[Mark Ward]

Post all roleplays for this match in this thread.
Limits: 1 roleplay per week, 7,000 word limit.

Good luck!

[Jessie Salco]

At the third Climax Control of the Supercard Cycle, there was a Fatal Four Way Match to determine Andrea Hernandez’s second challenger for the Internet Title, the participants were Jessie Salco, Alicia Lukas, Dani Weston and Seleana Zdunich and most people predicted either Alicia or Dani to win the match as they were both former World Bombshell Champions, so was Seleana but with her recent run of bag luck, the Swede was considered a strong “upset winner” contender.

However, it was not to be as Jessie Salco would pick up the win over the three other women after hitting Seleana with the Circle Pit Tornado DDT securing her title shot at Inception V! And in the following weeks, Jessie would show that she was rising to the occasion scoring a draw against Keira Fisher-Johnson (albeit by Double Countout) and going to war with Team Hero alongside Krystal Wolfe! Whilst Jessie and Krystal would ultimately come up short, both women had a lot of recovery time following the Glass Bulb match and if anyone was ready for Andrea, it was Jessie but can Jessie get the win and become a 2X Bombshell Internet Champion?

Jessie’s home, Las Vegas, Nevada
Tuesday the 21st of December 2021, 21:00pm

You know it was a good match when you are still feeling the effects of it two days later!

Let me make one thing clear, I’m not disparaging Krystal at all even though she was the one who took the pin in the Tag Team Match! We both knew that beating Team Hero was not going to be an easy feat and with all four women looking to gain momentum heading into the first Supercard of 2022 we knew it was going to be a war, a war that me and Krystal ended up losing but at least Krystal is getting a chance to bounce back at the last Underground of the year.

But me? I have a lot to prove, that much is obvious but the New Year was right around the corner and that meant a fresh start.

Who knows? Maybe my tenth year in SCW will be my best? Would be kinda poetic, wouldn’t it? Off course, first I have to get to my thirty second birthday which also happens to be on New Year’s Day!

”I am never looking at Christmas bulbs the same way again.” I groaned as I eased myself into my chair in the kitchen, it was late and the boys were either playing on their Switches (Shane) or looking for something to eat (Jake). ”Hell, if the decorations weren’t already up I’d suggest taking down all the bulbs!”[color]

“The glass bulb match hurt that much, huh?” Shane asked and I nodded in agreement. “Are you going to be okay for the title match against Andrea?”

”Should be, Inception V is happening on the 22nd of next month, that’s a month and a day away.” I explained with a nod before grimacing. ”I’m not even the one who took the worst of it in that Team Hero Match! That distinct honour goes to Krystal!”[color]

“Well, Krystal is six years younger than you so she should heal faster.” Jake pointed out and I gave him a mock glare for reminding me of how old I was. “You realize what next year is, right?”

”If by that you mean “my tenth year in SCW” then yeah, I know.” I nodded in response before I leaned back in my chair. ”If you were to go back in time and tell Mark and Christian of 2012 that off the current roster, only the plucky recovering drug addict who lost her debut would still be on the roster ten years from now, I bet they would’ve called you crazy!”

“Depends on what month is 2012 you’re talking about since you signed in July of that year, any earlier and they’d be like “Jessie who?”.” Shane pointed out and I had to admit that he had a point. “Other than that, though? It is pretty crazy to think about, most people were predicting that you’d be gone in a month.”

”And again, I’m the only one still wrestling from that era, gals like Mercedes Vargas, Amy Santino, Sam Marlowe? They came later.” I nodded in agreement before thinking for a minute. ”It’s even crazier when you remember that I signed at the age of twenty two, SCW was my mainstream wrestling debut and I haven’t looked back since, hell I’m not even sure if any of the gals from that all women fed I was in before SCW are still around, kinda lost contact with them after I signed with SCW.”

“If they are they’ve probably retired considering you were the youngest wrestler in that fed, by a pretty large margin if I remember correctly.” Jake nodded in agreement before deciding on something to eat and getting a snack from the fridge. “You’ve come a long way Jess, and I think 2022 will be your year.”

”Maybe, maybe not, thanks to that Supercard winning streak I was on for a while I thought 2021 was going to be my year and we all know how that ended.” I responded with a sigh as I ran a hand through my hair. ”Though I will admit, my first match of 2022 being a title match is giving me some hope!”

“Let’s hope that you can turn that hope into a win.” Shane nodded before turning off his Nintendo Switch and we continued talking.

Was 2022 going to be my year? It was hard to say, SCW has had an influx of new talent over the Christmas break and only one real flop among them, that person was Taylor Blazer and whilst I am happy for Chloe Benton for managing to end 2021 with her first ever win, losing to someone that inexperienced was not a good sign for Taylor.

Point is? SCW has a lot of new blood on both rosters heading into the New Year, makes it difficult for the old guard to find their footing you know? But you know what they say about pressure and diamonds.

Jessie’s home gym, Las Vegas, Nevada
Sunday the 2nd of January 2022, 14:00pm

Well, the New Year is here and I’m already feeling that the next generation of wrestlers have already surpassed me.

Why do I say that? Well since the Christmas special me and Krystal have been helping the Aussie’s younger cousin Cassie with her training and well, the eighteen year old rookie was already a lot better than I was when I was her age, I guess this is how Myra Rivers feels when interacting with any Bombshell younger than her.

Which is most of the Bombshell roster really, I’m the only active member of the Bombshell roster who’s both younger than Myra but still close enough to her age and I think Mercedes Vargas is the only one older than Myra.

But I digress, right now me and Krystal are watching Ariana spar with Cass in my home gym and whilst the experience level is obvious, it was clear that Cass was able to keep up with Ari in terms of skill, she might have a bright future ahead of her, provided we can get her away from PTA.

”Man, do we really need to call a break?!” Cass complained after Krystal called for a break and the two younger brunette women took up spots in their respective corners. ”Just saying, I feel like I can go all day with Ari.”

”Maybe Cass but trying to spar whilst exhausted is asking for trouble.” Krystal responded and I nodded in agreement as the eighteen year old gave herself a stretch on the ring ropes. ”I was the same way when I was starting out at the Go Gym, and Gabriel and Odette told me the same thing.” Krystal added and that seemed to work because Cass started to cool down.

”And as a fellow Go Gym graduate, I can confirm that they told me the same thing, pretty sure the same goes for Carter, Adrienne and the other graduates.” Ariana chimed in and we turned to the young Greek-American woman. ”Besides, last thing we want is for your potential to be squandered because you got injured during training, trust me you’ll see what I mean when you get further into your training Cass.”

”Yeah, I guess you have a point.” Cass admitted before she left the ring and sat down on the apron facing me and Krystal. ”Any pointers you guys can give me?”

”Arm Drags and Dropkicks are good but you still need to work on your basic techniques, those will come to you naturally though.” I instructed the young trainee and she nodded before Krystal handed Cass a water bottle to help her cool down. ”Then again I started training when I was your age and I wasn’t anywhere near as good as you are now, it took me until I was twenty one to get halfway decent and twenty two to get up to the level I was at when I first signed with SCW.”

”I guess some people just take to wrestling faster than others, err, no offence.” Cassie responded and I held up my hands as if to say “none taken” before Cassie turned to her older cousin. ”Anything to add to that Krystal?”

”Nothing that Ari and Jessie haven’t already said to be honest, they stole all my lines.” Krystal responded and I nodded in agreement before Cass took a swig from her water bottle. ”Just remember to call me if you face any trouble at the PTA Gym, whether it’s from Matthew and Marty or that asshole who sent you the dick pic, you know I’m only a call away.”

”Same goes for me and Jessie really.” Ari chimed in as she rolled out of the ring right before the door to the basement opened and Shane poked his head in.

“Hey guys, I’ve made some snacks for Ari and Cassie if they are ready for a break.” Shane explained and the two younger women shared a look before they made their way to the stairs. “We shouldn’t be long.”

”Not what I usually expect to hear from a guy who will be entertaining two gorgeous young women Shane!” Krystal teased my husband and we all shared a laugh before Ari and Cass left the basement. ”Cassie does worry me sometimes, you know, when she isn’t trying to come up with moves that make the laws of gravity and physics her bitch!”

”She’s a young and excitable trainee, she’ll grow out of it! I mean, we eventually grew out of that phase right?” I pointed out and Krystal nodded in agreement before we made our way over to the ring to start our sparring session. ”Or is this about her guy problems?”

”It’s both if we’re being honest, I still feel like Matthew and Marty aren’t telling me everything when it comes to Cassie’s training at the PTA Gym and then comes the asshole who’s made it his mission to make her life hell.” Krystal sighed before we started testing the ropes. ”I’d point out the obvious but let’s face it, it’s not like this sport tends to attract ugly women, but her young age and naiveté is going to bite her in the ass eventually.”

”That’s just natural for any trainee, especially those who start in their teens like Cass, Ari, and Adrienne, they’ll come to realize just how cut throat this business can be sometimes.” I responded as I continued my warm-up. ”I still need to spar against her at some point, need to prepare for the match against Andrea somehow.”

”Make sure you mention that to Cass when she and Ari come down, now then, let’s dance!” Krystal responded before we started sparring.

Jessie’s home, Las Vegas, Nevada
Sunday the 2nd of January 2022, 21:00pm

That was a good session.

Still, I’m glad that I have some time to relax this evening with Shane and Jake being elsewhere in the house, right now I was surfing the internet on my laptop looking for something to watch on YouTube having just watched the video for the new song from Paganizer’s upcoming album, which was being released on Transcending Obscurity Records next year, among many, many other albums that I had on pre-order through Bandcamp.

”How Rogga Johanson finds time to sleep between all the Death Metal projects he plays in I’ll never know.” I commented to myself after exiting from the YouTube video and looking over the suggestions, I saw that Infected Rain had an album coming out next year on Napalm Records but there was nothing about a release date for that record. ”Maybe I should just kill time on Metroid: Dread, gotta beat that underwater boss at some point…….”

My train of thought was interrupted by, off all things, a Skype call and I loaded up Skype figuring that it was one of my other siblings calling to wish me Happy New Year, especially since they had already done that for my birthday the day before, it wasn’t, it was a call from two people who I haven’t spoken too in years but had played an integral part of my wrestling journey, namely the couple that ran the training school I trained at and I answered. “Hello Jess!” Rob greeted me and I grinned as their faces appeared on screen. “Long time no see!”

”I’ll say, the last time we spoke was when I challenged for the World Bombshell Title for the first time in a singles match!” I responded with a grin as I shifted my weight. ”So what’s the occasion? We haven’t really spoken since that day, not even when I was in Miami for SCW back in 2020.”

“We’re not allowed to congratulate our star student on ten years as a mainstream wrestler?” Jenny responded with a grin before shaking her head. “Truth is, we wish it was that simple but there’s been some complications as of late.”

”Complications?” I asked with a raised eyebrow and they nodded grimly. ”Like what?”

“Jess, you’ve always been straight with us so I may as well be straight with you, I’m dying.” Rob explained and I felt my stomach drop when I heard that. “Pancreatic Cancer, had six months to live but well, now I’ve got COVID on top of it!”

”Shit! I’m guessing the chemo left your immune system too weak to fight it?” I asked Rob and he nodded as it sunk in to me. ”I’m sorry but why are you calling me like this? You guys trained me and I am your star pupil but this is the first time we’ve spoken in years.”

“We understand but we’re coming too you with an opportunity.” Jenny responded and I raised an eyebrow at that. “We were going to retire as trainers after this year anyway, frankly you’re the only star our school has ever produced and we’re getting too old for it, but we were wondering if you’d be up for taking over the school.”
It broke my heart to say this but I had too. ”If I still lived in Florida I’d take you up on that in a heartbeat but I’ve edged out a career here in Vegas, I can’t just drop everything to move back to Miami to take over your school, not when I feel like I’m on the cusp of the best year of my wrestling career, I’m sorry.” I apologized and my trainers nodded in understanding.

“We knew we were asking a lot of you and we appreciate your honesty.” Rob sighed in resignation and I nodded in response. “Still, you should consider opening a school of your own, we always thought that you had great instincts for the business.”

”Honestly? That’s part of the retirement plan, but I’m a ways off from thinking about that.” I responded with a nod before I started thinking about some other stuff, I still had the Bloodstock money from last year after all and I had been thinking of a way to use it. ”Well, it was nice talking to you at least, and if you need any help with medical bills.”[color]

“We have a Go Fund Me set up for that, I’ll send you the link once we’re done.” Jenny responded as Rob went to end the call. “Hopefully we can talk again before it’s too late.”

”Hopefully, I’ll make sure to forward it on as well.” I nodded before the Skype Call ended and I stared at the ceiling for a bit.

Most athletes round my age would be looking to call it a career, and I’ve had a good one, warts and all, but opening my own wrestling school? I wasn’t sure about that.

I had a lot to think about, that was the only thing I was sure off.


Local café, Las Vegas, Nevada
Monday the 3rd of January 2021, 12:00pm

This year is already off to a wild start but right now? I’m along for the ride.

But whilst I have been training for the title match against Andrea at Inception V since I won that Fatal Four Way Match a couple of weeks before Christmas I do need to take a break every once in a while hence why I’m having Lunch out with Shane, at least that’ll take my mind off things for a while.

“Can’t remember the last time we had a meal out when it was just the two of us.” Shane commented as I made myself comfortable and I nodded in agreement as I turned to my husband. “One would almost think that we were on a first date.”

”Considering that we’re both in our early thirties? That would be a late first date, don’t you think?” I asked Shane before glancing down at the menu. ”Besides we’ve been to this café before, though it was usually to go over that year’s Bloodstock line-up.”

“Yeah and I’m not holding my breath waiting for international travel to open up again, I think it’s safe to say that once SCW starts going overseas we can restart our yearly trips to Bloodstock.” Shane commented and I had to agree, though I did have a feeling about when that would be. “And at the rate SCW is going, that’ll likely be after Summer XXXTreme.”

”That was what I was thinking, we finally moved out of that damn hotel after Summer XXXTreme VIII, started doing shows outside of Vegas again after Summer XXXTreme IX, there is a pattern to how the bosses are doing things with the pandemic running about and I wouldn’t be surprised to see it continue this year.” I nodded in agreement before a waitress came over to take our drinks orders, once she had them she went off to leave us to decide on what we wanted for dinner. ”And knowing our luck with the pandemic we’ll probably get COVID the moment we set foot on foreign soil! At least this time we’re jabbed against it!”

“How about we don’t jinx it.” Shane responded with a nervous laugh and I nodded in agreement before quickly dropping the subject. “Jess. I know this is sudden but you ever think about kids? As in, having them?”

It was a good thing that our drinks orders hadn’t arrived yet, because I don’t think I would’ve been able to keep that spit-take contained otherwise. ”You’re seriously asking me that when I’m on the cusp of kicking off the new year with a chance to win the Bombshell Internet Title?!” I asked once the surprise wore off and Shane nodded. ”Shane, I know we’re not getting any younger but it’s that easy! If I get pregnant I have to put my career on hold for nearly a year! First I’d have to have the kid and then I’d have to give myself time for the body to heal enough for me to get back in the ring! And that’s saying nothing off the ring rust!”

“I know, I remember you saying that after you convinced Amy to come back one last time as the Metal and Punk Connection against Team Hero.” Shane nodded once he realized what I meant and I folded my arms before leaning back. “But can you think of a better time? Because if you keep waiting to achieve everything you can in SCW you’ll be Myra’s age by the time you decide to try.”

”And by then, it might be too late to try it the old fashioned way.” I responded with a sigh as I ran a hand through my hair. ”You seriously want to try? After everything I just explained? SCW is my main source of income and I can’t exactly make money on maternity leave when wrestling is all I’ve been doing for my adult life!” I asked my husband once I realized that he wasn’t budging on the issue and he nodded in response.

“We’ll find a way to make it work, I promise you that.” Shane assured me but I was still unsure and for obvious reasons. “So, what do you say?”

I didn’t answer because frankly? I didn’t have an answer, being in a contact sport meant that any attempts to get pregnant were inherently risky to me but was it worth it?

I couldn’t tell you because frankly, I needed a lot more time on this and thankfully the waitress returned with our drinks to break the awkward silence! Besides, I had a title match to worry about long before I even thought about having kids, and now I understand why so many women in this sport opt to date other women so just not bother with relationships in general!

Local talk show, Las Vegas, Nevada
Tuesday the 4th of January 2021, 18:00pm

*promo time*

Got to hype up my title match somehow.

“Welcome back everyone, our next guest has wrestled all over the world and at the end of the month she will be wrestling here in Nevada for the Bombshell Internet Championship!” The host introduced me to the crowd and the crowd let out a “woo” at that last part. “Please welcome from Sin City Wrestling, Jessie Salco!”

The camera panned over to me sitting in a chair, ready to be interviewed. ”Happy to be here Chad and thanks for letting me use this platform for my promo against Andrea.” I responded and the crowd cheered in response. ”I’m ready for your questions so ask away!”

“Well, my first question for you is simple, many people don’t see you as a worthy challenger for the title especially considering the three women you beat to get to this point.” Chad responded and I frowned before nodding. “What do you say to that?”

”Those who say that are just salty that they lose a lot of money by betting on the wrong horse in that race!” I responded as I rolled my eyes before shifting my weight. ”I said it before and I’ll say it again, the smart money was on Dani or Alicia winning that Fatal Four Way and earning their way to the title shot against Andrea and if there was an upset win, they would’ve bet on Seleana instead of me! Instead, I pinned Seleana in the middle of that ring and earned this shot! The detractors can call me unworthy all they want, but they can’t ignore the fact that I wasn’t handed this title shot, I earned it fair and square!”

“Well said, and now for my next question.” Chad continued open shifting his notes around. “Andrea was undefeated for the entirety of 2021 and beat you on her road to the Internet Championship during the lead up to Violent Conduct VII, do you think that’ll change now that the New Year is here?”

”I know it’ll change because nothing lasts forever!” I responded before leaning back in my chair. ”Andrea’s a hell of a talent but her ego is through the fucking roof, to the point where I was almost tempted to make a pot calling the kettle black joke when she called Amber Ryan an egomaniac  just because she dared to complain about her streak not being recognized in Denzel Porter’s year end list! However, Andrea’s ego will be her downfall because she’s entering this match thinking that her second defence is all but assured but I’ve been underestimated before and this won’t end well for her!”

“One last question before I let you continue with your trash talk against Andrea but this year marks your tenth in SCW.” Chad commented and I nodded in response. “Do you think this will be your year?”

”I said the same thing about 201`8, 2019, 2020 and 2021 and, well, we all know how those years turned out, ESPECIALLY 2020.” I responded and the crowd cheered in response and agreement I guess. ”I guess one way you can look at it is that I’m looking at the coming year as a sign of my SCW career coming full circle! I may be getting old but I’m like a fine wine in that I get better with age and Andrea will be the first to find that out the hard way at Inception V!”

“Well, that seems like as good a segway as any.” Chad responded and I nodded before getting ready to start my promo. “The floor’s all yours.”

”Tell me Andrea, what was going through your head when the reality set in that I’ll be your second challenger for the Bombshell Internet Championship at Inception V? Actually, don’t answer that, I don’t need to hear your voice to know exactly what your answer will be, you think that you just hit the challenger jackpot don’t you? A nice easy defence to start off 2022 the same way you ended 2021, undefeated, unfortunately for you, the reality will be nothing like your fantasy!”

Not at all.

”Not only have I been training hard in preparation for the title match Andrea but I’ve been striving to prove myself worthy of this opportunity, sure neither the match against Keira or the Tag Match with Krystal against Team Hero went the way I wanted but in both of those matches I went to war with my opponents and I will go to war with you to win the Bombshell Internet Championship for the second time in my career! You may scoff at the mere thought of losing your precious title to someone like me but you need to face facts Andrea, nothing lasts forever!”

And speaking of those matches.

”You know what one thing that has stuck in my mind since the draw against Keira is Andrea? The fact that you used my words against me by telling me to do better! The same words I used against Myra during the lead up to our Chamber of Extreme Match at High Stakes XI, what you seem to forget Andrea is that I ended up eating those words when Myra beat me in the Chamber and ended my undefeated streak in the Chamber of Extreme, it’s almost like you don’t like being the Bombshell Internet Champion, isn’t it Andrea?”

Strange that.

”Do better, those two words ended one undefeated streak and they’ll end a second at Inception V only this time, it’s going to end a title reign with it! I’d be foolish to deny you’re in ring talents at this point Andrea but those in ring talents can only carry you so far and your ego can carry you an even shorter distance! What I’m saying is that your legendary ego will be your undoing Andrea because all it’ll take is one slip up from you to enable me to seize the opportunity!”

That’s all it will take!

”What’s that Andrea? There’s no way you’ll allow such a slip up to happen? And there’s no way you’ll allow someone like me to win the Bombshell Internet Title? Please! I said it before but I wasn’t meant to win the Fatal Four Way that earned me this shot and yet, here we are, hell I wasn’t meant to last a year in SCW and yet here I am ten years later still wrestling for the same company that took a chance on a recovering drug addict turned wrestling metalhead from Florida, point is that fate doesn’t always turn out the way it was meant to be when it comes to the wrestling business and your fate was sealed the moment I won that Fatal Four Way! You had better say your goodbyes to your title Andrea because it’s coming home with me!”

It’s that simple.

”I surprised everyone when I won that Fatal Four Way, to the point that Christian Underwood admitted that you could’ve knocked him over with a feather after I scored the winning pin-fall on Seleana and I’ll surprise everyone again at Inception V by winning the Bombshell Internet Title! A title that I haven’t held since 2016! That’s six years since I last held that title and if you ask me? That’s six years to long and the wait is over!”

And with that I decided to wrap things up.

”There’s an old saying that’s apt in this situation, nothing lasts forever whether it’s wrestling careers or title reigns and at Inception V two things will be coming to an end Andrea, your undefeated streak and your Bombshell Internet Title Reign! And all at the hands of a wrestling veteran with the worst win/loss record in SCW, funny how that works out, huh Andrea? I’ll see you in the ring at Inception V where you be struck like Blood Lightning by Jessie Salco!”

I resumed the interview as the scene fades.

[Andrea Hernandez]

CC318

On the night of CC318, Chelsea LeClair and I were sitting on the couch of a skybox in the arena. We are watching the four way match between Jessie, Alicia, Dani and Seleana take place with the winner going on to face me at Inception for my Internet Championship.

“That’s the thing about SCW, I’ve noticed…” Chelsea states. “...you never know what is going to happen.”

I was already feeling a sense of surprise in me when I saw how close the match was.

“I’m just… surprised. If this match took place two years ago, Alicia would mop the floor with all of them as is. Yet… it’s a close match. If you were me, Chelsea, who would you rather face?”

“Personally? Alicia.”

“Really?” I ask with surprise.

“Yeah, so I could shut her up once and for all considering she wasn’t pinned at High Stakes.”

However, as Chelsea and I were about to see, it WASN’T Alicia that won the match. My eyes widened in shock when I saw that JESSIE SALCO got the pin.

“Okay, I wasn’t expecting THAT…” Chelsea remarks as my jaw dropped to the floor.

“...that is the absolute WORST thing that could’ve happened!!!” I said as I stood up.

“What the hell are you talking about, Andrea? It’s JESSIE SALCO! You’ve beaten her multiple times.”

“She just beat three former world champions. Of ALL the opponents that would’ve resulted in the WORST pressure on me, SHE was the one.”

“I don’t understand the big deal…” Chelsea says with concern.

“...it’s happening again…”

“What?”

“The ‘someone pulls a magical run out of their ass’ to get a title shot against me bullshit that happened with Evie and the world title. This is not good. She’s going to be inspired by this. This could be the start of her pulling a magical, Cinderella fluke run out of her ass just like Krystal Wolfe has the whole time! It’s the perfect narrative: the veteran that has never amounted to anything pulling one out of her ass to dethrone the one with the undefeated streak: ME! I’m going to be under SO much pressure…”

“It’s STILL Jessie…” Chelsea says as she stands up.

“If I lose this title to her, I’ll be RUINED!”

“It’s ONE match, Andrea! ONE match! That doesn’t mean it’s going to be the start of a ‘magical run’ or anything.”

“I just need to be left alone right now…” I said to Chelsea, who sighs and reluctantly leaves.

My nerves were definitely triggered. The burden began to weigh on my shoulders and I could feel myself sweat. Losing my title to someone like Alicia or Seleana is one thing. But JESSIE? The thought was UNTHINKABLE to me. I was 500% confident that Jessie was going to be the fodder like always, but she wasn’t.

“I’m not losing this title to Jessie…” I told myself, closing my eyes, even if I wasn’t really believing it.

“I’m not losing this title to her… I’m not losing this title to her… I’m not losing this title to her…”

I repeated the mantra in my head repeatedly while I kept my eyes closed to try to calm my nerves. However, this was not working in the slightest. The burden on my shoulders kept growing rapidly. I thought about those I had beaten during the streak: Roxi, Seleana, Krystal, Sam, Alicia, Keira, Dani, Mercedes… all of whom on paper are better wrestlers. To defeat ALL of them yet lose the title to JESSIE? That’s a dominant wrestler’s worst nightmare…

I opened my eyes…

I found myself staring at a laptop screen in stunned silence as I saw the headline “#ANDREAISOVERPARTY”

I was staring at one of those Internet wrestling troll fan threads. One fan had typed “LOLOLOLOL ANDREA LOST THE TITLE TO JESSIE!!!!!!! HOW EMBARRASSING!”

I noted the timestamp: January 24, 2022 6:39 AM.

The morning AFTER Inception.

“UNDEFEATED FOR FOURTEEN MONTHS! LOSES TITLE TO JESSIE SALCO TROLOLOLOLOL!”

“This is worse than when she lost the title to Evie… SO much worse! She will NEVER be taken seriously again! #AndreaIsOVER”

“Andrea will never recover from this ROFL! Way to make a mockery out of your family you dumb whore!”

“Her daddy should’ve spanked her harder when she grew up. Maybe it would’ve kept her from wrestling at all!”

Brutal. Hater. Comments.

I scrolled to find a LIVE wrestling podcast and clicked “Play”

“So… Andrea…” the host said as he and the entire studio laughed. “HOW DO YOU GO SO LONG UNDEFEATED AND THEN LOSE TO HER?”

“I’ll be honest with you, Andrea was just never that good…” the co-host concurred. “...She was only undefeated last year because she wrestled what? 14 matches in SCW? That’s once a month. If you DOUBLE that figure, she has at LEAST five to seven losses. She NEVER wrestled the likes of Myra and Amber. The whole streak was a fluke because she was lucky enough not to be booked that often and she completely avoided Myra and Amber all year. Period.”

“Is this the end of Andrea’s relevancy in SCW?”

“Yep…”

I closed my eyes again in embarrassment feeling that hurt pride coarse through me.

“This is a career killing loss for her…”

I shuddered for a bit, and opened my eyes…

THANKFULLY… the nightmare was over…

December 29, 2021

I sprung up on my bed in my Orlando hotel room and I was sweating bullets and breathing heavily. I was at first shocked that I would even DREAM such a nightmare scenario, then shocked that I was way more worried about Inception than I thought or had led on.

“I’m Andrea Hernandez damn it, I don’t LOSE to people like HER!”

Despite this bravado, a sullen depressing feeling swept through me.

“What if I really DO lose this title to her?” I thought to myself. “Would I have no credibility anymore?”

My sullen thoughts were interrupted by my phone going off. I looked at it and saw Chelsea text me “Ready for the big reunion?” in reference to the Sedona Sky reunion we were going to have against SCU’s Clark sisters at Festivus In Florida.

Unfortunately, experiencing that nightmare left me cold, empty and caring very little about teaming up with Chelsea. As the day wore on, that emptiness in my heart just grew… almost as if my title reign was destined to be on the wrong side of a bullshit Cinderella story…

Again…

Later that night…

Chelsea and I returned to my hotel room following our successful Sedona Sky reunion with a victory over Morgan and Cordelia Clark. Once the door was shut behind us, I turned to see Chelsea smiling and incredibly happy. We both walked over to the coffee table and she set down a bag she was carrying. Despite her happy demeanor, I was still feeling that emptiness. There was no spark or joy whatsoever in my heart regarding the match we won. Chelsea pulled out some glasses and a bottle of non-alcoholic apple cider. Pouring the cider in the glass, she took one.

“I propose a toast… to our successful Sedona Sky reunion!” Chelsea said with a beaming tone in her voice.

“Yes… indeed…” I said as I reluctantly picked up my glass. We tipped our glasses and Chelsea drank hers quickly all while I took a couple of sips. My brain was still stuck on that nightmare from the night before.

“It was honestly one of the happiest moments of my 2021 you know…” Chelsea began. “...teaming up with you again. It meant the world to me to finally be teaming with someone that I’ve always loved and always considered a friend. It was a natural feeling teaming up again.”

“Yeah, I’m sure it was.” I said, without injecting any emotion into the reunion. “I suppose it was cool…”

“Suppose?” Chelsea said, catching onto the fact that I wasn’t as into the reunion as she was. “Andrea, what’s wrong?”

“I’m not feeling great about the event…”

“Are you mad about Victoria banning you from the battle royal tomorrow and robbing you of a world title shot? Come on! Don’t let her get you down about that. That’s petty nonsense on her part. It’s not your fault that she hates tag team wrestling or that she couldn’t handle you mocking her for that fact.”

“No, it’s not Victoria…” I said with a sigh, further catching Chelsea off guard. “I’ve got to be very honest with you…”

“Sure…” Chelsea said as I began to gather my thoughts and soak my conscience into that nightmare.

“That Sedona Sky reunion didn’t mean anything to me…” I said, causing Chelsea to widen her eyes in shock before shaking her head and suddenly feeling sad.

“So that’s how you feel about me? I’m an inconvenience to you? Why didn’t you just drop out of the event or request that we didn’t team up? Victoria would’ve gone for it considering that’s one less tag team match she would’ve had to worry about.”

“Chelsea, it’s not you…” I explained.

“What is it then? Is there something else going on? You’ve got everything going right for you. You’re the Bombshells Internet Champion. You went the entire 2021 calendar year undefeated. You haven’t lost a match in SCW since High Stakes 2020 for fuck’s sake. What the hell would you be so miserable about? You had a career year and everything. I mean… really… 14 months undefeated…”

“I would like you to NOT mention that Chelsea…” I said with increased anger in my voice. “I don’t want to talk about that. So I extended my undefeated streak teaming with you tonight. Big WHOOP! It was just another match for me…”

“Andrea, why are you acting like this? That undefeated streak is something to celebrate and you’ve gone out and tweeted about it and mentioned it on camera over and over again…”

“Yeah… PUBLICLY! It’s a front, Chelsea. To be honest with you, this streak is a burden to me…”

“A burden?!?!?!”

“Did I stutter?”

“You don’t have to be so rude…”

“Oh sure, when the camera is on I act like I’m the baddest bitch in the world. But privately? I feel burdened. I feel stressed. I feel like with every win the pressure on me grows and grows. I feel like all the fucking haters out there are circling around me like vultures just waiting for me to fuck up. They’ve been hiding in the weeds being quiet because I’ve given them nothing to criticize me for. But the moment I lose a match, Chels, and you know this because it happened when I lost the world title to Evie, they are going to come back at me and they are going to run me down, bury me, act as if the streak meant nothing, act as if it was all a fluke… and it’s going to be even WORSE if I lose to Jessie. I CAN’T lose to Jessie. If I do… the haters are NEVER going to let me live it down and that’s my biggest worry and my biggest burden of all and I swear to god Chelsea, if you tell ANYONE about ANY of this, I will hunt you down and bust your face through a car window…”

“Andrea. I still don’t understand…”

“...I’m not satisfied with being undefeated and being the Internet Champion. To be honest with you, it feels like a consolation prize at best… as if I only have this title because I’m not good enough to be world champion anymore…”

“UNDEFEATED Internet Champion…”

“It’s not like ANYONE even NOTICES that I exist in Sin City Wrestling since everyone in the company is so far up Amber Ryan’s ass acting like she’s a fucking unbeatable GOD when she’s not the one with the streak, I AM! As long as that overrated, self-loathing CUNT is around, I’m NEVER going to get the respect I fucking deserve in SCW and it’s NOT fair at ALL! NOBODY talks about the streak because of her and it PISSES ME OFF! But the moment it ends, OH EVERYONE IS GOING TO BE TALKING ABOUT IT, won’t they?”

“This isn’t like you, Andrea…” Chelsea says with a soft sigh. “I don’t understand why you feel like beating her is going to be so difficult.”

“I’m not worried about Jessie, I’m worried about what the fuck is going to happen and how the vultures are going to attack me IF I lose to Jessie…”

“Then DON’T lose to her… simple.”

“Easier said than done…”

“You’ve got to be kidding me, Andrea.”

“I had this horrible nightmare last night… it felt REAL, Chels. I read all the online comments mocking me for losing to Jessie and heard these idiots on a podcast writing me off as if I was old news. It’s like I was going through the Evie thing all over again. I can’t bear even the THOUGHT of losing to her because if I do, it is going to feel like everything I did in 2021 means nothing. I understand why you’re so confused, but what I don’t understand is how can I have the year that I had in 2021 and NOT be proud of it? I used to be proud of all of my accomplishments and it’s like… after Evie… I don’t feel like I have a right to be anymore…”

I buried my head in my hands reliving that old shame again. I was by no means crying, but closing my eyes, I could feel the burden on my shoulders weighing me down. The worries of the consequences of losing to Jessie Salco were so much so that if I felt that losing at Inception meant that I would lose EVERYTHING. I could hear Chelsea sigh for a bit. She was saying something, but I was not listening at this point. I was too busy being in my own head worrying about the mockery and the ridicule I was going to get in the event of a loss.

“Look at me, Andrea…” Chelsea said to me. I did not listen to her.

“I can’t lose to Jessie… I can’t fucking lose to HER! I HAVE to win. I HAVE to keep winning. I HAVE to keep showing these idiots that I should be the one that should be revered, admired, respected, worshiped… not AMBER… ME! I’m the GODDESS here… not HER… ME!

“ANDREA! Will get get a FUCKING HOLD OF YOURSELF!” Chelsea said with a slight scream. “LOOK AT ME!”

This shook me a bit, not being used to the nature that Chelsea can have when she has something that she really needs to say to me. I took a deep breath and reluctantly looked at her all while trying to figure out how to get the burden of my streak off of my shoulders.

“When we were growing up, you wanted nothing more than to be a professional wrestler and live the dream. You were willing to do anything and everything to get there. You put up with awful companies like UWA and OCW. You dealt with Myra and her abuse because you always had that spark in you to fight. Tonight, our reunion was supposed to be about FUN. It was supposed to be about US, but instead you made it about yourself… all because some undefeated streak is making this a burden for you more than anything, for no reason at all. I am going to ask you a serious question and I want you to be HONEST with me…”

Chelsea glared at me.

“Do you NOT have that spark anymore?”

Suddenly, my soul became engulfed with rage. I wanted nothing more than to jump off the couch and completely assault Chelsea right then and there.

“You BITCH!”

“I’m only asking a question, Andrea. It’s been a year and a half and you’re STILL treating this business like a burden. It’s not about having the desire and the spark to fight and to be your very best anymore. It’s all about YOU and making yourself the biggest name possible.”

“You question whether I have a spark for this? Are you FUCKING KIDDING ME?”

I showed off my anger even more by standing up and flipping the coffee table, breaking our cider glasses and the bottle of cider itself.

“I have wanted to be a professional wrestler since I was a little girl. I have done NOTHING but put my heart and soul into my career every fucking week. Yet, you want to question me for losing my spark?”

“Jessie has a bigger spark than you do at the moment. Maybe you SHOULD be worried.”

“What the FUCK are you getting at, Chelsea?”

“What I’m getting at is that you’re letting your father’s poison mess with your head again!”

“Don’t you bring up my father like that!”

I grabbed Chelsea from behind and tried to throw her off the couch, but she managed to defend herself with a side headlock. I let go of her and she returned the favor in kind.

“I’m leaving, Andrea.”

Chelsea stood up and began to leave. If this was on camera, I would put up some bravado and just let her leave. But, since I was in a vulnerable frame of mind, I knew I couldn’t let her leave.

“Chelsea, I’m sorry. I got carried away. Don’t leave me.”

“You can never be happy with anything…” she said as she headed for the door.

“Chelsea, I need you right now…” I said, feeling disgusted in my stomach that I even said such a thing. My eyes were watering, but I wasn’t crying. Chelsea turned toward me and saw my eyes. She narrowed hers expressing the internal feeling that she had to help me in the subtlest of ways. Taking a deep breath, she sits next to me.

“Promise me that you’ll listen to me.”

“I promise…”

“Your father trained you to be chasing titles and making it all about the glory and the success that you could attain. That’s the poison he instilled in you. When you first broke in, you just wanted to live your dream and prove you can be one of the best. Internet title or no Internet title, you have proven that you are. You’re going to let JESSIE FUCKING SALCO of all people take that from you all because you’re too concerned and too worried about meaningless hater comments?”

“When you put it that way, it sounds ridiculous doesn’t it?”

“It IS ridiculous, Andrea. But how you’re going about this match is an unfortunate indicator that maybe you’re losing your love for this sport. You’re so bitter all the freaking time that you forget why you ever wanted to be part of this at all and it scares the hell out of me. I want you to be successful. I know we’ve had difficult times ever since Sedona Sky broke up in GCW and everything, but I have always still cared about you. I STILL want you to be as successful as you are and even BETTER! You’re the Internet Champion right now and that’s great, but at some point you need to quit being afraid of failure fucking go for the World title again! For all we know, it could be YOU that ends Amber’s reign and finally shatters her unwarranted, undeserved mystique and aura.”

I merely chuckled at the notion.

“Sure it can… and my father is going to rise out of the grave any fucking minute now…”

“Stop selling yourself short. It can happen for one reason and one reason only… because you’re ANDREA FUCKING HERNANDEZ DAMN IT!”

Largely to wake me up more than anything, Chelsea smacked me hard across the face. I held onto my cheek, largely stunned by Chelsea’s attitude at the moment.

“It’s about time you stop worrying about the worst and giving a damn about what other people say about you. If the worst comes to pass with Jessie, you’re going to have your peers and critics trolling you and reminding you of this every step of the way for a while, but YOU’LL GET THROUGH IT! It’s a THEM problem, not a YOU problem! I mean for fuck’s sake, High Stakes against Crystal was fucking embarrassing for you and you’ve done FAR too well since then that everyone has forgotten about it. You HAVE silenced the haters before and you’ll do it again… if necessary. I PROMISE YOU it WON’T be necessary because you ARE going to beat Jessie and you ARE going to continue your streak and your reign. Filter that nonsense out of your head RIGHT NOW!”

“I can’t say you’re wrong about anything you just said.”

“Do you need me to go back further and point out other SCW shortcomings where your peers were mocking you and writing you off only for you to silence and prove them all wrong in the end?”


“No. I get your point. I should not be acting like this. I don’t understand why I let a nightmare bother me so damn much.”

“Your nightmare was a reflection of a fear within you, Andrea. You need to expunge that fear from your heart and you need to remember the spark that got you to this point to begin with. I know you hate to hear this: but your entire wrestling journey from day one has always been about proving people wrong and silencing the critics. The undefeated streak isn’t the real burden Andrea… it’s THAT! Remember that spark Andrea, and why you wanted to do this to begin with. THAT will get you through EVERYTHING… good or bad, win or lose… THAT is what has gotten you through the worst of times in your career from GCW to SCW.”

Chelsea stands up and begins to leave my hotel room.

“Where are you going?” I asked her.

“I’m leaving you alone to think about what I said. I know you won’t admit it… even to me… but somewhere down in your heart, you know I am right about your spark and you may even realize that you’re possibly losing your love for this business. I’ll see you tomorrow, Andrea…”

Chelsea takes a sigh before she leaves my hotel room. At this very point, everything that Chelsea said to me started pouring through my head. My lifelong best friend really left me with so much to think about…

“What if Chelsea is right?” I thought to myself. “What if I am really losing the spark for this business? When I first arrived in SCW, I just wanted to be at my best. I wanted to be a world champion and realize a dream, yes. I remember when I won the Bombshells world title how motivated and into it I was. But then, after I lost it, it just hasn’t felt the same. What used to drive me hasn’t driven me in a long time now. Ever since that day, I’ve been driven by bitterness about losing the title, hatred for just about everyone else on the Bombshells roster and keeping this winning streak alive with the feeling that the streak and my title are all I seem to have anymore. My father would be turning over in his grave if he knew I was motivating myself with such shallow things. Yet, these motivations? They have been FAR more effective than what my old motivations used to be even if they’re not the deepest convictions. I don’t know if Chelsea is right about ‘losing my spark’, but she’s right about one thing. I am NOT losing my streak OR my title to fucking JESSIE of all people! It’s time to remind that bitch and everyone else why I was Most Hated 2021…”

Suddenly, I WAS feeling a spark inside. It was definitely the wrong type of spark considering it was based on ego and narcissism, but I didn’t care. I knew that it was all I needed to retain against Jessie Salco nevertheless…

THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE HAS BEEN APPROVED BY YOUR SCW BOMBSHELLS INTERNET CHAMPION: ANDREA HERNANDEZ

[STATIC]

The opening chords of “Failure” by Breaking Benjamin start to play as the big words of “JESSIE SALCO: FAILURE” emerge on the screen.

“Jessie was a champion not THAT long ago…” I said in a voiceover accompanying a video clip from a Climax Control episode last year when she defeated Johanna Krieger to become the new SCW Bombshells Roulette Champion. “...of course, it turned out to be a fluke…”

The next special clip shows a still image of Jessie Salco laid out on the mat after Johanna had won the championship back from her a mere three weeks later.

“She has tried to recapture that old magic, but with the exception of ONE moment, ONE match, she has been nothing but a consistent FAILURE when it has mattered the most…”

More media of Jessie’s huge failures since losing the Roulette Championship flash in succession on the screen while the breaking Benjamin Song continues. The vignette shows a picture of Amber Ryan standing over her with the Bombshells World Championship, two of them in fact, followed by a video clip of me pinning her in the first round of the Internet Championship tournament, an image of Jessie getting pinned by Dani Weston prior to High Stakes and a video clip of Myra Rivers ending her Chamber of Extreme streak at High Stakes.

“And yet… recently… she pulled ONE win out of her ass…”

A still image of Jessie’s recent victory to become the number one contender to my championship is shown.

“I guess Jessie had to have her once a year glimmer of hope, huh? My opponent is going to try to convince the masses that she has everything that it takes to beat me, but even the idiot fans know the score by now: she provides ONE glimmer of hope and she wastes it…

She already has…”

Two more still images are shown: one of both Jessie and Keira Fisher being outside of the ring, beaten down following their draw against each other, and another of Team Hero celebrating a victory over Jessie and Krystal Wolfe.

Suddenly, I appear on the couch of my Paradise Valley home.

“And she has the nerve to tell my MENTOR to BE BETTER? The masses already know that if Jessie Salco isn’t being a failure, she’s being a fluke. FLUKE is what I am going to expose that ONE win against three former World Champions! She wants to start this big Cinderella run at MY expense? NO! It’s NOT going to happen! It will NEVER happen! Jessie Salco is the biggest disappointment in the history of the SCW Bombshells Division. Heck, if you don’t believe me, just hear it from the woman herself…

Roll the footage…

I snap my fingers, ending the pre-recorded vignette

January 15, 2022

The scene is a huge convention taking place. A big banner of “Rock-A-Thon With Jessie Salco” hangs from the rafters while two empty chairs grace the stage. The convention is completely empty and devoid of fans. Angelica Romero, my personal interviewer, walks through the curtains with a microphone as she sits down on the chair on the right.

“ROCK-A-THON! WHAT’S UP!!!!”

A sound of crickets chirping is played through the speakers.

“We are about to have a SPECIAL INTERVIEW with none other than someone who has become one of the most tenured Bombshells in SCW history. She is definitely riding a wave of momentum as she recently defeated three… yes… THREE former SCW Bombshells Internet Champions and now she is set to take on none other than the best Bombshell in the world in Andrea Hernandez for the SCW Bombshells Internet Championship. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you… Jessie Salco!!!!”

The sound of crickets playing through the speakers is heard in a loop as “Jessie Salco”... or rather, my intern Regina dressed as Jessie Salco with an exaggerated rock star getup, including a short, black wig, walks out on the stage. She gives the “rock on” sign to the empty audience before sitting on the chair.

“Dude, where’s my fans?” Regina asks in an exaggerated rockstar accent.

“...I have no idea…” Angelica states.

“I guess this is what I get for doing nothing but disappointing my fans ever since I’ve been in SCW. It’s damn obvious that I am the biggest disappointment of this company’s history. ZERO world championships? Come on man! How is that possible? I just plod along being increasingly irrelevant while all the other Bombshells pass me by! Hell, even my own friends in Krystal Wolfe have passed me by. It’s SO SAD!”

“Jessie, why do you think you have never won the big one?”

“Honestly? It’s because I’m just not good enough. If that wasn’t bad enough I like… give up on myself SO easily, chicky! Like, how many times have I said that I am going to stop chasing the world title? In many different ways, I’ve even said that I’ve given up on ever being a world champion. Shit, I’ve given up on myself so bad that I didn’t even bother signing up for Blast from the Past this year. I’ve never believed in myself enough. SURE, I pull a fluke win every now and then out of my ass, but I don’t do anything with it.”

“Is this why you have done NOTHING with your big four way win that got you a title shot against Andrea to begin with?”

“OF COURSE!”

“What do you think your odds are to beat Andrea?”

Regina pulls out a big bottle of Jack Daniels she had hidden inside of her leather jacket and takes a swig of it.

“I got no chance in HELL chicky… that Andrea chick is SO powerful DUDE! Like… every time we’ve been in the ring together, she’s kicked my ass and Inception will be no different, you know what I mean? In fact… Andrea makes me drunk…”

Regina takes another swig of Jack Daniels.

“But the real shit is that deep down in my heartless soul, I know I got no chance of beating her. I know I’m not good enough. I know I will NEVER be good enough. My win over those three world champion chickies was the biggest fluke since I beat Johanna for the Roulette title, you know what I mean? What’s gonna happen at Inception is that she’ll beat me and just like after Johanna won the title back from me, it’s back to obscurity for good ol’ Jessie Salco beeotch! ROCK ON!!!!”

“Why did you give up your ambitions on becoming world champion?”

“Cause like, I’m not good enough. I wasted my window of opportunity when I was in my prime by smoking too much REEF and drinking too much Jack! WOOOO!”

Regina finishes off the Jack Daniels. She stands up from her chair and begins ranting.

“I’M NOT GOOD ENOUGH! I’M NOT GOOD ENOUGH! That’ll be my next hit single CHICKY… I’M NOT GOOD ENOUGH! I might as well drink myself to death before Inception because when I face Andrea I’m gonna DIE ANYWAY!!!!! WOOP WOOOOOOOP!”

“Are you DRUNK?”

Before Regina can answer the question, I come up from behind and smash a stunt guitar over her head. Regina dramatically falls to the floor and Angelica exits stage left.

“Oh Jessie… you HAVE to be drunk if you think you even stand a chance of beating me! You are NOT going to pull an EVIE JORDAN here! You don’t get to pull a Cinderella run out of your ass and take a title from me like she did. ‘BUT I BEAT THREE FORMER WORLD CHAMPIONS’ you might say as evidence that you are getting better. NO, Jessie. You’re NOT getting better. You have ALREADY peaked. Even YOU know that you will never be the SCW Bombshells World Champion and that’s why you won’t even bother with Blast from the Past anymore. You see Jessie, your win over ‘three former world champions’, you think that’s supposed to fucking impress me? Don’t get me wrong, Jessie. Beating Dani, Seleana and Alicia in one match is impressive… IN 2018!!!!!! OH WOW! I’m supposed to be SO intimidated by the fact that you were able to beat three Bombshells that were relevant more than three years ago! WOW! You beat someone that JUST came back in Dani Weston who not only has done NOTHING since her big failure of a comeback, but who beat you one on one prior to High Stakes. WOW! I’m SO IMPRESSED that you beat Mrs. Crystal Hilton… or is it Mrs. Alexandra Caldwell now… when she is coming off the worst year of her career and when she won what? Like 5 matches throughout ALL of 2021? WOW! I’m SO taken aback that you beat Alicia Lukas who has faded SO hard and who has become SO irrelevant she’s crying and bitching on Twitter wondering if she even has it anymore and she has to settle for facing CANDY. You beat three people on the decline BIG WHOOP! If your opponents were Amber, Myra and Roxi, you’d be doing the ONE thing you’ve ALWAYS been good at throughout your career here and that’s getting PINNED because you’ll NEVER be good enough to beat ANY of them one on one.

What? You thought I was throwing “be better” back in your face just to mock you for that stupid comment you made about Myra?

I mean sheesh, you have GOT to be the most insecure woman this roster has ever had next to Amber ‘Crybaby’ Ryan herself. Before the four way, you even called EVERYONE, including yourself, a LOSER! THAT right there proves what I am saying, Jessie: that you only WON that match because you were going up against three people that are bigger losers than YOU. Way to bury your own victory and render it meaningless before it ever happens, you fucking idiot! Calling yourself a loser is a sign that you don’t even believe in yourself anymore and that, Jessie, is exactly why you can’t and you won’t beat me. You just don’t believe in yourself anymore. You don’t have the spark to rise up and be a consistent winner and you’ve never had it which is why back in the day you had the likes of Amy, Mercedes, Roxi and Sam Marlowe all surpass you with ease. Somewhere along the way, Jessie, you realized you were never going to be good enough to be the best in SCW and you just gave up on yourself and this was LONG before I ever came to this company myself. You are the wrestler that has done nothing but settle for mediocrity here. Hell, the fact that you have been in this company as long as you have is an example of the dumbest form of LOYALTY I’ve ever seen. You can easily branch out and try your hand somewhere else and win a world title, but NAH, you stay here and you ACCEPT mediocrity because you’re too chickenshit to expand your horizons elsewhere. You stay here and accept mediocrity because you know deep down that you don’t deserve better and SOMEONE LIKE YOU  who thinks THAT low of herself and has the worst self-esteem on the roster is SOMEHOW supposed to beat ME: the most dominant bombshell on the roster in 2021?

Get the FUCK out of here with that.

Get the fuck out of here with your basic bitch ‘picking up her own teeth’ line that you got out of level one of wrestling school and don’t even TALK about me picking up my own teeth when YOU have been picking up your shattered dignity your entire SCW career. Hell, you’re so fucking insecure that going into your match with Keira, you were SO WORRIED about me interfering in your matches. SORRY JESSIE, your matches are NOT worth me interfering in knowing that you have mastered the art of losing all on your own better than ANYONE else on the roster COMBINED!  Maybe that’s why you drew with Keira, huh? You could’ve beaten her and gained some serious momentum, but NO, you fucked up and you settled for a draw all because I was in your head going into that match worrying about me interfering. That’s YOUR fuck up Jessie, and it’s the EPITOME of what you are: AN ABSOLUTE FUCK UP! Cry about the fact that I used your own words against you with Denzel all you want, but YOU are the one that set yourself up to that. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR ONCE, JESSIE! That is ON YOU! ‘BE BETTER’ aren’t just two words that you stupidly said to Myra as an overreaction to her having a fucking off night, no those two words DEFINE YOUR CAREER! Those two words are what you SHOULD’VE BEEN all along but never were and never will be because you never had it in you to BE BETTER! BEING BETTER is FOCUSING ON WHAT IS IN FRONT OF YOU, which you clearly did NOT during that Denzel interview because instead of focusing all the way on Team Hero, you’re making comments like ‘I hope Andrea is watching’ as if that match meant anything to me. There you are worrying about me getting involved in a match again and there you are asking if I heard your ‘threat’. There you are going into another match letting me live rent free on your head when I have no motivation or reason to screw you over and when I have no reason to do the ‘send a message’ bullshit.

Fuck Jessie, you’re not even WORTH sending a message to! That’s how far you have allowed yourself to fall.

And SURE ENOUGH, in ANOTHER opportunity to prove that your win over those three wrestlers wasn’t a fluke against Team Hero, YOU FAILED! Sure, it was Krystal that ate the pinfall, but that is STILL a loss on your record. It took you TWO WEEKS, Jessie, TWO WEEKS to waste that victory. You had TWO weeks to gain momentum against me and you didn’t get it done. THAT is why I started off this presentation mocking you and painting you as THE failure of the SCW Bombshells Division because that’s the TRUTH and the WHOLE truth. The sad part about this whole thing Jessie, is that you ALLOWED YOURSELF to be that way. You want to go blame everyone else for your problems or you want to talk shit about someone else’s issues while avoiding your own and yet, you’re sitting there in the corner of your hotel room wondering why you’ve never made it past where you’ve been and doubting yourself and calling yourself a loser in promos and letting rivals get inside of your head, thus ending ALL chances of victory before the match even starts. And why wouldn’t you doubt yourself? Big wins for you come as often as a Jets Super Bowl victory! Prior to that four way, your last “big win” was your Roulette title win against “Do Nothing” Krieger which turned out to be a terrible fluke when you won the title and a horrendous loss that made YOU look worse when you lost the title to her considering she’s done NOTHING ever since. Prior to that, it was the Chamber of Extreme against Evie who in all honesty, is just an upgraded version of you that got lucky and caught me while I was down on myself and grieving the death of my father.

You don’t get to be the next Sin City Wrestling fairy tale at my expense, Jessie. If you REALLY look into my career since the streak began, I have truly been a CINDERELLA KILLER! I KILLED a Cinderella story when I beat Mercedes for my championship. I KILLED another one when I ENDED Dani Weston’s precious comeback story. I KILLED another one when I beat the WORST Blast from the Past winner EVER, male or female, in Ruby Steele right after she won the tournament due to Mark Cross carrying her ass the whole time. Ruby wasn’t the same after I beat her and I’m going to SHATTER your Cinderella story just like I shattered Ruby’s. Come Inception, you get to face REALITY again and that reality is simply the fact that Jessie Salco will once again fall short when it matters the most as once again, just like Team Hero, just like Myra, just like Amber… TWICE…

You can try to preach to all of your little buddies at Go Gym that you can beat me and you can sit in your corner trying to convince yourself that you will… but you CAN’T… you WON’T… just just because on many occasions I have proven myself to be FAR SUPERIOR to you… but because deep down inside, whether you want to admit it to yourself or to anyone else or not, whether you want to deny it or not, you KNOW you can’t beat me, you KNOW that you WON’T beat me. You are walking into yet another chapter of you failing where it counts the most and the bitch is, you’ve already done half of the work for me with how LITTLE you really believe in yourself. I’m in your head, Jessie… all it took was the words “BE BETTER” to get there.

THINK long and hard Jessie, and ask yourself: ‘Do I really believe I can beat Andrea?’

When you answer that question? The answer? It’s going to be NO!

And you KNOW THAT, don’t you?

I’m Andrea Hernandez, the CINDERELLA KILLER and I approve this message…

STILL the SCW Bombshells Internet Champion!”

I snap my fingers and head back through the curtains putting a quick and sudden end to the “Rock-A-Thon” I put together and causing the cameras to fade out.

[Jessie Salco]

Inception V was almost here and Jessie’s challenge for Andrea Hernandez’s Bombshell Internet Title was right around the corner! The veteran had already surprised everyone when she defeated Danielle Weston, Alicia Lukas and Seleana Zdunich to earn this shot last month but can she do it again? Andrea has had an iron grip since she won the tournament to crown a new champion so time will tell if Jessie can pull off another upset!

Jessie’s home gym, Las Vegas, Nevada
Sunday the 16th of January 2022, 22:00am

Well, this year is already off to an interesting start.

Let’s start with the obvious, I’m starting the year by challenging Andrea Hernandez for the Bombshell Internet Title next Sunday night but aside from that? Well, that asshole whose been stalking Krystal’s eighteen year old cousin Cassie made an appearance and frankly was lucky that me, Krystal and Ari were downstairs with Cass, why? Because we wouldn’t have let him get away, we would’ve left his bloody, beaten and unconscious form outside of the nearest hospital with a note saying “this guy was stalking an eighteen year old girl” stapled to his head.

Anyone who thinks even for a second that that’s a bit harsh clearly doesn’t know a woman who’s being stalked, whether they are as young as Cass or as old as me but I digress.

“Err, Jess?” I looked up and saw Jake and Shane at the door to the basement, being a basement there wasn’t really any windows in here and I had left my phone upstairs earlier. “You realize that it’s 10:00pm right?” Jake asked and I turned to them with a confused look on my face.

”It is?” I asked them before checking the time on my watch, sure enough it was ten o’clock at night and I don’t usually stay down here this late. ”Time flies when you’re preparing for a Bombshell Internet Title Match.” I commented dryly before leaving the ring and walking up to the two men in my life.

“You can say that again, then again that sentence could apply to any title match in SCW.” Shane nodded in agreement “You ready to call it a night yet?”

”Just about, I think I’ve done as much preparation as I can get away with tonight without overexerting myself.” I responded with a nod as I glanced back towards the ring that was the centrepiece of the home gym, it was smaller than most wrestling rings, about a quarter of the size of the ones SCW uses, but considering it’s in a basement and not really intended to be used by a wrestling promotion it fits my purposes perfectly. ”And I’ll be back in here tomorrow, trying to prepare for the match against Andrea.”

“You’ve done as much as you can up to this point Jess.” Jake pointed out and I turned to him before nodding in agreement. “At least it won’t go as badly as that match against the Slamazon.”

”Shane told you about that, didn’t he?” I asked as I cringed at the memory of my rather painful debut on the Florida indy circuit at the age of eighteen. ”Considering Andrea isn’t a six foot, two hundred pound former bodybuilder turned wrestler last I checked? I doubt it will.”

“Here’s hoping that that won’t be the case.” Shane nodded as we made our way up the stairs to the living room before he turned to me. “Have you given any thought to what we discussed during our date the other week?”

”Time and a place Shane, time and a place.” I responded as I shook my head and Jake just ignored us as he continued up the stairs. ”And no, I haven’t, how about you ask me about that after the title match, deal?”

“Deal.” Shane nodded before we followed Jake up the stairs.

What I wasn’t telling them was that I didn’t spend all the time in the home gym training for the match against Andrea, I spent a good chunk of that time reflecting on the past ten years of my SCW career, I guess the fact that his year will be the tenth anniversary of my SCW debut helps.

I’ve accomplished a lot in the ten years I’ve been with the company, but I know I have so much more left to do!

PTA Gym, Las Vegas, Nevada
Monday the 17th of January 2022, 10:00am17:00pm

Let’s be honest with ourselves here.

If I want to even stand a chance at beating Andrea on Sunday I’m going to need all the help I can get and then some, as annoying and egomaniacal as she is Andrea spent the entirety of 2021 undefeated for a damn good reason and whilst I have been training at the Wolfslair Gym down in New York since I earned the shot, well, I’m looking to expand my options and training myself in the home gym can only take me so far.

And right now? I’m looking at a school run by one of the first wrestlers I interacted with in SCW all those years ago.

“I understand that you are considering training here to prepare you for the match against Andrea Hernandez Jessica.” Matthew commented as I stepped into his office and I frowned, it’s been known for years that calling me by my full first name was a good way to get under my skin and Matthew was continuing to use it regardless. “But we are willing to offer you training in the long term, who knows? Maybe my training methods would be enough for you to dethrone Amber, much less Andrea.”

”First off Mathew, I don’t call you Matt, so don’t call me Jessica!” I insisted with a frown on my face and Matthew put his hands up apologetically. ”Second, I’ve tried four times to beat Amber, including her SCW debut in 2020, even with your training I seriously doubt that the fifth time will be the charm this time!” I added as Matthew’s phone went off.

“Never say never, that’s how the old saying goes, isn’t it?” Matthew asked before he answered the phone. “I thought I told you that I wasn’t to be disturbed.”

“Sorry Matthew but Krystal just showed up and she’s furious.” Lizzie’s voice rang through the speaker and I raised an eyebrow in response. “I think it’s about that tweet Cassie put out earlier.”

“Understood, send her up.” Matthew responded with a sigh before he hung up and turned to me, I looked at him with a raised eyebrow and Matthew rested his hands on his desk. “You haven’t been on Twitter much today, have you?”

”Aside from agreeing with Krystal on not seeing much tension on the SCW Twitter timeline when Chloe Benton commented on it? No, not really.” I responded as I shook my head before retrieving my phone from my pocket to check the timeline, it didn’t take me long to realize what Matthew was talking about or why Krystal was furious, and frankly? I agreed with the Aussie! ”You call yourself a respectable gym yet you tolerate a male student body shaming a young female student?”

“We do not tolerate or condone such behaviour from the students, male or female.” Matthew insisted before the doors swung open and Krystal stepped in. “Ahh Krystal, we were just talking about you.”

”Then you know why I’m here.” Krystal responded as she stormed into the room. ”Frankly that prick’s lucky that he didn’t tell Cassie to lose weight or I would’ve gone straight into the gym and stretched him out for an hour or two! What are you going to do about that?!”

“The situation between Travis and Cassandra has been dealt with, Cyrus made him apologize to her face.” Matthew insisted and we shared a unconvinced look. “I assure you it won’t happen again.”

”He was body shaming an eighteen year old girl who already has stalker issues and is just barely taller than me!” I pointed out as I folded my arms. ”And I’m five foot two for fuck’s sake! Cass doesn’t even have the right body type to be a bodybuilder, much less a muscle head wrestler!”

”I couldn’t have put it better myself Jess.” Krystal whispered to me with a big grin on her face and I returned the grin before fist bumping the Bombshell Roulette Champion. ”I want to hear this Travis apologize to her for myself, I take it that they are still in the building?”

“Indeed, today’s session won’t end for another half an hour, I’ll have Cyrus send them up.” Matthew nodded in understanding before he made the call, a few moments later the doors to the office opened again and the two trainees stepped in though apparently the session was wrapping up because they were in their street clothes. “Cassandra, Travis, I understand that the situation between you two has been resolved?”

”Yeah we talked it out after that tweet I made reached Carter’s ears.” Cass nodded before glancing over at her older cousin. ”Krystal wants to hear it for herself, doesn’t she?”

”Got it in one.” Krystal nodded in response before she turned to Travis who was easily a foot taller than her, being six foot five and having a typical “big strong man” build gave me the impression that he was a former football player or at the very least a bodybuilder. ”Travis, isn’t it? I believe you have something to say to my younger cousin?”

“Man, do I really need to do this?!” Travis complained and that immediately rubbed me the wrong way, and one look at the look Krystal was giving him was all I needed to know that the feeling was mutual. “Okay, okay, fine, I’m sorry.”

”I’m sorry for what?” Krystal asked as she cupped her ear with her hand. ”I’m waiting Travis!”

“I’m sorry I told Cass to put some fucking muscle on her scrawny ass! It’s not like she ever had a chance at dating anyway!” Travis snapped at the older woman and me, Matthew and Krystal just stood there with our jaws hung open, Cass, on the other hand? She said nothing for a good few minutes before running out of the office in tears. “What? Can’t handle the truth?!” Travis called after her and at that point, I had a good mind to stick my knee firmly between his legs and do the human race a fucking favour.

”Was that how your mom told you to treat women?!” Krystal demanded and if she wasn’t angry before, she was now! Thinking quickly Krystal turned to Matthew. ”Matthew, you have two options, either he’s expelled or I’m firing you and Marty as my managers and taking Cass to the Go Gym!”

“You can’t be serious?!” Travis demanded as if he was totally innocent in all this, off course one look at Matthew’s face was all I needed to know that he had seen enough. “She doesn’t even work here Matthew.”

“But she is my client, and you just insulted her youngest cousin! You are frankly lucky that Krystal hasn’t punched you!” Matthew responded with a scowl before he quickly signed the paperwork, “Travis, as of this moment you are no longer welcome here, and by the end of the day you will no longer be welcome at any other wrestling school in the state of Nevada.”

Travis didn’t say much after that but he did storm out like Cass did, albeit in anger rather than tears, I turned to Matthew without a second thought. ”Where is the women’s bathroom?”

“Down the hall, first door on the left, you think Cassie went there?” Matthew asked and I nodded in response. “If that’s the case she likely locked herself in there, I’ll have Lizzie unlock the door for you.”

”We’ll take Lizzie with us, save you the trouble.” Krystal nodded before we stormed out of the room. ”I’m sorry you had to see that Jess.” Krystal apologized as we made our way down the hall. ”I don’t usually get that angry but that idiot had it coming.”

”Hey I get it! My family’s mostly adopted kids, me included, but we’re close enough that we’re practically related by blood, and I know Jake would’ve put him through the wall if he had said that to me when I was her age!” I assured Krystal as I turned to the younger woman who nodded with a grin on her face. ”Hell, I had half a mind to kick him in the balls if we’re being honest! But right now, we need to find Cass!”

”Yeah, it’s not that far from the lady’s room, hopefully your hunch was right.” Krystal nodded in agreement before we approached the lady’s room, it didn’t take long for us to figure out that I was right, for one thing Cyrus and Andreas were standing there with disgusted looks on their faces and we could hear Cass’s sobs from a mile off. ”Either Matthew told you what happened or Cass did, which is it?”

“Both.” Cyrus admitted as he glanced up at us. “Travis was long gone by the time Matthew told us, he was lucky.”

”How so?” Krystal asked with a raised eyebrow and Cyrus sighed.

“Since my wrestling career ended, I’ve focussed on being a family man, I have a young daughter who looks a lot like Cass.” Cyrus explained and it didn’t take us long to figure out what he meant. “Even if that wasn’t the case, I was taught to respect women growing up and what Cass just went through is unacceptable on so many levels.”

“Likewise, except I have two daughters, twins.” Andreas added and we nodded as we got the idea. “You can rest assured that he wouldn’t be walking if we had known what he said to your cousin Krystal.”

”I appreciate it Andreas, and I take it you’ve been trying to get through to her?” Krystal asked and the two large men nodded. ”But with all due respect, this needs a woman’s touch.” Krystal added and the two men respectfully backed off to give Krystal space as she approached the door. ”Cass? It’s me, the situations been dealt with!”

”Are you sure?” Cass called back in between sobs and we shared a look with Cyrus and Andreas. ”But those things he said…….”

”Cass, calling him an idiot is an insult to idiots, don’t pay attention to what he said.” Krystal responded as she shook her head and I made a mental note to use that line if I ever found myself in a Twitter conversation with either The Troll or Hayley Halsey, or both. ”Matthew expelled him, he’s never coming back here or to any other schools in the state, trust me, on that.”

”And don’t even get me started on what he said about your appearance, frankly you’ll have a line of guys stretching down the strip when you decide to start dating! Or girls, I’m not here to judge!” I chimed in and Krystal glanced up at me whilst Cyrus and Andreas had a good chuckle at my line. ”And you don’t need to be buff to be a wrestler! I was never that buff and I’ve been wrestling since I was your age!”

”What we’re saying is, you shouldn’t let pricks like Travis get to you.” Krystal added and I heard some movement coming from the other side of the bathroom door. ”I’ll take you back home and we can talk it out in the car, don’t worry.” Krystal added and then the door unlocked before Cassie opened it, her eyes still red from all the crying she had done, without another word she hugged her older cousin and Krystal returned the hug. ”Thanks for the help Jess, though I doubt this was how you expected your trip here to go.”

”What are friends for right? I’ve got some stuff to discuss with Matthew but you guys should pop by my home gym tomorrow.” I responded as I went to head back to Matthew’s office. ”I’ll want an update after all.”

”If she’s up for it, we’ll be there, though her showing up should be enough of an update really.” Krystal nodded in response and I grinned before I walked off.

Jessie’s home gym, Las Vegas Nevada
Tuesday the 18th of January 2022, 18:00pm

It’s the final countdown.

Don’t think I need to explain what I mean by that, but I will anyway! We’re two days into the week of Inception V and my Internet Title Match against Andrea is almost here, I’ve been training as hard as I can without pushing myself too far but the real test will come on Sunday when I challenge Andrea for the Bombshell Internet Championship.

But at least I’ll have some company today.

”Glad to see you guys took me up on the offer.” I commented as I watched Krystal and Cassie make their way down the stairs that led to the basement gym, Cassie did seem to be in higher spirits compared to when I saw her yesterday but that wasn’t exactly saying much. ”How are you feeling Cass? And what’s the latest on Travis?” I asked as the two Australian women approached the ring.

”Well, for one thing, the most surprising thing to come out of the fallout from that incident was that he has a girlfriend and she didn’t immediately dump him when word spread of the reason for his expulsion.” Cassie replied and I gave the eighteen year old trainee a surprised look as she started working out. ”Last I heard, they were moving out of state, Matthew has been in contact with the other wrestling schools in the state so he had no chance of enrolling in another school here in Nevada.”

”And yes that includes the Go Gym, Gabriel said that that was the first time he and Matthew had spoken to each other in years when I asked him about it.” Krystal chimed in as she leaned on the ring apron. ”Only downside is, his girlfriend was another trainee, so the PTA Gym is down two students.”

”That tells me one of two things, either it’s an abusive relationship that she can’t get out of or they deserve each other.” I responded with a frown and Krystal nodded in agreement. ”I take it your parents know what happened?”

”Krystal explained the situation as soon as we got back home, my mom’s first instinct was to make sure I knew that I was better than Travis in every single way and that the right person would find me eventually.” Cassie responded as she continued her workout and io nodded as I got the idea. ”My dad on the other hand? Let’s just say that I’m glad Travis moved out of state.”

”In other words, the look he was giving me told me that he was ready to buy a gun, track down Travis and kill him for saying that to his daughter.” Krystal elaborated as we turned to her. ”I doubt there’s a jury in the country that would’ve convicted him once the truth got out but me and Cassie agreed that it was for the best that we don’t test our luck, especially after the Kyle Rittenberg case.”

”Fuck it, I would’ve paid his attorney’s fees if he couldn’t afford a lawyer!” I responded with a grin as I started warming up for the sparring session. ”But I’m just glad that you’re feeling better Cass, frankly this sport has enough mental health issues as it is without throwing body image issues on top of it.”

”You’ve got no argument from me there, Jess, that’s for damn sure.” Krystal nodded in agreement as I finished working out and I started my spar session with Cass. ”Cass was on her A-Game at the PTA Gym today and I doubt this session will be much different!”

”Sounds like they got rid of the dead weight.” I responded as I started sparring with Cass and true to her older cousin’s word, she was on top form today. ”By the way, did Cyrus and Andreas say anything to you?”

”They made sure to take me aside in between runs and make sure I was all right, so did Matthew and Lizzie for that matter.” Cassie explained and I nodded as I got the idea. ”I got a lot of support when I posted about it on Twitter but you already know about that.”

”Cassie actually complained about the other students taking it easy on her because of the incident.” Krystal added and Cassie shook her head with a laugh. ”But they were concerned about her mental health for obvious reasons.”

”So they should! Now, let’s get sparring before we end up talking for the rest of the night!” I added and Cassie nodded before we started sparing.

Meet and Greet at local record store, Las Vegas, Nevada
Tuesday the 18th of January 2022, 19:00pm

*promo time*

Coming full circle.

”Officially I’m here to do some PR work for SCW ahead of Inception V but considering that the promo for the match that got me the Internet Title Shot against Andrea took place at a meet and greet I figured I may as well bring it full circle and do the same thing for my second promo against Andrea! Like I did at that autograph signing I’ll be taking questions about the match from the fans before I launch into the promo proper so, first question?”

A male fan was the first one tp speak up.

“Jessie, Andrea’s title reign has been as dominant as her undefeated record in 2021, how do you think you can beat her and end her reign, much less her undefeated streak?” The fan asked and I nodded before thinking for a minute.

”All good things come to an end, it’s a simple fact of life! Andrea may have been dominant in 2021 before her reign started but nothing lasts forever!” I commented before shifting my weight. ”Let’s take the clock back a year to Inception IV, shall we? If you recall, a faced a similarly dominant Bombshell in the Chamber of Extreme Match at that year’s event, does the name Evie Jordan ring a bell? It should, because her dominance ended when I pinned her, only downside was that she had already lost the World Bombshell Title by that point but that’s a situation that’ll be remedied on Sunday when I end Andrea’s dominance in the same way!”

“But Andrea’s been on one of the hottest streaks for over a year.” A female fan chimed in as I turned to her. “You just got lucky when you beat Alicia, Dani and Seleana……….”

”Ahh, that old narrative huh? Where did you get your definition of lucky from? The Troll?!” I interrupted the fan and didn’t give her a chance to answer. ”If I won that Fatal Four Way Match by luck, the match result would’ve read “Jessie Salco pinned Seleana Zdunich via surprise roll-up whilst Dani and Alicia were brawling on the outside” instead of “Jessie Salco pinned Seleana Zdunich after hitting her with the Circle Pit after Dani and Alicia were taken out”, do you see my point? Luck had nothing to do with it, it was all about skill and if Andrea thinks for a second that it was purely luck, then she had better pray for that same luck to come to her on Sunday because she’s going to need it!”

“Say you are the one to dethrone Andrea.” Another female fan chimed in as the other one sat down and I turned to her. “What’s next for you?”

”You mean besides celebrating the start of my second Internet Title Reign? I honestly don’t know.” I responded with a shrug and the female fan nodded as she got the idea. ”My immediate thought will off course be “who will be my first challenger” assuming that they don’t immediately book a rematch between me and Andrea for the first Climax Control of the year off course! But here’s one thing I do know, I already shocked the world once when I won a match that I wasn’t supposed to win and nothing short of a miracle in Andrea’s favour will stop me from shocking the world again by dethroning her!” I added as the fan sat down. ”Two more questions before I jump into my promo.” I told the fans and another male fan stood up.

“There has been rumours that your considering retirement in the tenth anniversary of your SCW debut.” The fan stated and I gave him a surprised look because this was the first time I had ever heard of it. “Is there any truth behind them?”

”Well considering that these rumours are news to me, what do you think?” I asked and the fan quickly got the idea. ”Truthfully though? It was something I had considered as the years dragged on, calling it quits as soon as I hit my early thirties, but after seeing Myra Rivers have a dominant reign with the Bombshell Internet Title when she’s five years older than me? Yeah, I figure that I’ve got a good few years left in me at the very least! [color] I added and there was a murmur among the crowd when I said that. ”I’m not saying that I will have a reign like Myra’s or even Krystal’s, but I am saying that I’m far from done as far as the wrestling business goes!”

“Well, you said one last question so here it is.” A female fan said as she stood up and I turned to her. “Do you think you’ll ever win the World Bombshell Title at this rate?”

”That’s a tough question because we’ve all seen how good Amber is, not to mention how vicious she is in the ring! But it’s like I said, never say never! But for now,  want to focus on winning the Bombshell Internet Title.” I added as the fan sat back down and I toll a sip from my drink. ”So, any last questions or can I jump straight into my promo?” I asked the crowd and when they shook their heads I went straight into the promo.

This will be good.

”You said it yourself Andrea, out of me, Dani, Alicia and Seleana I was the last one you expected to win that Fatal Four Way Match, it got to the point where Christian admitted that you could’ve knocked him down with a feather when the match result was announced.” I stated before fixing my hair. ”But we’ve both been in this business long enough to know that nothing is set in stone, isn’t it Andrea? I already proved that when I won the Fatal Four Way and I proved it again when I got that draw against Keira the week after that! Now granted, I definitely would’ve preferred a time limit draw to a double count-out but I’ve been playing a game of “what if?” for the past six years of my wrestling career and quite frankly? It’s gotten tiresome.”

But hey! What can you do?

”But let’s play one last game of “what if”, shall we Andrea? What if I shocked the world again and dethroned you on Sunday Night?” I asked before grinning. ”I bet you’ve just started laughing your ass off because in your mind, you are unstoppable, am I right Andrea? You’ve even had the whole “President of the Internet” thing going since you won the Internet Title Tournament last year and whilst I could make a joke about our two most recent US Presidents, that would be too easy.”

Yeah, I’m going back in time for a deep cut here!

”There’s a decent chance that you’ve never heard of the 15th US President James Buchanan, as far as US Presidents go, he’s definitely one of the ones who doesn’t get brought up that often in history class but he’s also a guy who the historical consensus agrees is the worst US President in history, I won’t bore you with the details but his attempt at playing a moderate essentially laid the groundwork for the US Civil War, that said you’ve probably heard of the guy who succeeded him, one Abraham Lincoln!” I added as I shifted my weight. ”What I’m getting at Andrea if this about being the president of the internet, then you are James Buchanan and I am Abraham Lincoln, and the internet’s about to go from one of the worst presidents ever to one of the best and that will, obviously start when I dethrone you on Sunday.”

Pop quiz time!

”So, pop quiz for the fans here, who here remembers what the two words Andrea said after my draw against Keira were?” I asked and it didn’t take long for the fans to shout “do better” in unison. ”Great, you all get an A+! I bet you thought that you were so clever, right Andrea? Using the same two words against me that I used against Myra back at High Stakes XI? Here’s another history lesson for you Andrea, Myra made me eat those words in the Chamber of Extreme and if you think for a second that you won’t fall into the same trap, well, as the saying goes, those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it!”

It’s that simple.

”Do I need to spell it out for you Andrea? My choice of words to Myra motivated her so much that she found a new lease on life and beat me, and aside from the new lease on life thing you’ve made the same mistake against me!” I explained as I flipped some hair over my shoulder. ”And guess what? That same mistake is going to cost you the Bombshell Internet Title this Sunday Night, you wanted me to bring the same motivation Myra brought to my Chamber of Extreme match against her? Well, you’ve got it!”

And with that I decided to wrap things up.

”And all the consequences that come with it because it’s time to kill a streak!” I said as I pounded my fist against the table. ”And end a title reign in the process! Like I said, I got this far by shocking the world once, and I’ll do it again by shocking you with a little Blood Lightning on my way to my second Bombshell Internet Title Reign this Sunday at Inception V! I’ll see you in the ring Andrea, hopefully for a relatively peaceful transition from champion to champion!”

The meet and greet continued as normal as the scene fades.

[Andrea Hernandez]

“Even before I started, I was always a ‘Cinderella’ with professional wrestling considering that my father never wanted me to be a part of it at all and how fortunate I was that things fell through with my brothers. The idea of being the ‘Cinderella’ was ALWAYS something that disgusted me…”

July 2015

“You definitely need to work harder, Andrea…” my father told me backstage at a show in Flagstaff, Arizona much to my annoyance. “...every single match that you’re in, you’re always the underdog. You need to do more to stand out. I’m getting really sick of people underestimating you.”

“You think I WANT to be a Cinderella story my whole career?” I asked my father, showcasing that annoyance in my voice. “I HATE being the underdog ALL the time! I’m sick of being disrespected and treated like I know nothing about wrestling from promoters and peers that I deal with. When I dreamed about being a wrestler, I figured that our family name was going to make me admired and respected from the word go. I thought I’d be seen as a serious threat because of our family name, but NO! Everywhere I go, DISRESPECT! ALL THE TIME!”

“Andrea, I appreciate the fact that you HATE being disrespected as an underdog all the time. You SHOULDN’T have to accept that role. Unfortunately, admiration and respect is something that has to be earned in this business.”

I let out a very audible, annoyed sigh.

“Dad, shouldn’t FIVE generations and more than a CENTURY of our family’s heritage and tradition alone do that? When people think of the Hernandez name, anyone affiliated should be RESPECTED IMMEDIATELY!”

“That won’t happen when nobody in our family has ever broken the American mainstream…” My father reminds me as he shakes his head. “You’ll find out the hard way someday…”

Did I ever…

February 2018

“I know the odds are against me considering how I was struggling at first after Sedona Sky broke up…” I told a group of fans at a meet and greet a week prior to GCW’s Civil War event. “...but that’s not going to stop me from beating Jenni Anderson and winning my first singles championship in her North American title!”

“It won’t be Jenni’s anymore when you’re done with her!” one of the fans stated, much to the amusement of everyone, especially me.

“I started from the bottom and I’ve worked my way up. I promise you all that there is NO WAY Jenni is beating me tomorrow even if many people don’t think I can! You all have a great day!”

I could only smile as the fans left. It wasn’t long before a group of five blondes came to me carrying a box. They were all wearing blue shirts.

“Andrea! Heeeey! We want you to sign what’s in the box”

“Sure, why not?” I said with a smile.

I opened the box and I saw a pair of glass slippers. I immediately expressed annoyance on my face and I could hear the girls laughing in front of me.

“We figured we’d help you with some proper attire, CINDERELLA!”

The group of girls removed their blue shirts to reveal “Team Jenni” shirts. This infuriated me further as they continued to taunt me.

“Face it ANDREA! You’re NEVER going to amount to anything in professional wrestling!”

“YEAH! You’re going to need a miracle to win! CINDERELLA!”

“Always the CINDERELLA and never the bride! You should’ve just taken the money when she offered it to you and lied down for the greatness that is Jenni Anderson!”

“Jenni is going to mop the floor with you! You are FAR below her league! You are STUPID thinking that you’ll beat her! She’s going to expose you as someone that will ALWAYS be a tag team wrestler!”

“Yeah! She’s about to end your silly little CAREER and fuck your father too! HAHAHAHA!”

I grabbed the glass slippers out of the box and tried throwing them at their heads. I missed, but this scared them off and caused them to run even if they were still laughing at me as they did so.

“I AM NOT A FUCKING, SMALL, SAD, WOE IS ME CINDERELLA UNDERDOG STORY DAMN IT! I’M SO MUCH BETTER THAN THAT!”

Everywhere I’ve gone: GCW, OCW and early on, SCW, I’ve always had to accept having that ‘Cinderella’ crap shoved down my throat and having to be that putrid underdog story that always shocked the world…

April 13, 2020

Inside of my Saxon hotel room, I was beaming with pride as I looked at the SCW Bombshells World Championship that I had won just the night before. I held the championship close to me as I looked in the mirror while I had a wrestling podcast playing on my laptop.

“Let’s talk about that main event last night…” the host said.

“SURE!” concurred the co-host. “In the biggest SHOCKER of this year in SCW…”

“Shocker…” I said to myself, unhappy.

“...Andrea Hernandez SOMEHOW defeated Roxi Johnson and Christina Rose to become the new SCW Bombshells World Champion. This girl, who only joined the company 8 months ago, suddenly became a world champion. How did this happen?”

“Those Cinderella runs man…” the host said, angering me. “I’m going to be real. Andrea is only champion because the rest of the Bombshells roster still hasn’t figured her out yet. She is very lucky in that regard. When you haven’t even been around a year, that gives you an advantage because they don’t know what to expect.”

“That’s without saying that this is Christina and Roxi… two of the old dogs in the division. She was a non-factor in that elimination chamber. If that triple threat was Alicia and Mikah, forget it. She gets blown out of the water…”

“Are you FUCKING KIDDING ME?!?!?!?!” I screamed out loud.

“Does Andrea make it to Into the Void with the world title?” the host asked.

“No…” the co-host answered. “...even Christina might rip those glass slippers off of her feet and smash them over her head. She’s good, but she’s NOT main event ready or ready to carry a promotion. She’s not GREAT. Right now, she’s a fluke whose spotlight is too big for her…”

“If she gets to Evie Jordan, that fairy tale of hers is about to be shattered. Andrea will be completely exposed by her…”

I slammed my laptop shut at this point and already, I was feeling defeated and like the biggest win of my career meant nothing…

“I guess I’ll never be better than ‘Cinderella’...” I said with a lamenting sigh and watering eyes, effectively giving up on my title reign before it ever got started.

January 18th, 2022

"...NOW do you understand why I worry and feel so insecure with myself and why I have some trepidation of you becoming a wrestler yourself? I don't want you going through what I have…”

I was saying this to my curious, younger half-sister Savannah as we both hung out in my “Internet studio” where I typically generate my on-camera promo ideas. Savannah, surprisingly, didn’t seem determined by what I had just told her.

“You’ve always felt disrespected haven’t you?” Savannah said with a lamenting sigh. I merely nodded at this.

“I always hated how my Bombshells World title win was dismissed as a fluke right away from the wrestling media and before long, the roster was all over me too. I walked into my first Climax Control as the world champion, and all I heard was ‘fairytale’ this, ‘Cinderella’ that, fluke this, fluke that’ and every fucking time I heard it from someone on the roster, this bitterness in my heart just grew. I didn’t win that world title to be considered a fluke. I won that title to be considered the best wrestler in the world. But nope, a bunch of jealous bitches took that away from me. That bitterness pushed me to want to shatter the notion SO bad and it threw off my focus so much that by the time I got to Into the Void, I had already fucked myself out of the world title… losing it to someone who would ultimately be a fluke, Cinderella champion herself…”

My eyes narrowed with bitterness.

“I worried about what people thought of me then… just like I do if I happen to lose the title to Jessie. I wouldn’t worry about it so much if I wasn’t ridiculed for losing a title before. That is the nature of wrestling: people are that fucking petty and immature that they'll jump at your throat for ANYTHING!”

“But did YOU actually believe that you were a fluke, Cinderella world champion?”

I let out a sigh of regret.

“By the time I got to my second defense? Yeah…” Savannah’s eyes widened in shock at this. “It’s a cruel business, Savannah. I’m still not sold on you being a part of it yourself. It got worse when I was ridiculed for months following that title loss. Even now, I’m STILL ashamed of that world title reign… and the last thing I want is for my Internet reign to be just like that. They hurt my feelings so much, Savannah…”

Savannah has a look of worry in her eyes while I was going through those same feelings in my heart all over again: the embarrassment of losing the title so soon, especially to someone that wound up being proven as a fluke herself, ironically by Jessie Salco in Chamber of Extreme, the worthlessness that I had felt for so long once the other Bombshells began to ridicule me over that defeat and the emptiness that numbed me when I realized I had a huge opportunity to really establish myself as the absolute best and I absolutely blew it.

“It was torture. It was Hell. I felt like… like I didn’t even belong in Sin City Wrestling….” I said as my eyes began to water. “It was the most brutal torment I ever went through in my entire career. If I lose this title to Jessie… if I go through that torment again. Really Savannah, do you think I WANT to deal with that torment again? HELL, why would YOU, aspiring wrestler and all, want to risk dealing with that?”

“Andrea, I understand why you had been freaking out to Chelsea and everything and I know the risks. I get that wrestling can be cruel. But, my mother always told me that words and opinions of other people are just that and they don’t mean anything. It was a hard time for you, but you’ve proven to be so much stronger than that. Maybe Chelsea wasn’t wrong about you losing your love for wrestling to an extent because if she was wrong, you wouldn’t be fretting the consequences of something that ISN’T going to happen…”

“There were quite a significant number of people that thought I was going to retain against Evie…” I recalled, as I wiped a tear away with those cold, sickening feelings from the time still having a hold of me. "Evie was one thing, but JESSIE SALCO? How the FUCK can I live that down? Are you SURE you want to do this, Savannah? Would you be able to handle that? I really DON’T want you to go through the same thing. It’s hard enough to deal with it myself, but to see my own blood go through it someday… it’s something that I’m not sure I can handle. The thought of people picking on my little sister and just burying her left and right like they did to ME… and like they MIGHT do to me again if I were to lose to Jessie…”

I couldn’t hold back the tears at this point as my worries were really starting to get to me.

“You should have more faith in me than that. I’m strong enough to handle it. You forget that at one point, I had to deal with the big shock that my father wasn’t who I thought I was and that I had a whole different family that I didn’t know of. That was the hardest obstacle I’ve ever had to go through in my life, Andrea. My world was SHAKEN. I was DEVASTATED when I first learned the truth about who my father was. I pulled through that. Anything wrestling related is a piece of cake compared to that. I’m starting to understand why you diverted your focus to the Internet title instead of trying to get the world title back though…”

“...excuse me…” I said with a hint of annoyance in my voice.

“Isn’t that what happened? Didn’t you get so bitter that you went for the Internet Championship instead so you wouldn’t go through the same heartbreak and pain all over again?”

I let out an angry sigh and stood up from my chair, slightly scarng Savannah. My anger was flowing through me like wine and I even paced the floor of the studio trying so hard to control my anger. Savannah really struck a nerve with me there but my heart knew that she hadn’t meant to do so. I did turn my back to her for a little bit. I knew in my heart that there was truth to Savannah’s question, but I was too stubborn to actually admit this to her. I could hear Savannah stand up and walk behind me.

“Did I do something wrong?” Savannah said, causing me guilt as I heard the worry in her voice.

“No… you didn’t…” I responded, partially lying to her. “I can’t believe after all that I’ve told you today, you STILL want to be a wrestler. I’ll be brutally honest, I was hoping I’d persuade you NOT to be one…”

“...ANDREA! You said you were behind me on this! If you’re not, why did you give me a job to ‘earn’ wrestling school tuition? You were just trying to stall me, weren’t you?”

“Of COURSE I was trying to stall you!”

“Is it because you think I’d be better than YOU?”

“Savannah… SHUT UP!” I screamed, causing her to be shocked. There was dead, awkward silence in the air for a moment. I quickly regretted saying that and when I turned around, that regret would be deeper as I could hear some sobbing coming from my sensitive little sister.

“You hate me…” she said through her tears.

“...No… no I don’t…”

Turning around and seeing her sitting back down and crying into her knees as she curled up on the chair really broke my heart.

“I’m sorry, Savannah. I… I took out my insecurities on you. I’m not trying to crush your dreams or anything like that…”

“Well what else could it be, Andrea?” she asked me as she looked up at me, her face flooded with tears.

“I’m trying to protect you from going through the same things that I have…” I explained through tears of my own. “This business is going to fuck you up just like it fucked ME up… and I don’t want to see that happen to you…”

“It fucked YOU up because why? A bunch of bitches at the place you worked with acting like the workplace is high school? Because you’ve had to prove people wrong over and over again? Because you went through hell when you first started? Didn’t our father NOT want you to be a wrestler for the same reason you don’t want ME to be one? Ugh, I thought you were better than him!”

“I AM better than him, Savannah!”

“Show me then!” Savannah said to my surprise.

“I will… somehow… how can I show you that I am better than him?”

“By being the sister I imagined you’d be. I thought you’d be this big inspiration to me and everything because I always saw you as a wrestler that did your best no matter what, that proved hopes and dreams to people like me. Instead, I have a sister that instead of embracing what she’s been through, she rejects it and acts like having to prove people wrong over and over is such a horrible thing all caused by some bullshit paranoia over something that ISN’T going to happen. You hate Cinderella stories like Jessie because you were one yourself and you’ve always been bitter about it when YOU embraced that label with your fucking ego and wanting to accomplish ANYTHING not to better yourself, but to silence other people. Not ONCE have you EVER accomplished anything to be better. It’s ALWAYS been about proving people wrong. You’re not the sister I thought you were… or would be…”

This really froze me in my tracks. I truly was speechless for a change, not knowing what to say.

“Just beat Jessie and show me that sister that I WANT you to be. Is that too much to ask? You’re acting like losing to a Cinderella like her would be the end of the world just because it happened to you ONCE with the World title. I mean for fuck’s sake, was losing to Evie really the end of the world after all?”

“No…” I said, still feeling stunned and surprised.

“For crying out loud, how many times have you silenced the critics during this win streak?”

“...a lot…” I admitted.

“Proving people wrong REPEATEDLY like you have over the years is what drew me to you in the first place. I watched you on television, wrestling for GCW, before I even realized you were my sister. I saw you win the North American Championship to culminate your journey of becoming a singles star after the struggles you went through and that inspired me so much. THAT was the moment I started wondering if I could be a pro wrestler myself. If you want to dismiss that part of your career, you’re dismissing yourself and what you accomplished being the ‘Cinderella’ you never were… except in your own mind only because you ALLOWED other people to label you as one. Your lack of self-acceptance is what creates the insecurity in you that saps your true love and passion for the sport completely out of you…”

“...you’re right…” I admitted with shock in my voice. “...I have always been a perfectionist that is so hard on myself. For years, I’ve always based my own self-esteem on the perception of others…”

“Well STOP IT, Andrea…” Savannah said through the tears that were still flowing down her face. "It doesn't matter how you got to where you are, or how much of a 'Cinderella story' you thought you were before. It doesn't matter how many times you have to prove people wrong, you ALWAYS do. What matters is why you do what you do and the validation YOU win for yourself.”

“...and I’ve won so much of that self-validation…” I admitted. “...how did I not realize that until now?”

“Don’t listen to the idiots that say you’re defined by a winning streak, because you’re not. You’re MORE than a streak. You NEVER needed validation from anyone other than yourself. Learn how to love yourself for a change and you’ll find that spark again that Chelsea was talking about. WHEN you find that spark, Jessie stands no chance against you! I KNOW IT! If worse comes to worse and you get ragged on for losing the title to her? So what. You’ll silence the idiots because THAT IS WHAT YOU DO! You would then move on to the world title that you’re so afraid to go for all because of what happened before and probably win it because that’s how fucking good you are…”

I took this moment to dry Savannah’s eyes as she took a deep breath.

“You’re right, Savannah… that IS why I’ve avoided the world title. After that horrible experience, I just didn’t think I’d ever be worth that again. Going through what I did tore my spirit out of me… and I’m not sure that I’ve ever gotten it back to its fullest extent.”

“Please get that back, Andrea… for me!” Savannah said, her pleas causing me to tear up again. “Remember who you really are and don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise. Quit pressuring yourself over the past and quit worrying about what ‘might’ happen when you and I both know that it WON’T happen. I want you to be the brightest spirit you can be when you defend that title against Jessie and I want you to show me that you ARE the sister I think you are…”

“Okay…” I said with a sigh. “I can do that. I’m sorry about being so mean regarding your wrestling career. I would still prefer if you DIDN’T go for that, but it’s also wrong of me to stop you. I may not agree on this with you, but you have my support, I promise!”

Savannah surprised me when she suddenly swept me up in a happy embrace.

“Thank you so much…” Savannah said to me as I returned her embrace.

“No, thank you. I’m not going to burden myself with my streak, the past, or any possible consequences over something that is not going to happen. I was stupid to get SO insecure over an insignificant nightmare that doesn’t mean anything AND taking out those insecurities out on you. I love you! I’m so happy to have you as my sister and I’m going to make you as proud as I can make you, okay?”

Savannah said nothing as the both of us basked in the warmth of our burgeoning sisterhood getting stronger as a result of the bump in the road we both faced and overcame together…

Later…

I was alone, sitting on my bed and getting ready to fall asleep while I was reflecting on the conversation Savannah and I had.

"They can't take anything away from me!" I thought to myself, reflecting on the vultures known as the critics that tried to run me down at one point and how I silenced them throughout 2021. “I’m NOT losing my Bombshells Internet Championship to Jessie Salco! I’m NOT losing another title to another CINDERELLA STORY! I KNOW that I have that spark and my spirited love in the business within me even throughout the hardest times. If I never had that spark, I wouldn’t have endured the Evie Jordan embarrassment. I wouldn’t have survived the embarrassment of my last loss two High Stakes ago. I wouldn’t have had the 2021 that I had. I STUCK to my beliefs through ALL the hatred and ridicule that came my way and through it all, I STILL found a way to maintain my love for this business.

I thought it had shrunk, but now I’m seeing that it’s only GROWN and that’s what has pushed me to be better. That love GREW because in 2021, all I ever did was prove to MYSELF that I was capable of overcoming ALL of the obstacles I ever faced. Yeah, maybe I am not so proud of the fact that I had that ‘underdog story’ earlier in my career and maybe I am not so proud of my world title reign, my wasted time in OCW, the nonsense I’ve dealt with earlier in my career, and all of that. But those bad memories built who I am just as much as the bright ones. Maybe I shouldn’t beat myself up anymore. The way I am going to grow and maintain the spark within me and ensure that I defeat Jessie and send her packing to the back of the line again is to start accepting myself and how I've become who I am, even if it all wasn't a bright spot…

I’m ANDREA HERNANDEZ damn it!

I don’t need to be anyone else but ME!

And NONE of those two-faced bitches in the back are going to tell me otherwise no matter what the fuck happens at Inception…”

Needless to say, with this epiphany and relieving myself of my burdens and worries as a result, I slept very soundly that night knowing Jessie stood no chance of beating me…

January 20, 2022

ANDREA HERNANDEZ PRESENTS:

“ROCKARELLA”

THE STORY OF A GIRL WITH BIG DREAMS THAT ALWAYS FAILS WHEN IT MATTERS!

I stood on the stage of the amphitheater I typically do my promos in. The stage had a Cinderella background with a castle and everything. I was standing by with a book in my hands while there were three actresses portraying three women while Lorenzo, my boyfriend, was portraying a prince. In the distance, Regina was portraying “Rockarella”, who of course was Jessie Salco, while my mother of all people was in this skit as well. I cleared my throat and began to ‘read aloud’ from the book.

“This is the story of a girl with big dreams, the story of someone who has been part of the village of SCW for 10 years and yet, has never been the belle of the ball… ALWAYS second rate. The story begins with Rockarella trying to play her guitar and failing…

Regina tries to play guitar and fails.

“UGH! Why do I suck SO MUCH?”

“JESSIE!” my mother blurts out as she enters the scene. “Why do you keep trying to play that fucking guitar? You know you’ll NEVER be able to do it! I don’t know why your parents ever even bothered giving birth to you! Seriously.”

“Okay stepmother…”

“Why don’t you go back to the basement where you belong? You seem to like it down there being the resident runt of SCW village. You’ll never BE BETTER than what you actually are: just a cockroach that hangs around too long that can’t be killed but will never be the bride…”

“I know I’ll never be the bride, stepmother. That’s why I’ve given up on ever being a world champion.”

“What’s that on the floor?” my mother asks, referring to a note. Regina picks it up and reads it.

“OH MY GOD! I have been invited to the INTERNET BALL… BY MR. INTERNET HIMSELF! OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD! This is my chance to finally BE SOMEONE!”

“...there are belles in this village that deserve it more than you Jessie…”

“I’m not Jessie… I’m ROCKARELLA… BITCH!”

Regina points the guitar at my mother and a laser sound effect goes through the auditorium while my mother dramatically feigns being killed by collapsing to the ground.

“So, Rockarella killed her stepmother to finally shut her up. Now, to the INTERNET BALL SHE GOES!”

Regina moves over to where the three women are. Each woman represents Jessie’s recent opponents in Seleana Zdunich, Dani Weston and Alicia Lukas. My boyfriend Lorenzo walks into the scene with a golden ticket in his hands.

“IT IS I… MR. INTERNET! Welcome to the Internet Ball. In my hand is a golden ticket where the belle that I present this ticket to will challenge the HISTORICALLY GREAT Andrea Hernandez for the title of PRESIDENT OF THE INTERNET! I am going to make my decision now… beginning with YOU… “Se-lame-a Sandwichovich!”...

“Mr. Internet was not impressed with the fact that Se-lame-a just hasn’t cut the mustard this year…”

“The great Andrea has already conquered you one too many times. Get lost.”

Se-lame-a cries and runs off the stage.

“Now we have YOU… Dani Eastwest…”

“Mr. Internet yawns at how boring she was and how she has largely done nothing since returning to SCW Village.”

“...you should be exiled from SCW Village again! Get lost!”

Dani Eastwest shrugs and walks off the stage.

“And then there is YOU… um… who are you again?”

“Elisha Bluekas and you should pick me because I am the absolute best, I have been the belle of the village three times and at one point was the belle of the village the longest. You should pick me because everyone else sucks but me. The village revolves around me even though I have done nothing since Keira Fisher conquered me like the annoying, overrated, repetitive, self-delusional WHORE that I am. I am entitled to everything and my opinion always matters even if nobody listens to me anymore!”

“Get lost…”

“BUT I’M ELISHA BLUEKAS DAMN IT!”

“Who?”

“ELISHA BLUEKAS!”

Rockarella smashes her guitar over the back of her head.

“Thank you… um… Rockarella, right?”

“Yes…”

“Here you go… your golden ticket… even if you only won it because the other three are lamer than you are and you aren’t exactly special yourself. I guess winning things by default is the only way you’ll get anywhere, right?”

‘Rockarella’ celebrates as Mr. Internet hands her the golden ticket and leaves.

“I WON! I WON! I WON! I SHOCKED THE WORLD AND WON! THIS IS A DREAM COME TRUE! I’VE FINALLY MADE SOMETHING OF MYSELF AFTER ALL! THIS IS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE!”

Suddenly, chimes ring, representing midnight and I step into the scene.

“Hi! I’m Andrea. Your challenge for president of the Internet starts now and… sorry… story’s over for you!”

“Rockarella” acts confused as I grab her from behind and throw her off center stage.

“NO!!!!!! I’VE BEEN PUT IN MY PLACE AGAAAAAIIIIIIINNNNNN….” she screams as she lands on a mattress below the stage!

“And so, this story ends the way it’s going to end at Inception… the underdog falling at my feet and the CINDERELLA KILLER ending yet ANOTHER feel good story! You will ALWAYS fail when it matters, Jessie! ALWAYS! It’s like you learned NOTHING from when I defeated Mercedes to win this title. Worse, it’s like you learned NOTHING from when I beat you in the tournament in round one to begin with. Remember that? Remember how you were wanting to ‘pull the upset’? You’re going to fail at Inception the same way you failed then. I saw your stupid little talk show interview. That UNDERDOG mentality is the WEAKEST mentality that you can have, Jessie because right out of the gate, you’re already DEFENDING your victory against three women that don’t even have it anymore calling the critics ‘salty’. You’re showing your INSECURITIES ALREADY just from ACKNOWLEDGING the TRUTH that you only won that match because the competition that you faced was COMPLETELY unimpressive. You acknowledged that Dani and Alicia were the favorites and you didn’t even pin EITHER of them to get this title shot, so in essence, you just made your victory in that four way match even LESS credible than it already is! Wow! GREAT JOB, JESSIE! I’M the one with the ego, yet YOU are the one trying to make pinning Seleana Zdunich a big deal when it hasn’t been a big deal since the night she lost the Roulette title.

Yeah, I DO have a fucking ego, but I’ve EARNED IT! But contrary to what you think, it WON’T be my downfall. If my ego was my weakness, I wouldn’t have even WON my championship in the first place. In fact, EGO is my STRENGTH because with EGO comes CONFIDENCE! I went into that tournament KNOWING that I was the favorite to win and I teared through that competition, including you. Yet, you want to sell this lame, Cinderella underdog story to the masses acting like you’re going to shock the world, you’re hanging on to this false hope and using your underdog story as your last ditch effort to INSPIRE YOURSELF because deep down inside, you know you can’t and that you aren’t going to beat me. Trust me, I was there. Summer XXXtreme 2020? I knew deep down I wasn’t winning the world title back, so all I got to cling to was my father’s death and the inspiration that was coming from that because I was just as broken and shattered going into THAT match as YOU are coming into this one. It’s all false bravado coming from you. There’s NO WAY you’re confident enough to beat me especially since you couldn’t even capitalize on your momentum with your draw to Keira and your loss to Team Hero. You can’t tell me that after your draw to Keira, you weren’t crying your little eyes out in the corner thinking ‘shit, I already wasted the momentum from a win I wasn’t supposed to get in the first place. You can’t tell me that you weren’t crying over Krystal’s then-unconscious body saying ‘I’m screwed’ over and over after your Team Hero loss KNOWING that you have NO MOMENTUM coming into this match whatsoever.

Yet, you want to treat this match as if I’m the one acting like I have an easy defense, right?

Let me tell you something, Jessie. Having LOST a title in SCW to someone that YOU YOURSELF exposed as a glorified Cinderella story in her own right when you ran her out of SCW in the Chamber of Extreme match that you had with her, I MADE that mistake ONCE… and I’m damn fucking sure that I’m NOT going to make it again. You don’t get to walk into Inception thinking that you get to STEAL a victory from me just because I would overlook you. Shouldn’t you fucking KNOW BETTER, Jessie? You’re going into this match with the SAME MINDSET you had the last time we wrestled each other. ME overlooking YOU is the ONLY HOPE IN HELL that you have of beating me and I DIDN’T overlook you in the tournament, so why the FUCK would I overlook you now? WHY are you hoping SO BADLY that I overlook you? Because me having an off night is REALLY your only chance in hell of beating me. Sorry Jessie, but no matter HOW BADLY you want me to see you as one so you can take advantage of it, I’m NOT thinking ‘nice, easy defense’ to start off 2022. Not only would I be making the same mistake I did with the world title, I’d be a FUCKING HYPOCRITE if I did because like YOU, Jessie, I was that Cinderella story once…as much as I hate to admit it. Every single big match I had, I was the underdog that everyone overlooked. But unlike you, I didn’t embrace it… I HATED IT!

I KNEW in my heart I was BETTER than being a stupid Cinderella story.

When I won my first singles championship in GCW, the dominant North American champion I dethroned? I relied on my own HEART AND DEDICATION to rip that title from her hands.

When I defeated Christina Rose and Roxi Johnson for the world title nearly two years ago, I WAS the underdog Cinderella story that SEEMINGLY stood no chance because they had WAY more experience than I did and yet, I did what YOU are hoping so DESPERATELY to do and that’s ‘shock the world’ and win the title. Do you HONESTLY think that I did that by embracing being the bullshit, Cinderella story? FUCK NO, I DIDN’T! Do you honestly think I went into that triple threat HOPING, PRAYING AND RELYING on Crystal and Roxi to slip up and overlook me? HELL NO, I DIDN’T! I didn’t win against those two because they slipped up or because they had an off night and I sure as hell didn’t win that match because I RELIED on them to, I won that match by being BETTER than them. PERIOD! I EARNED that title and really, when you think about that four way that you won, Seleana was the weakest of the four and Dani and Alicia had their egos stuck so far up their asses they didn’t even consider you a threat. THEY were the ones that slipped up and YOU had to rely on THEM to do that just as much as you are PRAYING that I slip up myself. You know that straight up, when we are BOTH on our absolute best games, you CAN’T beat me and that’s why you have to rely on LUCK rather than SKILL. THAT is why the underdog mentality you have going into this match is absolute BULLSHIT and is the WEAKEST mindset that you can have because when you have that underdog mentality, you are doubting your own skills, even if you don’t consciously realize it. Having that underdog mentality and ACKNOWLEDGING that you’re the underdog is an ACKNOWLEDGEMENT to the HATERS that they are right about you.

I WON that Bombshells World Championship when I was in the exact same position that you are in because I NEVER acknowledged myself as the underdog, I NEVER went about it with a ‘shock the world’ mentality and I NEVER doubted myself for a second when I WON the championship. I was HATED by the locker room because HOW DARE I go into that match NOT accepting the underdog role and believing from the moment the match was booked that I was the best wrestler of the three the entire time. Granted, I fucked up and relapsed BACK into that mentality during my reign and after when I tried to win it back but once I got rid of that STUPID underdog mentality for good, I have been nothing but DOMINANT. Ever since I ditched that mentality I’ve lost ONE match… ONE… and I ultimately became FAR more relevant over the last year than that putrid, disgusting bitch that defeated me even though she won the world title again from Keira Fisher last year. You’ve become nothing but a glorified pity party, Jessie… always feeling sorry for yourself and even feeling like you’re not worth anything anymore when you consider your previous statements about ‘giving up’ on the world title and not even bothering with Blast from the Past. It’s like at some point, you’ve just embraced being the lovable loser of the Sin City Wrestling Bombshells division when you’ve done NOTHING to even EVOLVE over the last ten years. Sure, you mature as you age and everything, but the reality is, you are STILL the same Jessie that walked in here 10 years ago. TEN YEARS and aside from natural maturity, you haven’t changed ONE bit. It’s no wonder that while the likes of Keira, Roxi and Crystal have all moved on to have Hall of Fame caliber careers and while the likes of Myra and Amber have joined the fray and surpassed you so quickly and easily, that you continue to stay behind in the land of mediocrity and the fact of the matter is, Jessie, mediocrity is where you are DOOMED to stay in for your entire career. If you SOMEHOW make the Hall of Fame, it’ll be nothing but a mere reward for longevity and loyalty and not because of anything you did in the ring.

THAT, by the way, Jessie, isn’t my ego talking.

It’s all FACT!

You have nobody to blame for your own mediocrity except yourself. You HAD your window of opportunity to prove that you were better than embracing the bullshit, Cinderella role and that window has LONG come and gone, Jessie. You have fallen SO FAR down the hole of mediocrity that ‘shocking the world’ and embracing the role of the underdog is really the only trick in the book you have left. Come Inception, the same old narrative is going to play out with you and that narrative is that on the biggest stage, under the brightest lights, Jessie Salco is a MASSIVE CHOKER… the biggest one in the history of the SCW Bombshells Division. Your lack of ability to evolve tells ME that you’re going to try to beat me the same damn way you failed to beat me last time. You don’t get to rely on a champion overlooking you the same way you got to do that when you SOMEHOW pulled a Roulette title win over Johanna Krieger out of your ass… because that is NOT the wrestler OR the champion that I am… I wasn’t that when I eliminated you in the Internet Championship tournament and that’s not going to change at Inception.

You’re NOT wrong in the sense that nothing lasts forever and that my winning streak and my Internet Championship reign is going to come to an end at SOME point, but what the fuck makes YOU think it’s going to be YOU? It WON’T be you not necessarily because you’re not talented enough… granted I AM superior to you in that department… but it WON’T be you because leading up to this match, you’ve shown NOTHING that indicates that you’ve grown stronger and are capable enough to pull it off. Your lack of momentum since that fluke four way win and embracing the stupid underdog nonsense instead of ACTING LIKE YOU’VE BEEN THERE BEFORE has already sunk your hopes and dreams of ‘pulling the miracle’ before the match has even started. You’ve fucked yourself into a corner Jessie, and with just THAT alone, I KNOW I am going to REMAIN undefeated and REMAIN the SCW Bombshells Internet Champion when it’s all said and done at Inception!

Hey, thanks for doing half the work for me already you FUCKING IDIOT!

Sorry not sorry, “ROCKARELLA”, but Inception? It’s MIDNIGHT for you and when midnight hits, once again, Jessie Salco will be left empty handed as she further illustrates the story of her career: always the maiden locked up in the basement she’s always belonged in, never the belle of the ball!

The CINDERELLA KILLER will SHATTER yet ANOTHER miracle underdog story come Inception and REMAIN the most dominant champion in the division today!

I’m Andrea Hernandez… STILL the SCW Bombshells Internet Champion… and I approve this message!

I scoff and exit stage right, remaining supremely confident that Jessie’s false bravado and her hopes and dreams will once again SHATTER at my hands when I am done with her at Inception.