(Kat and Whisper were used with permission from their handler)
Blaze of Glory XI didn’t end the way Jessie had hoped as Devona got the win after a close match, albeit with interference from Teddy Warren but now Jessie had other things on her mind, namely the upcoming Unsolved Mysteries tour which also happened to be hosting this year's Blast from the Past Tournament! Jessie effectively announced her retirement from the tournament when it was announced but that didn’t mean that Jessie wasn’t in action at the first show of the cycle.
And her opponent was the woman who challenged Crystal Zdunich for the Bombshell Roulette Title in Jessie’s place, Georgie Robertson! Georgie put up a tenacious fight against the Hall of Famer which ended in failure as Crystal was still champion and set to defend against Kim Pain in the near future! Can Jessie go two for two against Georgie?
Whisper’s home. Palisade, Grand Junction, Colorado
Monday the 20th of March 2023, 09:00am
Just when you thought you knew a person.
I thought the drama surrounding Blaze of Glory would begin and end with Harper’s situation, instead? Things got out of hand almost as quickly as the show began, from Krystal joining The Saviours and everything that surrounded that drama and my defeat at Devona’s hands (no thanks to Teddy Warren) Blaze of Glory XI proved to be a rather impactful event! Then again, it is an SCW PPV, what more can I expect?
Since then, me and Harper have been staying in Colorado with Whisper so we can train at her Hell’s Gate gym, the fact that Krystal has been training here since she turned her back on the Go Gym hasn’t been lost on us but to the Aussie’s credit she’s gone out of her way to be cordial towards us during our stay, whether that was out of respect for Whisper or just good old-fashioned pragmatism was anyone’s guess.
Off course, I had other things on my mind, the first card for the new cycle was announced yesterday and I’d almost be tempted to call my rematch with Georgie Robertson a grudge match.
Georgie has had an interesting year so far, she started it off with a massive upset win over Roxi Johnson at Inception VI, a win that she was able to parley into a Roulette Title Match at Blaze of Glory and, well, the fact that she isn’t listed as champion should tell you how that went for her! But why do I have a grudge against the kid? Simple, I had earned a shot at the Bombshell Roulette Championship at the start of the Blaze of Glory Cycle and I was under the impression that my match against Eaven Maloney was for a shot at Blaze of Glory, instead? I main evented the Climax Control that took place two weeks later, which I lost.
In other words, I feel that Georgie was gift wrapped a title shot for a fluke win and the results speak for themselves, if I had challenged Crystal for the title then Kim Pain would be gearing up to challenge me for the title instead.
Wrestling is full of moments like these, where you sit around and ask yourself “what if?”.
”Morning Titan.” I greeted the puppy as he stood up and greeted me with a wagging tail, as Whisper and Kat owned several dogs of their own (all Rottweilers) me, Harper and Krystal had been allowed to bring up our dogs with us, the three Golden Labs and one German Shepherd were all sleeping downstairs whilst Titan slept in my guest bedroom as he was the smallest of the bunch, then again, by this point he was almost full grown and whilst there were definitely bigger dog breeds out there, Titan was by no means a small dog. ”You have a good sleep boy?” I asked the puppy who jumped around happily.
”Jess, are you decent?” Harper’s voice rang out as I stroked the dog and I shook my head as I looked down at the night gown I had slept in. ”Whisper’s about to put breakfast on.”
”Tell her that I just woke up and will be downstairs in a couple of minutes.” I called back to Harper before I lead Titan to the door to let him out so I could get some privacy, Harper, being the dog lover she was, was all too happy to se Titan as she stroked the dog. ”Any word from this week’s Blast from the Past competitors?” I asked after I got dressed and Harper shook her head.
”I didn’t see anything but then again, it’s still early in the week, Krystal has made it abundantly clear that she plans to put the rest of the Bombshell Roster on notice at Climax Control though.” Harper explained as she shook her head and I nodded with a frown, even though we had been living with the Aussie since she joined The Saviours Krystal hadn’t exactly been forthcoming about just what was going through her mind when she attacked Cassie and Ariana. ”She was kind enough to gift me one of the gaming pcs she brought with the fine money though, just need a chance to get it set up.”
”I’ll see if I can find time to help out with that but I’ve got a flight to British Columbia to catch later, I had never even heard of the first stop on the tour before but according to the bosses it was featured on Unsolved Mysteries.” I responded as I shook my head and Harper nodded as she hot the idea. ”I know it’s a city in Canada but it’s not like it’s one of Canada’s wrestling hot spots like Calgary or Toronto.”
”Yeah, and it’s not like Canada’s a small country either.” Harper nodded in agreement before she stood aside to let Titan head down the stairs since, well, he was still a growing puppy and needed his food. ”I’m just waiting to pop bye the bakery again, Tommy did say that he was getting a new delivery in.”
Ahh yes, Tommy, ever since me and Harper had come up to Colorado last week Harper had been visiting a local bakery over in Grand Junction alongside Hell’s Gate, it wasn’t until Friday that I had accompanied her to the bakery and saw her getting flustered whilst talking to a male member of the bakery’s staff who happened to be around the same age as her.
I had been around the block enough times to recognise the signs of young love and to be fair? Tommy was a good-looking kid, not ripped like the majority of the guys who work for SCW but I doubted that most parents would object to their daughter bringing him home to meet them, obviously Harper was an exception to that because, well, her parents had been dead for three weeks now but you get the idea
Harper off course, tried to deny it, Tommy was hardly her first boyfriend and I suspected that the fact that her last relationship ended when she found her boyfriend in bed with three cheerleaders didn’t help, but she wasn’t getting that past me. ”Tommy again huh?” I asked with a teasing tone and Harper quickly regretted bringing him up. ”I’m sure you are looking forward to tripping over your words again.”
”I told you Jess, I don’t have a crush on him and he’s not my boyfriend!” Harper adamantly asserted himself not realizing that two other older women were right behind her. ”He’s just a boy who happens to be my friend! That’s it!”
“And we’ve heard that same story told a hundred times Harper.” Kat Jones teased her and Harper, already a little jumpy from how flustered she was getting, nearly jumped out of her skin before we saw Kat and Whisper standing behind us with amused looks on their faces. “It’s honestly kinda adorable.”
”I’m going to keep saying this until I’m blue in the face, aren’t I?” Harper sighed in annoyance and I shared an amused look with the other two older women, at least the smell of delicious cooked food was enough to break Harper’s train of thought. ”Breakfast is ready already?”
“Why do you think we came up here.” Whisper nodded in response as she motioned towards the stairs. “You an either argue about how much you like Tommy or you can go downstairs before breakfast goes cold, your choice Harper.”
”Is there really a choice?” Harper asked before sighing in resignation before we followed them downstairs.
I wouldn’t stay at Whisper’s home for long once I had breakfast in me as I had a flight to catch soon afterwards, Harper still wasn’t feeling up to attending wrestling events due to the recent events in her life combined with the fact that she needed to train for the graduation match but one thing was certain, she wasn’t about to see me taste defeat again.
Jessie’s hotel room, Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
Monday the 20th of March 2023, 17:00pm
I’ll give Kelowna this, for a city I’ve never even heard off before, it’s a nice enough place.
However the main draw of this week’s show (not counting the show itself off course) was the lake where the mystery was centred around, I had gotten the basic information from a tweet by HB Carter and well, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it.
The mystery in question was the Ogopogo, a mysterious water creature that apparently inhabited Lake Okanagan and had convinced the locals so much that they had it put on the Endangered Species list, so far, so good right?
The lake itself was pretty fucking big and honestly? Pretty beautiful, it was surrounded by gardens, wineries and had boats that you could rent to go out onto the lake itself, now, did I encounter in Ogopogo there? No, guess that species is endangered for a reason, but I was tempted to take some pictures and send them to Shane, Jake and Harper to show them what they were missing (as Jake and Shane was busy looking after Harper’s kid siblings back in Vegas) but there was one slight problem with that idea.
In all my excitement to get to the lake and check it out? I had left my phone in my hotel room, which was even more glaring because I did remember to take my phone charger and cable with me to make sure that I wouldn’t have to worry about battery life.
Granted it was only a fifteen-minute drive from Kelowna to the lake but it was still an annoyance.
”Of all the fucking trips to leave my phone behind for.” I grumbled as I returned to my hotel room and quickly found my phone on the desk next to my laptop, fortunately it still had decent charge even after I had taken the cable with me but knowing how long I was planning to spend of my return trip to the lake at, well, the lake I knew it was better to be safe than sorry, translation? I was going to let it fully charge before plugging the phone into my charger and leaving with all three items.
Knowing that that would give me a bit of alone time I took the opportunity to check on my Twitter feed and I had to laugh, Harper kept finding ways to push herself further down the rabbit hole as it related to whether she had feelings for Tommy and it had gotten to the point that Kim, Mac and Keira had gotten in on the conversation, the main takeaway I got was that Mac and Kim were really overprotective of the younger talents since they planned to check out Tommy to see if he was right for the kid and had already done so with Miles and Carter.
Granted Miles was a wrestler whilst Tommy’s only connection to wrestling was his fandom but still, and it did make me wonder if they would’ve given Shane the same treatment when I started dating him, just as a reminder? Me and Shane started dating during my second year in Sin City Wrestling, back when I was twenty-three years old and hadn’t turned into the cynical bitch you know and (mostly) love today.
Before I could dwell on that any further though a Facebook messenger call came through and when I saw it was Harper I answered it. ”Hey Jess, how was the lake?” Harper greeted me once I answered the call and I grinned in response.
”Well, I didn’t think such a picturesque place would be the setting for such a weird mystery but here we go! I might rent a boat and go out to the middle of the lake to cut my promo on Georgie to be honest.” I admitted with a grin before I looked at my phone. ”But I think the bigger question is, how’s Tommy?”
Harper closed her eyes for a moment and sighed, I did wonder if she was planning to keep the ruse up for as long as she remained in Colorado and if she did have feelings for Tommy, whether it would be a long-time thing or not considering how far Vegas was from Colorado. ”I argued enough times about that on Twitter that I’m pretty sure the whole wrestling world is convinced that I’m interested in Tommy in that way and since I’m currently at Hell’s Gate, I don’t want to get into a verbal argument either.” Harper responded as she turned the phone around to show the training facility. ”Whisper granted me a fifteen minute break to call you and I’m not about to waste it.”
”Probably a good call but honestly Harp? What’s stopping you from pursuing Tommy if you do have a crush on? Hypothetically speaking.” I asked Harper and she paused to think about her answer. ”He’s young, good looking, around your age, seems like a sweet kid, what’s not to love?”
”Well, as much as I’d hate using that as an excuse, I’m still reeling over my parents’ deaths. For one thing, but even without that in mind?” Harper asked as she brushed a stray strand of hair over her shoulder. ”What if he’s gay? Or taken? I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with being gay since I’m still bi-curious and all but that would destroy any chance I had at dating him, and I’m not about to play home wrecker either.”
”I at least understanded the point about your parents, I’ve seen for myself how badly that’s affected you, as for the other stuff?” I asked before shifting my weight. ”Whisper’s been using that bakery for years and she’s been straight with us since we arrived at Hell’s Gate, pun not intended, do you think she’d lead you on like this if she knew that Tommy was off the table for either of those reasons?”
“Your right, I wouldn’t.” Whisper chimed in as she stepped into view and Harper winced. “I understand why your saying that Harper but trust me, he’s good to go, if your interested in dating him that is.”
”No comment.” Harper responded bashfully and it was still as adorable as ever, was I like that when I was her age? Been so long that I’ve honestly forgotten. ”And then there’s the issue of long-distance relationships.”
“Shane was living in Florida when we made the connection and he dropped everything to move to Vegas.” I responded with a reassuring grin and Harper did seem at ease with that. ”Look, the worst thing that can happen is that he says no, there’s plenty more fish in the sea Harp and with your looks? You’ll find someone who loves you in that way eventually.”
”Maybe, for now I just want to focus on my training and getting the funeral over and done with ASAP.” Harper admitted and I nodded sympathetically before Whisper took the phone from her. ”Oh sure, take the phone from me.”
“Sorry Harp, but I will keep this brief.” Whisper apologized before she turned her attention to me. “I know she’s been on her best behaviour since joining The Saviours but keep an eye on Krystal at Climax Control all the same, I can’t really get a read on her motives or plans right now.”
”As a wrestler who snapped in the past? It can be hard to gage what’s going through their minds, and that’s without taking into account that Krystal got an autism diagnosis during her second year as a Bombshell.” I responded as I shook my head and Whisper nodded in agreement. ”In my case, it was the stress of all my World Title campaigns failing to get the result I wanted, in Krystal’s case? Maybe it’s something similar, like not being able to follow up that record breaking reign with another in the months that followed.”
“Could be, no one can deny that she had a lot of pressure on her shoulders after the Roulette Title Reign ended.” Whisper nodded in agreement before she called Harper over. “I’ll see what I can do here at Hell’s Gate but Krystal’s leaving for Canada first thing in the morning, my time is growing short I’m afraid.”
”Do what you can, until then I’ve got a lake to take pictures off.” I responded as I held up my phone to the laptop’s webcam and once I said my goodbyes to Harper I was soon off.
Lake Okanagan, British Columbia, Canada
Monday the 20th of March 2023, 18:00pm
Well, at least this time I remembered to bring my phone with me.
Then again considering Kelowna’s in a coastal region of British Columbia I had to admit that there was plenty of ocean pics that I could’ve taken along the way but at the end of he day? The lake that the whole show was based around was my main destination.
And I’m sure the bosses would host the show in the middle of the lake if they could find away to make it work logistically, especially since I doubted most of the roster wanted to swim out to the ring for their matches on Sunday.
As I finished taking pictures of the local scenery I sat down at a nearby bench to go over my camerawork, not exactly professional photography but the pictures came out clear enough for the most part.
”Taking these pictures was the easy part, the hard part will be deciding which ones to upload to Social Media and send to Harp, Jake and Shane.” I muttered to myself as I looked through the pictures on my iPhone’s camera roll not really taking any notice of the world around me, at least until an older couple walked by me and shook their heads.
“Another millennial glued to their phones rather than enjoying the natural beauty around them.” The old woman scoffed and I glanced up at them, I know I look a decade younger than I actually am but to mistake me for a millennial? “No wonder the world’s going to crap.”
”Blaming young people of their phones for the world’s problems rather than literally anything else is certainly a flex.” I deadpanned as I glanced up at the older couple catching their attention. ”Especially when I was going over the pictures I was taking on my phone of the surroundings! Also? I’m thirty-three, I’m a little too old to qualify for being a millennial.” I added and the older man held his hands up apologetically.
“Apologies miss, we meant you no harm.” The guy apologised and I just shook my head in response. “And I must say, you don’t look a day over twenty three.”
”Yeah, I’ve heard that before.” I responded as I rolled my eyes before pocketing my phone. ”Look, you guys probably guessed it already thanks to my accent but I’m an American tourist trying to find out more information on the local legend of the lake.” I added before checking my phone to make sure that I had the correct pronunciation. ”Ogopogo?”
“Well, you came to the right place, the Ogopogo lives in the lake, at least according to local legend.” The old woman informed me and I nodded as I got the idea. “Anything specific you want to know miss?”
”Just call me Jessie or Jess, but never Jessica, I never liked the sound of my full first name.” I responded before I stood up and walked over to them, the old guy was at least a foot taller than me whilst his wife didn’t look much taller than me, part of me was wondering if I was talking to an older, Canadian version of me and Shane but I set those thoughts aside for the moment. ”I just want some general information on the creature, I’m also doing some promo work for the company I work for.”
“Oh, you work for a tourism agency?” The old guy assumed and I didn’t feel like correcting him at the moment, wrestling may be big in Canada but I doubted that it was a universal thing. “Well Jessie, I don’t know what I could tell you that you couldn’t find via a Google search but the Ogopogo is a 50ft sea serpent with dark, smooth skin, a body thicker than a telephone pole and it moves at incredible speeds with an incredibly powerful tail.”
Wasn’t quite sure what to make of that description, it almost sounded like a rejected boss for a video game to me in all honesty. ”That’s all well and good, but what can you tell me about the history behind the creature?” I asked as I glanced out towards the lake. ”Because I bet a story like that dates back to before Canada was settled.”
“You’d be correct, it has it’s origins in First Nations folklore, our version of your Native Americans.” The old woman nodded in response and I found myself lost in thought for a moment, the lake was big, but could it really host a creature of that size? “These days the Ogopogo has a role in the commercial and media representation of the area.”
Off course it does. ”Leave it to capitalism to try to monetise an old folk tale.” I scoffed ass I shook my head before I folded my arms. ”I think I’ve got all the info I need, my bosses at SCW should be happy at least.”
“SCW? Oh my stars, we’ve been talking to Jessie Salco this whole time?!” The old man realised and when I glanced over at them they both had big grins on their faces. “Apologies Jessie but our grandchildren are big fans of SCW and you specifically, do you think you can sign an autograph for them?”
”Wouldn’t want to disappoint my young fans.” I said with a shrug before I signed their autographs, before they went on their way however I had one question. ”So, I’m interested in renting a boat to go out into the lake for my promo shoot, what’s the going rate?”
“Depends of how long you plan to rent it for but the cheapest you can go for is just under $530.” The old guy informed me and I nodded, about ten years ago I would’ve balked at paying that much for a promo shoot but I’ve saved up a good amount of money over the past eleven years. “Sorry if you were hoping for something a bit cheaper but you get what you paid for.”
”I suppose so, and it’s fine, I’ve got quite a bit of spending money on me.” I responded as I shook my head and the older couple nodded before we went our separate ways, if this was how the first show of the cycle was going then I couldn’t wait to see how the tour was going to progress.
Out in the middle of Lake Okanagan, British Columbia, Canada
Monday the 20th of March 2023, 19:00pm
*promo time*
$600 Canadian Dollars well spent.
”I have to admit, when SCW announced that the theme for the first tour of the year would be Unsolved Mysteries, I didn’t really know what to think off the bosses basing their tour around their night of binge watching Unsolved Mysteries on Netflix! Especially when I found out that the first stop had nothing to do with any murder mysteries and more to do with a local folklore tale.” I admitted as I walked around the boat thankful to the other boat renter for agreeing to film my promo for me. ”But here I am out in the middle of Lake Okanagan, apparently the home of the subject of the first subject of this tour the Sea Serpent Ogopogo and whilst I doubt that something as big as that thing could realistically live in a lake even as big as this, there’s one thing that I have no doubts in my mind about, Georgie Robertson is the biggest example of wasted potential in the company’s recent history!”
Here we go.
”Am I being harsh on the kid? Even by my standards? No, when I was her age I won the Bombshell Roulette Title on my first try all the way back at Blaze of Glory II, Georgie on the other hand came up short against Crystal whatever her name is this week!” I added as I shook my head before leaning against the edge of the boat. ”I’m sure some people will say that fighting Crystal for the title is very different from wrestling Alexis Morrison and Faith for the gold but my point still stands for one reason, this is the same girl who kicked off the year with the upset of the fucking century! This is the same girl who beat Roxi Johnson in a match that everyone assumed that Roxi had in the bag from the moment it was announced!”
What a waste.
”And if the past few weeks have proven anything, it’s that Georgie’s win over Roxi was a fluke and that it’s unlikely to happen again if they do meet up in the ring.” I stated as I flipped some hair over my shoulder. ”You can probably imagine my reaction to the news that I would be facing Georgie on the first show of the cycle just based on what I’ve spent the past couple of minutes talking about alone but trust me when I say that I have a lot more to talk about as I relates to Georgie.” I added before glaring at the camera. ”In fact? Let’s start with the elephant in the room, the fact that you got the title match at Blaze of Glory XI that should’ve been mine.”
And they call me entitled.
”And before anyone points it out, I’m well aware of my history with title matches and ones that I haven’t exactly earned, well this is one of the few instances that I can say I earned a title match folks! I beat Crystal’s sister in law Eaven to earn that shot and was lead to believe that it would take place at Blaze of Glory! Instead, it took place at the third show of the cycle and in the main event no less! And trust me, if I had won the title from she of many names I’d be taking a very different tone to this promo!” I added as I started to pace around again. ”But you Georgie? Your match against Roxi wasn’t for a title match and frankly? With all due respect to the Bombshell Roulette Division, if Roxi was competing for a chance at the title I’d be wondering what she did to piss off the bosses enough to get demoted that badly!”
One shot, one opportunity.
”You only got that title match because of a fluke Georgie and before you ask “how was my win over Roxi a fluke?” Georgie? Your planned match against Mercedes Vargas got cancelled, your non-title match against Amber Ryan may have showed you to be a tenacious competitor but you still lost and off course, I’ve already talked about the match against Crystal at length, after all, I was one of the Lumberjills hanging around the ringside area.” I stated as flipped some hair over my shoulder. ”Trust me Georgie, I want you to prove me wrong because I was in the same situation ten years ago when I won my first title in SCW! I had to prove to my peers that I wasn’t a fluke, sadly I never got the chance because two other Bombshells just had to get involved in my first defence and throw me in a dumpster, no I’m not being metaphorical, that was the literal stipulation that the wheel stuck me with! Ironically one of those Bombshells would end up becoming one of my best friends in the business and inducted me into the Hall of Fame last year but that’s another story!” I added before pausing. ”Or is it?” I asked as I held up my ring finger that had my Hall of Fame ring on it. ”You see this Georgie?”
Take a good long hard look at it.
”I was in your spot ten years ago and this is the culmination of ten years of hard work, determination, blood, sweat and tears! Most Bombshells would’ve quit if their first title reign ended like mine and this is the reward I go for sticking by it for a little over ten years.” I added before putting that hand in my pocket. ”I bring it up because if you don’t let your failure to capture singles gold get you down? This could be you ten years from now, a respected Bombshell, a Hall of Famer, a multiple time champion, all you need to do is put the work in Georgie and trust me, I’ll be the test you need to see if you can cut it in the ring! Whether or not your tenacity brings you closer to your second win of the year or makes you eat another defeat remains to be seen, doesn’t it?”
We’ll see, won’t we?
”This is why I get so angry when I see Bombshells get opportunities that could’ve been mine only to waste them, the fact that I actually earned the shot we’re talking about just adds more fuel to my fire!” I added before flipping some hair over my shoulder. ”No one’s denying that your talented Georgie, they’d be a fool to do so at this point let’s be honest! But at the same time? You’ve had a roller coaster of a rookie year, you’ve had your highs like your two title matches on PPV and your lows like most other matches you’ve had in SCW, consider this an ultimatum, get your shit sorted out or you won’t be long for the company, trust me kid, I’ve worked for SCW for over a decade, I’ve seen more Bombshells like you come and go than I care to count, either grab the brass ring or fall by the wayside!”
It’s that simple.
”What this match ultimately boils down to is who should’ve gotten that title match at Blaze of Glory, in other words? I’m going to show the bosses that they shouldn’t have wasted that opportunity on you Georgie!” I added as I folded my arms. ”That’s right, wasted, if only they had realised just how much of a fluke your win over Roxi was, maybe we could’ve avoided this whole drama? But they didn’t and we are in this situation, and if the past few weeks didn’t prove my point about you being a fluke Georgie? Then this match will go a long way to doing just that!”
And with that I decided to wrap things up.
”After all Georgie, I beat you once, what’s to stop me from repeating history?” I asked hypothetically as I leaned against the side of the boat. ”And don’t say you because we both know that’s a bold-faced lie! This might be my first match of the cycle but trust me kid, the ending won’t differ from how our first match ended in the slightest because once I strike you like Blood Lightning? I’ll be back to my old winning ways whilst you be back to being the fluke you are! See you on Sunday kid.”
I got my iPhone back from my unofficial cameraman and turned off the video as the scene fades.
