Square One
The time off had been good for her.
After a hectic 2020, the uncertainty of her job and the world at large, through political protests, human rights discussions and the pandemic hanging over everyone in the United States and the world at large it felt good to just come home and relax. Following Sin City Wrestling’s final show of the year Alicia hopped on a plane traveling back to New York City. Home of the main Wolfslair gym and where she lived with her husband Michael Reynolds and her sons Ryan and Rory. It was her turn to have them for christmas and what a time she had.
The pressure was off. The hard work Alicia had put in to comeback from injury paid off with a successful yet brief third run as SCW bombshells champion. And now she was ready to come home, to decompress and rebuild back up.
Her final match had been at Climax Control 286. It was right at the beginning of December, and after that match, she was ready for the time off.
She flew home, she walked in the door, put her gear bag down and let out a deep breath that had felt like something she had been holding in for months. The next month went along without incident. Alicia’s brother, mother and sister all came to stay for Christmas. They laughed, they smiled, they ate till they were stuffed and exchanged gifts. It was everything Alicia had wanted, everything she needed to make her life on the road justified. But as the new year came and went, Alicia knew she had to get back to work. Her first workout back, getting ready for anything SCW could throw at her, was at home. January 2nd, Wolfaslair was not open till January 6th, she sighed and took a long deep breath.
The first warm up, the first set of weights, all of it ached, all of it felt like more of a fight than she had been in the last few months.
She panted hard, sweat dripped from her body making her long blond hair stick to her shoulders. Alicia was blown up and she knew it. ”You really meant it when you said you wanted to start from scratch” She couldn’t help but smile as the voice of Michael Reynolds, her husband and business manager rang out through the door of the gym. Alicia turned towards him as he stepped in, his hands sliding into the front pockets of his jeans.His hair a little longer than normal, going from a short light brown to a wavy dirty blonde, and a five o’clock shadow that had turned into a beard.
The things covid imposed lockdown will do…
She smiled and gave a small shrug as she picked up two weights one in each hand. She took a few breaths and started pulling them up in unison towards her chest over and over, controlling her breathing and grunting with each repetition. Michael moved around her, his hands moving up to touch the gear, he too used the home gym to keep in shape, with one final deep breath pushed out Alicia finished her workout putting the dumbbells back on the rack, Michael reached down and picked up a towel handing it to her. Alicia just smiled warmly as Michael sat down on the weight bench. ”Almost time to go back….” She gave him a small nod. She knew what was coming. ”Are you sure you want to?”
Alicia sighed heavily and toweled herself down. She swallowed hard and moved to sit next to Michael. They had this conversation before. When Alicia first returned home. She looked beaten down, tired and in need of rest. Maybe even a normal life. She briefly thought about ending her career. Briefly. ”You know, for a minute I didn’t. For a minute I just wanted to call them, tell them I wasd done.” Michaels hand drifted over to hers, Alicia wrapping her fingers in with his giving her husband a small smile. ”But, I still have alot to offer, alot to do. So, I can’t.”
Michael sighed and squeezed her hand. He understood, he always does.
”I’m only 29, I turn 30 this year, I have so much more left in the tank and I-”
He put his hand up, he smiled and leaned in giving Alicia a kiss on the forehead. ”I know. I understand. But, if you want to have another child…” He trailed off. Alicia’s heart sank. She knew what Michael was getting at. The clock was ticking, as much as she didn’t want to believe it as much as she wanted to hide and ignore it. Even with medical science coming so far, Alicia only had a small amount of time left to try. And she knew it. ”You know I’m in your corner Vi.” She chuckled to herself and smiled, Michael got to his feet and turned holding out his hand to help her to her feet.
She stood up straight, her arms feeling heavier than they should as she winced. A small laugh coming from under her breath. ”It’s not june yet is it?...cause I already feel like 30 is biting me in the ass.” She walked passed Michael, he tilted his head and gave a small smirk, clearing his throat.
”From this angle you barely look 25…”
”HUR HUR HUR” She shot him a smile, Michael winked and stayed behind her, Alicia got a small confidence boost. But still. She felt sore, tired and now a reminder was put in her mind. The clock was ticking. On her career, and personal goals.
A knights tale
She sat cross legged on the floor. She pushed her back up straight and her chest out taking in a long, deep breath before pushing it out just as slow. Her bright blue eyes opened as Alicia Lukas forced. A small smile coming across her ruby red lips as her right eye twitched and narrowed, a black paint stripe under it across the top of her cheek, a trademark of her time in the ring.
”New year, same ol Alicia Lukas.”
She chuckled under her breath, her long hair tied in a bun as she straightened out her legs and stretched before pushing up to her feet. She wore black workout shorts, a pink and black crop top and her wrists were taped as she shook out her muscles and rolled her neck.
”I say that ‘cause, it’s true. I love my life, I love what I do. I love my family. I work hard and I continue to improve and get better year after year. A scary prospect for most of you since, and I know this is going to sound egotistical as hell, I’m better than you. And look, I am not hiding it. I know it’s a cocky thing to say but, where I differ from people like, say, Jesse Salco, is that when I say I’m better than most of you. It’s true. I have been since I signed my name on the dotted line in Sin city wrestling. And from that moment my name has been in lights, close to the main event and the top title. I had no time to grow into my surroundings, to work my way up from the bottom.To “pay my dues” as some people seem to put it.”
She can’t help but laugh, her arms folding over her chest as she stops pacing and shaking out her muscles, her face turning serious as she clears her throat to continue, a lot seems to be on Alicia’s mind.
”There’s a saying, the cream always rises to the top, right?. Well, I rose to the tp fast. I didn’t do it because I was favored, I didn’t do it because I begged for preferential treatment. I did it because Mark and Christian recognised talent when they could see it. They watched Honor Wrestling and even before SCW and Honor merged they courted me. They wanted Alicia Lukas in Sin City Wrestling for a few years prior and I always had other commitments that stopped me. So when I did walk into this company I did so with the knowledge that the men and women in charge knew for damn sure who the fuck I am.”
“And the worst part was, that I have been hated and vilified for it. From Mercedes Vargas, to Roxi Johnson to Bobbie Dahl. I have been run down and dragged through the mud for simply being a goddamn talent. So, when I got hurt, I had goals. I wanted to beat Bobbie Dahl, I wanted to win back the title and I wanted to prove I was just as good now as I was before. And I have to say, I accomplished that mission. But then…”
“What was next?”
“Where was I supposed to go?”
“Well, I came up with the idea to do exactly what people like Mercedes, Roxi, Andrea, Bobbie and Jesse seemed to want me to do. I wanted to go back to square one and restart again in the new year. I wanted to walk in like I didn’t have a name ot a past. I wanted to just be...Alicia Lukas. But as it happens with life...things often don’t go as you expect. Cause as I have been reminded of so many times by people digging through my past...you can’t escape it.”
She sneers, her voice drops an octave and there seems to be a growl in her southern twang, her eyes narrow and there is a pure unfiltered anger that bubbles from deep in Alicia’s stomach.
”See, my final match of 2020 was against Jesse Salco. A woman who makes a habit of putting her foot in her mouth, saying outlandish things and never learning her lesson. Jesse Salco is the perfect example of someone not learning from her past and being doomed to repeat it. It’s a vicious cycle. She runs her mouth, acts like her losses never happen, she gets beaten, rinse and repeat. But, I refuse to be a victim to my past. I refuse to let it define me. I am a champion, I am someone who has been looked at as dominant. I am someone who has garnered the hatred, ire and vitriol of my fellow Bombshells.”
“But, I am not going to lean into that and let them shame me for what is about to happen.”
“I’m not looking at shooting my way up to the top, I still want to start at the bottom and work my way up and in a way I already started that process by wiping Jesse Salco’s blood off the sole of my boots and taking what was left of her goddamn soul from her body.”
There is a small pause, a chuckle from under her breath and a wink from her right eye directed at Christian Underwood.
”I’m done trying to justify my actions to any of you. So, when Christian asked, I said yes to being in the 2021 Blast from the past tournament. And this is my way at working my way back up to the top, I will either get a male counterpart who will DO HIS JOB, or I will drag a two hundred pound bag of shit to the promised land. Cause that is what I do. But, before the tournament starts, before I can start beating women like Roxi, Amber and others. I have to go one on one with Alice Knight in what many would consider to be a dream match. And I get why. Alice is a plucky go getter, a woman who has dragged herself up from obscurity to be a real darling in the wrestling world.”
“She has respect, she’s won championships, she had a pretty face and a smile that lights up a room and she has been nothing but a sweetheart to me whenever we have spoken. In fact I dare say, I like Alice Knight. I respect Alice Knight…”
“But…”
“I question her devotion to wrestling and to this company.”
“Alice is someone who has been in and out of SCW and wrestling for the last few years. She turns up, plods around on social media with people, has a few matches then goes off into the ether. And for someone with so much potential as her, that is sad and a mistake on her part. And since she’s been back in Sin city she hasn’t been able to really push herself forward as a contender or as someone any of us should really worry about. I mean sure, Alice might pick up a win here and there, she might worry someone or get6 close to a title shot...but...close isn’t good enough.”
She shrugs and sighs heavily before stepping forward and slowly sitting back down on the weight bench to her right, her hands clasping together.
”And Alice, I’m not saying this to be mean or to pick on you. When I go after people like Jesse, Bea Barnhart or Violet Amelia Holt it’s because people like them genuinely feel like I am wasting my time on social media promoting a match or cutting a promo against them or even, turning up to beat them. But with you? I can see the potential, I see what others have seen when they look at your OCW run and what you are capable of stringing together. But you haven’t been able to do it in Sin city. And despite the fact that I lost the Bombshells title to Keira and I’ve dropped back a little...well..”
“I’m still Alicia Lukas…”
“I’m still the first woman to win wrestler of the year, I’m still a former three time bombshells champion and someone who holds records in WWH, Honor wrestling and SCW. I’m still one of the best wrestlers in the world and until you can step up and realise that potential we have all seen Alice, well, you won’t step up to me, you won’t beat me and on Climax Control I will have my hand raised in the air again. People will whine, people will complain and you may have a line of bombshells ready to pay you on the back and spin you a tail of big bad Alicia Lukas “killing” the division again. Those same people will HATE that I’m in the blast from the past and they will whisper and bitch and piss and moan. I hope you won’t join them Alice.”
“I hope this Sunday you step in that ring and show us all the same Alice Knight that ruled OCW, not the Alice Knight who has limped through every match she’s had in Sin city and then tucked her tail and run….because I want...the real Alice Knight…”
