RP Title: “How the Mighty Have Fallen.”
(OOC: The characters of Mark Ward and Christian Underwood were used with the permission of the bosses)
If there was anyone who was having the worst luck these past few weeks, it was Jessie Salco, after her team was eliminated from the opening round of this year’s Blast from the Past Tournament (through no fault of her own as Travis Nathanial Andrews took the fall) she disappeared from the SCW airwaves for two weeks, she wasn’t booked nor was did she appear on Climax Control and the reasons quickly became evident when she did a promo for her match against Violet Amelia Holt, she, Shane and Jake were diagnosed with the Corona Virus and were forced to self-isolate un Reading, England.
And even then, she still had better luck than Sam Marlowe who has yet to win a match all year which Jessie has been all to eager to point out and now the two women were set to face off at Blaze of Glory to settle their differences in a singles match, can Jessie turn her luck around by finally beating Sam Marlowe in singles competition?
Hotel gym, Las Vegas, Nevada
Saturday the 4th of April 2020, 11:00am
Look, I know we’re not even halfway through the year yet but can 2020 just fuck off already?!
Even if Bloodstock doesn’t get cancelled by the Corona Virus, I won’t be able to go because of the damn travel bans and then there’s my own issues with the corona virus, like the fact that I missed several weeks because I fucking caught it alongside Shane and Jake.
Just to be clear, we’re not so who or where we caught the virus from, nature of the wrestling business means that I travel around a lot (or used to) and it could’ve been any number of fans who passed the disease onto us when they stopped me for an autograph but that shot doesn’t matter in the long run anyway, we got cleared of the virus just in time for the Go Home show and I’m ready to kick some ass at Blaze of Glory.
And oh boy, do I have a story to tell!
*flashback*
I started exhibiting symptoms the weak after this year’s Blast from the Past campaign ended, well, okay we all did but I was the first to show symptoms, thankfully we were still in England at the time and it didn’t cost us a penny to get checked at a local hospital.
“Jessica Salco?” The receptionist called out and I let out a deep breath before standing up and heading into the doctor’s office, I sat down and waited for the news.
“Jessica, I’m afraid it’s not good news.” The doctor, who must’ve been at least twice my age at a rough estimate, said as he handed me the paper, I took one look ay it and my gut just sank.
“I tested positive!?” I asked as I looked back and forth between the paper and the doc. “Is this a fucking joke?!”
“I’m serious, and you will need to self-isolate for two weeks.” The doctor said plainly, and I just stared at him in silence. “But it’s not all doom and gloom as you are young, healthy and have no known past medical issues.” The doctor tried to reassure me, and I shook my head.
“That’s not the fucking point! I’m a professional wrestler! I can’t do that shit from home!” I protested and the doctor could clearly see that I was getting upset. “How the hell am I supposed to make money?!”
“Talk with your employers. I’m sure they’ll sort something out for you.” The doctor told me, and I sighed before standing up. “I will be seeing your husband and your brother next, but I think you can guess the outcome of their tests.” The doctor added and I said nothing in response, I just walked out of his office and sat in between the two men in my life with my head in my hands.
*end flashback*
For once I was glad that I hadn’t been booked that week, because it meant the bosses didn’t need to scramble to find a replacement in my match, that still left me with one issue however and as soon as we returned to the hotel I called the bosses.
*flashback*
I hadn’t used Skype in ages by that point but the situation made it a necessity, I sent the bosses a message over Twitter simply stating “we need to talk ASAP, either of you got Skype?” and it wasn’t long before we were talking over Skype.
“Jessie, I hope this is good.” Mark commented as he messaged his forehead. “Me and Christian were planning the Blaze of Glory card and you’ve been around long enough to know how long we plan our Supercards.”
“Yeah, I know.” I responded before letting out a deep breath, I didn’t realize how long I had been stress crying at that point, but my eyes were about as bloodshot as you could get. “But what I have to say does concern the Supercard, or at least the run up to it.”
“Are you trying to get another shot at the World Bombshell Championship?!” Christian interjected and I turned to him. “I’m going over this with you again Jessie, unless you want another title shot ban……….”
“Will you just listen to me for one FUCKING second?!” I snapped at him and Christian stopped in his tracks, any other time that would’ve been career suicide at worst, but it was then that they noticed how bloodshot my eyes were. “Me, Jake and Shane were at a local hospital earlier today, I suppose you’ve heard of the Corona Virus by now.”
“Heard of it? We’ve been trying to figure out what to do about it since it reached pandemic levels.” Mark nodded before it hit both of them like a ton of bricks. “Don’t tell me…….”
“We all tested positive for the Corona Virus, and we’ve been advised to self-isolate for a fortnight.” I explained as I lowered my head. “For obvious reasons, I’ll have to miss the next two weeks of Climax Control, hell I don’t even know if I’ll make Blaze of Glory at this rate!”
“Jessie, we’ve had more than our fair share of disagreements but believe me, your health is our number one priority.” Christian assured me once he got over the shock and I turned to him. “Take all the time off you need, we’ll only book you again once you’ve been cleared.”
“And don’t worry about your paycheck, we’ll pay you the winners share over the next two weeks.” Mark added and I turned to him. “With the World Bombshell Championship bonus.”
“Really?!” I asked already feeling a lot better emotionally than I was at the beginning of the call, physically? Do I even need to say anything? Once they nodded, I breathed a sigh of relief. “God I’ve given you two so much shit over the past couple of years but to hear that from you? It means a lot.”
“We’ll figure out the rest in the morning but try to get some sleep.” Christian added making me realize how late it was. “And send Jake and Shane my best wishes as well, they are good people.”
“Will do, thanks guys.” I responded with a nod before they hung up, I didn’t know when my next booking was to come but that was a huge weight of my shoulders.
*end flashback*
Those two weeks in Self-Isolation just flew by and before I knew it I was back in the hospital waiting for the test results, all three of us coming back clean of Corona was probably the biggest relief of the year with me not teaming up with Teddy Steele for the tournament being a distant third.
So, why did I keep quiet during my self-isolation? Simple, I’m not the kind who posts medical info on Social Media, some of my close friends in SCW found out either through the bosses or through me with Amy being one of the first to find out about my diagnosis not named Mark or Christian.
Speaking of them, I know I said it before but throughout that ordeal they kept in contact with me to make sure that I was alright, it was annoying at first because it felt like they were nagging me but as the first week passed I grew to appreciate it, they were probably more relieved than I was when I told them that I was cleared to compete even if my request for a match so soon after my recovery caught them off guard.
Winning my second match of the year over Violet made up for the two weeks of boredom and now I get to continue my streak against someone who’s been on a downward spiral.
“I will say this.” Shane commented as we worked out on the gym equipment. “I’ll take self-isolation in this place over that hotel In Reading any day of the week.”
“Don’t remind me, I’m trying to put that shit behind me and move forward.” I responded with a groan as I glanced up from the rowing machine. “And that’ll start next Sunday with my match against Sam.”
“I don’t know why she’s been on such a downward spiral since she lost the Roulette Championship to Candy at the beginning of the year.” Jake nodded in agreement before sitting up from the bench press. “I doubt many fans saw you having a better win/loss record in 2020 than Sam Marlowe coming.”
“Gee, thanks for the reminder.” I responded as I rolled my eyes though Jake mentioning the first show of the year did remind me of happier times at least. “I was planning on attacking Sam after her title defense since I figured that she had it in the bag, but we all know what happened there, and in the weeks that followed.”
“She’ll bounce back eventually, a talent like Sam won’t be on this downward spiral forever.” Jake added with a nod before I got up from the rowing machine. “But knowing how hungry you’ve been for success since we were cleared means that even if she does beat you, she’ll have a hell of a time going up against you.”
“Don’t I know it.” I nodded before noticing what time it was, we were on the gym equipment for the next hour or so but not before I decided to get my promo done and headed to another part of the gym.
“Blaze of Glory, a show where, up until last year, I was undefeated at until I tried to steal the Golden Briefcase and use it to get around the title shot ban, fun times, especially compared to the current shitshow that the world is in in! even with last year’s loss I still have more wins than losses at this event which is something that not a lot of people can claim, unfortunately for Sam that just means one thing, her downward spiral isn’t ending with her match against me next week!”
It’s that simple.
“It’s 2020, the word is in the grip of the Corona Virus, SCW’s resorted to doing shows with no fans in attendance thus making for the weirdest Blaze of Glory ever and I have more wins this year than Sam Marlowe who is sitting pretty with the same number of wins as the number of brain cells in President Trump’s head, that’s right, zero! How the mighty have falleb! One would almost question if we went through a portal to bizarro world on New Years Eve with this information but more to the point, Sam, if you think your going to bounce back from what has to be the worst three months of your SCW career, think again!”
Things are only getting worse for her.
“I have one goal going into Blaze of Glory and that’s keep the momentum from my win over Violet two weeks ago going which begs the question of just what Sam has in mind beyond this match because we both know that’s she’s slipping so fast that she won’t beat me like all the other times she has, it’s like I said before Sam, the fans expect better than this from you but for three months straight you’ve consistently let them down!”
And now for the elephant in the room.
“And before you bring it up, I know we can’t blame your loss in the first round of the BFTP tournament since O’Malley got you disqualified, hell I’m in the same boat since Travis took the fall in my match so we’ll just ignore that match! But you know what can’t be ignored? Every other match because even in multi-person matches like the one where Bobbie got her title shot you got pinned and it’s like I said, I can’t think of many people who can kick out of being kicked in the head and squashed like a pancake but the patterns are starting to emerge.”
And it doesn’t look good.
“What all this means Sam is that there’s only one person bouncing back from this match and that’s me! Bouncing back from what you ask? My loss at last year’s Blaze of Glory which, to date is my only loss at this event! And for once I don’t need to ask SCW’s resident historian to back me up on this because I know this for a fact! And here’s another fact for you Sam, at the end of the night I’ll be the one with my head raised high after winning this match!”
And with that I decided to wrap things up.
“We’re only in April yet it’s been a hell of a year already and some would say that it’s been even worse for Sam since she started the year as champ and hasn’t won a single match since then! If that’s not a good analogy for the year in general I don’t know what is but more importantly, I’ll win this match and move onwards and upwards! This is the Unsainted Angel Jessie Salco signing off and Sam? When you hit rock bottom, tell them I sent you there!”
I returned to the boys as the scene fades.