“It was a breath of fresh air making my SCW debut a couple of weeks back against that psychotic lunatic, Iron Maiden. For a change, I felt like I was in a company where I could really grow and meet my full potential. It was certainly a different feel than what I am used to and by different, I mean better. This wasn’t anything like where I was before and I am massively grateful for that. But it’s not getting easier from here… not when I’ve got a challenge ahead… not when I’ve been thrown into the fire with my next match. But I know what I am capable of… because for all the faults my prior company had, one of the few positive takeaways from that place was that I learned how to win against Hall of Fame level competition.”
March 2019
“This isn’t that also-ran you won the title from, you idiot!”
I rolled my eyes and sighed with annoyance at what I had just heard in a Silicon Valley coffee shop from Chelsea LeClair, one of my old friends from the past. Our friendship has since taken on a different road, but here, we were on good terms even if things were starting to be a little more tense between us having shared the same company.
“What are you saying, Chelsea? That I don’t stand a chance?”
“Not necessarily, Andrea. It’s just that…” Chelsea pauses even giving off a smirk as if she’s revelling in what she’s about to say to me. “...in OCW so far, all you’ve done is proven that you can’t handle the pressure.”
“What in the hell do you mean I can’t handle the pressure?” I retort with anger. “I’ve won two championships in OCW in a short amount of time!” The anger flowing through me pushes me to act like this is such a big deal considering that I had envisioned spending the rest of my career there.
“But the last time you held a title, you lost it in the first defense” Chelsea says with a shrug and a little smirk as she shows the jealousy that would only grow over the next few months. “A Hall of Fame wrestler made you HIS bitch and what happened when you tried to get revenge? Oh right it fucked you up, didn’t it?”
“You’re enjoying all this, aren’t you?”
“Too bad, so sad Andrea! Bob Grenier is going to fuck you in the ass… not literally, but still. It’s the same thing happening all over again! You have a moment of glory against someone that’s weaker than you and then some Hall of Fame guy comes along and puts you back in your place.” During this brief pause, my annoyance with Chelsea that I am trying very hard to contain only gets worse. “Besides, knowing you more than anyone in wrestling I know that his X-rated promo where he fucked some whore that he acted like it was you got to your head REAL bad!”
Chelsea wasn’t wrong, as much as I hated to admit it. By this time, I knew exactly how sexist the culture in OCW was with many of their old school guys doing nothing but innuendos toward any female opponent they ever faced. I was still furious at the aforementioned promo that Chelsea had mentioned as it made me want to beat the hell out of my opponent even more but more than that, it wasn’t just a championship on the line. It was a chance to prove that I COULD handle the pressure against a big name slash legendary opponent. Looking back at Chelsea and seeing that smirk on her face it was so tempting to just jump out of my chair and beat the hell out of her right then and there but I knew she wasn’t worth it and that I had to save it for that night’s event.
“You’ll never get it, will you?” I ask. This causes her to stop smirking and to raise an eyebrow. “The difference between wrestlers like me and wrestlers like you is that when I’m faced with a challenge, I meet it head on. It doesn’t matter what the outcome is, my father trained me to fight these battles. I’ve never ran away from anything because I’m not YOU! You on the other hand, you’re a quitter!”
“Excuse me?”
“Things may be going fine for you now, Chelsea but the moment that something goes wrong for you, you’re going to give up and quit because that’s what you always do!” I pause, realizing though not caring about the fact that I’ve got her really angry and insecure about herself now. “How many Hall of Famers have you beaten in your career, Chelsea? Hell, have you ever faced any at all? Sorry, but I don’t take kindly to someone like you telling me that I can’t win when the pressure’s on when you’ve done nothing with your solo career since our tag team split up.”
Chelsea doesn’t respond right away as she stands up and walks toward me. I stand up myself, ready to defend myself if I have to.
“So you think you’re that much better than me? If that’s the case, why don’t you beat the Hall of Famer, huh?” Chelsea glares at me while I still prepare for self-defense in the back of my mind. “I know you can’t! You’re too soft! You take EVERYTHING to heart too much and you put too much of your heart and soul into something that isn’t really worth it at the end of the day. That’s why you lose in big pressure situations! Think about that before you choke again!”
Chelsea scoffs and walks away from me before I can even react or say a word to her. My anger at this point is borderline boiling knowing that on this particular night, with a Craze title defense against a Hall of Fame member, I had to do whatever it took to prove many of my doubters and critics wrong.
“The fire was definitely burning knowing that I was going to have one of the hardest matches of my career that night. I had yet to prove that in a clutch situation, I could pull through. Many were expecting me to fall and to lose that belt to Bob Grenier and for things to be more of the same in OCW. The status quo seemed destined to win that night… but it wasn’t to be…”
Later that night…
After having to deal with Chelsea’s smirks and nonsense, I’m now finding her in the locker room with an expression of surprise on her face. She’s frozen in said surprise looking at me with the OCW Craze Championship still slung over my shoulder after the battle that I just fought. Now, I’m the one doing all the smirking as Chelsea is completely befuddled by what she’s looking at.
“So…” I scoff as I keep looking at her. “You were saying that I didn’t have what it took to beat a Hall of Fame member, right?”
“I don’t know how you did it…” Chelsea pauses as she soaks in the shock that she’s experiencing. “But you did… and you even pulled through an attempt of his to cheat at that…”
“So what was that you were saying about me choking in big matches?”
“Look, can you just shut the hell up about it?” Chelsea rolls her eyes in anger. “So I was wrong ONE time. Whatever! In the long run, it’s not going to mean anything. For as little as I know about wrestling, what I do know is that you have to keep doing this sort of thing consistently. You won ONE big match against ONE Hall of Famer. It doesn’t actually mean that you’re going to keep this up.”
“Then I’ll just keep proving you, the doubters and every single person in this locker room that doesn’t want me to succeed completely and totally wrong. Later, Chelsea.”
I walked out of the locker room with a smile on my face feeling not relief, but confidence. The confidence that I was experiencing was giving me this extremely good gut feeling that this was just the beginning of me pulling through when being in a “thrown into the fire” situation.
September 9, 2019
“Remember that Block Party tournament?” I asked a brunette haired woman as we sat over breakfast on the morning after my SCW debut win.
“Tough competition” she’d tell me, though I detected a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
“Clarissa, that wasn’t an easy tournament in OCW for me to be a semifinalist in. I beat two Hall of Fame guys to even get there. Point being that having a Hall of Fame bombshell in my second match doesn’t scare me because I know I can beat her.”
“You can”, Clarissa responded. “But remember, what happened in one company isn’t a precedent for what can happen in another.”
I rolled my eyes, though in a more joking manner. Clarissa, being my ex-manager, though still my best friend, has never sugar coated anything.
“Those hall of fame members you beat in OCW pale in comparison to Mercedes Vargas, after all… not to take away anything you accomplished back in that pile of trash despite that grotesque, toxic locker room culture. But, I know what you’re capable of and I have no doubt in my mind you’re going to handle this challenge well regardless of what the outcome is.”
“Mercedes will be a tough test” I conceded. “But I’m not about to worship the ground she walks on just because she’s a walking Wikipedia page of accomplishments.”
Our conversation took on a different note after this but in the back of my mind, I knew I had to be ready for the challenge that was in front of me. I was in no way intimidated by Mercedes Vargas. On the contrary, I was looking forward to taking that torch from her.
September 20, 2019
“Let me ask you a question, Mercedes…”
Once the cameras came on for the promo I had to do for my upcoming match against her at Climax Control, I was all business. I knew deep down that Mercedes would be intimidating for MOST new bombshells on the roster but that fire inside of me was also realizing that I’m not just any “new bombshell”.
“Do you remember who passed the torch to you? Do you remember the one match that you had that made you the wrestler that you are today and the wrestler that you have been for the last few years? I say this because come Climax Control, you should be prepared to be on the other side of the fence. For all your talk and all you’ve done to back it up about how you’re the greatest Latina bombshell to ever step in an SCW ring… or at least that’s the vibe that I get from you anyway… you’ve never had someone challenge you for that very sport over the years, have you? This is going to sound extremely bold coming from someone who just got here, but inside of that ring on Sunday, you’re going to be facing the person that you’re going to be passing the torch to! You’re taking on a new sort of “Latina heat” and I know that’s going to ruffle some feathers in the locker room, but I’m not worried about that because I know I can back it up and I know that when it’s all said and done, that’s exactly what I am going to do. Sorry Mercedes, no matter what you think of me, you’re not going to have it easy. It may SEEM that way because I’m new and I’ve only had one match in this company and I haven’t put myself out there and all that, but if you think I’m just another cup of coffee “Ella Singleton” type, then you’ve already lost this match.”
“Then again, judging by your win-loss record despite your Hall of Fame achievements, I think you might have a history of overlooking people that are either new to the company or who you have already put into your mind as someone that is inferior to you in some degree.”
I pause and scoff at the cheap shot that I took at her win-loss record, hoping it would rile her up.
“I’ve done my research. I know what you’ve done in this company. I know how much you mean to this division. You’ve earned what you’ve gotten, I’m not denying you that much but I honestly feel that you’re not up there with the Roxi Johnsons and the Sam Marlowes no matter how much you try to be. Wait, I struck a nerve with that Sam Marlowe mention didn’t I… you know… considering she just recently beat you for a title and everything. What? You expected me to worship the ground that you walk on just because you have the most championships in bombshell history? Sorry, I’m not Ella Singleton. I’m not intimidated by you and to be honest, I’m not all THAT impressed with you. You’re good, don’t get me wrong. But the big question that I want to ask you is… are you a Hall of Fame member in Sin City Wrestling because of what you’ve brought to this division? Or are you a Hall of Fame member because you stuck around long enough to compile what you’ve accomplished? All due respect, I’m inclined to think the latter. You’ve won how many championships? Eleven, right?”
“And that includes a couple of World championship reigns? Good for you, seriously! I do mean that. Normally, someone would look at that and think that it’s impressive… which it is… on the surface. But Mercedes… how many of those eleven championship reigns lasted two months or less? After all, neither of your two Bombshell title reigns lasted longer than five weeks. You beat Sam for your first only to lose it back to her a few weeks later… and… just between us girls… the more I learned about you, the more I’m thinking you’re Sam Marlowe’s bitch…
I paused and laughed realizing that I was definitely riling her up now.
“You had a tag title reign that lasted about three weeks, another that lasted a month and another that lasted about six weeks. Your first Roulette title reign lasted a month and your most recent title reign… which ended with Sam making you her bitch again… it barely made it to the two month mark. That Roulette title reign that was once the longest Bombshell reign in history aside… every other title reign that you’ve had has lasted two months or less. Essentially, you know how to win championships! I’m not denying you that! I get that this is perhaps the toughest women’s roster in all of professional wrestling but even with that in mind, you have a long track record of winning a championship and yet being unable to hang onto them. You know how to win them, but you don’t know how to keep them, but hey, you compiled enough to be a Hall of Fame bombshell, right?”
“I on the other hand… I’ve won five championships in my career. Sure, none of those were here. But four of my title reigns exceeded that two month mark that for some reason, you really struggle to get past. The first singles championship that I would ever win was from someone who would eventually be inducted into that company’s Hall of Fame. My most recent title reign back in OCW not only featured me holding the championship for almost half a year, but defeating not one, not two, but THREE Hall of Fame members during that reign. I know that this is a different ballgame and all, but do you see why I am not intimidated by you? Do you understand what you’re going up against now? I’m not some hotshot newcomer that’s some 25 year old rookie, Mercedes. I built my craft for the last few years all around the world before I got here to become one of the best, young women’s wrestlers out there. I know that in due time, I am more than capable of becoming Bombshell champion in my own right. I know I am against a Hall of Fame bombshell that has earned her keep… but I also know that I’m against someone whose resume… while impressive… doesn’t look as impressive when you actually look beneath the surface. So at the end of the day, if you want to overlook me and act like I’m another Ella Singleton… that I’m just some cup of coffee bombshell that’s going to disappear after a short time… then be my guest and make this victory all the more simple for me because I know for a fact that win or lose, this is probably not going to be the only time we will ever wrestle each other. You beat me, I’ll come back stronger. That’s the phoenix in me that has always been capable of overcoming heartbreak and adversity. I beat you and I’ll gladly do it again in the future to prove to you that it was no fluke whatsoever. Either way, I plan on being a thorn in your side for some time.
I know that I can handle the pressure when I’m thrown into the fire. But for you, it’s fair to ask if you’ll be capable of doing the same thing… no not in regards to big matches and championships… but the kind of fire you’re being thrown into is facing someone who wants this match a hell of a lot more than you do… and that’s not a fire you’re comfortable being thrown into is it? Regardless… our match at Climax Control is going to speak volumes for both of us in one way or another! This division doesn’t know me yet, but come Sunday, they’re going to know so much more about me, especially when I’m able to overcome someone of your caliber!”
