Prologue: Vindication….
It happened. Everything I worked for, everything I sacrificed for. I can stand on top of the mountain again, look down and say “I was right”. I went home after the last show. I had the title belt in my possession. I put the replica up with the rest of them and smiled. It looked beautiful up there. It looked right.
But now I’m even more determined.
In loss I was turned into a beast.
I had moments of doubt and self reflection that caused anger and frustration to burn.
Do you know what it’s like?. To be expected to be great?. Not just be told that you have potential, that you COULD do something, but that you WILL?. Every single time?. Now I have that pressure, that expectation. And when those expectations aren’t met I lash out.
I did that with my husband and my sons.
My mother and my sister.
My husband said he understood but really how could he?. He isn’t a competitor. He doesn’t know the competitive nature and that fire that burns deep in the pit of your stomach. He doesn’t know the feeling of your own confidence eating itself when you have that huge weight crushing down on your shoulders. Hell not even everyone in this business gets that or understands it. Not everyone feels the same way I do, thinks the same way I do.
But that is the difference between a champion and the common wrestlers who do this as a job, as a life and for fun. See people like that might hold championships and have some small moments of success, they get their names inscribed in record books, they get a replica to always remind them of what they did.
The feeling is what is different.
It feels good no doubt, but I envy them. See for them to outdo their potential and rise above is celebrated. It’s revered looked at as an inevitability. It’s why it was so shocking when I lost.; Cause really...it just doesn’t happen.
No matter what that idiot Mercedes Vargas says.
That’s the trade off though. People with fewer expectations get the bigger shock and awe of celebration, people in my position though. The title reigns aren’t just looked upon as a cool moment in time. Nah, they’re looked at as special. Legendary. Memorable. And now I take my position as the head of the division. As it’s champion. And I am ready to take on everyone….
Scene One: Fuck that Noise-
Off Camera.
Atlanta, Georgia
12 Years Ago
This wasn’t supposed to be her life. The blood, the pain, the sweat, the tears. Travelling from country to country, eating just enough to survive all for that 10 minutes or so in front of a crowd. The sleeping on gym floors or airport benches. None of it was supposed to be “Alicia Lukas”.
No, she was born to be a prissy pretty little society girl. She would go to a finishing school, learn to be a proper southern lady. Splitting time between Georgia where her mother lived and North Carolina, where her ladies academy was.. She grew to be a Georgia peach, a beauty queen. With her long strawberry blond hair that her mother would curl.
She wore frilly dresses that would turn into ball gowns as they went to dinners with the who’s who of southern royalty. And when the day came She was to be married to a local man, the son of some rich land owner and factory tycoon. “New Money” who needed the “old money” name. A life that would of led to her being a woman of leisure. Maybe even a shot at being on a future season of “real housewives of Atlanta or St Louis.”
Or so she thought. The reality was much darker and filled with pain,and when she turned 19 she looked at her life and just thought to herself…
Fuck that noise….but her rebellion started long before that. Before she met her future husband at 17. No it started as a teen. As she hated the beauty queen bullshit….
Alicia sat in the parlor of her mother’s home. A large two story house located in Atlanta’s’ outer suburbs. The ceilings seemed to reach straight up with delicate lines of painted scenes on them. A few white columns that looked roman scattered through the house as decorative pillars. Her fingers tapped on the grand rosewood table, she smiled slowly as her mother walked in with the women in her employ.
Barbara stopped, her eyes going up and down her daughter as a shock set in, she fanned herself and looked at the two women who kept the house in order shooing them away. She stepped around the table and got closer. Barbara Lukas was divorced from her father, they lived in different state, and Alicia hadn’t seen her father in years.
Barbara was very young when she fell pregnant with Alicia, she was 17 and never fully appreciated her role as a mother and protector. Her father Jason tried to be a father, but his life as a wrestler and unwillingness to settle down and get a stable job with three young children forced him out when Alicia was 5. Barbara was still youthful in her appearance. Her long light brown hair was done and curled with the top back and bowed. She shook her head but tried to keep her demeanor, her accent was brought back but still just enough to distinguish herself.
“Violet Alicia Eveline Lukas, whatever have you done?” Alicia just smiled at her mother, a huge toothy grin full of swagger and arrogance. She licked her lips as Barbara walked around her. Studying her, judging her. “Why?...your beautiful hair!...” Her long strawberry locks had been cut off. Shaved all around leaving a long blonde and light blue part from the front angling down one side of her face and head as the other side stayed uncovered.
Barbara continued her assessment, her demeanor continuing to change. “is…is that…a tattoo?...” Alicia smiled again,the outside of her hand showing a black and red bird. Barbara steps back and shakes her head as Alicia stops and gets to her feet. “You don’t like it mama?” She kicks the chair back, lightly stepping around her mother, still in a bright ruby red dress.
Barbara stepped away from her, her hand fanning her upper body. “Why?..you were raised better than this….you’re 15 years old!. You are going to meet the young man you’re going to marry next summer!. Do you not realise how much we need this?!?”
Alicia just laughs and turns away before tugging on the red sundress pulling it down revealing a tank top under it and then black denim shorts. Alicia shakes her head with a deep sigh. “You know what I saw in the mirror last week?....you…for years I’ve just…pretended…and I can’t do it anymore…”
As Alicia turns away Barbara looked down at the dress pulling it up to study it. ”We’re broke Violet. We have no money, the deal is done. Ronald Dempsey Senior has already set it up, his son, his son and you will be wed when you turn 18. But you will be meeting him before that.
Alicia growled and turned around suddenly tilting her head. Her anger built up higher as her hands clenched into fists. Her future being laid out for her. ”The hell I will! ”Enough Violet!. Don’t you get it? Would you have me on the street? Poor? Like some kind of beggar?....that’s what will happen. And what about your brother?...your baby sister Rose?....she’s ten Violet….TEN… Alicia swallowed her and realised she didn’t have a choice. Her heart sank as she looked up with a defeated sigh, her hand reaching out taking the dress back. ”Good...now..get upstairs...I’ll get some peroxide…
2 Years Later
“Violet!” His voice exploded through the house his daddy owned. Ronnie stormed through the 20 year old heir to a large fortune. His nose was in the air, his fists were clenched. He was angry, a standard day. He looked left and right as a few house workers seemed to get out of his way. He stopped getting to two large doors.
He took a deep breath and pushed them open. “Violet!” She sat up straight, her breathing laboured as she got to her feet looking around suddenly. Her hands straighten her dress out as he stepped around her. The house workers all left the room and as the giant door shut Violet Lukas took a sharp breath in.
He stepped around her a few rotations, his anger boiling to the surface, his eyes trailing up and down her body. Her long blonde hair tied back and put in a long braid down the side and down one shoulder. Ronnie came to a stop in front of her and leaned in. “Who is James Daniels?”
She stuttered and fumbled more, swallowing and then sighing. “Uh, darling he was a friend from when I was younger...my next door neighbour and we were going to see one ano-” She didn’t even see it coming, the back of his hand. It flew up and under before catching Violet on the cheek causing her head to fly backwards and to the side. She let out a whimper but didn’t go down, instead she made a grave error and turned back to him with her eyes blazing with anger and hatred.
Ronnie stepped forward and reached out grabbing her hair in his left hand yanking her head back hard. “Listen here ya little slut….I do not work and give you nice things for you to disrespect me..and my family…” Violet let out another whimper. “I wasn’t I swear” Another shot, this time an open hand slap across her face, his grip hard enough to stop her from falling, pulling out strands of hair. “LIAR. when we are married you will not make a fool of me Violet..YOU WILL FALL IN LINE…”
He leaned in, getting so close to her face she could feel his hot breath on her cheek and neck, his lips an inch from her ear. “Remember, without me...ya nothi, ya mother has nothin, ya family has and is nothin...when ya turn 18 ya mine….forever…” He let her go throwing her backwards, she stumbled and hit the large black baby grand piano, her hip crashing against it as she fell to the floor. Ronnie adjusted his suit, straightened his hair and smiled. “Now...be a dear and clean yourself up before drawing me a bath…”
Scene Two: What I’m trying to do
On Camera
Atlanta, Georgia
Present Day.
”Do any of you get what I’m trying to do here?. All I get from some of you are complaints and comments and bullshit. You don’t seem to understand it. This title, it means everything to me, and it’s not just because it’s another championship to add to my ever growing list of accomplishments”
Alicia looks down at the title belt in her right hand, she looks at it and studies it. From the front plate and side plates, the ornate designs, the nameplate on the front, the name “bombshells” that made her skin crawl. She sighed and smirked with a wink.
”I recognise that as a whole SCW has been a great force for women’s wrestling. Helping the idea of a women’s division be viable as something more than a sideshow. So many other places have a free for all, they don’t have divisions but SCW was able to keep the idea of gender segregation but do it in a way that was respectful. And it always has been. I get it, I’m not bli9nd, SCW was an innovative place and in a way still is. I’m not trying to disagree with that or destroy it’s legacy. Back in 2011 SCW was producing great matches between WRESTLERS who happened to be women while other places put their female athletes in bikinis and hired models. SCW was ahead of the curve…”
“And I’m honored to represent that lineage. I’m honored to hold the title that Roxi Johnson once held. But for every woman like Roxi or Amy there is an Amanda Cortez, a glorified porn star with a foot fetish. Or a Delia Darling, a woman who is more flash and now bang. I have been vocal about the name of the division, the name of the title and what it represents. I feel as if the name should represent the respect SCW has shown female athletes over the years. Bombshells doesn’t do that. It’s the same as Roses or Diamonds or Divas. It just doesn’t show the proper message that SCW is trying to convey.”
“See a few years ago, I entered a company that had a women’s title, a title called the bombshells championship. It was held by a succession of women who didn’t make it mean a damn thing, it was almost a dead championship, they were all style and no substance. I won that title and I built an entire division. Gone where these no named, fake titted wannabe actresses with no wrestling talent. Instead I built a division of killers. Now, I left that company because of the stupidity of the owner. But that championship is now a world title and Mercedes Vargas is fighting for it in a few days. Now, here in SCW..things are different…”
Alicia pulled the SCW Bombshells title over her shoulder with a slow smile. She held onto it with her long hair tied back, the slow smile turning into a toothy grin, her lips covered in a cherry red lipstick that made her smile “pop” more.
”Christian, Mark and Brooke aren’t stupid. Sure, they’re not perfect either but unlike that other place I mentioned SCW isn’t run by people with a third grade education and second rate ideas. They push their talents to be and get better, some ways I don’t agree with, but they still try. So I don’t need to worry about that, and I don’t have to worry about building a division. I already have a talented division to face and work with. Just look at Dani Weston. She beat me one on one and I already told you all. That doesn’t happen.”
“Mercedes Vargas can run her mouth about how it took me two shots to win the title, cause you know, that matters. But being beaten by Dani Weston isn’t a shame. She’s an incredible wrestler and athlete and if she ever wants the rubber match between us. I’m in. She deserves to stay in the conversation for this championship and I’m glad she’s in the match at Blaze of Glory. But the real wars happen one on one. But, wait, I guess I’m somehow hiding behind my trophy case right Trinity Jones?. I bet you thought I wouldn’t hear what you said right?. You’ll say that in a promo but I bet you won’t say it to my face, cause if you did I’d slap the taste out of your mouth, drag you down to the ting and beat you so fast even Parand Ara would be shocked.”
“But before I get to Blaze of Glory, I get to defend my title in a one on one match. The final show before the supercard. This is one of those decisions most people would be confused about. Why would Christian, Mark and Brooke make a dombshells title match a few weeks out from Blaze of glory?.”
“Motivation…”
“They know someone like me thrives in these situations. They know someone like me loves competition and loves to defend the title. So they signed this match, and I also bet a certain member of SCW’s management also takes great pleasure in how pissed off Crystal has gotten with Seleana getting a singles title shot long before her….”
Alicia laughs to herself and tilts her head.
”But I want to be very clear on this. Seleana Zdunich deserves a title shot, she deserves a one on one shot, hell so does Dani Weston, but both of them will be in the match at Blaze of glory the question we have though, is who is going into that match as the champion and who will be going in as one of the challengers?. That’s what we got eh Seleana?. Thing is I could spend the next 20 minutes talking about your relationship with your wife, I could talk about how much I hate her and how much your little domestic spat being played out all on live TV makes me sick to my stomach. I could even talk about the kind of person you are behind the scenes, the sweet animal lover from Sweden by way of New Zealand….”
“I could talk about how, as a person I have no issue with you.; I think you’re a credit to wrestling and your family.”
“But instead I want to focus on why we’re here. Wrestling. See SCW has a lot of issues floating around and we have seen your whole domestic issue played out in public, I have no doubt this is stressful for you. But the truth is that when you get in that ring it all fades away. It doesn’t matter. And this week at Climax Control 230 you get a one on one shot. Live in long beach Seleana The Cat Zdunich against Alicia The strong style southern belle Lukas. And as I said...you earned this…”
“You should be the calibre of opponents I face. You should be the type of person who steps up and gets in the ring with me. You have this heart that very few people possess, you have a determination and an honor that we can all respect. And, you’re talented. You have a chance to beat me Seleana. You have the talent and the drive and the determination...it should be applauded and celebrated….but…..you’re still not walking out of here with the title…”
Alicia laughs to herself again and closes her eyes with a deep breathe.
”Just because you have talent drive and determination doesn’t mean you’ll beat me, I mean you CAN beat me, but you won’t. See, you look at title matches and track records and we can see that when a title is on the line you choke. And, hey it’s not your fault a lot of people have performance issues. Just look at my ex husband Chris Cane. Now when I hold titles, I hold them for a long time. WWH womens champion for almost three hundred days, never lost the Honor legacy title, longest reigning Honor women's champion. I lost to Dani Weston then immediately, this is what I do, Seleana, I win titles, I hold them and make them wanted prizes. This title is already coveted so half my job is done, but I want to break Mikah’s record, I want most defences, I want my name to be as synonymous with this as it is with every other championship I’ve held…”
“For that to happen I can’t exactly lose it to you now can I?....”
“It’s a shame because if anyone deserves a Bombshells championship win, if anyone deserves a moment in the sun to prove just how good she is, well, it’s you. But I can’t let sentimentality impact me. I need to be the best, I need to show I’m the best and I will do that by beating anyone and everyone SCW puts in my way. At Blaze of glory, it’;; be Dani, Crystal and you, but this week in Long beach it’s just us Seleana. And I will respect you before, then after the match and I know, I KNOW you will put your entire heart and soul into this, I know how bad you want it and trust me...I know one day you will h0old this championship…”
“Just...not now, not for a long time and certainly not at Climax Control 230, not at Blaze of glory….I have plans, I have my whole reign in front of me….and I will be...champion…”
