US Championship Chamber Match

[SnowQueenSCW]

Despite the graphic opening up to the atypical “Supreme Championship Wrestling” graphic, complete with logo and recognizable effect/SFX, there is no further ‘title card’ or introduction that would usually accompany it. Rather, the shot opens up to the interior of the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. While, under normal circumstances, the eyes of the viewers of this video would be drawn to the empty ring or arena seats, that cannot be the case in the present circumstances, more so because of the massive chain-chamber handing within the center of the shot, suspended over the ring like the Sword of Damocles – and yes, the host of this segment understands the reference (she does read afterall!)

Even from the distance of the shot, the chamber is intimidating, with some of the arena lights (standard rather than ‘show-lights’ that will be used for tonight’s SCW Pay-per-view of Under Attack) bouncing of the metal chains and beams to create an almost ‘other world’ and more terrifying appearance of the structure.

This is the Elimination Chamber. The absence of a title-card is the only thing more off-putting than the silent shot before us.

And yet… the ring is empty, devoid of any superstar or host/hostess of this segment. Often, with such segments involving a match with the Elimination Chamber, it is almost typical – even respectful – to fully take in the structure’s mass and scope from standing within, gazing up at the metal chains and pods that six superstars will be housed in as they wait, some with anxiety, others with excitement, for their pod to open and release them into the structure and match that will determine who walks away from said chamber as the SCW United States Champion!

Yet… the ring remains empty.

HEY! The voice calls, causing the camera to turn left and right, almost in surprise, trying to find the source of the voice. UP HERE! At last, the camera turns its attention upwards, gazing past the chained roof of the chamber and towards the rafters, where the red hair of the SCW United States Champion stands out as she waves at the camera. Immediately, the camera shot shifts to another camera, this one up in the rafters, catching Deanna Frost, dressed in black track pants and an emerald-green t-shirt, still waving towards the chamber and ring below her. Turning her head, she stares into the camera – her audience – showing her bright smile.

Sorry, guys. I’m sure this whole thing is confusing. You guys probably thought with no ‘title-card’ and starting in the empty arena like this, this could be a ‘Frozen Central’ segment or something. She gives a slightly guilty shrug of her shoulders. Sorry, didn’t mean to give any false hope to you. her smile falters a little. I know I keep giving these half-hearted answers regarding my wife and SCW and all that… and I’m sure this whole approach didn’t help. She releases a sigh. But maybe… Maybe we all just need to move on, you know?

Like, if we assume Selena isn’t coming back, you know? If we just get used to the fact of an SCW without her – at least for now, you know? If we get used to it, then if we’re wrong, maybe it’s a happy ‘we were wrong’ rather than us continuously disappointing ourselves.

Queitly, she casts her eyes down towards the ring and chamber below. That’s sort of why I didn’t use a title card here. Because I can’t really call this segment “The Guard Tower” anymore. Because I’m not… I’m not the Queen’s Guard anymore…

I’m not! I don’t guard a queen. I don’t protect any royalty anymore and this… She looks around. This isn’t really a tower to begin with. A lookout maybe, but not a tower. And maybe… maybe I need to move on from that too. That I’m not that person anymore.

That’s sort of why I made this challenge. Well, it was really two reasons… she holds up two fingers. But I don’t want to lose my train of thought so let me answer these one at a time, okay? So, the first one… she stumbles a little before quickly recalling. Moving on! That was the first one.

Okay, so you all know how I’ve been haunted by certain losses in my career. First and foremost, the ‘Five Moves of Doom’ match against Adam Allocco over a year ago just after winning the Television title. And I have done… so much in my time since then to get better and try and never be in such a position like that again. I don’t mean in a position where I can’t possibly lose. Pssh, yeah right! Who is that arrogant that thinks nobody can beat them? Or they can never lose? Geez…

She actually gives the question some thought for a moment with a tilt of her head, unsurprising considering the roster and egos in SCW, before shaking her head to return to the present.

What I mean is that I worked harder than ever before to not be in the position of embarrassing myself like that again. Losing was one thing, but to be little more than someone’s pawn in terms of skill and ability? I never wanted to feel so outmatched and worthless like that again, especially when I held an SCW championship! Something that is an honor and supposed to represent an accomplishment and represent the level of talent and ability in that division. She slowly exhales. I maintain that, along with winning the tag-titles with my wife, and the United States title and retaining it in a two-match process at Rise to Greatness, beating Adam Allocco twice was one of my most valuable and most important victories. It allowed me to see how far I have come along. How much better I had become. And it allowed me to move on past it. To not be defined by that moment in my career, but to use it to make more moments!

A smile breaks out across her features. But in freeing myself of that, I was left to wonder what other moments in my past haunted me. That held me back. What other things weighed on my mind as a singles wrestler… she gazes down at her left arm, where a faint scar can be seen running along it longways. And there was really only one that stood out to me. Her hand tightens into a fist, the muscles in her forearm now visibly flexing, further drawing focus to her scar.

It was a year ago at this very event. I was meant to finally be challenging for the SCW world tag-team titles for the first time with my wife as my partner but it seemed fate had other plans in play. Because, in order to try and screw with Selena and I, Lexy Chapel used her ‘connections’ to push me into the last available spot for that year’s Elimination Chamber.

I mean, the reasoning was clear. She was hoping that the chamber would go first, thus I’d be worn out and weakened for the tag-team title match. But it was on me too. I could have said no and conceded. I could have run away and hid from the problem, but I didn’t… her eyes flash up to the camera, staring both into it and past it somehow. That isn’t who I am. Frosts don’t run away from their problems. They face them head on! So, I did. And, like I said, karma plays a hand – and karma, that night, decided to have me fight in the chamber second and the tag-title match first, allowing Selena and I to capture the  tag-team titles and not cost the House of Frost. And again… the option was presented to me to just leave it at that. Take the tag-titles and walk away. And again, for the same reason, I couldn’t. I went into the chamber…

She gazes down at the metal contraption below her. And I am not ashamed to say that I lost. I lost in an epic fashion! I got my arm broken, got beaten by a former world champion who I despised, and I had to be helped from the ring by my wife and some medics! I know… loud, right?

A little laugh escapes her before her expression sobers a little, her tone growing back to more focused and serious as her gaze returns to her scarred arm.

But I came so close. Only beaten by two people. And that was after everything happened. What if I hadn’t had another match? What if my arm hadn’t been broken? What if I was as good as I am now – still needing to grow but miles ahead than where I was back then?

So, when the opportunity to move on from that past chamber match and these haunting questions came up… she shrugs. I had to go with it. I needed to.

Because I feel this is… well, this is the last piece of the puzzle needed to ‘move on’. Because for months and months, I have by choice or situation, had to grow further and further from what I knew – what I knew to be safe and such – and become my own woman here in SCW. To refuse to settle for being ‘the wife of…’ and instead stand by my own identity and make that identity worth something amazing in its own right!

And, the truth is, as I said, I am not ‘The Queen’s Guard’ anymore, so the question is: who is Deanna Frost then?

The redheaded champion seems, internally, flummoxed with this question, the last part of her past year in SCW (surrounded by her wife, Selena) falling away, leaving behind someone she doesn’t seem certain on who it is.

I don’t know, but I know one thing is certain. I’m not going to find out hanging onto this past with the chamber. With this scar serving as a reminder of where I failed like the “Five Moves of Doom’ match. No, I need to move on and that is what I intend to do… but it needs to done right.

That’s why I didn’t just want anyone. I didn’t want five people thrown together just to fill a cage - which is why I trusted CHBK, whose job is to provide exciting matchups for the SCW Universe and... I feel he’s doing that. And I needed him to pick some incredible opponents.

Because I’m not going to move on past all this if he hadn’t. I’m not going to be able to move on past not being ‘The Queen’s Guard’ anymore simply by winning against anyone. I needed to see more than just entitlement, accolades, or whatever in the eyes of my opponents.

No. I wanted to see a hunger. I wanted to see a desire to come into the chamber and win it!

She casts her eyes down at the chamber below. That’s why I jumped at the chance to get Gavin Taylor into the match. Because when he came to me on that episode of Breakdown and asked to be part of that match, despite losing some big matches, I didn’t see defeat. I didn’t see anything close to ‘pleading’. I saw fire. I saw grit. I saw a man that not only believed he could come into this dangerous structure and not only win, but that he was necessary for the match to have any validity in the level of challenge. That this match would not be a true test for me unless I included him.

And Gavin… I believe you. Not ‘believed’. I mean present-tense! I believe you. I believe you’re right. In that moment, when I looked into your eyes, I saw the fire and determination that I have wanted to see in every competitor that I’ve faced and every person that’s entering this match. I believe you can win this match just like you believed you could beat Syren in an iron-person match and then did it! Whether this current belief is based on trust of your own abilities, experience, or your current losses… it doesn’t matter to me! I respect your grit and confidence!

In that same vein, I mean, we have a battle royale where the last entrant has to fight through THAT just to get a chance at this! she gestures with her hand towards the chamber below her.

Think about that for a second! Cause I know what it’s like to go into a chamber having already wrestled! We have six other people willing to fight in a royale just for a chance – handicapped as it may be – to be in, what has been called, “the deadliest structure in SCW”! You want to tell me THAT isn’t grit, faith, confidence, and drive?! Whoever that person is – even if it’s The One – will deserve to be in this match just like Gavin does!

Same with Polly! she gives little shrug. I mean, I know we never have gotten along with me and the Playgirls. But I’d be a fool not to see your streak of wins as of late. Not to mention your driven attitude to ascend up the ranks of SCW into making a name for yourself, just as I am trying to do. Again, grit, need, passion… her shrug is a bit sharper. These are the factors that make a superstar dangerous in such a structure and makes you as dangerous as Gavin and easily a wildcard on par with the royale winner! A dark horse, if you will!

Polly, Gavin, the royale winner and myself – we have that in common. We are trying to achieve greater things and be more than what we have been! I can relate to that, I can understand it, I can respect it and I know not to take anyone that has these desires and traits lately in such an intimidating structure as this. She breathes.

But it’s not just young wrestlers or people ‘wanting more’ or wanting to ‘do more in SCW’ here. It’s not just people trying to ‘make a name for themselves’ or ‘start a new path’ or ‘find themselves’.

No, that would be dismissing two entrants in this match and doing them a grave disservice -not to mention setting myself up at a disadvantage considering either one of them could win the chamber and this title! Because you look at Lucas Knight – a man that has done it all! Been it all! The kindest of mentors, the cruelest of men, the most driven of champions, the most loyal of friends, this man has done it all and been it all. There is no question that your experience, Knight, dwarfs all the other names I’ve mentioned, including mine!

How many chamber matches have you been in, sir?
How many have you won?
How many people have you pinned and eliminated within its structure?

If the answer is what I think it is… I’d have to do another chamber match – maybe two – just to be in the same zip-code of that experience. The same is true with Katie Steward!

A laugh escapes her, a sigh of understanding.

Because anyone that saw my match with Gigi a few Breakdowns ago will see how close Gigi had to beating me! How far she’s come along! That’s part of Katie’s doing. Her training of Gigi! – and while I’ve never really agreed with the majority of ‘ways’ Stewards do things in SCW, there is no denying the Hall of Fame career Katie has had. From longevity to her ability to try and take advantage of every opportunity, the fact that only one title eludes her from Supreme Champion status? Says more than enough about that. Yet, she’s willing to step into the chamber for a title she’s already won because she knows how prestigious and incredible this belt’s lineage is! Again, that desire! From someone that’s done more than any of us!

The redhead sighs again. I know. I should be pointing out flaws. Arrogance, lack of experience, ‘fresh from retirement’, ‘not enough wins under the belt’, etc. Etc. Etc... but the fact is I can’t see that in my mind. I can’t help but see exactly what I wanted when I made this demand to CHBK in front of the watching world.

I wanted challengers that wanted this title as much as I do. Maybe even more.
I wanted challengers that were smarter than me. More experienced.
I wanted challengers that had done more than me.
I wanted challengers that were stronger than me. Faster. Better...

I wanted… she smiles. I wanted superstars that could beat me! I wanted challengers that I needed to surpass by surpassing my own abilities and limitations!

In other words: I wanted challengers that forced me to become better than “the Queen’s Guard” ever was! And to do that…

Deanna exhales, leaning over the rail of the scaffold to stare down the structure.

I have to be more driven to take on anything than Gavin.
I have to be tougher than The One or Hart or any of the battle royale winners!
I have to want it more than Polly!
I have to be smarter than Knight or Katie!

And I have to want all of these things – be all these things - more than ‘The Queen’s Guard’ ever has.

Deanna turns her head, showing her emerald eyes and more directly in the light.

You see, guys? This isn’t just a test of me as ‘an SCW champion’. This is a test of everything that I am. Everything that I am proud of and I cherish. My grit, my toughness, my love for this company and being the champion of this title, my ingenuity and creativity… it is all being tested here tonight and I… I need to surpass all I have in those fields like I never have before, moreso in myself!

Because “The Queen’s Guard”? She would come so close – but never do it. She could ALMOST reach the stars but never grasp them…

And I don’t… her breath staggers a little as she speaks the next line. I don’t want to be that person anymore. I want to break free. I want to start my path without the moniker. On my own. As I have been trying to do for months.

Tonight, I take the biggest gamble of my career. I cast off the last ‘vestige’ my last name has given me for free and I will embrace being my own woman. With no queen, no protection.

Just me. Driven, gritty, and needing to prove herself once more to move on and put the past in the past… where it belongs.

Tonight… I don’t let karma ‘cost me because of my choice’. Rather, I forge my path further by embracing the risks, the gamble, and enduring it all… as I leave ‘The Queen’s Guard’ behind…

Again, her eyes find the camera, staring through it to one audience member. Never to return...

Checkmate, bitches.

The camera slowly fades on the redhead standing above the chamber and all those who may be down there… a future she hopes to achieve tonight. But as what...

Well, that is anyone’s guess!