{The scene opens with Roxi driving heading back to the home of ‘O’Malley. She checks her GPS to ensure she’s headed to the right place, and soon she pulls up to the familiar home. She exits her car and knocks on the door, a lot less emotional than the last time she was here. O’Malley answers, pulling his shirt over his head as he does so.}
O’Malley – Roxi-girl.
Roxi – Do you… always answer the door shirtless?
O’Malley – Figured I’d give it a try.
{Roxi just rolls her eyes and the two friends exchange a hug, and then Roxi pinches O’Malley on the neck.}
O’Malley – Hey ow!
Roxi – I told you I was going to do that.
O’Malley – Thought you might have forgot.
Roxi – Anyway, we’ve got a day ahead of us and…
{From inside the house, Roxi can hear Owen playing with toys.}
O’Malley – And it can wait just few minutes yeah?
Roxi – Yeah… a few minutes.
O’Malley – Come on in lass, make yourself at home.
{Roxi does indeed enter, walking carefully through the house, coming up on Owen, and when the two make eye contact, Owen grins and laughs.}
Owen – Roxi! Roxi!
{Roxi reaches down and picks up Owen and gives him a giant hug.}
Roxi – How’s my buddy? You get bigger every time I see you!
Owen – I’m big.
Roxi – Oh, I know.
Owen – But, I’m a little boy.
Roxi – You are a little boy, a cute one too. What are you playing with here?
Owen – My toys.
Roxi – Your toys. Yes. I see that.
O’Malley – Smart as a whip that one.
Owen – Daddy go?
Roxi – Yeah, he’s coming with me for a little while.
O’Malley – Don’t worry, Grandma will take good care of it.
Roxi – I’m sure she will.
Owen – Roxi go too?
Roxi – Yeah. But I’ll be back and we can play with these toys.
Owen: Okay!
{O’Malley grabs his gym bag. He picks up Owen and kisses him.}
O’Malley – I’ll be back soon. Daddy loves you.
Owen – Love you daddy.
Roxi – So… who’s watching him?
O’Malley – Dixie.
{From the upstairs, footsteps come down, slowly, a very pregnant Dixie makes her way down.}
Roxi – Oh, hi Dixie!
Dixie – Hello Roxi.
Roxi – Are… you going to be okay here by yourself?
Dixie – I’m pregnant, not handicapped. You do what you’re going to do. I’m going to teach this little boy all the things he’s not supposed to do.
Roxi – Uh-oh.
O’Malley – Be gentle Dixie. Don’t be teaching my boy the wrong-doings.
Dixie – That’s what aunts and uncles are for.
Roxi – Come on, I’m sure it’ll be fine.
{O’Malley and Roxi depart the house and get into her car and begin to drive to the gym. Roxi looks at O’Malley sparingly as she drives, and O’Malley looks out the window and at other things before returning a look at her.}
O’Malley – What?
Roxi – Nervous?
O’Malley – I guess the butterflies are there.
Roxi – Ah, it happens to everybody, still happens to me. I still can’t believe how lucky we are.
O’Malley – Lucky?
Roxi – Yeah, we’re teaming together. Do you know how crazy unlikely that was?
O’Malley – It was a long shot yeah, but… it happened.
Roxi – I know. Crazy. So, here we are, teaming together and it’s going to be awesome.
{Roxi nods and drives, but O’Malley can see her body language and demeanor change.}
O’Malley – Something wrong Roxi-girl?
Roxi – No. I’m okay.
O’Malley – Are you sure?
Roxi – I just kind of realized… we have such a time crunch.
O’Malley – Time crunch? Why?
Roxi – O’Malley, I don’t know if you know this or not, but the match is in a couple of days.
O’Malley – Yeah, is that bad thing?
Roxi – I wish we had more time.
O’Malley – More time? How much did ya need lass?
Roxi – As much as we could afford really. I don’t know how long this is going to take.
O’Malley – What are you on about Roxi-girl?
Roxi – You.
O’Malley – Me? What about me?
Roxi – No offense to Misty but…
O’Malley – I don’t follow…
Roxi – Why do you think we’re going to the gym, O’Malley?
O’Malley – To work out?
Roxi – We’re going, and this is about to be the fastest crash course ever.
{O’Malley looks confused as pulls into the gym and parks. She grabs her bag and head inside, O’Malley having to almost jog to keep up with her. There is a wrestling ring set up and Roxi sets her bag down near it and gets into the ring, pacing back and forth. O’Malley still looks confused.}
O’Malley – Roxi-girl… what is wrong with you? You’re rushing like a chicken with its head cut off.
Roxi – O’Malley, I need you to listen to me.
O’Malley – Aye… what’s up?
Roxi – We have a small amount of time to get you ready. I’m going to need your full and complete attention and focus. I’m new to this as well. I’ve never actually trained anyone other than my wife to wrestle. It’s a little weird for me to train anybody, especially someone who I really have had limited contact with. So, I’m going to be blunt, I’m going to kind be hard to deal with today, and in the coming days. This is like, an extreme crash course in wrestling. I’m going to be demanding, I’m going to be harsh and honest. It’s the only way I know how to be when it comes to training. If I had my way, we would have been training for months prior to this. So, I really hope you’re a quick learner. I’m going to talk fast and expect you to keep up. I will tell you when you screw up and why. But I need you to bear with me, because I feel that in the end, you will be ready enough to get by this week, but in the coming weeks, we will be better prepared. Can you do that for me?
{O’Malley looks confused as he rubs the back of his neck and scratches his head.}
O’Malley – You, brought me hear, to train me?
Roxi – Yes.
O’Malley – To wrestle?
Roxi – Yes, of course.
O’Malley – Hate to be the bearer of bad news lass, but I’m already trained.
{Roxi just stands there with a blank expression on her face as she tries to think of something to say.}
Roxi – Oh….
O’Malley – Misty started me out, and Gabriel finished off me training. I think I’ll be okay.
Roxi – Well then…
O’Malley – Sorry to disappoint.
Roxi – No it… it’s fine.
{It’s obvious Roxi feels about 2 feet tall right now, and feels like a goof for not knowing this about her partner.}
Roxi – We’ll just… sharpen your skills is all.
O’Malley – Of course lass. I’d be happy to have the additional instruction. Though I don’t suppose you’ve face a wee person before.
Roxi – Well…
{Roxi can only think back to tracking down a tiny Irish alien way back in her superhero start up days.}
Roxi – Can’t say I have too much experience in that department, no.
O’Malley – Well, I still am grateful for your help.
Roxi – Well… (ahem) Let’s… get to work then.
{The scene fades as O’Malley enters the ring to continue his training.}
{We cut back after the training is over and O’Malley is drenched in sweat, as Roxi towels herself off.}
Roxi – Well, you have the fundamentals down, you have some great timing. All we have to do, is get you some experience. And I’ll be right by your side when you do.
O’Malley – I’m… glad you think so. And I couldn’t have asked for a better partner.
Roxi – Hey, I want this for you, as much for me. We’re a team. Now, we just have to go out and prove it.
{The scene fades as the two shake hands.}
Hello again, SCW.
You look good. Lose weight?
I kid of course, Just a small part of me trying to be funny. But none the less, it is good to see so many people. It is good to see all the familiar faces, and many of the news ones as SCW rises like the phoenix it is. Back, and perhaps, better than ever. Time will certainly tell but, the obvious euphoria is still in the air. We’re back! It’s going to be good times and a little stroll down memory lane. I am all for it of course, I am happy to be back, excited to wrestle for the first time in the United States since CC 200.
True, my matches are few and further between nowadays, as it is extremely difficult to walk away each and every time from my son. Heck, it was why I left SCW in the first place. I wanted to be a mother. I didn’t want the burden of leaving my son every week or every other week as he was raised. I wanted to be there for the first step, the first words and all the wonderful things that happen when raising children. I even handed the SCW Roulette championship back. I gave up obligations, and I still thank Christian and Mark for understanding that my life had a much larger purpose at that point. I needed to be home. I needed to step away. And so, I did.
And now, things come full circle.
I’m not going to lie, CC200 was far more of a celebration than anything. I wasn’t at the top of my game. It felt like a night off. And I should have been better that night. I really should have. But I wasn’t and that was Keira’s first match in almost a year as well. And looking back at it, I’m mostly disappointed with all that. It was something that Team Hero should have been ready for. But it was, an emotional night for many, if not all. Nobody was really “into” that night. It wasn’t something we all wanted to see happen. It was, in many ways, saying good-bye to an old friend. It was like graduating high school or College. It was the end of one journey, and the start of another. But for me, it was one last little appearance, going through the motions. It wasn’t, and isn’t something I look back on and with remember all the fondly. And that’s where this return really started. Because CC200…. Wasn’t the mark I wanted to leave behind.
I walked away from SCW and honestly, I wasn’t looking back and missing it. I know things continued like clockwork for a time and that was awesome to see. SCW was built on the back of some amazingly talented people, and the tradition continued, even after I was gone. I was happy, SCW was happy, things were good. And when SCW closed its doors, I tried to pay it the respect it was deserving. And to be honest, I kinda feel like I failed.
And then things got stirring with the return of SCW and that was all well and good because I was perfectly happy to see it back, but also perfectly happy to let it flourish once again on its own. SCW didn’t really need myself or indeed Team Hero back. We have been there, done then, and in my case, got the Hall of fame ring. I did everything there was to do. Why go back and try and recapture the past? It’s the past and it was time for a new crop of ladies and gentlemen to make their mark and see where they measured up. Blast from the Past would see that new crop come in, and some familiar faces turn back up, but really… I was content to continue being a mother first and foremost.
I made my intentions clear and I had pretty much no interest. But that dadgum O’Malley just guilted me into it. No, that’s… that’s not really how it went. That’s just what I wanted to play off of, in reality, the itch was there. The desire to not only return to SCW, but to make up for CC200. It was just something I had to do. Even if my partner and I went out in the first round, because well, that’s happened to me before, it would be a bit of closure. To know that I was fully into this, excited and gave it my best shot. O’Malley was really on this idea that, hey, what if we’re partners?! That could be great. I already sought and received my closure with Misty. I felt that I had made amends with her and made good with my friend. Teaming with O’Malley would be the proverbial icing on that cake. As he can not only carry on Misty’s legacy, but carve his own path in the sport she was just so good at.
But this, this felt like a long shot. It’s 16 teams, it’s random pairings, we didn’t have a great shot at this pairing even happening. What would it have been, like 3%? Most likely less. So, I began to look over who else could have been a potential partner, and familiar faces popped up, and some I didn’t know. In some cases, it was a shot in the dark. Really, even if O’Malley got me to enter, the chance really weren’t in our favor to actually be a team. That would have been something of a disappointment.
But as luck would have it… here we are, actually teaming together. Call it luck, fate, or maybe some kind of miracle if you are religious, but holy schnikes, we actually get to team! It’s kind of insane.
But I know there’s a running theme that that is… Team Misty. Obviously the connections are all over the place. Misty was one of my best friends. O’Malley was married to her and tried to give her the happy ending she deserved. There are so many connections one could make about Misty, but with the big ones out of the way, that’s where the narrative ends. I’m not coming back to SCW or participating in this tournament to honor Misty’s memory. I’m not doing this because O’Malley made me. It was my choice. Misty did not factor into what I chose to do. Maybe for O’Malley, this is something of a tribute maybe… but that’s not what I see when I speak to him, or hear him talk. He’s in this, to win. He’s in this to make a name for himself become his own man. And he understands the memory of his wife and what she did for this company is always going to be with him. But you know what stigmas do? They give your opponents tunnel vision.
And thus, we come to this day, and O’Malley and I enter the Blast from the Past tournament, set on winning, and our first challenge is Devin Tyler and Evie Baang.
You know, when I left, I figured that Evie would be one of those women who completely took over and rise up the rank to be included in the conversation about the greatest Bombshells off all time. I really did. She had Odette for a mentor, she had the tools, the skills, and everything it took to be a great bombshell. And for her part, she not only won the very Blast from the Past tournament that we’re all taking part in, not only won the Bombshell’s tag titles with Odette for like an hour, and then, went on to win the Bombshell’s championship itself. All in the same year. That’s pretty impressive. All due credit goes to Evie for all that.
But this all appears to be style over substance with Evie. Because for the life of me, I cannot remember any match, any moment, anything Evie Baang did besides those three accolades. I mean she won a battle royal, a tournament, and used that tournament win to beat Crystal Hilton, which, does not mean the same thing it once did. Maybe this is the reason that Evie is so angry and hostile about this whole thing. Because despite climbing to the top, she couldn’t stay there, and she is just another name in the title history which people do not recall. I guess I have to apologize to Evie that I became so well-known and the person I am, and she is to date, just a name in a long list of bombshells. I wish I could go back and change the past, but unfortunately, I can’t, and she’s kinda stuck with that.
I mean that could be it. I’m not really sure why Evie didn’t pan out and ascend to the height of SCW lore. I’m not really sure why she chose the road that most people have taken when trying to bring me down. Attacking me personally seems to be everything. I’m fake, I’m phony, I’m doing this for a long con and I don’t really care about people the way I say I do, and that stigma. It just doesn’t stick. It has never stuck. Because I am, who I am. If I didn’t care, I wouldn’t. I can very easily just not care. In fact, I tried that once, and my entire world crumbled around me. And I swore I would never let that happen again. Because it’s easy. That’s what everyone else does. I’m not like everyone else. And I’m proud of that fact. I’m not “too cool to care” I am a friend, a helping hand, I am a lot of things. My name means a lot of a lot of people. And I am proud of that. I’m proud to be me. I never want to be “like everyone else”
It is not my fault that people don’t see Evie Baang and myself in the same light. Those making predictions can only speculate. If they think O’Malley and I are going to win, that’s their right. People make predictions all the time. All it really means to me, is people know that I am trying to be the very best I can. People don’t have to like it. They don’t have to like me. My choices are my choices, my life is my life. I will continue to be the best Roxi Johnson I can be, and if that means that this Sunday Evie Baang gets kicked in the face or choked until she submits, then so be it. But no one faceless person’s words are going to make me change or re-evaluate how I live and how people see me.
I… you know, I want to apologize for that, I never had any problem with Evie Baang before this match, and I hope I don’t have any ill will after the match, but this just reinforces my point here. People believe one thing about someone and it ends up being the entire subject. I don’t think Evie is faceless, I believe she’s just jealous and bitter, sadly, I don’t believe winning a second Blast from the Past tournament will change anything. It’s a sad reality that Evie may be forced to live with. But, I’m over it now. I’m excited to team with my friend, I’m excited to return to SCW, and excited to be part of both this tournament, and the re-birth of SCW, and no one is going to bring me down. The only thing I will gurantee is that you, the SCW faithful and the fans in general, will get the very best of me This Sunday. After all, it’s my partner’s first real match. Someone has to lead the team, right?!
It’s another adventure, can O’Malley and myself make this team work? How good is O’Malley? See, there’s all kind of questions that make this team, the team to watch in this tournament. I will do everything I can to ensure we walk out of the first round winners, that’s for sure. It’ll be one for the history books. And Evie can thank me for putting her there, afterward.
See you all in Vegas!
