Blog: Almighty Firesemana del 29 de mayo al 4 de julio de 2022 By now anyone who follows my career knows that Into the Void is synonymous with Mercedes Vargas. My first pay-per-view match happened at Into the Void, I’ve defended and challenged for championships at Into the Void, I‘ve made history at Into the Void, I walked out the first ever four-time Bombshell Roulette Champion at Into the Void. So when this year’s supercard came and went, what did you expect would happen three weeks ago? Yet again, with my back against the wall, under the bright lights and on the biggest stage, yours truly fought through it and came out on top because that’s what I do.
Was it going to be easy? No. Not when your opponent outweighs you by some 200 pounds, that and her power advantage alone are reason enough to give any woman second thoughts at stepping into the ring against her. But I’m not just any woman, oh no. I’m the most successful Bombshell ever in the history of Sin City Wrestling. And at the end of the night, Ms. Jon ended up as just another name on my checklist.
You know, prior to the supercard the last three matches I had I lost them all so you know a win was coming eventually. When I’m on a little setback, it’s not for very long. Every wrestler wins matches, every wrestler loses matches, but it's the great wrestlers that are able to bounce back from a loss, or in my cases, a series of losses.
So, yeah. I had a pretty good night in Athens, Greece and enjoyed the flight back home. Now that I think about it, the fine Christian Underwood hit me with after attacking Ms. Jon’s manager at the go-home show was so worth it. The audacity to discipline me in the first place and the fine itself are both a joke, but if I had the chance to go back in time and do things differently, you know what I would have done?
Nothing!
Anyway, my first match following Into the Void should have been last week, but I’m not going to get into details right now. People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care. I didn't think people would care about me that much. Seems like I’ve become public enemy number because of the decision I made, and I’m ok with that because at the end of the day, that was my decision to make and there’s no one who can tell me different.
Except if your name is Alicia Lukas. Granted, some might say I’m at a slight disadvantage because I’ve never beaten her in my career and I've got nothing to gain in a match that I didn’t particularly ask for but at this point of my career, I don't give a damn who is front of me so long as my hand is raised at the bell. Now, it's no secret that I can rile up the division, but if I can get a reaction out of Alicia, anyone is fair game. Because when it comes to being hated, nobody does it better.
Alicia can go ahead and talk about the many times she’s beat me and hang those victories over my head but she should know well enough to know that no matter what she does or says that she will never shut me up.
Read my lips, write it down – I’m walking out of Climax Control with my head held high and my hand raised in victory. I’m going to end this losing streak to Alicia Lukas. So this weekend, I hope the Strong Style Southern Belle brings all the badassery that she has, make sure she practiced her Southern hospitality, but more importantly, I hope she’s prepared to be disappointed again. She's still funny, but the novelty is wearing out fast, which can only mean that it will be a matter of time before she becomes a fading star in SCW.~~~
S A N T A M O N I C A • C A L I F O R N I A [Mercedes raises an eyebrow her smartphone goes off. The display shows the incoming call is from her her mother. Mercedes shakes her head, sighs, then puts on a fake smile and answers.]
Mercedes: Hi Mom!
Estelle: Happy Mothers Day. Just calling in to see how you were. I hear Greece is nice this time of year.
Mercedes: I’m fine, thanks. And yes, Greece has been great. The sooner I get out of here, the better.
Estelle: Are you OK from your injury? I was worried sick after what that woman did to you. What kind of MONSTER throws someone off a stage. Don’t they know you have a livelihood?
Mercedes: Pretty sure my opponent was thinking the same thing before changing her mind. I tried to talk her out of it. Nevertheless, she persisted. Every shiner or bruise is a badge of honor. I’m still breathing, aren’t I?
The video cuts between Mercedes and Estelle on her phone now and again.Estelle: I don’t know what I would do if I were to lose you. I would be heartbroken.
Mercedes: You have Jorge. You know he was always the favorite.
Estelle: I don’t know think he even knows that, but that’s our little secret.
Mercedes: Really, Mom!?
Mercedes foes to end the call before she heard her mother’s plea.Estelle: Wait, wait. I have good news. Are you alone?
[Mercedes observes her surroundings before turning back to her phone.]
Mercedes: I’m alone. What is it?
Estelle: Well, there’s some good news, and some not so good news.
Mercedes: No news is good news.
Estelle: The bad news is, your father is getting a promotion at a new accounting firm in a few weeks, and he couldn’t be happier. The good news is... yeah, I was hoping to make something up to make this terrible situation seem better.
Mercedes: How do you do it?
Estelle: Do what, dear?
Mercedes: Raised me? It must have been crazy. You were always so calm and sweet with me.
Estelle: Well, you might not experience things the way I did, but every moment was a joy.
[Flashback to Estelle holding a crying Mercedes as a baby. Despite her best efforts, Estelle wasn’t exactly the baby whisperer. The flashback-present day sequence continues for the rest of this scene.]
Estelle: WHY DON’T YOU SLEEP?!
[Back to modern times.]
Mercedes: I don’t remember you yelling at me.
Estelle: How could I yell at that face.
[Flashback to young Mercedes covered in art paint. If she was supposedly Midas, instead of everything thing she touched turning to gold, everything she touched turned into paint. Let’s just say this wasn’t her attempt at artistic expression. A furious Estelle is pulling her hair, seemingly at her breaking point.]
Estelle: OH MY GOD! LOOK WHAT YOU DID TO THE WALLS! YOU JUST PUT PAINT ON THE WALLS! WHAT THE F**** IS WRONG WITH YOU?!
[Back to the present. Mercedes has a confused look on her face.]
Mercedes: That bad, huh? Sometimes I feel overwhelmed. Did you ever feel like that?
[Flashback to Mercedes, age six. Screaming kids run amok in the living room. Mercedes has icing all over her face. Estelle seemingly stands there in a trance as the crazy unfolds. She snaps out of it temporarily as she begins singing “happy birthday” on top of her voice.
Back to the present. Estelle is thinking.]
Estelle: If that did happen, I don’t remember it.
Mercedes: I always remembered how you were always put together.
[Flashback to Estelle holding young Mercedes by the hand as the school bus pulls up. Neighbors, school kids, and bus driver alike stare back at Estelle dressed in risqué clothing. Not something you expect at 7AM on the third day of school.
Estelle gives her daughter a parting kiss on the forehead.
Estelle: You be good at school.
[Back to the present.]
Mercedes: And remember how teenagers always hated their parents? You never judged me at all.
[Estelle is in Mercedes’ bedroom reading her diary. The entry she reads causes her to drop the book.
Back to the present.]
Estelle: Well, it was never my business, dear. Are you going somewhere with all this?
Mercedes: May you live in interesting times, Mom.
~~~
Present Day ♦ S A N T A M O N I C A • C A L I F O R N I A[REC•][Open on Mercedes Vargas, hidden behind aviator sunglasses, seen from Observation Hill in Tongva Park, overlooking the ocean and pier.]
“Alicia Lukas! Congratulations on making history at Into the Void and becoming the first ever two-time, two-time Queen for a Day winner. Well earned, mamita.”
[The SCW Hall of Famer starts clapping her hands, seemingly impressed.]
“I'm sure your arms are tired by now patting yourself on the back. Enjoy your crowning moment.”
[Mercedes suddenly stops herself, then shakes her head.]
“Wait a minute. What am I saying? You didn’t win at the supercard. In fact, you lost. Not only that, but you lost at Into the Void for the first time ever in your career. You know who didn’t lose two weeks ago?”
[Mercedes points at herself.]
“Me!”
“You know who is the only Bombshell who has made every Into the Void card for the last 10 years and has never been pinned or submitted?”
[Mercedes nods her head.]
“Yeah, that would be me too! Crazy, huh? What’s really crazy is whatever you were going on about last week on Climax Control. Yeah, I heard what you said, heard every last word. Including my name coming out of your mouth. Now, I know you and I will never be friends. You don’t like me, I sure as hell don’t like you. So there’s that. Yet somehow, I’d like to think there’s a little bit of respect in that black heart of yours.
“You want to talk about how weird it is that you’re not being booked as often as you would like? Just between us girls, there’s a reason why you’re not featured in matches as often as you would like, Alicia. It’s because we like you more the LESS we see you.”
[Tossing her hair back, Mercedes enters into a fit of laughter, before cutting herself off.]
“In all seriousness, there are some people who are perfectly fine in their position while getting paid more money than the people who complain about their status in SCW. I don’t see what you’re crying about when you’ve competed in double-digit matches three out of the last four years including each of the last three.
“And then here you are trying to play locker room leader. And I mean, look, somebody has to because Roxi Johnson thinks she’s a locker room leader while Amber Ryan pretends to be - It’s silly to call yourself a Queen when you don’t have the throne - but that won’t stop you from taking that mantle. You are many things, Alicia, but a locker room leader?”
[She raises an eyebrow, tilting her head to one side.]
“The bar for the Bombshell Division has been lowered.”
[Mercedes seems to hold back a laugh with her hand, but the feeling was so overwhelming that she turns away from the camera. When she’s able to get a hold of herself again, she holds up one hand in an apologetic gesture.]
“Don’t you know that you have to earn the right to lead the locker room, silly rabbit? Don’t you know that in order to lead others, you have to start leading yourself? I never pictured you as someone wanting to wave the flag of the Bombshells and the talent. The window of wrestlers wanting to work with you continues to get smaller and smaller, especially given your past and recent comments. It’s unbelievable how you’re still hanging around in the Bombshell locker room going on three years now. You should count your lucky stars that Mark and Christian has taken a liking to you or else you wouldn’t even have close to the success you’ve had in your career.
“A locker room leader needs to have integrity, self-discipline, selflessness, drive, responsibility. Maybe you have some of these qualities or all of them or none of them. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe you are the perfect fit to lead the next generation of wrestlers at your training school.
“We all know you have no filter, it’s actually hard to dispute what you say so you can’t help but agree with it. But to go ahead and openly question someone’s effort? Are you sure that’s a hill you want to die on? But hey, you decided to climb up the hill in the first place, and thank God someone is going to bring you back down to reality. That Kate Steele found it convenient to leave me high and dry just as last week’s card was announced didn’t surprise me. It’s not the first time our English tart got out of a match facing Masque and that’s because she was protecting her little undefeated streak. That’s neither here or there since she got her ass beat at Into the Void and lost her title to Kat.
“It goes without saying that the best ability is availability. We have an obligation, I get it. But while I may be a lot of things, I’m not stupid. I wasn’t planning on facing Masque AND Amber by myself just because our benevolent King Mark Cross got an opportunity to show his pettiness long before Kate cut bait for that tag match. Bad enough that I had to face Amber two years ago when Crystal put a hit job on me because she was all in her feelings after the things I said about her. Go figure.”
[She waves a hand around airily.]
“I took the night off last week. I’m allowed. Pretty sure I’m established enough to have a break now and again. I’m one of the only two wrestlers about to reach 200 career matches. What, you’re going to call me entitled and unprofessional next, hmm? Say what you want about Kate, get all the elderly jokes about me and my avid fandom of New York sports teams out of your system, but at the end of the day, Alicia, you can never question my loyalty to Sin City Wrestling. I’ve been a dominant force for nearly a decade. I have nothing left to prove. I could retire right now and go down in history as arguably one of the greatest Bombshell ever. I’m the most decorated wrestler in all of Sin City Wrestling. Proud of it, not ashamed to say it. Do I love to point it out every chance I get? Yes, yes I do. I would tweet and retweet that shit the same way I do pretty much every other sporting event that you probably follow if I could.
“I make no apologies for being good at what I do, and I’m not about to start now.”
[She raises her sunglasses over her head.]
“I know you were dead set on facing Kate Steele this weekend, but unfortunately, you get me at Climax Control. Don’t laugh, or do. I don’t care. As much as you want to dismiss me as your rival, you and I both know that I’m one of the few people that can get in your head. You went undefeated this year? If I fought the likes of Candy, Ariana Angelos, and Samantha Marlowe every week, I would be too.
“I am an icon. I am a legend. I am revolutionary. I am the standard. I am the one-woman dynasty. You are just someone who caught lightning in a bottle, went on a nine-month title reign, and has never managed to recapture that magic since that dominant run ended. Even after you came back from injury, you haven’t been the same. You’re the reason why Seleana Zdunich, Keira Fisher-Johnson and Bombshell Champion are in the same sentence. And then you threatened retirement that one time only that you came back after taking a few shows off, showing everyone what we’ve known all along that your word is absolutely worthless.
“Oh, wait, you were “emotional and frustrated”, right? Three years in with an impressive win-loss record to show for it. Pay-per-views, main events, Queen for a Day, multiple world title reigns. Suddenly, after one loss, the sky is falling? Were you “emotional and frustrated” when Roxi ended your third reign? Or when Seleana ended your first reign?”
[Mercedes raises her index finger in a wait-a-minute gesture.]
“Well, on that one I would be embarrassed and humiliated, but we don’t talk about that night. Point is, Alicia, if there is anyone who should be a locker room leader, I wouldn’t put you in my top five, you wouldn’t even make it in my top 10. I should be the locker room leader in the Bombshells Division. I’ve grown so wise in my old age that I’ll do my best to be as diplomatic as I possibly can. I’m better than you, I’m more successful than you, I attract more attention than you. This isn’t a competition. Certainly not a close one.
“Alicia, you may have the upper hand right now, but nothing lasts forever, sweetheart. Eventually, I can’t stay winless against you forever. Sunday, that ends here, and so does your singles winning streak.
“Long before you knew. And long after you remember.”
***Fade***
