(Keira was used with permission from her handler)
Many had expected Luna Vanity to retain the title in her first defence against Jessie, instead Luna became the first SCW Bombshell Roulette Champion since Keira Fisher to lose the title in the first defence as Jessie would use her veteran instincts and smarts to take the title from Luna ended her reign at two weeks! However that meant that Jessie now had to defend the title against an even tougher opponent, namely Kim Pain of The Saviours, at Into the Void XI! Can Jessie retain the title?
Local medical facility, Cluj-Napocca, Romania
Monday the 25th of April 2023, 10:00am
At this rate? We may as well put the whole damn cycle up for “Holy Shit/WTF Moment of the Year” at the Year End Awards because I sure as hell don’t know how they are going to narrow down the choices from this cycle alone!
Krystal’s change of attitude, the main event scene in the male division alone, the many twists and turns of this year’s Blast from the Past Tournament, where do I even begin? If there was one good thing that emerged from this cycle though? It was that my title drought was officially over, I had beaten Luna Vanity in Scotland to win the Roulette Title for a record fifth time and, well, that meant two things.
One: that I was guaranteed a spot on the Into the Void card, two: that I needed to start thinking about the next defence because like Luna I was being thrown into it two weeks removed from winning the title, and against a fellow veteran of the sport to boot.
Kim Pain was a newcomer to the Bombshell division who had amassed quite a reputation elsewhere un wrestling, she also happened to be Mac Bane’s sister and let’s just say that being tough as nails wrestlers must run in their family! Up until last night’s show Kim had managed to go unpinned throughout her SCW career and really, her only loss up to that point was because her Blast from the Past Team with Goth was forced to withdraw from the competition due to Goth suffering an injury, vacating the Roulette Title in the process.
Kinda makes you wonder what if Goth had stayed healthy? I know he’s older than me and that injuries tend to be a lot more common in older wrestlers than younger ones due to wear and tear but still, would Calvin and Dawn still be finalists? Would Goth and Kim be facing J2H and Devona in the finals instead? That would end up being a riddle for the ages I’m afraid.
As for her first real defeat? It was to Crystal Caldwell in last night’s Main Event, in a math that I can’t really hold against Kim because Crystal managed to elicit some outside help to win the match! No one knew who the masked woman who interfered in the match was but one thing was certain, at least for me, if that woman started wrestling under the La Rosa Ardiente name I was going to scream!
So, why am I not in England with the rest of the roster? Krystal brutalized two more rookies last night on Climax Control, twin sisters called Andrei and Daciana and it was Keira’s timely intervention/return that stopped Krystal from breaking Daciana’s arm, but that was why me and Keira were here, Krystal ended the so called match by sending Andrei flying out of the ring with her Running Powerbomb and Jasmine decided to cut to the chase and declare Krystal the winner by knockout.
That was after Krystal hit the poor girl with her new Ripcord Lariat finisher which she had dubbed “The Hope Destroyer”, she had proven its effectiveness against Seleana and in her first public workout but she had made a point to pull Andrea’s head-up when she went for the pin.
Tell you the truth? i was beginning to wonder if I ever truly knew Krystal as a person.
“Andrei and Daciana will appreciate you two stopping by.” The doctor informed us as he led us through the hospital hallway. “They’ve the nurses that they’ve been huge fans of SCW for years and jumped at the chance to wrestle on Climax Control.”
”They should’ve read the fine print before they agreed to anything.” I commented dryly as I followed the doctor and Keira nodded in agreement. ”How banged up are they?”
“Daciana’s arm will heal in no time, Keira arrived in time to prevent a repeat of what happened in Scotland.” The doctor explained and we nodded as he turned to us. “Andrei on the other hand? She has ten stitches in her head from where Krystal punched her, four bruised ribs and one cracked rib from the impact and a concussion, she’ll be hospitalized for at least a month.”
“All that too send a message?” Keira whispered to me with a frown before the doctor continued to lead us down the hallway and stopped in front of Andrei’s room. “Is she conscious?”
“She is but she’s been on sedatives and pain killers since she woke up a couple of hours ago.” The doctor responded with a nod as he reached for the door. “The girls do speak English but it’s their second language, I’m sure you understand.” The doctor added and we nodded before he opened the door to the hospital room, Andrei was in bed looking as banged up as we expected with her sister at her bedside.
We watched as the doctor talked to the girls in Romanian and whilst I couldn’t understand what they were saying, it was clear that he was explaining to them why we were here and their eyes did light up when they saw us so they clearly recognized us. ”Andrei? Daciana? You won’t hear it from her but we want to apologize of Krystal’s behalf for her actions last night.” I stated as we were left alone in the room with the twins and sat down.
“I’d rather hear it from that bitch but I understand.” Daciana grumbled in response as she felt up the arm Krystal had targeted for breaking. “Damn it, we only just started our wrestling careers and this is what it gets us? Our parents have been trying to talk us out of pursuing our dream since Andrei was admitted to hospital!”
”I can’t speak for your parents kid but they surely have your best interests at heart, I know I’d be freaking out if I saw that happening to my hypothetical daughters.” I assured the twins and they nodded in understanding as they got the idea. ”How are you feeling Andrei?”
“Like I got run over by a bus.” Andrei sighed as she eased herself up in bed. “I don’t know why Krystal zeroed in on me last night but you can see the end result for yourself, Daciana was worried that I’d never be able to walk again but miraculously? There was no damage to my spine.”
”I guess we can be thankful for that small miracle.” I responded with a sigh before looking the twins over, they couldn’t have been much older that Harper or Cassie at least. ”I don’t know what the Romanian health care system is like, so forgive me if I get anything wrong but will Andrei need something like a GoFundMe page set up?”
“To cover the medical bills? No, Romania has universal healthcare.” Daciana explained as she shook her head and I let out a sigh of relief when I heard that. “Once she’s discharged? Well, when I’m not wrestling I work as a waitress in the city, but I’ll probably have to take another job to help her with that.”
“You let me us worry about that, I have a friend who’ll ensure that you girls are looked after.” Keira assured her and it didn’t take me long to figure out that she meant Jenny Tuck, no matter how many times Keira explains it to me I still wonder how that woman hasn’t driven herself to bankruptcy yet. “And don’t worry about Krystal either, I’ll deal with her over the coming months.”
It didn’t exactly take me long to figure out what Keira meant by that either, not after that promo Krystal cut in the parking lot, but Daciana chimed in before I could say anything. “I never got a chance to properly thank you for saving my arm, if Krystal had broken it, my job as a waitress would be impossible as she had gone after my dominant arm, not to mention having to take time off wrestling like that girl in Scotland.”
”I was on my way out myself but Keira beat me too it, we didn’t want to see another young wrestler get her arm deliberately broken.” I responded with a nod and the twins gave me a thankful nod, we talked for a while longer until visiting hours were up and we were told to leave but as we reached the parking lot I turned to Keira. ”She says she wants to help the future by eliminating the past, yet Krystal has broken one young wrestler’s arm and threatened to do the same to Daciana, what exactly is her end goal?”
“I don’t know, Survival of the Fittest maybe? The girls she’s gone after aren’t exactly veterans of the industry.” Keira responded as she shook her head and I frowned before nodding in agreement. “I won’t be flying straight out to London, I have the day-to-day operations at Hero Academy to run first, but I’ll try to be there before the Into the Void weekend.”
”I know Harp will be happy to see you there, she’s about to make her debut for Kingdom Come Wrestling which, you guessed it, is based in London.” I explained to Keira and the blonde hall of famer nodded in agreement. ”It’s also Harp’s first overseas trip since her parents were murdered, this is a big moment for her personally and professionally.”
“I understand that, but someone has to keep the students in line, the weekend off has probably left them restless.” Keira responded with a nod as we headed towards our rent cars. “We’ll catch up before your title defence against Kim, I promise you that Jess.”
”Appreciate it, now if you excuse me? I’ve got a flight to London to catch in about an hour.” I nodded as I approached my car. ”First trip to England for me since my yearly Bloodstock trips were ended by the pandemic, I’ve managed to get Jake and Shane to come with me for old time’s sake.”
“At least you’ll have more than just Harper to keep you company.” Keira nodded in response before she got into her car. “See you around Jess.”
”See you.” I responded before we drove off.
Local café, London, England
Tuesday the 25th of April 2023, 12:00pm
Been a while, hasn’t it London?
In truth I had forgotten how much I liked England’s capital city having come here pretty often in 2014 for concerts, that was when Steve Ramone was footing the bill for the trips, and before Steve turned out to be a massive dick.
At least his SCW run was his last hurrah before he called it a career! But since then I haven’t visited London aside from when SCW was hosting a show here the last time being London Brawling II all the way back in 2019, a lot has changed since then off course but some things remained the same.
Such as my passion for metal and titles! Even as me and Harper were enjoying a meal in a small café in London I couldn’t resist parading around the Roulette Title.
”So, Cass gave me some pointers when I told her that I was going to London, based on her experiences when she was working for that MPW promotion.” Harper commented as she got her notes out. ”Let’s see, London’s metal scene is off the charts, fish and chips are overrated, bars are cool because she’s allowed to drink alcohol in England………”
”Okay, first off? You just said that Fish and Chips is overrated, in a crowded British café.” I interrupted Harper and she laughed nervously as she noticed the looks she was getting from the other customers. ”Second? Cassie is a sweet kid, but there’s a long line of people I’d ask for advice regarding my first ever trip to a foreign city before I ask her and that’s including Fenris, Tempest and Christian!” I added and Harper quickly realized that I had a point before putting the list away. ”Just stick with me Harp and you’ll be fine, I’ve been here plenty of times, for both business and pleasure!”
”Yeah, probably best that I rip up that list before I get chased through the streets by an angry mob.” Harper responded with a nervous grin before I shook my head. ”Besides, you’ve gotta know the best music venues in London right?”
”Oh sure, the Underworld in Camden, the 02 Academy in Islington, The Dome in Tufnell Park, there’s probably some smaller venues that I haven’t checked out yet since London is a big city and all.” I responded with a nod before checking my phone for a second, then I came across a post from Warbringer that caught my attention. ”Huh, wonder if I can still get tickets to this?”
”Tickets for what?” Harper asked as she gave me a curious look and I paid no attention to her as I checked my DICE app. ”Jess?”
”Tell me Harp, how badly do you want to see Warbringer live?” I asked Harper and she nodded enthusiastically with a broad grin on my face. ”Well, you’re in luck, Warbringer are touring the UK this week with a London date on Saturday, I can get tickets for us plus Shane and Jake! I know they’ll be interested but what about you?”
”I’d probably buy a ticket myself if you weren’t offering.” Harper admitted and that was all the answer I needed to buy the four tickets, in total it set me back about seventy quid but Warbringer as a band made it worth it. ”Any support acts or are Warbringer playing alone?”
”They’ve got two support acts, a London based Blackened Death Metal act called Phobetor, and no, I’m not sure if I’m pronouncing that correctly, and a Scottish Blackened Speed Metal band called Hellripper who seem to be their main support throughout the tour.” I responded after checking out the info on Facebook and Harper nodded as she got the idea. ”Remind me to check out the support acts when we get back to the hotel, maybe they’ll be really good.”
”I’ll probably do that myself, if I get out of this café alive after what I said about Fish and Chips.” Harper responded with a nervous laugh and I shook my head with a chuckle before we ordered our lunch.
And don’t worry, Harper got out of the café in one piece, and I made a mental note to have her try fish & chips at least once whilst we were in London.
Walking through the Whitechapel Market, Whitechapel, London, England
Tuesday the 25th of April 2023, 16:00pm
I’d almost be tempted to say that most of the roster is going to be disappointed the moment they visit modern Whitechapel, but then again, I sincerely doubt that anyone in their right mind is eager to meet a serial killer, even one as long dead as Jack the Ripper.
But time moves on and the Whitechapel that was once the haunt of Jack the Riper is no more, it’s been replaced by a vibrant, multicultural district of London which, based on my research about the place, is actually considered one of the safest areas in London these days, but it was the Whitechapel Market that caught me and Harper’s attention so that was our destination.
The market itself was an Asian market, selling food, clothes and electronical items, when Shane learned about that he asked me to look into getting some Asian ingredients like MSG as he was running low on the stuff back home but that could wait for a bit.
As for why I’m not doing the Jack the Ripper tour? I checked online and that thing costs just under a thousand quid for just one person and buying the Warbringer tickets for the four of us set me back enough as it is! I’m not due to get my SCW paycheque until Friday and since I’m planning to do my promo before then I opted to save that for week two, both because by then the PPV would be drawing near and because it was thematically appropriate in my opinion.
Well, okay, the stupidly high price was playing a part in that too!
”Well, we can’t say that they don’t have a decent selection here.” Harper commented as we walked through the market and I nodded in agreement as I checked out the stuff on offer. ”It’s strange, based on the stories I heard about Jack the Ripper, I was expecting a different place than this.”
”Harp, you already pushed your luck when you besmirched the good name of Fish and Chips earlier, don’t summon Jack the Ripper on our asses as well!” I responded half-jokingly and Harper let out a nervous laugh as she brushed some hair over her shoulder. ”Besides, it’s like I said to Jake back at the hotel, that was over a hundred years ago, a lot has changed since then.”
”True enough, I guess I should’ve thought of that.” Harper nodded in response as she looked around the market. ”We’re planning to hit the Camden Market tomorrow right? I know that place has a few trendy restaurants thanks to Cass.” Harper asked before she paused and grinned a little bit. ”See? Even Cass has some good advice sometimes.”
”And a broken clock is right twice a day, doesn’t change the fact that it’s broken.” I responded bluntly as I folded my arms under my boobs. ”Cassie’s a smart girl, don’t get me wrong, but she’s also going through the teen rebel phase from hell even though she’ll be turning twenty in July.”
”I guess you have a point, but it’s still good that she looks out for the other Hero Academy graduate, right?” Harper asked and I nodded in agreement, and unlike her cousin Cassie did seem sincere in wanting to help her fellow trainees whenever they asked for it, consequences be damned. ”Hey Jess, Shane asked you to pick up some Asian ingredients for back home right?”
”Yeah, why?” I asked and Harper pointed to a stall that seemed to have everything on Shane’s list, once I checked the list my husband had given me I nodded with a grin. ”Good eye Harp, I’ll see how much I can get for what I’ve got left in my account after buying the Warbringer tickets, try not to get into too much trouble!”
”No promises!” Harper joked and I shook my head with a chuckle before joining the line for the stall, luckily I had just enough to get the stuff that Shane had asked for but once I pulled away from the que I saw Harper being chatted up by a local around her age. ”Yeah, me and my cousin Jess are here for the next couple of weeks, aside from me returning to the states on Sunday for work obviously but I’ll be back before you know it.”
“That’s cool, I’ve always been a big fan of Jessie Salco.” Well, that explained it, the lad had obviously recognized me whilst I was chatting with Harp but didn’t seem to notice me as I returned to Harp with my bags. “Do you think you can get me her autograph Harper?”
”Or you can ask me now that I’ve got the stuff I needed from that stall.” I responded as I returned to them with my bag in hand and the kid got a bit flustered when he realized that he was talking to me, still I signed the kid’s autograph and he was soon off. ”Things with Tommy not working out?”
”Not funny!” Harper groaned in response and I shook my head with a slight laugh. ”He was just an autograph seeker, that’s it, but when it became clear that you were going to be a while we got to chatting to try to break the awkward silence.”
”You mean like how Tommy is just a good-looking boy who happens to work at the bakery Whisper uses?” I teased Harper and if the kid had turned any redder I’d be worried about her being sunburnt. ”Come on, my feet are killing me and I know I an artisanal bakery nearby.”
”You really know how to tug at my heart strings, don’t you Jess?” Harper asked with a massive grin on her face and I shook my head before we left the market for the bakery and a place for me to sit down, all in all? It was a productive day.
But I would be coming back here for my promo tomorrow morning.
The streets of Whitechapel, London, England
Wednesday the 26th of April 2023, 09:00am
*promo time*
The biggest mystery of them all.
”The bosses certainly like to end their International Tours with a bang, don’t they? What better way to end the Unsolved Mysteries Tour than to dedicate the PPV at the end to one of, if not THE most notorious unsolved Serial Killer cases of all time in Jack the Ripper?” I asked as I stepped out onto the cobblestone alley with my arms crossed. ”Now, these days Whitechapel is a lot safer than it was during Jack’s heyday, but it still serves as an appropriate location for my first promo against Kim Pain, and with this on the line?” I asked as I pulled the Bombshell Roulette Title out of my bag. ”Well, who knows what the wheel will throw at us this time?”
This will be good.
”However, before I get into deep for this promo, I have to say something, for a tour about unsolved mysteries, the biggest mystery seems to be how no one but Roxi and Michael can hold their titles for more than five minutes!” I stated as I looked at my Roulette Title. ”Take the Bombshell Roulette Belt for instance, in the span of four weeks it passed from Crystal Caldwell to Luna Vanity to yours truly and given my history with this title? Many are expecting it to be passed to another new champion in the form of Kim Pain, all because I have a reputation for being a choke artist when it comes to actually defending the belts after I win them.” I added as I shook my head. ”It’s time I broke that little reputation of mine!”
Sick of it.
”Kim, when Harper made the choice to go to Hell’s Gate for further training to help prepare for the graduation gauntlet match against myself, Roxi and Keira, I went with her to show that the old saying “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks” is complete horsesit, the fact that I broke the three yearlong title drought just a few weeks after Harper’s graduation proved me right and you were right there helping me and the kid along.” I stated as I rested the title over my shoulder. ”That has its ups and downs off course, on one hand I had one of the best wrestlers to arrive in SCW in a long time to help me refine my skills, on the other hand? You saw my weaknesses as a wrester for yourself, first hand, you may have ironed a few of them out but no one’s perfect, right? But the inverse is true Kim, because those here weeks I spent at Hell’s Gate allowed me to scout my future competition, you included.”
What does this mean?
”In other words? You know my weaknesses, and I know yours, and you know what the funny thing is Kim? This is a match I’ve wanted since you first arrived in Sin City Wrestling.” I added as I brushed some hair over my shoulder. ”What can I say? When I saw you run through that idiot who couldn’t cut it in SCW and was gone after Zoey Lukas tore through her, I knew that we could produce magic in the ring if given the chance! And that wasn’t even me speaking as the Bombshell Division’s unofficial gate keeper, that was me speaking as a competitor eager to test my skills against the new kid on the block, even if said “kid” is older than me.”
Battle of the veterans.
”We’ve both been in this sport for a long time Kim, only difference is that you came out of retirement for one last hurrah and whilst I may have flirted with the idea of hanging up my wrestling boots from time to time, I never went through with the idea for one reason or another and kept going,” I added before holding the title high above my head. ”And if this isn’t a good indication that I made the right choice to keep at it rather than quit whilst I was ahead? I don’t know what is, but having been in your position more times than I care to count Kim? I know what’s going through your mind as we inch closer to the title match, your only focus is taking the title off the defending champion, conversely my only focus is getting out of the arena with my title reign intact and if I had taken part in that Open Invitational Match a few months ago I would’ve taken that very literally! What this match will ultimately boil down to is who wants it more? The champion, or the challenger?”
A riddle for the ages.
”And unlike the mysteries this tour has been centred around? We will have a definitive answer by the end of it!” I said before resting my title back over my shoulder. ”The champion obviously wants to retain the title and move on to their next challenger whilst the challenger wants to be the next champion and take on all comers, it’s a tale as old as time, isn’t it Kim? But you need to understand something about me that’ll make it clear why this is a must-win match for me Kim, because this is more than just my first title defence to me, this is about a long wait finally coming to an end.”
How long?
”Three years…….” I trailed off as I thought back to the last time I won the title. ”Kim, when I last held the title? The world was in the grip of the Covid-19 pandemic! For fuck’s sake, I had caught covid earlier that same year when SCW was touring England for the ill-fated homecoming tour! And guess what else Kim? Back then, I shocked everyone by ending the new champion’s reign after her first defence, held the belt for two weeks before the former champion whined her way back into the title picture and took the title back like a petulant child! Why yes, I am still angry over Johanna Krieger throwing a tantrum to get what she wanted, why do you ask? But more to the point? It’s almost a perfect replica of how this reign started isn’t it? At least this time it made it to the PPV and this time? I’m not losing it that soon!”
It's that simple.
”Kim, the ball’s in your court, either you make the game winning shot or miss completely, those are your choices heading into our title match.” I stated simply as I looked at the Roulette Title. ”Believe me Kim, I’ve been on both sides of a title match more times than I want to count! And Frankly? I’ve seen too many of my title reigns get cut short before their time, in fact? Here’s a history lesson, ten years ago, I won this title for the first time at my first ever Blaze of Glory, I defeated two woman who haven’t been seen in SCW in ages but do you want to know how that ended? I was ambushed during my first defence, a Dumpster Match against Joanne Canneli, by two Team Erick Bombshells out to screw over Team SCW in any way they could, they ganged up on me and threw me in a dumpster to end my first ever title reign, and people wonder why I became such a cynical bitch!”
And with that I decided to wrap things up.
”You want to know the delicious irony of that little Story Kim? One of those two Bombshells was Amy Santino, still going by her maiden name of Amy Marshall at the time, that’s right, the woman who would later become my partner in crime and induct me into the Hall of Fame last year helped screw me over during my first title defence, time heals all wounds, what can I say?” I asked before shaking my head. ”Make no mistake Kim, my days of being the butt of the Bombshell Division’s jokes are over! My Hall of Fame induction was the first step towards rehabbing my reputation as a Bombshell, this title reign will take me the rest of the way and you Kim? You’re the first one on my list and after I strike you like Blood Lightning? The world will see just how serious I am about this! See you in two weeks Kimmie!”
I walked off as the scene fades.
