Blog: Almighty Fire: Redefined the Thirteenth
semana del 7 al 14 de abril de 2019
Belfast, Northern Ireland. Climax Control 232
Two women stood in that ring. They scratched and clawed and fought for what they believed in, to be the best. Seleana and I, we went to hell and back. Neither of us were able to get to our feet by the referee's ten-count. Officially in the record book it will go down as a draw. Officially in my mind, I didn't win, but I didn't quite lose either. I'm sure Seleana never dreamed in a million years that she would leave Climax Control, or any match frankly, unable to walk under her own power. The irony in that she too has a match this weekend and she will stand in front of millions of fans in Cardriff and will give her all and try to get a little bit of momentum, go in with a little bit of confidence.
I’m also on my feet today, but am I out of her head? Two things are certainly true from my match: Seleana still hasn't beaten me and her wife being there in her corner practically meant nothing, just as how the training Seleana had ahead of our first match didn't change the fact that she still got her ass beat and I put her down for three.
That wasn't the case this time around. Ahead of our match two weeks ago, Seleana said she was going to knock the arrogance off of me. When it came down to it and she had the opportunity to do just that, she couldn't get the job done. She couldn't stand on her own two feet and put me away and that's why I can say that the scorecard still says Mercedes 1, Seleana 0.
And I guess while I'm at it, maybe I should address Crystal who called me out in Dublin, Ireland a few shows back.
In case she forgot, what she did to Alicia Lukas at the go-home show is the same thing she did to Samantha Marlowe when she was champ three years ago. If anything, she's the last person who should be calling anyone fake because everybody knows her reputation as the most manipulative person on the roster, and it's not even close. Know what else? Everybody knows I can drag her until the cows come home, but let's not pretend that anything I've said about her is, shall we say, "fake news". She's proven my point again and again over the years, and it doesn't help when you admit that you're willing to stab anyone in the back in order to get to the top. That's just bad form.
Maybe, just maybe, people will realize why being her friend or having anything to do with her is a bad idea.
So, no, Crystal, a match with me won't be happening anytime soon. Find someone else on your level and who you can easily intimidate because I have better things to do with my time.
And you're just not on it.
ANYWAY...
Moving on to the main event this weekend at Climax Control in Cardiff, I get the hometown girl herself, Lowri Moss. If anyone has been paying attention, Lowri and I have had a, shall we say, very spirited discussion the last couple of weeks into the UK tour. I said some things that brought some attention and last week in Edinburgh, Scotland, we had our final showdown leading into our match.
I never understood the reason behind it though, even now. Lowri was right when she said she could have faced someone else. Now, granted, there's a huge roster for her to choose from and I'm sure any of the girls would accept in a heartbeat if given the chance to. If she wanted to prove yourself there were a lot of other ways to do it. She didn't have to come to Scotland, she chose to, yet she choose me, and why? Because she knows I am the bar in the women's division and all of Sin City Wrestling, and I don't even need a title to prove it.
I think it's safe to say that our face-to-face got everybody talking that we're now the last match to go on, though I'm still not sure if that's just a coincidence or a convience. I think it's more the latter than the former as far as Lowri is concerned. I mean, how ironic is it that this Sunday will be exactly 15 months to the day since she last set foot inside an SCW ring? You know her fans will be there and she's going to have her friends and family in attendance. Talk about pressure. More so for her. Me? My job is pretty much cut-and-dry. Spoil her homecoming. If you thought there was going to be any second thoughts about it, sorry to disappoint you but that's just the way it is.
Besides, what kind of person would I be if I just let Lowri be better than me on any day, much less on this special occasion? I'm going to be focused and ready to give those good paying fans what they paid to see and I get to prove to them and to Lowri why I am the best. Sure, there's a chance of her beating me, and the bragging rights to go along with it, but that's where I'm going to draw the line. I don't have much to go on, but Lowri has a treasure trove of matches on me that she can watch at her leisure, and I hope she does. I hope it's worth it. She can watch all the tape on me, but while she knows what I can do and what I have done, she don't know what I will do.
When it comes to main event matches, I answer the bell, that's when I'm at my best and nobody does it better. I'm not letting this opportunity slip through my hands. I've done pretty well for myself and while I'm not where I'd like to be as far as the conversation for title contenders, this is the time to state my case why. I've been away from the title scene for far too long and it's time to remind some people just who the hell I am.
No better time than the present.
~~~
Smile Because it Happened The Sixteenth: Look What You've Made Me Do The Fifteenth: Outliers, Part XI: Want Versus Need
Present Day • L O S A N G E L E S C A L I F O R N I A
[REC•]
"Some things are better left unsaid, but you can bet I'm going to say it anyway. I can't help being who I am."
There was just something about overseas tours that Mercedes gets a kick out of. It was more about not planning ahead than it is trying to squeeze in the "must-see" sights by simply playing things by the string that makes these vacations special. Well, as close of a working vacation as she'll ever get to have. More often than not, sometimes it was all about the little things, like her little jaunt through Wales this weekend. She knew it was green and pastoral, home to more sheep (11 million) than people (3 million), has over 600 castles and a language that can leave anyone tongue-tied. What she didn’t realize was that there were tons of really cool things to do. And hopefully she would get to that but for now back in Los Angeles, Mercedes is seen relaxing in the living room of her Los Angeles residence. Without day, she looks up in to the camera.
"You know, I kind of find it amusing, Lowri, that you decided to come to where I work to seek me out. I mean, I could have done the same if I wanted to. If I wanted to, I could have looked you up, made a few phone calls and maybe show up at Frontier Grappling Arts or HELL Lucha Libre. Maybe catch a show sometime at Rose City Wrestling or World Crown Syndicate or even at Hard Knox Wrestling. I'd upgrade my frequent flier miles just so I can travel across the pond for Sussex County Championship Wrestling all in an effort to see how the other half lives.
I bet you would feel a little uncomfortable that I happened to be where you work everytime you turned around.
She shrugs
"Lowri, you may think that I would have nothing to relate to what you're going through right now, but you would be surprised. Because four years ago, I was in your shoes."
A baseball game was playing on the television left on mute. Mercedes reaches for the remote, turns it off. She gives the camera her undivided attention.
"It was 2015, the SCW International Tour was already some nine months in. And now we're in South America. One week after a show in Uruguay, SCW is in Buenos Aires and I was booked that night in the match before the main event. My family and friends were in attendance. An entire country of people were watching and waiting and wondering if that night would see me get my hand raised. Let me tell you, Alexis Staggs didn't make my night any easier but she brought everything that she had. But so did I. And just when she thought she had me beat, just when she thought I didn't have anything left, I had a little bit more to give.
"What most people don't know is that night at Climax Control 124 was the first time ever that I got to compete in my hometown. Not just in SCW, my entire wrestling career. I was six years into my career back then, three years in SCW, and even now the thought haunts me till this day. As luck would have it, I got a second chance to visit my hometown during Honor Wrestling's international tour. This time it was a December pay-per-view. Like my match with Alexis, Tatsu Ikeda made me work to not only try and beat her but to retain my world title in my very first defense. She almost had me, but I prevailed that night too.
"Call it heart, call it passion, call it determination, whatever you want, the truth is nobody wants to lose in their hometown. I'm sure there are dozens of stories similar to mine.
"It just so happens that this Sunday, my story is yours."
Mercedes smiles.
"This is my fourth trip to Wales and my third trip to Cardiff. You know what those trips have in common? I have never won there. I've won in England, I've won in Scotland, I've won in Northern Ireland, but never in Wales.
"Four years ago, during that same SCW International tour, I came to Cardriff. It was the same night that Natalie McKinley got to wrestle in her hometown. Granted, she and Simon Jones beat Jessie and Steve Ramone in the co-main event but that's beside the point. That night me and JT Midas failed to get past the second round of the Blast From the Past Tournament that year, and my partner was pinned. Maybe I did take it as hard then, but it's funny to think how important wins and losses are now.
"And that's what I'm planning to do on Sunday, Lowri. Win. On April 14th, 15 months to the day you last competed in an SCW ring, in front of 7,500 fans at Motorpoint Arena Cardiff, you are going to get the spotlight and we're going to find out whether you are everything you say you are. And on that night, you are going to be made an example of. You will be the lesson that only I can teach because when you step into my ring, you're no longer in Wales, you're no longer in front of 364,000 of your people. You're in my world now.
"I claim nothing, I prove everything and the results speaks for itself. You've seen it for yourself, read about it in the history books, heard about it from those you know. This Sunday I get the opportunity of a lifetime and I would love nothing more than to embarrass you in front of your friends, your family and especially Natalie McKinley. There's a lot of pride on the line here and pride could drive you through but that won't be enough against someone as talented as me. I'm not like Twisted Sister, Jessie Salco, Zuri Chastain or Belinda Warwick, people anyone can beat with their eyes closed, I'm better. Better than them and better than you.
"We’re facing each other for the first time ever in what people probably consider a dream match and I'm sure there will be a lot of more to follow since you announced your return.
"You're not special to me, Lowri and this certainly isn't a match I've dreamed about. I'm not some handpicked opponent you're simply going to prevail over just so you can have your fifteen minutes of fame. This may be a dream match for you. For me, this is my statement to the world that while I may have done it all, I'm not done yet."
"This company deserves better. I deserve better. And it’s why the likes of you, Ella and Seleana will never… and I mean never… beat me. I’ve sacrifice more than just my own blood, sweat and tears to get to where I am today. Attention, opportunity, trust, and RESPECT. I worked for it. I earned it. I deserve it. You deserve none of those things. I told the world that this will be the year of Mercedes Vargas. It began with Ella Singleton, Seleana Zdunich was only another stepping stone. I'm going to continue that by beating you, Lowri, and I will do whatever it takes.
"You won't go down so I'm going to put you down. And when it’s all said and done, I hope you do the smart thing and walk away, because that will be the best decision you could have made.
Your wants and needs will never surpass mine. And Sunday, your name will be the next name on my checklist. And if you don't think that will happen?"
Looking deadset into the camera lens, her voice drops to a whisper though her words hold conviction behind them. She pauses, mostly for dramatic effect.
“Well you better just watch me.”
There’s a cocky half-grin on her face as she now speaks in Spanish.
"Estar preparado para lo peor, esperar lo mejor."
"Prepare for the worst, hope for the best."
She pauses for effect, lowering her voice just above a whisper.
"Y que la suerte está siempre en su favor.”
"And may the odds be ever in your favor."
***Fade***
