WWF Superstars, Apr. 12, 1997WWF Superstars, Apr. 12, 1997The screens in the arena show snow for a moment, then a picture appears. The view dissolves so that it's no longer a camera pointed at a monitor, but the raw video itself. The focus is sightly off, and it's fairly dark, but as the view sweeps past a few lights it becomes obvious that it's nighttime, and it looks to be outside one of the arenas the WWF visited recently.
The camera wobbles a bit, and it's obvious that the photographer is not a professional, as the view shakes badly and it seems the person is walking quickly towards a parking area. They slow down as they get to a fenced-in area, apparently reserved for guests and VIP's. It looks as though the camera person intends to get pictures of WWF stars as they leave the building. Visible are Diesel's semi, Pillman's Hummer with some pink spots still visible, and quite a few expensive-looking cars.
There's a sound of a door opening, and the camera quickly slides to the side to show someone coming out of the arena.. the amateur photographer fumbles with the zoom, and finally gets it focused. The sign next to the door says "Rosemont Horizon - Authorized Personnel ONLY", and the person who walked out is none other than the Publican, Mike Rotundo, carrying his briefcase and shaking his head. It's becomes clear that this video is shortly after Wrestlemania, where the Publican was strangely absent from ringside.
He walks towards a Jaguar, digging in the briefcase for the keys. On the video you can barely hear him muttering to himself, but what he says is not clear, as it's well beyond the range of the microphone. Just as he is getting close to the car, someone stands up from the shadows nearby and approaches him. The view zooms in on him, and focuses grudgingly, to show he's wearing a black sweat suit, and a black mask which covers his face. He approaches the Publican from behind..
..and clobbers him with an axehandle to the back! Publican falls forward, dropping the briefcase and hitting his face on the top of the car! The mystery assailant begins throwing kidney punches, then grabs him by the hair and RAMS Publican's head into the car door once.. twice.. three times!! The attacker stands back for a second, and the Publican desperately tries to pull his wits together. He turns and sees the man attacking him, and the camera can see that he's broken open, bleeding badly from the forehead. The masked man stands there for a moment, and Publican takes a swing at him, but misses as the masked man ducks underneath, and begins landing body blow after body blow.
Publican falls to the ground, and the attacker begins throwing stomps on him, kicking him. Publican makes a last ditch effort to catch the attackers foot, but gets kicked in the head for his efforts. After a few more kicks, the masked attacker stops, and looks down at the Publican. The view gets blurry for a second and then it looks like the camera person has found a closer spot. You can hear Publican's labored gasps, as the masked man stands over him. Finally, he reaches down and pulls up Publican by the hair, and leans him back against the car, holding his face in his hand, and in the parking lot lights it looks like his face is badly beaten and bleeding. The masked man puts his face close to Publican's and you can barely hear what he says.
Masked man: This is just a little taste of what the Empire is in for. If you're smart, you'll disappear, and the Publican will never be seen again. If not, then I'll make SURE you're never seen again. The Empire is dead..
He lets go of the Publican's head, letting him slump to the ground, and stands over the motionless body for a moment. Then there is the sound of the door opening again, and the masked man glances around furtively, and dives into the shadows. A few moments later a security guard walks into view, and spots the unconcious Publican on the ground, and radios for backup and medical help. The guard begins to shine a flashlight around, and the camera person turns and goes in the opposite direction, and after a few moments the screen turns to snow again, and the screen goes black.