Author Topic: “The Jester on the Throne.”  (Read 558 times)

Offline Jessie Salco

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“The Jester on the Throne.”
« on: May 26, 2022, 12:22:12 PM »
Jessie had a lot on her mind lately, the thirty two year old woman was fast approaching the tenth year anniversary of her SCW debut which fell on the 15th of July and whilst it wasn’t clear if SCW would be running shows during that period, one thing was clear, Jessie was thinking about retirement due to nagging injuries! Jessie was going to announce it at Climax Control 331 following Into the Void XI where she was left off the card but there was a male wrestler sized wrench in those plans.

Mark Cross and Amber Ryan had won this year’s King and Queen for a Day Ladder Matches respectively and Mark’s turn as king was up first, he had booked several matches with unique stipulations but the one that concerned Jessie was the Main Event where she was teaming with the newly crowned World Heavyweight Champion  Matthew “The Raven” Knox to take on Mark and Levana Cade in a tag team Blazing Tables Match, only way for either team to win was to put their opponents through for a blazing table or a regular table! Can Jessie and Matthew get the win?

Jessie’s home, Las Vegas, Nevada
Sunday the 22nd of May 2022, 18:00pm

This has been a long time coming.

As I entered my fourteenth year as a professional wrestler one thing was on my mind, that the time for me to hang up the boots for good was approaching fast! I know what you’re thinking, off the three “old women” who wrestle in SCW, I’m easily the youngest behind Myra Rivers (37) and Mercedes Vargas (40) at 32 years old but here’s the thing, I’ve been working the same high flying, high impact style since I debuted in the business at eighteen and aside from my yearly trips to Bloodstock in England, I’ve rarely taken any time off.

Bloodstock off course being a metal music festival, I don’t think I need to tell you that my body is a wreck.

When I was younger, I powered through the pain and fought through it, I refused to take pain killers because I was worried that I’d just get addicted to them like I was to hard drugs when I was a teenager and that didn’t exactly help matters, sadly it’s gotten to the point where I can’t really power through it anymore.

So here I am, at my laptop, doing something that I thought I wouldn’t do for another ten years at least, writing my retirement speech.

”Okay, just gotta get past this first paragraph.” I sighed to myself as I made myself comfortable at my computer, I had my phone by my side for when the first Climax Control Card of the cycle got announced but that was low on my priority list right now. ”Ugh, why is this so hard?! Just write the truth Jessie, that your body is broken down and it’s time you hung up the boots for the last time!” I grunted in annoyance as I was experiencing the worst timed case of writer’s block in my adult life.

I did eventually manage to write down a couple of more sentences before I got the text notification on my phone, I glanced over at it and when I saw that it was Mark Cross’s King for a Day card I ignored it, I had never really spoken much to Mark Cross and I seriously doubted that he had any ideas for me, I wrote down a couple of more sentences before I got another text which I initially ignored because I figured that it was the phone reminding me of my missed text, but when I reached over to grab a drink I saw that it was a text from Krystal. ”Hey Jess, no spoilers but you might want to check the card.”

”I doubt Krystal would’ve texted me that if it didn’t concern me.” I commented to myself before I checked the first text, I skimmed through most of the card and had a good chuckle at some of Mark’s crazier ideas and then I saw the Main Event. ”Well, that complicates matters.” I sighed before deleting all my work on my retirement speech and closing the word document, after that was done I facetimed Krystal. ”You could’ve just said that I was teaming with the newly crowned World Heavyweight Champion in the Main Event.” I greeted the Aussie who shook her head.

”And spoil the surprise?” Krystal responded with a good natured grin before she saw the look on her face. ”That’s not the look I was expecting you to give me.”

”It’s complicated Charlotte, I’ll explain it to you during the week.” I responded with a frown and Krystal nodded as she got the idea. ”Does Ari know about her match against Kayla? Last I heard, she was working a GCW Event in Greensboro, North Carolina.”

”If you mean Resurrection, then yeah, she worked night one of the event.” Krystal nodded to confirm what I had thought. ”To make a long story short, her match didn’t go her way even after she won, last I spoke to her she was flying back to Vegas with Francisco.”

”I had heard that the GCW Show was a three night event, so if things did go to shit then I’m not surprised that Ari chose to bail rather than stick around for night three.” I responded with a shrug and Krystal nodded in agreement. ”Did Ari say what went wrong at the GCW event?”

”She didn’t get a chance too, by the time she called me her and Francisco’s flight had arrived and they needed to get going.” Krystal explained as she shifted her weight and I nodded in response. ”I’m like an older sister to Ari, Cass and Adrienne and whilst Cass is the troublemaker and Adrienne’s the troubled one, Ari’s the mature one who knows she can talk to me about anything, in other words, whatever happened at the GCW show will probably be explained to me when she touches down in Vegas.”

”Probably as soon as you meet up at the Go Gym.” I responded with a nod as I shifted my weight. ”You didn’t answer my question about Ari’s match by the way.”

”Yeah, sorry I got side-tracked, assuming that she left her phone in airplane mode? She probably got the new card text at the same time we did.” Krystal apologized and I shook my head in response. ”So thoughts on teaming with the new World Heavyweight Champion?”

I decided to bite my tongue on why I was annoyed at being booked in a match like this, I’d rather keep my retirement plans as secret as I can. ”Knox surprised everyone at Into the Void X because pretty much everyone was expecting Mac to retain the title, instead Mac’s reign became the latest long runner to come to an end! He’s going to enter this match looking to prove that his title win wasn’t a fluke, but Mark and Levana will have their own agendas.”

”Let’s start with the obvious one, you handed Levana her first singles loss and Mark pinned Matthew two weeks later, both matches took place during the Greece Lightning Tour.” Krystal added and I nodded knowing where the Aussie was going with this. ”Levana will be out to avenge that loss, that much is obvious, and on paper it looks like Mark Cross is giving Matthew the same opportunity, but I think his ulterior motive couldn’t be clearer.”

”In other words, if Mark gets the win over Knox in this match, then he could try to parley that into a future World Title Shot, possibly at Summer XXXTreme X.” I nodded knowing that was what Krystal meant and the Aussie’s eyes told me that I was right on the money. ”But if that was his plan, why not put the title on the line during this match? It would be well within his power as King for a Day and he’d hardly be the only winner of those ladder matches to give himself a title shot!”

”Yeah I was planning on doing that with the Bombshell Roulette Title if I won the Queen for a Day Match and you’ve made no secret of your desire to do the same whenever you were competing in that match.” Krystal nodded in agreement as she folded her arms. ”Something isn’t adding up here,, did Mark really just use his powers to book a series of crazy matches whilst sticking himself in a Main Event match against the World Champion without the title on the line for the hell of it?”

”Who knows? Mark Cross has always been one of wrestling’s more colourful personalities.” I could only shrug my shoulders in response to that before I frowned. ”And there’s the elephant in the room, this match is a Blazing Tables Match, only way to win is to put your opponent through a table, blazing or otherwise.”

”I’ve heard of going down in a blaze of glory but that’s ridiculous! And no, I don’t mean the SCW PPV.” Krystal responded with a chuckle unwittingly adding further fuel to my thoughts on retirement, I heard Makayla’s voice from outside Krystal’s room and she turned to me. ”I’d better go, Makayla’s about to serve up dinner! She cooked up a beef brisket stew in a slow cooker for five hours.”

”Sounds so delicious that it’s making me hungry and I had dinner an hour ago!” I responded with a chuckle as Krystal stood up to go get her dinner. ”Just one quick thing before I hang up Charlotte, you have a serious future in this business, SCW and beyond, don’t let it go to waste by making the same mistakes I did.”

”Huh, that was oddly fatalistic, especially considering how often you’ve talked about retirement over these past few months.” Krystal commented with a puzzled look on her face and I remained silent. ”Does it have anything to do with that tweet you put out yesterday?”

”Tell you what? Pop down to my home gym at any point during the week and I’ll tell you, only condition is that our conversation never leaves my home gym.” I told the younger woman who quickly nodded in agreement before she hung up to go eat her dinner leaving me on my own. ”The future’s bright, but will it be brighter after I call it a day on my wrestling career?” I asked myself before I left my room.

Local café, Las Vegas, Nevada
Tuesday the 26th of May 2022, 17:00pm

Used to come to this café a lot, especially after I finally got a home for myself in Vegas, but since the pandemic hit that slowed to a crawl.

Still the place is small and quiet enough that I can grab a bite to eat and collect my thoughts in peace, make no mistake, retirement is still very much on my mind even after Mark Cross unwittingly delayed those plans when he booked this week’s Main Event Match but it was still a good chance for me to think things over.

”What to order, what to order?” I asked myself as I looked over the menu, I heard an older woman clear her throat and I shook my head thinking it was a fan. ”Sorry, I’ll be with you in a second, just trying to decide what to order.” I apologized to the older woman without looking up from the menu.

“I remember this place serving a decent Risotto the last time I was in Vegas.”  A familiar voice rang out and I finally looked up seeing my older sister Katie, not to be confused with Katie Storms off course but it was still a surprise to see her because the last time I saw my sister was when SCW was in Miami for the ill-fated homecoming tour of 2020, and if I need to tell you why a tour that took place in 2020 was ill-fated then you’ve been living under a rock for the past two years. “Off course, that was nearly nine years ago.”

”Time flies!” I responded with a grin before greeting my step-sister with a hug, with the exception of Jake my older siblings stayed out of my wrestling career, Craig did start training to become a wrestler but an injury during training put an end to that dream and Dan was just happy to watch from the side-lines with Katie. ”So, what brings you back to Las Vegas? I thought you had no intention of returning after Jake took over being my guardian?”

“Yeah and I still regret the circumstances that led to that arrangement.” Katie sighed as she sat down opposite me. “Me, Craig and Dan came down after we heard rumours from Jake and Shane that you were contemplating retirement.”

”Contemplating? More like being realistic about it.” I responded as I shook my head and Katie gave me a curious look. ”I’ve got more nagging injuries than I care to count to the point where I’m basically expecting my next medical check-up to end with the words “you can never wrestle again”, feel free to fill in the blanks as to what could happen if I do wrestle again!”

“Are you sure about that?” Katie asked and I nodded in response. “When was your last check-up exactly?”

”Last June, right before that year’s Summer XXXTReme, the doctor was surprised that I had been powering through that many injuries.” I sighed as I brushed some of my hair over my shoulder. ”Since then I competed in a Chamber of Extreme Match, a title match, a tag team hardcore rules match, a Roulette Rules Match that ended up being a Kendo Stick on a Pole” Match against the woman who would go on to dethrone Diamond Steele for the title at Into the Void XI, no one said that wrestling is easy but that doesn’t make it any less brutal on your body as you get older.”

“Jessie, you’re thirty two, there’s at least two women who are older than you on the Bombshell Roster.” Katie pointed out and I frowned knowing where my sister was going with this. “Myra Rivers and Mercedes Vargas are 37 and forty.”

”And they wrestle a different style to mine and have taken breaks, I’ve been wrestling the same style for the entirety of my career and have never taken a break.” I responded before letting out a deep breath. ”And I’m not even getting into my match this week.”

“If you mean that tag team Blazing Tables Match against Mark Cross and Levana Cade, Jake told me about it.” Katie commented knowing what I was talking about and I nodded. “You’re teaming with the newly crowned World Heavyweight Champion though.”

”Yeah and Knox surprised everyone when we won the gold from Mac Bane, he’s going to be out to prove that he isn’t a fluke champion and I know from personal experience that that can lead to desperation and recklessness.” I responded before letting out a deep breath. ”Knox can go in the ring, he’s a massive dick but he knows what he’s doing, I’m  not worried about him pulling his weight as long as he keeps his cool.”

“But it’s your opponents that your worried about?” Katie asked and I nodded. “What do you know about them?”

”Mark is……….a character, if you’ve seen the rest of his ideas for this week’s card you’d known what I mean, Levana arguably has more to prove than Knox.” I responded after thinking for a minute and Katie motioned for me to continue. ”She’s a product of the Go Gym, if you can name at least one former champion of the past several years, there’s a good chance that they came from the Go Gym, Levana is the latest woman to graduate and made her debut in this year’s Blast from the Past where her team, alongside another newcomer, reached the Semi-Finals, including wins over the then World Bombshell Champion in the Quarter Finals, a tainted win where the champion’s partner got pinned but a win..”

“Sounds like she’s had a hell of a rookie year.” Katie commented with an impressed look on her face. “So, what happened to her?”

”Levana’s been in a downward spiral since she lost that Semi-Final match, she lost the Bombshell Gauntlet at Blaze of Glory, lost to me in her first ever singles match and finally got her first singles win over Candy at Into the Void, I don’t think I need to say that it hasn’t been a good time for her.” I explained as I brushed some hair behind my ear. ”Mark said that she made Levana his partner so she could try to get the win back over me but I have my doubts as to whether he’s trying to convince the bosses to give him a shot at Knox or not! He already has a singles win over Knox so he’d at east have a decent argument if he gets another win.”

“And Jake wonders why I chose to let him take the reins, wrestling is just as much a political minefield than Twitter!” Katie sighed as she shook her head and I chuckled before nodding in agreement. “Whilst I’m here, I’ll pay for your meal.”

”Are you sure? Because I’m not exactly strapped for cash.” I pointed out and Katie shook her head.

“Jess, I flew from Miami to Las Vegas, I can cover it!” Katie assured me and when I realized that she wasn’t budging I let her pay for the meal.

Jessie’s home gym, Las Vegas, Nevada
Thursday the 26th of May 2022, 18:00pm

It’s certainly been a week.

Between my siblings popping down to see me because someone told them that I was contemplating my retirement as an active wrestler and that shooting down in Texas I was wondering what other direction this week was going to take, and whether I should tell Krystal to leave it for this week or not.

I didn’t and Shane just told me that Krystal had showed up with Cassie so I was busy making sure that the ring that was the centrepiece of the gym was in working order.

”Jess, we’re here.” Krystal called out and I looked up seeing the two Australian women making their way down the staircase. ”Sorry for the delay, had to wait for Cassie’s session at Hero Academy to wrap up!”

”It’s fine, I was just making sure that the ring was in working shape.” I responded after confirming that yes, the ring was good to go. ”How was the session Cass? Did you sass Keira again or is your arm in one piece?”

”I’m never living that down, am I?” The eighteen year old trainee asked and me and Krystal shook our heads at her cousin’s expense. ”Training was good, I’ve pretty much become Keira’s pet project since she opened the school.”

”Considering that it was your expulsion from the PTA Gym that led to Hero Academy’s creation? I’d be surprised if that weren’t the case.” Krystal responded before she turned to me. ”Anyway, Cass wanted to come down with me so she could train with you for old time’s sake, hope that’s okay.”

”That’s fine, I need the warm-up for my match on Sunday anyway! No pun intended, since it’s a Blazing Tables Match and all.” I responded with a shrug and Cassie grinned before she rolled into the ring. ”Besides, a part of me wants to see if these old bones can keep up with the younger generation.”

”Says the woman who’s not even thirty five.” Cassie pointed out and I shook my head, she was technically right but with my nagging injuries? I was feeling a lot older. ”But sure, maybe I will slow down a bit for grandma!”

”Going back to the sass huh? You’re lucky that I’m a lot nicer about it than Keira!” I responded with a grin before I started exchanging some basic holds with Cass and then transitioned into a standard “run the ropes” spot. ”That and I’m seriously considering calling it a day on my wrestling career before the year is over.” I added once we had finished the sparring session catching the two Australian women off guard.

”Huh, so that’s what that tweet was about, not to mention that comment when we talked on Sunday.” Krystal responded as she leaned on the ring apron. ”Are your injuries that bad?”

”Let’s just say that I’m expecting to wake up in a hospital bed after a match one day and then being told by a doctor that I can never wrestle again.” I responded bluntly as I folded my arms. ”I’ll spare you the details but years of being a high flyer who rarely took days off have finally caught up with me, I was going to make it official at Climax Control but Mark’s card nixed those plans.”

”And you don’t want him to scramble to find a new partner for Knox after he had to pull the Metal Maniacs out of retirement as a replacement for Diamond and Mercedes, though considering their opponents were Amber and Masque? I don’t blame them!” Cass commented and I nodded in agreement. ”But what’s the plan for after the match?”

”I’ll take a “wait and see” approach to that, who knows? Maybe that will convince me that I still have a few more years in me as a wrestler?” I asked hypothetically before leaving the ring. ”Charlotte, why don’t you spar with your cousin for a bit? I’ve got a promo to do!”

”Sounds good, I’ll call you if anything comes up.” Krystal responded before she entered the ring to spar with Cass.

Jessie’s home gym, Las Vegas, Nevada
Thursday the 26th of May 2022, 18:34pm

*promo time*

This will be interesting!

”So yeah, that thing I mentioned on Twitter? That I was going to announce on next week’s Climax Control? I won’t go into details but my presence in this week’s Main Event has forced me to put those plans on hold for now, and what a main event it is me, good old reliable Jessie Salco who’s been wrestling since some roster members were pre-teens, teaming with Matthew Knox in his first match as World Heavyweight Champion to take on the King for a Day Mark Cross and Levana Cade in a Mixed Tag Blazing Tables Match! Winning team is the one who puts an opponent through a table, blazing or not! Yeah, this is going to be interesting!”

To say the least.

”What do I think of my partner? Honestly? He’s a dick but at least Knox can get it done in the ring! But what I’m more curious about is Mark Cross’s game here, I mean, when was the last time that a king/queen for a day used their powers to not give themselves a title match on the show? Chrystal doesn’t count, she used her powers to secure herself a future title shot, but Mark isn’t even doing that! Let’s get started, shall we?”

Starting with the king.

”I’ll give you credit Mark because you’ve shown a lot more creativity than the usual King for a Day winner! Seriously, I looked at most of the matches on this card and I was wondering where the hell you came up with most of these ideas but you were at least constant in one thing with the other kings, you put yourself in a Main Event Match against the champ! Non-Title sure but I’m sure Knox will make you regret that choice one way or another.”

And now for Levana.

”I’d almost call Levana the queen in this match if Amber Ryan wasn’t on the same card! Anyway Levana, we meet again and the second time won’t be the charm for you! I’ll give you some credit for getting your act together and getting the win over Candy at Into the Void X but that’s where the praise ends because as talented as you are Levana, you still have a lot to learn and when you stand across the ring from me, school will be in session and if you didn’t learn anything from our first match, you’ll be in for a painful lesson!”

Seriously, why?

”There have been instances where I’ve wondered what the King/Queen for a Day winner was smoking when they came up with the matches and Mark? This is one of those instances because you’ve come up with some unique matches for this show! Will these matches find their way onto the Roulette Wheel someday? Probably, the bosses do like to keep the Roulette Division guessing, don’t they? But in this case, your choice will backfire on you Mark and Levana will be caught in the crossfire!”

It's that simple.

”On both sides we have wrestlers with wins over a member of the opposing team and the losers of those previous matches, Matthew Knox for me and Levana Cade for Mark, are looking to avenge those losses they suffered during the Greece Lightning Tour, unfortunately for you Levana Knox has something more than just a bruised ego to avenge because as the newly crowned World Heavyweight Champion he wants to show the men’s roster why he’s not a fluke champion! Mark Cross has every intention of denying Knox that chance but it’s not going to happen!”

And with that I decided to wrap things up.

”Because Mark is The Jester on the Throne, and everyone else on the roster realizes it! Don’t believe me? Just look at every other match this man has booked for his episode of Climax Control because he’s clearly gone made with power! Levana I almost feel sorry for you because you’ve been saddled with the mad king but it won’t be enough for me or Knox to consider going easy on you and when I strike you down like blood lightning Levana, Knox will expose the king for the jester he is! See you on Sunday!”

I returned to the ring to watch Cass and Krystal spar as the scene fades.