On the last episode of Savage, Micheal Graves was scheduled to face Calypso in singles competition. Vita Valenteen had smuggled Micheal into Canada for the match since Micheal is not legally allowed to cross national borders. During their drive, Vita had mentioned the idea of the two of them teaming together. Micheal didn't seem that interested at first, and by the time that he had come around, Vita had found a new potential partner and one that actually WANTED to team with her, and as fate would have it, that man was Calypso! Now, if Micheal wanted to pursue this idea of forming a tag team with Vita Valenteen, he'd have to get through Calypso first!

Graves picks Calypso up and lifts him up on his shoulders… HHL: “Grave Digger!!” Calypso flops to the ground after being hit with a death valley driver in the center of the ring. Graves sits and stares at him for a few seconds before shaking his head and lifting Calypso back up. PIP: “Man, he really doesn’t want him to get up, does he?” HHL: “I think he wants to finalize WHO is going to Fire & Ice and WHO is going to be teaming with Vita Valenteen in the future…” Graves sets him up and lifts him in the air for his patented finisher…. Graves Consequences!!! He nails it and if Calypso could look more lifeless on the mat… He did. Graves walks over and places a boot on the chest of his opponent for the referee to count….. ONE!!!!! TWO!!!!!!!!!! THREE!!!!!! WINNER - MICHEAL GRAVES

Moments after the finish of that match, we pick up backstage as Micheal walks through the curtain and VV runs up to give him a BIG celebratory hug!

"You totally did it! I knew that you would!"

Graves doesn't seem impressed. In fact, he looks downright grumpy.

"It was Calypso, of course, I would!"

He snaps as he lightly shoves Vita off of him.

"Do I look like Chris Chaos, huh!? Did you really think that-THAT goofball might have beaten me!?"

Vita looks confused as to why Micheal seems so angry and defensive.

"No, I just said that I knew that you could beat hi-"

"Yeah, could. COULD, like I had to put forth some extraordinary effort! Like, oh, there's Graves. What a goon! He'll never beat the jobber unless he digs deep!"

Vita watches on concerned as Micheal continues to pace and shout backstage.

"I bet you would have RATHER Calypso had won tonight, right!? Then you wouldn't be stuck with these loathsome bones!"

Vita tries to contain it, but can't help but let out a little giggle. Graves snaps his attention towards her.

"What's so funny!?"

"You, and constantly quoting that loathsome crap that Dolly said months ago."

The fire still burns brightly in Micheal's eyes as he continues to shout.

"Well!? She pretty much laid it out in the open, didn't she!? Nobody likes me, nobody really wants me here!? Everyone would be perfectly happy if I were found face down in a ditch somewhere!"

Micheal turns around and throws his full body weight into a punch that meets an early end once it collides with the cinderblock wall!

"GOD-DAMN-IT!"

Micheal kneels down beside the wall as he inspects the damage to his hand. Blood trickles from his knuckles as they begin to swell. Vita is hesitant to interject.

Um, are you okay?"

Micheal ignores the question and takes off down the hallway. Vita looks around at the various production crew members who are just as confused as she is. She then takes off after him, but not so quickly as to actually catch up. Vita tails Graves to the men's locker room, where once he goes in, a few unfamiliar faces run out terrified. Local talent for the dark matches, I'm sure.

Vita waits a moment before knocking.

"Micheal, are you good?"

There isn't an answer.

After a moment Vita knocks again.

"Mikey!?"

Still, there is no answer from inside the locker room.

Vita knocks again, this time much harder as she slams her entire forearm into the metal door.

"Mikey, I hope you're decent because I'm coming in!"

Vita charges into the locker room not knowing what it was that she expected to see. Maybe Micheal Graves slaughtering a room full of indy talent, or just tearing down the locker room, or maybe he was so emotional that he was about to quit, but no, none of that was the case, and when VV entered the locker room, what she found was a defeated, teary-eyed man slumped against the wall with an open bottle of pills. She approaches him cautiously.

"Are you alright?"

Micheal stares off into the distance. He doesn't respond right away, but eventually, as Vita draws nearer, he whispers to her.

"Why me?"

Vita, not exactly sure the context to this question just quips back.

"Why you what?"

Micheal turns his head to make eye contact with Vita.

"Why did you really ask to team with me?"

Vita seems a little uneasy, giving credence to Graves' idea that she's not telling him everything.

"Because we have some experience together, and I don't exactly have a ton of options begging to team with me in a division that's crowded with big rough and tough teams like APEX, The Money Titans, and TNGB!"

"Don't give me that! I saw how Lane responded to you when you asked to get me off the hook for that promotional appearance. I also listen to how people talk about you backstage. You have more friends in this business than enemies. Half of that roster would jump at the opportunity to team with you! So why me?"

Vita hesitates for a moment before looking Graves in the eye.

"Okay fine, you win. I came to you because it made the most sense. After I was turned into a vampire, my social circle shrunk a little bit. I guess that the people that I used to associate with aren't really into the " goth scene", and it's not like people are super receptive to the idea of teaming with someone who might drain their blood for a power up."

Through his self-pity and doubt, Micheal manages a half-smile.

"I don't think that you would do that..."

"I wouldn't! But people are people, and people are fearful of that they don't really understand. That's why I came to you. When I found out that you were a werewolf... " Vita hesitates, giving the impression that she may be lying. "It seemed like the perfect match! Vampires and Werewolves make a killer team, and you know what it's like to be outcast and judged for sure!"

Graves burst out laughing, finding great humor in her words! Vita is immediately confused by his reaction.

"What!?"

"Vampires and Werewolves make a killer team? I think that you need to brush up on your history! Vampires and Werewolves rarely get along! In fact, I'm pretty sure that they are locked into an eternal war to wipe out the other entirely. At least, that's how it was in the movie Underworld!"

Vita suddenly looks a little down.

"So, you don't want to team up then?"

"A Vampire and a Werewolf? No way in hell that would work!"

"That... Sucks..."

Vita turns and begins to walk away.

"Good thing that I'm not a werewolf!"

Happy? No, Vita turns around shocked.

"Wait, what do you mean, " You're not a Werewolf!?"

"I mean exactly what I said, I'm not a Werewolf."

Vita angrily stomps right back up to Graves!

"I watched your promo where you turned! You killed all of those NRA guys that were hunting you!"

Graves waves her off with a pfft!

"I knew that something was fishy about Lane sending me to an NRA meeting, so I paid a hobo to go there and pretend to be me while I filmed that promo off site."

Vita's mind is racing with this new information.

"Wait, so you're not a Werewolf then?"

Graves shakes his head no.

"No, just special effects. Honestly, I figured if Lane thought I was a Werewolf and killed all of those guys, he might back off and just let me be."

Vita is at a loss for words and angry that she was so naive as to buy into a Micheal Graves promo at face value. Then it hits her...

"What about the homeless man that you sent to the NRA?"

Micheal just shrugs.

"It was him or me. I chose him."

Micheal dumps a few more pills into his hand and begins to chew them up.

"You might have sent an innocent man to his death!"

"I would hardly call the guy innocent! The homeless are a plague on our way of life. I did the world a favor!"

"Aren't YOU homeless!?"

Micheal doesn't say a word. Instead, he thinks that how after burning down his home a few months ago, he actually is homeless."

"You know, I had asked Vinnie to team us up on the next Anarchy, but you can forget that now! I don't know if I want to team with a liar that would send an innocent man in his place to die!"

Vita storms out of the room.

"Wait, VV! Come back!"

"AND YOU AREN'T EVEN A FRICKIN WEREWOLF!!? WHO'S GOING TO STOP ME IF I LOSE CONTROL!!?"

And the slamming of the big metal door on her way out of the locker room serves as her " Fuck You" to him!

"Goddamnit! This is why you don't tell the truth!"

Graves jumps up and runs after her as the scene fades out.

Only to reopen sometime later with Micheal hiking through snowy terrain. A montage of clips showing Micheal transversing the harsh environment is shown before finally settling on a shot of Micheal by the fire after setting up camp for the night. He removes his gloves and warms his hands by the fire as the snow and ice melt from his outer coat.

"The fucking North Pole!? First I booked in Canada, knowing that I've been grounded for years, and on top of that, am not allowed to leave the country! But here I am, facing down legal ramifications and frostbite not only to fulfill my obligations in our Northern Neighbor but to do it again to our FAR northern neighbor as well! And to top it all off? I blew my fucking ride back in Vancouver!"

Micheal huffs and stares into the fire for a moment before continuing.

"You know, most of the boys seem to have this notion that they're better than me, that they are more dedicated to their craft than I am, and that I'm nothing more than a troll who enjoys pissing people off, but let me ask you, how many of you would be willing to traverse this icy terrain on foot just to make a match? Not many, I'm sure!"

"Hell, I can't even say that I'd do it under normal circumstances, but these are no normal circumstances, are they? This week, I step into the ring with Rampage, again. I showed the world how easy it is to avoid a giant the last time that we faced off, and I'll do it again this week! Why? Simple, because just like before, this is a triple threat, and while the big man is a dangerous foe inside of that ring, he also has two quicker targets that he will need to contend with. Of course, he will try, and he will look foolish in the process, simply because over 40 years of combined experience in that ring far outweighs even the largest of giants."

"Which brings me to the other veteran that's set to partake in this match, Centurion!"

"Isn't it crazy to think that the two of us have been in and out of the XWF for nearly 20 years, and yet our paths haven't ever really crossed before? It's almost sad that this initial meeting of two XWF veterans has to be sullied by the likes of that big goof Rampage, huh?"

Micheal lets out a sigh as he struggles with what he's about to say.

"Listen, I know that I'm not known to be the most honorable guy around here, and I know I say shit that upsets a lot of folks, but believe me, Centurion, I do take this meeting between us seriously. The two of us, we're both guys that a lot of people want to think are done. We're old news, right? WE should move out of the way for the new generation. Fuck the new generation! If they want our spots, then they need to take them from us! That's my opinion, anyway, and the logic that I'm putting behind this run with the XWF. For too long I have allowed myself to succumb to distraction after distraction. Whether that distraction originated from an outside source, or from within, but not anymore! I'm seeking professional help, I'm following doctor's orders, I'm playing by the rules, and I'm looking to head into Fire and Ice and rip the TV title out of Charlie Nickles cold dead hands! So, while this IS a historic matchup, it should have been a memorable one, Instead, it's nothing more than a side stop on my way to my real destination, the Television Championship! Thank you're lucky stars ANDY because I'd hate to be challenging you for that Anarchy gold! Not that I'd mind holding it. Money is money, and champions get paid. It's just that I'd hate to stomp out this little resurgence that you have going on and send you spiraling back down the path of reinvention so late in your career."

"Trust me, that shit only works for so long!"

"Speaking of, I suppose that it's time to address the elephant in the room."

A troubled look falls over Micheal as his eyes inch away from the camera in shame.

"The promotional material that was released on my behalf during the build-up to the last edition of Savage showed me turning into a werewolf and killing a large number of men."

Micheal hesitates as he contemplates even continuing with this thought. Could it be a mistake he wonders? People already hate him enough, why give them another reason? With a deep sigh, Micheal looks fearlessly into the camera.

"I am not a werewolf, and everything that you watched last week that implied otherwise was filmed on a set with paid actors."

Shamefully, Micheal looks away from the camera to give this "hard-hitting news" a moment to set in.

"All of it, BULLSHIT! Even the opening shots of me walking through the snow for this promo are bullshit! I left them in cause they looked cool, but no way I'm ACTUALLY walking to the fucking North Pole! Possibly worse, the entire thing might have led to an innocent hobo getting Merced."

Graves shrugs.

"I dunno, I haven't really looked into it. The point is, I lied, and that lie has injured a bond that I have recently formed with someone. That was never intentional. I didn't mean any harm by it, it was just me doing what I always do..."

Staring at the floor, Graves softly chuckles to himself.

"There it is, right? What I always do. Well Centurion, Rampage, maybe I'm going to stop doing what I always do?"

Graves catches himself and laughs aloud as he holds his palm up to the camera.

"Wait, wait! Sorry, this doesn't apply to you big fella, you're still struggling with inferior Gravy making inferior decisions. Maybe one day you'll catch up with the rest of the class!?"

Micheal laughs at Rampage's expense some more, knowing that the big guy hates NOTHING more than being made to look a FOOL, and what better way to do just THAT than some self-deprecating humor right after the Big Man suffered a crushing loss to him? Micheal doesn't care. He hates himself too! Anyway, after a moment Graves regains his composer, turning his attention back towards the camera.

"Okay, maybe a little?"

He says as he pinches his fingers about an inch apart.

"But I'm definitely going to change some things about myself, and NO not for Lane. Seriously, I appreciate getting my job back, but that man has had a fucking vendetta against me ever since I date- him! LISTEN, I'M SORRY!"

"BUT YOU ASKED FOR IT LOOKING SO DAMN FINE!"

In a cringingly weird moment, Graves doesn't at all look as though he is joking as he makes that statement.

"First thing I've changed is my problem-solving. Case in point, I said that I'm not actually walking to the North Pole, despite what the opening to this video may have suggested, I actually thought to give the home office a call and have them set up travel arrangements!"

Micheal uses his hands to emote blowing your mind.

"Who would have thought it was that easy? Not me, till now! And that got me thinking. Maybe I've been overdoing it all this time. The face paint and masks? The magic potatoes... Well, that was real, but still absurd and definitely used as an attention grab, but do I need that? I don't think so, and that's why I've decided that from now on, fuck it, I'm just going to be real with you guys, and the realist thing that I can say right now is this."

"Centurion, I dunno where I stand matched up to you, but I look forward to finding out real soon, straight up, fair fight, with no bullshit. You don't have to take me at my word, heh, I TOTALLY understand if you don't, actually, but it won't change what you're going to get."

"Vita, I'm sorry that I lied, but I'm going to change. You'll see! Just give me a chance to not be an asshole!"

Micheal looks into the camera with deep sincerity. Only for a grin to then creep onto his face.

"Oh, and Rampage, big guy, do try not to trip over your own feet on your way down, mmkay?"