The title match was supposed to be a cakewalk for Pat Stay. Clearly that wasn’t the case. It’s been about a week since the YouTube footage dropped for King of the Dot’s most recent title match, and the result is more debatable than most expected. Ultimately, Pat Stay used humour to unchain the reigning champ. But even in defeat, Arcane found some level of redemption by taking a no-nonsense, bar-heavy approach against the odds-on favourite. Many fans even think Arcane won the battle, which is remarkable considering the blow to his reputation after BarGate.

We spoke with Arcane the day after the footage dropped about his impressions of the title match, whether it was an unwinnable battle, and whether a battle against Caustic is in his future.

Have you watched the title match since it dropped on YouTube?

Yeah, I did get a chance to watch the official footage yesterday.

What did you think of it? How did your performance translate to video?

I thought it was pretty dope. Obviously, Avocado is one of the best in the world for doing visuals for battles. I think it definitely lived up to what people wanted to see. As far as how my performance translated on camera, I actually think it looked a little more hype in the pay-per-view footage. I think the mic picked up the crowd more on it. I noticed a couple lines that were getting a loud reaction on PPV didn’t get as much on the official footage. I’m not sure if it was just microphone placement or what. But I know they’re getting used to the new format, the new style of mic-ing the stage. It’s all a learning experience for everyone I guess, right?

What has the reaction been like from fans and other battlers since the footage came out?

I’ve been getting nothing but positive reactions from the fans and from other battlers. Everybody’s telling me that I killed it. It was a really close battle, a debatable battle. Even though I had a little slip-up in the third, a lot of people are saying it could have gone either way. I really couldn’t ask for a better result.

Given all the drama going into the title match, and the fact that Pat Stay is extremely popular, do you think it was an unwinnable battle?

I don’t think the battle was unwinnable. It was definitely an uphill battle. There were definitely a lot of fans who had preconceived notions about me going into that battle. And all that was derived from the whole smear campaign that was going on online after the Dizaster battle. That was just something I had to deal with in the ring, and I knew I wasn’t going to have the crowd on my side, and I knew that the crowd is always eating out of Pat Stay’s palm when he comes to Toronto. I knew the reactions were going to be stronger for him than they were going to be for me. That being said, I knew that I could really prove myself lyrically and that’s what my whole game plan was for the battle: to just really out-bar Pat.

From your perspective, do you think you won the battle?

It’s a tough call. I remember right after the battle, feeling like it was kind of a tie. I felt like a lot of people had it tied after the first two rounds, myself included. I thought Pat edged the first round. I thought I edged the second round. When it comes to the third round, I thought my material and content were a couple notches above, but I did have that slip-up as well. So you could either give that round to Pat, because I slipped up, or you could call it a draw. In my mind, it was a draw at the end of the battle. I didn’t feel like I was beaten, but at the same time, I didn’t feel like anyone had taken a clear victory. In the judges’ eyes and in the fans’ eyes, Pat Stay was definitely the winner that night, and I’m not mad at the decision at all. Like I said in the post-battle interview, if I could lose the chain to anybody, I’m glad it was Pat.

Now that you’ve had a battle since the Caustic/Dizaster situation was exposed, do you think the whole thing has been resolved?

It’s probably something that will get brought up in my next few battles. It’s probably something that will get brought up in Caustic and Dizaster’s battles, as well. It’s just one of those topics that will get brought up, because in a battle, people are looking for an angle of attack, and that’s just an easy angle of attack. So I wouldn’t say the situation is dead just after one battle.

Would you ever battle Caustic?

Yeah, I thought it would be a good battle for World Domination. Apparently he’s got some trouble getting over the border. I’ve heard different stories about whether or not he can. He seems to maintain that he can’t get over the border. But I know his homey Madness can get into Canada, and he’s got charges that needed FBI clearance to get into the country. I know it’s possible, even if you have whatever charges – you should be able to get into Canada. And that’s where I would want to do the battle. The whole thing started in Canada. It was a Canadian Grand Prix tournament where this whole debacle started. I think that’s where it should be settled.

[Editor’s note: We spoke to Caustic about whether he could get across the border and he said it was a definite no, that his situation was different than Madness’ and that he was willing to battle Arcane on the West Coast.]

At this point, what’s your motivation? What’s left to accomplish in battling?

I’m already one of the most accomplished guys in King of the Dot – winning the Grand Prix twice and winning the chain twice. As far as accomplishments, I feel like I’ve already done all that. At this point, I just want to be battling top-tier names. I’m looking at names like DNA. He’s been calling me out a couple times. I think me and him both want to battle each other. It’s a battle the fans would want to see. Even Charlie Clips, he was mentioning my name at World Domination. I’d be down to battle dudes like that. Those dudes are at the top of their game, and that’s the type of competition I want to be battling. I want to battle the best, to prove that I’m one of the best.

Who do you think deserves a title shot against Pat Stay?

Again, we’re at a point where there’s not a clear contender. Even leading up to my last title match with Pat Stay, there wasn’t a clear contender. I think there needs to be at least one judged contenders’ match to prove who’s deserving of the chain right now. I know a lot of names are mentioning they want the title [shot] … but ultimately, it’s going to be up to King of the Dot to decide that, and I’m sure the fans will have some input. And that’s one of the things as the champion, that you don’t really have much say in who you battle. At least that’s how it’s been in the past. The champion basically battles the contender that’s been put up for them by the league. We’ll see. I’m not sure who Pat Stay’s going to be battling next.

When did you find out that you were going up against Pat, and what was your reaction?

I couldn’t pinpoint the day, but there were a lot of different names being tossed around. At first, I was sort of led to believe that I would be battling Caustic. I was told he had papers to get into Canada. I was looking forward to that. Then, the story changed, and I heard Caustic wasn’t coming to Canada and DNA was a possible contender for me, which I was down for. I was down to battle DNA or Caustic. I actually made a blog saying I would battle them both at the same event. Then I guess that didn’t work out either. I think I might’ve been notified of it a couple days after Pat knew about it, because a couple people seemed to know that he was going to be going for the chain before I did. A couple MCs I talked to knew that match was being set up. I was definitely happy to find out it was Pat Stay. Of all the competitors that they were lining up in front of me for a title shot, I just think Pat Stay was the best look for a title contender. King of the Dot – it’s a Canadian movement. Someone like Pat Stay is already regarded as No. 1 in Canada. So I thought it would be a great battle.

Any final thoughts or anything to plug?

The last thing I would want to say is just congratulations to Pat Stay. He’s the new champ. Regardless of what people think of the decision – it was a close battle, people are saying it could have gone either way – I just want to say congrats to Pat. He’s the new champ and everybody should show this man respect because he deserves it. Straight up.

Shout-outs to Arcane for speaking with us. You can follow him on Twitter at @905Arcane.

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More from TOBB:

-Bender speaks before his battle with Dirt
-Q&A: Pat Stay speaks on his battle with Arcane -TOBB’s recap of the Pat Stay/Arcane battle
-Six battles to watch from August