L A S V E G A S • N E V A D A
Saxon Hotel
The Saxon hotel and casino reflects the last sunlight of the day along the Las Vegas Strip. In her hotel room, Mercedes is seen on a video call on her laptop with Marta, her favorite hairdresser. Like most of the world at large, she's wearing a facemask.
Mercedes: I am so depressed.
Marta: What, why? What's wrong?
Mercedes: What's wrong? Didn't you hear? Coronavirus is going to be around for TWO YEARS! I don't think I can handle two months much less two years!
Marta: Things aren't looking good here in New York. No bars, restaurants, movie theaters, all closed. At least you're in a five-star hotel. I'm a little jealous.
Mercedes: Don't be. It’s not all glitz and glam as you might think. I’m trying to stay positive. I mean, it could be worse—I could be stuck in an airport or cruise ship somewhere, end up homeless, or I could actually have coronavirus. That's not a future I want to live in right now.
Marta: The one thing that's keeping me sane is my Netflix subscription. What's good right now?
Mercedes: I hear Tiger King is good, but I'm just getting into Elite. Friends and Grey's Anatomy are mandatory viewing.
Marta: Just when the salon is breaking even, this pandemic starts. Now I'm out of a job and I just might have to close up shop.
Mercedes: That sounds awful.
Marta: It is awful, but what are you going to do? At least you got something to keep you sane. How's your wrestling career going, still winning lately?
Mercedes: Not as much as I like to, but I have a title match coming up this weekend so maybe things will turn around. This pandemic, not so much.
Marta: Did you win your last match?
Mercedes: Is the Pope Catholic?
Marta: I didn't hear anything lately from the Vatican. How are you feeling?
Mercedes: Three weeks ago, disappointed. This weekend, just a little disappointed then I was last week.
Marta: You'll get over it, that's just crazy talk. Anyway, I just remembered I got to run.
Mercedes: Yeah, why?
Marta: It's 11 pm here. 3 hour difference between Brooklyn and Vegas. Good luck in your match, though.
Mercedes: Thanks, I'm probably going to need it.
***Fade***.
~~~
Blog: Almighty Fire
semana del 26 de abril del 1 de mayo de 2 0 2 0
Winning.
It's about the most basic human need there is.
More than safety. More than acceptance. More than respect. More than improvement.
Maybe there's a little satisfaction there too. Who doesn't want to have a little bragging rights after a good night at the poker table or on the golf course or in a board game?
Winning just feels good.
It's sure better than losing.
I've lost more than 80 matches in my career, I'm been in 148 matches, lost more than half of them. I've been in 58 title matches, I've lost more two-thirds of those matches. You look at my stats and I have the MOST LOSSES out of any female active on the roster not named Jessie Salco. That's not something worth celebrating.
But it's 'Oh, it’s Mercedes Vargas.'
Look, I'm not going to hide it. I've had a lot of success over the years, that much can't be argued. Some people say I'm entitled, others say I'm a transitional champion - that's a new one - still others say it's time for me to retire. That one isn't as new, but it does leave me intrigued.
What do I say?
You can question my methods and victories, you can think I'm arrogant or a bit of a bitch, but you can never EVER question my resolve. And for the women in the division who's sick and tired of hearing about my accolades? Well, I'm never sick and tired of repeating them. And unless they can top them, then I guess their just going to have to deal with it.
The best ability is availability. It's a blessing and a curse, at least for me. It's the stigma of my accolades and number of championships. I’m consistent and a workaholic, but people treat it as a bad thing.
That's why I shake my head when I hear things like "You know? I'm not mad. I had a great fight!'
Keira's words, not mine.
Good for her. Humble in victory, gracious in defeat. Not that Keira is either of these things but a girl can dream.
So, the next time Keira falls flat on her face in another title match, which happens very soon, she won't take her ball and run home? Unburdened by fear of failure, there won't be any grumbles and gripes from her on social media hours after the match or the morning after? No more whining to Mark or Christian about getting that world title match?
You know? I'm not mad. I had a great fight!
I get it, Christina Rose is capable of getting a good match out if anyone. Just don't let her hold on to world titles, because she tends to, you, know...
Choke.
Now, it’s one thing to have that mentality, but to say that out loud is totally different. Don't get me wrong here, friendships are important to all of us, but that shouldn't be the only reason why we compete in the ring every weekend for 11 months out of the year.
Fans aren’t rooting for their favorite wrestler to make lifelong bonds in the locker room and then just go out there and have some fun. That’s great if they do, and it certainly adds an extra dynamic to fandom, but in the end they really just want to see their wrestler win, matches or championships.
Losing sucks, but the difference is great wrestlers don't lose for very long. I'm not saying losing is OK, but comments like that just makes me shake my head. Some wrestlers on the SCW roster are happy, as long as the check clears. Others are just here to see their BFFs and not much else.
With a roster filled with over 20 women and more coming in, winning a championship is the ultimate prize. You do that multiple times and you become something of a legend.
There's a few first-time champions right now and I'm almost sure they know that they have a giant target on their back. They got there because they took down the defending champs.
When I see Candy, Johanna Krieger, and Andrea Hernandez holding championships this early in their careers, that doesn't tell me a new era is coming to SCW, it doesn't mean the Bombshells Division is about to get a makeover, and I'm almost sure some of the Bombshells who have been here for awhile aren't worrying about whether they will even have a job tomorrow. My job is pretty simple, I'm just here to be the gatekeeper of the Bombshells Division.
Candy has been an impressive champion, maybe the best champion fans and wrestlers alike are not watching. Whether you believe the previews to our match or not, Candy did ask for a title match this weekend. I think we were both surprised that our names were across from each other.
I've done almost everything that a woman could possibly do in SCDub and, in some cases, did so before a lot of women on the roster had the chance to do them. All I have left to do is win the Blast From the Past Tournament, but at this point, I get why fans and the Bombshell locker room are resentful of my success.
To win the Bombshell Roulette Championship for a fifth time? Well, that would cement my legacy and to add to my historic career. Some people like Kate Steele think that winning the Bombshell Roulette Championship is a step down in your career, that winning that championship means that you've taken a step back in your career or that the bosses no longer have faith that you're world title material. I find it funny that Kate has been missing in action from the world title scene when Kate was embarrassed in her hometown last year.
Just goes to show, when you think you've arrived when you haven't, the Bombshells Division will humbly remind you. Just ask Keira Fisher-Johnson and Kate Steele.
I'm always hungry, but I'm never satisfied. Although being a twelve-time champion is great, I like being a thirteen-time champion even better. Come Sunday, I'm walking in a challenger, but I'm walking out champion once again.
And unfortunately for Candy, it's will be at her expense.
Long before she knew and long after she remember.
~~~
It's Not Whether You Win or Lose: Gatekeeper the Eighth
REC•]
Walking along the Vegas Strip on an otherwise clear seventy-degree afternoon in Las Vegas, Mercedes Vargas keeps her hair firmly hidden under a fedora while sporting her SCW authentic Mercedes t-shirt and skinny jeans as she turns away from looking at a water fountain and towards the camera.
"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.
"Oh, and you probably didn't know this, but went unpinned in SCW for 10 months."
As she says this, Mercedes holds up ten fingers.
"So, Blaze of Glory has come and gone. The four-way match didn't go my way, and, yeah, Keira got the best of me again, but did she look like a winner last week against Christina Rose? No, she didn't. Did she look like a winner the week after she pinned me in the triple threat with Seleana? No, Andrea beat her - again. Team Hero won on the first Climax Control of 2020, but did Keira walk out number one contender to World Bombshell Championship the next week? Nope, nope, and nope.
"If Keira keeps this up, I have serious doubts her title drought is going to last longer than the three years it's on already."
She offers a indifferent shrug then a dismissive wave at the camera.
"Anyway, I'm getting a little off topic. This weekend I get an opportunity to add to my legacy by becoming Bombshell Roulette Champion, but Candy isn't going to make this easy. She's ready. She feels like she can't be beat. She's feels like she beaten so many odds. She feels invincible. Those are good feelings to have before every match. Every woman holding a title right now knows what it's like.
Mercedes puts an index finger up.
"You don't have to tell me that Candy will fight like a caged animal to keep that championship she held for more than three months now. She might be fired up for this one but I don't need to get ready, I stay ready.
But let's clear the air and set the record straight on a few misconceptions you may or may not heard about me, Candy. First of all, Argentina is not a communist country. I can't count how many times I have to tell people that. Secondly, don't let the looks fool you. I may be smiling now, but I'm dead serious: I'm not going to roll over and play dead just for you. And thirdly, I'm not an immigrant. I do have my long form birth certificate and, yes, I can provide xerox copies upon request.
Mercedes, now clearly animated, focuses her gaze to the camera.
"There are many things you could say about me. You could say that I've been coasting along in my career or that I haven't faced real competition. Maybe you'll downplay my accomplishments and make this more about your accomplishments, which are well deserved for you as well. Maybe you'll make fun of my name – although that doesn't tend to piss me off like it use to early in my career, but it doesn't stop people from doing it – or where I'm from or even the various companies I've worked for, or even the fact that I'm in my thirties, supposedly past my prime, and should quit while I'm ahead and simply retire. And you know what, that's okay, that's fine. I'm not too bothered by it."
Mercedes offers an nonchalant shrug while mouthing the word "sorry" before continuing.
"Now, you may be younger and think you're faster. I may be a little bit older than you, but I'm definitely smarter and wiser than you, sweetheart. Because for the first time ever, you're in a match where you're not the favorite. We'll find out a lot of things come Sunday. You get to step in the ring with this porteña, with this Latina, and you're going to have yourself a long night ahead of you.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?
"This won't be so totally awesome."
***Fade***
