{We open backstage two weeks as Roxi and Keira part the curtain after Keira’s announcement. Roxi is noticeably silent as Keira places a hand on her shoulder to seemingly share in the enjoyment of the moment. Roxi places her hand on Keira’s hand and smiles at her, but Keira can obviously tell something isn’t right.} Keira – I'm sorry. I kind of dropped that on you.
Roxi – Yeah, you did. It’s fine.
Keira – I just... I got caught in the moment. I wanted to just... I don’t know, I wanted to... Dammit now I feel bad.
Roxi – I said it was fine.
Keira – But I know it’s not. I know that you’re annoyed at me.
Roxi – Because you could have just said it to me. You put me on the spot. What was I supposed to say? No?
Keira – You could have.
Roxi – And then what? You keep asking and asking and then I look like the bad guy because I don’t really want to fight you? That’s what I’m taking about Keira. But, it’s fine, you got what you want, we’ll do this thing at High Stakes.
{Keira sighs, and pulls Roxi to the side, so no one can hear or see their conversation.} Keira – I'm sorry. I just was frustrated. I wanted to go out on my terms. And there’s only one person that can help me do that. That’s you. I wanted to make this as... as epic as possible, I guess. You and me, set the whole thing up and drop a bombshell.
Roxi – You could have just asked. Explained that all to me and it wouldn’t have been so jarring.
Keira – That's true, but it wouldn’t have meant the same thing to me. It would have been different. It would have felt cheap. And besides, I don’t think you really understand what I’m asking for.
Roxi – You wanted a match. Is there something else you want to spring on me now?
Keira – I don’t mean the two of us in the ring, Roxi.
{Roxi looks Keira dead in the face, wanting to put two and two together, but at the same time, she doesn’t.} Roxi – No...
Keira – Yes. I mean the two of us, really going for this. We don’t need a ring, we need the world.
Roxi – You’re asking us to...
Keira – Relax, I have this all planned out. Smoke and mirrors in here.
Roxi – How are you...
Keira – You have to trust me.
Roxi – You do realize that you’re asking me to trust that we’re not going to expose everything to everybody else. You remember that Commander Lyon said that we’re not doing the eraser button again. What if that happens.
{Keira sighs, then smiles.} Keira – You always told me that we shouldn’t try and be something we’re not, and to be proud of who we are. And if that happens, we should face it. But I have a plan, and I know it will work. But if it all goes south, well, at the end, I’ll explain everything and... we’ll just have to see what happens.
Roxi – You can’t be serious. Do you know how much of a risk that is?
Keira – And I’m willing to take it. Because that’s what this means to me. That’s what YOU mean to me. I could not do this without you. I never could have everything I did, without you. And this is my ultimate request. After this, I won’t ask you for a thing. Not one thing, Roxi, other than to love me.
{Roxi turns away, trying to collect herself. She takes a moment sighs, and looks at Keira.} Roxi – I trust you. I just don’t want everything to come down. And to be honest, I don’t want you to go. There’s still so much more you can do.
{Keira smiles, but shakes her head.} Keira – No, that’s it. Just this match. Just you and me, just so I know.
Roxi – Know what?
Keira – The answer to the question of which one of us... is stronger. Because that’s what I need to have happen Roxi. So if you’re mad at me now. When High Stakes comes... use it. It’s gonna be you and me. And we’re going to have the whole world, to find out. Just one last thing for me, Roxi. That’s all I ask.
Roxi – Are you sure you’re going to be okay? I mean with everything?
Keira - I will be. I promise.
{Roxi sighs, feeling a little better about the situation.} Roxi – Alright. But no more surprises, please?
Keira – No more. I mean... I think you had a good idea.
Roxi – What?
Keira – I mean... Team Hero... One more time?
{Keira holds out her hand in front of Roxi. Roxi looks at it, sighs, and places her head in Keira’s.} Roxi – One more time.
{Roxi and Keira hug as the scene fades.}
{The new scene is the 6th of October. Roxi 10th anniversary of her first match. Not too many people were aware of it, and Roxi was already awake, sipping coffee and standing on the back porch of their home. The sun was slowly rising, and it was a little brisker in Tampa than one would think. Roxi didn’t say anything, she just stared out at the sunset and enjoyed the moment she had to herself. Keira would eventually join Roxi, standing the porch.} Keira – You look very cheery today.
Roxi – Yeah, been thinking a lot.
Keira – So, you’re not mad at me, anymore?
Roxi – You haven’t done anything in the past 5 minutes have you?
Keira – What? No.
Roxi – Then no.
Keira – Very funny.
Roxi – You asked. I just answered.
Keira – So, what were you thinking about anyway?
Roxi – How today, is a good day.
Keira – Isn't every day a good day?
Roxi – The day, is what you make it, I suppose. But for me, just taking a look at everything in front of me right now, yeah... it’s a good day. 10 long years.
Keira – 10 years?
Roxi – Yeah, I had my first match 10 years ago.
Keira – Oh... wow I... I’m so proud of you.
Roxi – It's been a fun ride.
Keira – There's a but in there somewhere...
Roxi – But, listening to you, and how you’re content. I’ve just been striving all this time for perfection and trying to ensure that I’m never content. It just made me think. One day, that chase is going to end and I had to question whether or not I would actually be content with everything. Would I be happy with all I’ve done?
Keira – And?
Roxi – After a lot of thought, given the circumstances of the past few weeks... I think I will be. I always told myself I would walk away and that I could walk away any time I wanted to. But even when Nate was born, Even as he has grown up, I’ve always felt that itch that has been there for over a decade. But you know, after the match with Stacy, I didn’t feel it as much anymore. And after you coming out and doing what you did... I felt it just a little less.
Keira – Don't tell me you’re going to walk away just because I am.
Roxi – No, not quite yet. I still have many things to do. But I keep putting off those things. I don’t think I want to do that anymore. There’s stuff out there and I’ve been sitting here and thinking there will always be time, but there won’t always be time. Time’s gonna keep going. And I’m not going to be able to put off those things much longer. Soon it will be too late. And there’s a lot I don’t want to miss.
{Keira hugs Roxi and lays her head on Roxi’s shoulder.} Keira – I think I’ve got everything on my end, but I want to be sure that everything is good on your end. I won’t stop you. After our match, and of course after this tag match... You will be free to do the things you want to do.
Roxi – Yeah, I guess we’ll see.
Keira – I just want you to be happy.
Roxi – You have made me happy. Very happy for almost 10 years yourself. You’ve given me so much. A lot of... well... everything. And I love for you that. But wrestling has given me so much and, I don’t really want it to end, but I have to face this kind of truth. I won’t be around forever. So I want to make sure I get some things done.
Keira – Well, in order to celebrate properly, I think you need a day. A day for you.
Roxi – Keira, that’s okay. I just want to take the day and look at what I have left to do.
Keira – No, today, you need to celebrate. No... today, you need to be CELEBRATED.
Roxi – Keira, you don’t have to...
Keira – Yes. I do. You deserve it.
{Keira leads Roxi inside the house as the scene fades.
We move to later in the day and Keira has created a bulletin board full of clippings of Roxi’s accomplishments in the wrestling world. Roxi sheeply smiles, at this, and then gasps as Keira shows off the collage of photos of Roxi with her hand raised and her holding various titles.} Keira – You did this. All of it. And you should be proud of it.
{Right in the middle of the collage, is a photo of Keira and Roxi, holding the SCW Bombshell’s tag team titles. Keira points it out.} Keira – That right there, is one of the happiest moments of my life. It felt so good to fight alongside you, and then be rewarded for all our hard work and sacrifice. I don’t care if we never win another tag title, that will always be special. Always.
Roxi – Thank you, my love.
Keira – I look at all this, but you know, you mean more to a lot of people than this. You’ve done so much and it’s bigger than wrestling. This is just part of your legacy.
Roxi – I hope so.
Keira – And we simply have one more task to cement the legacy of Team Hero. We just have to prove ourselves one more time.
Roxi – One more time.
Keira – I love you, Roxi. Here is to your legacy. And the legacy of Team Hero!
{Roxi and Keira continue to celebrate as the scene finally fades.}
“Death is powerless against you if you leave a legacy of good behind. Death is powerless against you if you do your job. My father saved the lives of over four thousand people, one at a time... with his bare hands and his mind. Death was with him the entire time.“
- Batman (JLA Vol 1 #72)
Hello SCW.
It has been some time and a lot of things have come up recently. It has been quite the time frame the past couple of weeks hasn’t it. I am very proud and happy to be celebrating 10 years in the wrestling business and I’m very excited to see where the rest of the time goes in the next year or so. As I stated, I think that this time next year will be me stepping away from this business and enjoying life and what it has to offer outside of wrestling. I’ve been very fortunate to still be here, happy, and healthy, and I’m so proud to have been a part of SCW and helping make it what it is today. SCW has offered me the chance to wrestle in places I never thought I would ever visit much less meet people and have them to a fan of mine. It’s crazy when you stop and think about it, really. I just hope this next year is as fortuitous as this one was for me.
But, as much as I’ve been celebrating and thinking about all the fun memories I’ve made along the way, there is the elephant in the room as it were. I can’t say as I’m proud of the way my wife handled herself and her actions. But I understand that sometimes, you need to stand up for yourself and you need make waves in order to make sure your voice is heard. That’s mostly what I think she was doing, and after a long talk with her about the whole thing, I’m glad it is at least resolved, and we can move on to better things instead of dwelling on an unfortunate situation.
And so, that brings me to a couple of weeks ago, where Keira did announce that she wanted to walk away, and that she wanted to have one more match, against me. Now, I know this has been something on Keira’s mind and I don’t fault her for wanting to have the match. I just wish it was under a better circumstance. I have mixed emotions about the whole thing and it makes me feel like I’m ending a career or something and that was Keira’s choice. I am sad that Keira wants this ride to end, but much like I thought about, the ride must end at some point. We all have to get off and let other people ride the ride. I thought, maybe a bit naïvely, that we could do a Team Hero match and that would help Keira out, and as much fun as it would have been to do that at High Stakes, we’re doing it this week. It wasn’t enough for Keira, and so the match between us will take place and I’m okay with it. It took me a little bit of time and some soul searching to reach this conclusion, but I’ll be more than happy to share the ring with my wife in a more adversarial capacity.
But that, is High Stakes. We’ll cross that road in a couple of weeks. Now? Now Team Hero gets to do our thing, one more time. At least one more time. Maybe for the last time. I don’t know, but you know, I don’t know if there’s anything left for Team Hero to prove at this point either. I don’t say it to brag, I say it as a matter of fact. We changed the whole tag team scene, and challenge after challenge was met and overcome. Maybe it was right place right time, but there were some great teams we faced. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the Fallen because of the special place they hold not only in SCW, but in history itself. We met them and they pushed us like nobody else. I’m proud to have shared the ring with them. But we overcame them. I look back at the legacy of Team Hero, and we only needed one reign. One time being the Bombshell’s tag team champions and that was enough. It was almost a year. It was the very top of the heap and we were standing there, ready for anything. We changed the entire way the tag team divisions were thought of. That holds a special place in my heart to know just how much impact we actually had. And now, we stand to face one final challenge.
And of course, that challenge comes in the form of Team Go.
It’s no big secret that the Go Gym has produced many a fine wrestler. Male and Female. Their reputation precedes them, and Ariana and Krystal are just two more of the fine talents to be produced there. You can just take a quick glance and see just how good Krystal and Ariana both are. Both have tasted the Roulette championship, in less than what, 2 years? They have competed at a high level straight out of the gate. That’s just what this is. That’s who Team Hero has to face. Ariana just defended the Roulette title last week, and here she is, happily volunteering to have this tag match. Krystal was the person who came up threw their names into the ring in the first place. So yes, Team Hero is well aware of the challenge that lies ahead. I know I spoke about the legacy of Team Hero, but it’s not like Team Go are just any other team. They are obviously hungry and easy, and yes, a win for them will do wonders for their careers, and if these two women were facing anybody else, ANYBODY else, I would be rooting for them and hoping they give their best and come out on top.
But, it’s not anybody else they are facing, It’s Team Hero. It’s the best of the best. The single best team in SCW history. I don’t want to make the task seem impossible or the mountain unclimbable, but they both need to understand they have their work cut out for them.
Ariana is pretty much a rookie. Yes, she has plenty of talent, she’s showcased it time and time again. When people didn’t think she could get the job done, she got the job done despite all the doubters. It reminds me of Keira. She is more than capable in the ring. I think it just takes one person to believe in you, and you can accomplish more than maybe even you believe. I have absolutely no doubts that Ariana can accomplish anything she sets her mind too, but I’m just going to be honest about her right here and now. I cannot distinguish her from many others. Her main defining characteristic seems to be being Greek. And while anyone can be proud of their heritage and nationality, it will only take you so far. I have to think about this kind of thing because I want Ariana to succeed. But much like when I’m training people at the Hero Academy, sometimes, I have to be the bad guy. I have to tell people hey, you did that wrong, and here’s why. But that’s part of being a trainer, and part of the process. Being able to critique people in order to make them better. Ariana is spunky, she has a lot of fire, but she just seems to be lacking in that area. You have to show people what you are. You have to be something.
I know she hosts a cooking show, but I never have tasted her food. She’s never seemed to focus or showcase those cooking skills anywhere. I know there is more there for Ariana, I can see it. I see the glimpses and flashes of what could be. Hopefully my words will reach her. I can’t be the only one who thinks this. She has a whole group of friends who she hangs around with. They have to see the same thing I do, and it’s just... I feel like there’s so much potential for something great there, and I’d hate to see it go to waste. But maybe she should like separate from her friends, do her own thing, become her own person. At least, that’s my two cents. Maybe I just don’t understand things anymore and I’ve hit like boomer status or something. I just know from my years of experience that if you don’t stand out, you become another face in the crowd. And I don’t want that for Ariana, or for Krystal for that matter, but the fact remains that it is very hard to see how much more there is, because she appears to be stuck in a loop. I don’t know, I guess just take what I say with a grain of salt these days. I just like to trust my eyes at this point, and my eyes tell me that if I had a picture of everyone in Ariana’s little circle of friends, without being told, I probably couldn’t tell them apart. I’m just calling it, like I see it. I’m just saying, do something to make yourself stand out.
Krystal seems to be a little bit ahead of Ariana in that department. She has to be doing something right in order to be seen in the light she’s seen in. She’s a former Roulette champion, and she could very easily be an Internet or even a Bombshell’s champion herself. There’s no doubt she has the skills to do that. She’s been able to take down a lot of top contenders and that’s not because she’s getting lucky. It’s because she’s good. Again, I have complete confidence in Krystal to accomplish anything, but there’s more there, but you just don’t see it. And there’s so much that can be explored with what Krystal has in front of her, and it’s almost like she chooses not to.
You know, I see that Krystal is a streamer. Which, you know, I stream every now and again, in fact I should probably do it more. But I don’t see Krystal doing it. What does she stream? When and where? Is it just video games? Is it DND? I just have so many questions and hey, explaining DND on twitch stream could be very fascinating to the average person. There are things that can be done there. I’m just saying there’s a whole world of people you can teach; you can show what you are. There are places you can go with all this. But instead, it’s almost the same thing as Ariana, it’s mentioned in passing. It’s done almost as a throwaway thing. I just... I just want to see more, and like I said with Ariana, the whole thing not go to waste. There’s so much there, and it’s just going untapped.
I know, again, maybe I’m having an “old woman yells at cloud” moment or something, but I just truse my eyes. I see it, I know Keira sees it. She’s been in the ring with Krystal, and truth be told, I don’t think I’ve been in the ring with either of them. I know that I was out there defending the Bombshell’s championship left and right most of the year, and I would have loved to face either of them but if was going to be anybody, it would have been Krystal, but our paths did not cross. Well, now, I get to experience it all firsthand. I get to see what all the hype is about, but hey, I’m one of the people on the hype train to begin with. So, I guess I have to hope that Krystal, after all the praise I've given her, and although she may see it as me bringing her down and criticizing her, the advice and ideas I’m giving her... I have to hope she doesn’t let it all go to waste. I would just hate for that to happen. Because there is just so much there. It would be a shame to see it get wasted.
But that is Krystal and Ariana individually. That’s the main difference between them, and Team Hero. They are friends, they hang out, but they aren’t a team in the sense that Team Hero is. I know what Keira is thinking, well... most of the time, but in that ring, when we are there, we know the situation at all times. We don’t have to verbally communicate a lot of the time. We more or less think as one. We are a team in every sense of that word. Being partners in life and the in the ring allows us to do things that most teams just can’t. It’s one of the reasons we have been so successful. Team Hero is two people, who share the same heartbeat in that ring.
And we face... a team of training mates from Go Gym. Two people who I don’t think have ever teamed up before. And that, is going to be their downfall. You have know your partner like the back of your hand, and as I’ve said, I don’t think Ariana and Krystal really know each other, or themselves all the way just yet. And that’s why we’re going to beat them.
Ladies, I love the energy. I love the enthusiasm. I love the heart and the desire and the courage you have both shown. You will need all of it, to stand a chance on Sunday. Because Team Hero isn’t about to fall to a new team. We are going to show you exactly why we are where we are. Exactly why Team Hero is a the top of the SCW Tag Teams list.
You will understand the legacy, and the legend of Team Hero.
Good luck. You’re going to need it.
We’ll see you out there.
