the things worth fighting for never are… which I guess explains my previous relationship, huh?” he asks, knowing full well that it was a bitchy comment to make but he couldn’t help himself. “And as I stand here, I can’t help but think about what it is we’re gonna hear from Zoe, Alexis and Christy. I have to admit I’m a little out of the loop considering the time I spent away from the company, but I’m gonna go out on a limb and say not a whole lot has changed. So we’ll hear about Zoe being disrespected in the lead up to the Trio’s tournament, not getting a spot on a team when she’s like, so totally obviously the greatest women’s wrestler in the world. We’ll hear about Sasha screwing her over all the time, how she’s hard done by and should be getting more than what she does, because the world loves a broken record and why change a winning formula, right? Ravyn, that’s easy; she’ll point out how stupid we are, how dumb I am in particular I imagine because god knows Alexis loves to take shots at me whenever given the chance. Maybe she’ll bring up the things she’s done in the past to get inside of my head, like breaking into my house and threatening my baby boy. She’ll get snippy, throw her tag title in our faces, talk about how they’re a unit and know what the other is thinking without a word spoken maybe? I’m sure at least one of us will be a troglodyte, because she loves that word, or she did for years anyway. And Christy…”

David pauses, looking at his hands for a minute before back up to the camera. “If Christy doesn’t remind me how I drove her to attempt suicide that one time I beat her in a match, maybe even showing off her scars for some extra emphasis, then I’ll be fucking astounded bro, I really will,” he says, trying not to sound demeaning to anyone feeling suicidal or dealing with suicidal thoughts, while unable to ignore the biggest moment of their history together. “I’m sure whatever gets said, the picture that’s painted of me Owen and Blake isn’t gonna be a pretty one… but that’s exactly what Infamous have always done, isn’t it? Twist facts and make reality out to be a completely different picture to the one that we all know is generally the truth! And with CHBK, the most manipulative bastard, in their corner, I’m sure that the three of us are in for some fucking fun on Wednesday night, so we’re gonna have to stay sharp and make sure we keep our eye on the prize… but you know what guys? I’m excited about this match. No, I swear, I truly am. Last time I stepped into the ring with Zoe, Rise To Greatness of twenty fifteen, she beat me and ended my streak at the biggest show of the year, handing me my first ever loss at the Show of Show’s, and I wasn’t angry about that, because Zoe is a hell of a wrestler for all of her faults… but now I get the chance to show her that while she’s continued to wrestle over the years that followed that match, while I’ve been away from the ring save for a few matches here and there, that no matter what she thinks about me on a personal level - I can probably guess at the choice words she’ll use but we’ll wait and see on that one - I can still go when that bell rings and this is a victory I’m looking forward to hopefully bringing home, just like I managed to do in the final of the two thousand twenty Trio’s tournament!” he says, trying to keep it about facts rather than sounding arrogant. He doesn’t want to be as bad as Infamous, if he can help it. “What I do know though, is that no matter how many times Zoe will mock me for coming out of retirement, telling me how I ‘totally lied to the fans’ or similarly inane comments, no matter how many times I’m told I was a terrible boyfriend or a lousy ally,  how many criticisms I hear from Alexis or how many times Christy wants to remind me of how I robbed her of her happiness before she finally got her win back… I can hold my fucking head up high because I will know that I have never had to fake injury in order to avoid competing. I’ve not been the one who has schemed to force myself into the world title picture, I’m not the one who had to take advantage of an open challenge that was blatantly designed to be for someone else in order to win titles. I’m not the person re-forming old groups in order to try and recapture old glory, which is probably for the best because The Brotherhood belongs in two thousand and eleven where we left it, just like another name that I’m sure you can hazard a fucking guess at without me saying it…”

“I look at this match and all I can think is that the more things change, the more they stay exactly the fucking same,” David continues, shaking his head. “The same people making the same noises, whining about the same things and thinking it’s that the same song and dance can make the difference years after it was fresh! Maybe that’s ironic coming from me, given I just returned with my fortieth birthday coming up later this year, that I’m going back to the well myself by making a comeback… but I’m not out here looking to try and re-live past glories and claiming that it makes me relevant to this day! I want to make new memories, I want to achieve new things, just like I did at Trio’s! I did something I never managed to achieve before my retirement when I helped Ace and Glory to win in Dallas, that’s what I want to do! I want new experiences… and while Zoe may have a problem with people talking about starting at the bottom or making their way to the top, you can’t say that there’s no pecking order in this business. We literally see companies run on a rankings system, we have our own Elite Fifteen to show who’s been making waves as of late, and while the solf-professed Greatest Female Wrestler In The World can have her opinions while telling everyone to be totally jealous, Alexis can quoth whatever snarky comments forevermore and Christy can live her Happily Never After’s… but when all is said and done, pithy quotes aside, what the fuck has changed? Nothing! I’ve been gone for four years, and not a single thing has changed, we are still hearing Zoe Sperling complain that she isn’t given what she’s earned or isn’t treated fairly. We are still hearing how Infamous are the best in the business, how they can manipulate any situation to suit their own ends… I may as well not have fucking left!” he says, looking annoyed as his eyes flash for a second. A trick of the light or lens flare no doubt, but it’s fitting, given the fire he speaks from. “But I don’t want to live in the past. Wednesday night, I want to live in the now, here and now in Two thousand twenty. An SCW landscape that’s different to when I left yet somehow exactly the fucking same… and if I can make a difference now that I’m back, along with Lucas and Jason, then that’s exactly what we’ll do! But for now, I enter another six person tag match after the events of the Trio’s tournament are disappearing in the rearview, and in many ways this match is every bit as important as any of those matches could ever be, if not more so… but in Dallas, all I had to do was show that I can still hang with the best of them and hopefully not embarrass myself too much. This week, in Denver, it’s not about grabbing glory and earning a contract, it’s about actually showing that me being back is because I’m still good enough to be here! And where better place to start than my ex-girlfriend, her wife and their friend who I have fought here in SCW since pretty much the day I arrived in the company almost?! Brotherhood versus Infamous is ancient history, but David Helms, Blake Mason and Owen Cruze versus Infamous? That's the present. It's here and now! And hopefully the here and now includes my run continuing because Day of Infamy was win number 1 as far as I’m concerned. Trio’s either two three and four or just number two, depending on your outlook. Does Breakdown bring the next, or will I get my first loss? Who knows. But I’m looking forward to find out!” he finishes before looking right down the lens of the camera, knowing that the fans will be waiting for that one final word to bring the video to a close. “BANG!” he shouts, with a smirk before the video comes to an end, the final frame dimming as a replay button pops up in the middle of the screen.