Just for a Thrill: The Thrill is Gone: Quiet Corners and Empty Spaces
M E L B O U R N E • V I C T O R I A • A U S T R A L I A
♦ ♦ ♦
domingo/lunes por la mañana,29/30 de octubre de 2017
Australian Eastern Daylight Time
Coldplay had it right. Nobody said it was easy. No one ever said it would be this hard.
It was supposed to end in victory. It was supposed to end in celebration. But it was not to be for Mercedes, losing the World Bombshell Championship a little more than a month after winning it for a second time. When she got into the backstage area and hopped into a shower, she watched the dried blood from her limp brunette hair swirl away down the drain. She was surprised she got away with her post-match interview vowing that she wasn’t through with Mikah just yet. How Mercedes pulled off that feat was a miracle in and of itself. She never found out who won the main event or even remembered it all.
Because she blacked out backstage and had to be checked out by doctors. She was on the examination table for what seemed like an eternity as a pair of gloved hands holds her forehead. That rubber gloves smell was too intoxicating to fight against which was not surprising given she was half conscious. The syringe hits a vein, fills with blood and is taken away from her forehead just as quickly as it went in. Fancy clean, nothing major. She wasn't sure how long she had laid there, she barely moved, if at all. Reliving every minute of the match she had and the hell she went through to keep her title only to see her efforts in vain dominated her thoughts. She was bloodied, bruised, beaten, and battered, but still alive, god damn it. Still alive…and yet not. The feeling of lost was still there. She never fot to enjoy her championship reign. She lost the Bombshells Championship – and another title match at High Stakes – because of Mikah, and for the second time in three years. This loss stung. It stung more than the searing hot water trickling through her hair, insisting its way through the stitches aligned vertically from her hairline just short of her eyebrows, causing her to wince from time to time. There was no doubt she would be the last person to leave the venue and at that moment she didn’t care. Her head wasn’t all there after tonight.
Mercedes came out of the lockerroom dressed modestly and carrying her duffle bag. She started down the navy blue carpeted hallway as tracking lights illuminated her path through the corridor. Light filters through a large window that overlooked Show Court Two, the tennis court where the Australian Open was played each year. Mercedes remember a few trivia she culled from the brochure. Tradition was the word that described the tennis court. Some three decades of history was made here. Heroes were born here. Upset victories were made, unforgettable moments were made and heartfelt dreams were dashed Players played, winners won, history was made and broken.
The sport was different, the occasion was different but the moment was the same. She visited Australia four times in her life. Tonight, she ended up on the wrong side of history, and for the second time in more than two years in SCW.
Time heals all wounds they say. She always wondered if that was true and if it was, how long was†some time†– one week, two months, three years, five? If time was going to heal everything then she could just sleep at night and wait for time's magical effects, right? Or, she can end up in a country many time zones away. Her physical wounds would heal. They are the battle scars left that remind us her of what she’s gone through. Emotionally, those scars would never heal. Mercedes wanders through the arena noticing the trophies displayed in glass cabinets.
On the way to the airport, Mercedes listened to music from her iPod through her car's speakers. She never really was one to stick to a single genre. From Avant-garde to world music. A little bit of country, a little bit of rock and roll; jazz and Motown to classical music to ease her mind. She couldn’t survive the roadtrips without music, even if tonight’s selection was showtunes.
Mercedes eases back in her airplane seat as her flight is just about to take off. Back in California, she would be taking the red-eye. Some absolutely hated it, others swear that it’s the only way to travel. For now, she was getting ready to fly halfway across the world. At least she could enjoy the sights. The next fifteen hours made sure of that.
Time was fleeting, both in career and in her future. As her flight takes off, she realized that time, at least for her, didn’t heal all wounds, but it’s what she did with it that mattered.
She just wishes she knew what that was.
~ ~ ~
Just for a Thrill: The Thrill is Gone: The Weaker Argument Defeats the Stronger
S A N T A M O N I C A • C A L I F O R N I A
♦ ♦ ♦
Miércoles por la mañana, 8 de noviembre de 2017
Pacific Standard Time
Days like today was few and far between but nothing can overcome the feeling of jetlag after an overseas tour. It’s been a little more than one week since her last appearance in an SCW ring and Mercedes Vargas was still going through the motions of her most recent defeat at High Stakes that saw her second Bombshell Championship reign end before it really began - and with that her brief status as a double world champion. She did still have her lone world championship in Honor which she captured a mere two weeks before her SCW match in Australia, but there was just something. She held steadfast that titles never defined her but completed her. Losing the Bombshell Championship did feel like the missing piece of a jigsaw puzzle.
Mercedes sits cross-legged Indian style on the floor in the living room. A Spotify mix plays lightly in the background, covering mostly oriental. A finished meal of takeout Indian sits on a table in front of her. A cool breeze comes from an opened window. She opens her eyes and almost jumps a bit seeing her cousin staring back at her, looking concerned. Mercedes was in a trance that she didn’t even notice Carmen come in, dressed in police uniform.
Carmen: What the hell happened to you? You look you got hit by a brick.
Mercedes: I’m fine. Just got my head busted open and I got a couple of stitches. I’ve been through worse.
Carmen: Sorry I asked.
Carmen stands in the kitchen doorway, coffee mug in hand.
Mercedes: You're not helping. And the trip turned out as much as I expected. Though it would have better if I won my match. I feel even worse today than I did yesterday.
A long sigh escaped her lips as she slumped onto the arm chair while Carmen remained standing.
Mercedes: Maybe coming to California was a mistake. I haven't been winning a lot of matches since I moved here since, you know, the move.
Carmen: Because staying in a hotel and paying three hundred a night was convenient. [/color]
Mercedes: It's funny you say that when you asked if I was moving out.
Carmen: That still hasn't changed.
Mercedes rolls her eyes.
Mercedes: I miss the noise in New York: the sound of taxis and that constant buzz the city has. I miss my apartment. I miss walking out onto the balcony and being told shut up by my neighbors at 9 in the morning because I talk too much on my cellphone.
Carmen: Mercedes, that has nothing to do with your career hitting rock bottom as it is. You haven't been winning a lot lately, and I don't think moving back isn't going to solve anything. Here.
Mercedes: What is this? This letter came in for me? And my tickets to Berkshire. Just when I thought I was done travelling.
Carmen: You're going across the Atlantic, won't that be fun? A wrestler's job is never done, is it?
Mercedes: Guess not...
~ ~ ~
Blog: Almighty Fire
semana del 29 de octobre del 4 de noviembre 2 0 1 7
Sometimes you’ll never the true value of a moment until it becomes a memory. See, I don’t know about that. I did what I finally set out to do. I righted the wrongs of a certain Silver Screen Queen, I got my vindication. The critics, doubters and naysayers, though, will say otherwise. “But you never deserve that title match in the first place.†“But you never got pass your first defense.†“But you didn’t even walk out of the supercard with the title.†But, see, what they don’t know is that I already won. I got MY title. I became a two-time World Bombshell Champion. I could finally take a huge sigh of relief – WHEW! – because I did it.
When I beat Polly Playtime halfway across the world in Wellington, New Zealand, drenched in sweat and at the point of collapse, I knew right then and there that I finally had the storybook ending that should have happened in the first place. For more than 16 months, I had to relive that moment of Crystal Millar beating me over the head, practically haunting me, about the stunt she and her husband pulled that not only tainting my reign but ruined everything I worked for over the past three years at the time. There’s something to be said when someone expects to get a check in the mail, but smashing that pumpkin over her head was more than karma paid in full. That was another moment. The moment I beat Crystal Millar in an SCW ring. No, I may not have made her tap or pinned her shoulders but I’m sure another match between will happen in the not too distant future when I finally get a chance to do so. You take them while you can.
Like everything in life there’s your good moments and there’s your bad. High Stakes obviously goes into the later and, yeah, I didn’t lose, but I didn’t win either. If that was the case, I’d still be champion ahead of this Sunday. Instead, Mikah, like myself, is now a two-time champion. She earned her shot, she took her shot, and she made it count. And so it begins…the Mikah Era. Can I just say that I’m excited and afraid? No, I’m serious. Apparently, the Mikah who held that very title she owns now for close to nine months can doesn’t go out of her way to hold that fact over our heads – ACTUALLY CARES AGAIN! Everybody dance now!
You’ll excuse me if I’m a little jaded. I think I’m probably the only one who has taken off the rose colored glasses and see that all she really has to go on is her husband, her so-called perfect marriage and, yup, you guessed it, that title reign. At least she’s on message. When she talks about my unlimited title opportunities, promoting the company and the belief that I can’t hold on to a singles title for very long – that’s where our little problem lies. Don’t get me wrong, from a distance Mikah seems pretty smart. Then again, it’s a good idea to be silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. I have no doubt that, like Frosted Shredded Wheat, there’s two sides to Mikah. There’s the woe-is-me version and the holier-than-thou version. You can probably guess which one will be showing up to Fort Defiance, Arizona Sunday at Climax Control. I’ll say this much, I’ll be showing up too, and I’m no short of confidence that I’m going to take back what is rightfully mine.
Life is full of surprises. Before Mikah was full of surprises, but now nothing seems to surprise me anymore. The thrill is gone. Before she couldn’t handle the pressure being champion, always wondering who was going to end her reign next, despite calling the division complete garbage and claiming that she was going to holding the championship forever. Placed blame on SCW for not giving her time off when she herself said that as champion at the time she could take as much as she wanted. She boldly declared she wasn’t showing up for matches but when her entrance music hits, there she was. We’re playing the same game, different set of rules for Mikah. Having an impressive reign with another title gives her a get out of jail card for contendership matches, but the rest of the girls have to earn their keep. Her lengthy world title reign is reason enough in her mind that she should get the co or main event matches at every show.
So now after saying that she was done with the world title, what happens? A copout, that’s what. She wants the title back because she’s tired of seeing the titles changes and she has this vendetta against me (and Jessie Salco) because of the opportunities I get at the Bombshell Championships. Well, gee, I guess two opportunities all years is one too many. But when the shoe drops, when someone dare questions Mikah on title match opportunities, she twists the facts to her liking.
Mikah has this nasty habit of ignoring facts she doesn’t like and twisting the facts to make her always the hero. Chances are Mikah is going to be crowing about her latest victory and to be honest I don’t really blame her, but everyone knows about the best kept secret. I know how to get into her head better than anybody, isn’t that right, Miks? There’s no reason why you get angry when I bring these issue to your attention. Only reason you get defensive is you know it’s true. Mikah loves to talk, but there’s no question whose career was more successful between so why even try? She’s just mad because I keep it real and continue to expose her for the person she is. What’s more, the so-called “Mikah Era†can’t get any more excit – Nope, can’t do it. But, hey, this is the woman who said she’d take Melody over me any day as champion because she isn’t a choke artist.
No, we can’t all be historians like me, but it helps to do a little homework when facing an opponent. It makes you look credible. Come on, you’ve been doing this business for over a decade If you want to be world champion, you’re going to have to learn this valuable tool of the trade.
But why should you, right? I can see you beaming proudly with that championship and ushering this so-called era. It’s because you think you run things around, that you’re the queen bee around here and no one has cut that ego down to size. Well, until I came on the scene. You never lost against me and while this is true, I think I’m going to change that on Sunday.
So you count up the days trying to beat your title reign. I’ll be counting down the days until you’re a distant memory.
You like to talk about you’re the length of days with your title reign, and that’s perfectly fine with me.
I don’t remember days, I remember moments.
Sunday, I’ll be making another moment at your expense.
~ ~ ~
It Isn’t, It Wasn’t, It Ain’t Never Gonna Be
L O S A N G E L E S ♦ C A L I F O R N I A
Present Day
[REC•]
“So High Stakes VII has come and gone. Two weeks has passed since SCW’s last tour of 2017 and we’re already one-third of the way through the holiday season. Out goes the candy and candy apples, bring on the turkey. Thanksgiving is a little more than two weeks away, but I have a little to be thankful for. Specifically my return match Sunday in the main event at Climax Control 195 for the World Bombshell Championship. Everyone knows that yours truly and main events go hand-in-hand and it was only a great fit to have my match headline the show. That I’m facing Mikah again for the championship?â€
Mercedes rubs her hands together expectantly.
"Even better. She and I have a little unfinished business from two weeks ago and you best believe we’re going to settle it inside the ring. I only hope Alice knows what she’s gotten herself naming herself special guest referee because if she saw what took place at High Stakes, then chances are that little girl is going to get hurt. Bad.â€
Mercedes takes her hands and pulls it back to reveal the scarring on her face following her hospital stay..
“Needed 9 stitches to close the three-inch cut to my face. I guess you can say these stitches are a little trophy, yeah? A badge of courage. It's a subtle reminder that even in eight years, I've been through a lot worse: Three concussions, broken ribs, countless cuts and bruises. Your mistake wasn’t underestimating me, it wasn’t thinking that you would walk away unscathed. No, you had that stupid grin on your face, the referee was still down. You could have done anything you wanted, and you did. You took that slack of rope, wrapped it around my throat and tried to choke the life out of me. Your mistake was you should have pulled that rope a little bit tighter. And now? You…are… FUCKED!â€
“Probably would been better for everyone if you killed me when you had the chance. Don’t worry, you still can, even in this masquerade ball we’re having Sunday. At least it will be formal, because it's going to take a lot more – a hell of a lot more - to keep me from beating the hypocrisy out of you. This is going to be 60 minutes of the most excruciating pain you're likely to ever experience. You are about to make noises you probably thought the human body was incapable of making. You thought I was crazy before? You have no idea. You'll be surprised just how much punishment I can inflict upon you without rendering you unconscious. This will hurt you a lot more than it hurts me.â€
“I hope you upped your insurance policy and left an address with your husband so he knows where to find you. I also hope you found peace with God or whatever higher power or religion you believe in. You’ll be meeting your maker Sunday. They say heaven is a state of mind and that hell is a personal place.â€
In two days, you’re going to find out just how personal hell can be.â€
***Fade***
