Amelia Nevado vs. Ryan LeCavalier

[Wisteria Waltz]

We open up on an absolutely gorgeous view of Austin, Texas, the city bathed in golden light courtesy of the sun slowly rising into the sky to begin a brand new day. The skyscrapers stand tall against the golden sky, and the light reflects off of the Colorado River cutting through the city in a way that almost makes one want to open their mind for some introspection. From where we're perched on a balcony connected to a hotel room, we find somebody who seems to be doing just that. The silhouette of Amelia Nevado leans against the railing, looking out at the city, hair already tied into her signature ponytail and already dressed in workout clothes, the sweat reflecting off her skin an indication that she's already gotten in a very early morning workout. As her ponytail flutters in the breeze a bit, she doesn't actually turn to face us just yet, but she begins speaking nonetheless.

“This business isn't easy... that's something I knew full well before I ever wrestled my first match. Growing up, my parents always insisted otherwise as they trained me, but that was because they had a very warped outlook on both this industry and life as a whole. To them, just because I was their daughter, I was automatically destined to become the greatest wrestler, bar none, walking this Earth today. I would never lose a match, I would always stand above the petty nonsense, and no one could ever hope to defeat me fair and square because I was expected to just be that good. Personally, I never bought into the idea that I would just coast through each and every match I would ever wrestle, but my parents would not relent, and eventually... I was too broken to believe otherwise.

You all know the story by now, about how the woman who is now my wife handed me my very first proper defeat in the squared circle, and ultimately saved me from the woman I had become. But there's one other thing that always stuck with me after that night, beyond just Luz's kindness she chose to show me even when I probably didn't deserve it and the effect it would have on me for the rest of my life. That loss made me realize just how much it hurts when you put so much pressure on yourself to succeed that losing absolutely isn't an option, and when the inevitable loss does come... it becomes so much harder to pull yourself back together. After all, you start to believe that you cannot be beaten, you ignore that the possibility could ever exist, and it leaves you struggling to figure out what to do when faced with the fact that we're only human, we have limits, and sometimes... losing is necessary in order to grow and evolve.

Yeah, losing sucks, and I'd like to think Luz and I have a valid reason to take issue with our most recent loss, even if certain other individuals continue to echo the same tired message over and over again. We get it: Luz and I are too 'nice' and 'honorable' to survive in SCW... never mind the fact that we've both not only found singles success but carried the entire tag team division on our backs for the past year or two, in spite of that belief, on nothing but out wrestling skills inside that ring. It goes back to what I said about this business not being easy... there are people who just can't handle when things don't go their way, when their own mortality is proven to them no matter how much they believed they could never fall. Some let it affect them so thoroughly that they start to lose sight of who they were once upon a time, instead becoming a dark reflection of who they may want to be and become who they think they have to as long as it gets them the results they so desperately desire.

To give up everything that makes you who you are just to find the success you believe you deserve like it was always yours, to begin with? That's the easy way out... the real challenge is being willing to fight against that temptation to prove that you are strong enough to survive in this business without letting it break you, because those are the wrestlers who go on to truly inspire and open the door for future generations and prove that it is possible to thrive without losing yourself, so long as you're willing to fight for it.”

Amelia slowly turns around at this point, and while it looks to have healed up quite a bit, even in the light of dawn we can still see what looks like the remnants of a split lip that was certainly not present when we saw her on Breakdown last week in her home country. Despite that, she stares into the camera intently, her message clearly meant for someone in particular. Maybe her opponent for this upcoming Breakdown? Maybe somebody else? It's hard to know for sure, but Amelia doesn't falter regardless.

“Now, it's obvious that the road ahead for The Light In The Darkness isn't so clear anymore. We know we have to start from the bottom and work our way back up to earn another shot at the World Tag Team Titles... and yet, despite everything, we're actually alright with that. The Fall of Man can preoccupy themselves with other matters in the meantime, because Luz and I know that we'll be haunting the back of their minds, making them worry about whenever that time comes where we're knocking on their door once again. After all, they failed in the one thing they claimed they would ultimately do... they did not break us, they did not eliminate us from SCW, and Luz and I are not wallowing in despair and letting ourselves spiral even if we have an issue with how that Steel Cage Match ended. Instead, we're taking a step back, learning from that night, and improving for the future.

And for the record Xander, if you're watching... I do still respect you, nothing has changed on that front. But I am allowed to take issue with you becoming so consumed by what the Fall of Man have done that it interferes with my own business with them, and I am allowed to stand up for myself and call you out on thinking the answer is resolving this fight by yourself when you're not the only one in this war.

In a twisted sort of way, it's almost ironic how much this situation reminds me of the woman I will meet here in Austin come Thursday night.

Ryan LeCavalier, the woman who won the honor of Star of Tomorrow last year, and someone whose skills I am honestly looking forward to matching wits with in that ring. And yet, the more I look at Ryan, the more I find myself looking into a reflection of the woman I used to be once upon a time. Much like Xander, Ryan has spent so long believing all the hype that she, admittedly, has rightfully earned with how well she's done since first coming to SCW to compete, to the point where the few times she has tasted defeat... well, I can tell from what you've had to say as of late how much it's affected you, Ryan. That failed effort to dethrone Waylon when he was in the midst of his seemingly unstoppable Television Title reign, the loss to Selena in that Ironwoman Match during Fatal Fortunes... both very well fought, both opportunities to learn and grow as you still find your way in SCW, but that's not quite what you've done, is it? No, instead you've tried to become a ghost haunting the both of them at every turn, determined to get your chance to prove that you can beat the likes of Waylon and Selena, that you should've beaten Waylon and Selena in those encounters. They couldn't possibly have just been the better competitors on those particular nights, could they?

Not in your mind. Not when Ryan LeCavalier cannot be bested by anybody. Not when she is destined to beat the Fall of Man to the punch in burning this company to the ground just to rebuild it in her own image and rewrite history as proof of her destiny.”

Amelia slowly shakes her head, mumbling something under her breath that sounds vaguely like her mother being proud of someone like Ryan, a thought that certainly makes her look sick to her stomach. It's at this point that she looks past us, calling back into the hotel room she's staying in.

“Hey, hermosa? Was I really that bad when we first met all those years ago? Be honest with me.”

“Being honest?” we hear Luz call back from somewhere behind us. “Yeah, sorry, you didn't sound too far off from that yourself.”

Amelia flashes a smile that makes it clear to Luz, wherever she is behind us and regardless of what she's doing right now, that she's not upset at the honesty. Rather, she's grateful that her wife is willing to acknowledge her old faults as a sign of just how far she's come as a person since then. Her gaze drifts back down to us, the smile fading as her focus takes over once more.

“I get it, Ryan, I really do. As I said, I was there myself when I first started in this business, though not entirely of my own volition. I thought I had no say in who I wanted this business to see me as, that I had to be exactly what I was told was the sole purpose I was even born: the perfect wrestling machine that, in my mind during that time, not even you could've held a candle to, as much as I know you would argue otherwise. That's not who I am, though, nor is it the kind of person I want to be known as, it's just who I was made to believe I needed to be in order to become everything I was told I was destined for. Deep down, by your own admission at points, I can tell that you're in the same boat, but you refuse to fight for it because you've made it clear that the few losses you've had thus far broke you enough that the proverbial kids' gloves had to come off, that you would need to make the world understand that you are everything you say you are and no one will stop you from walking into Taking Hold of the Flame, winning that battle royal, and then going on to Rise to Greatness and becoming World Champion, the destiny finally complete.

If it were that easy to manifest reality based on how badly you want something, then I would be standing here as a four-time World Tag Team Champion right now, regardless of what happened in that steel cage two weeks ago.

Do you know why I'm not deterred by my setbacks anymore, Ryan? It's because I know I can bounce back from them, that I can start over and earn my way back to where I want to be. So long as I have breathe in my lungs, I will step into that ring and wrestle with everything that I have... not because I have to prove anything to anyone, especially myself, but because I want to show the world what I'm capable of, how far I've come and how much farther I can still go. Maybe you think it's naive of me to still have such an optimistic outlook on this business, but that's because I refuse to lie to myself any longer about who I am and who I need to be, especially when I've proven that I can be a champion without having to become a bitter, spiteful shell of myself obsessed with achieving immortality immediately.

Over the past three years since Luz and I came back, I've etched my name into SCW's history books on several occasions, matched wits with some of the very best this company has to offer, and no matter how long it takes me to do so, I will earn even more accolades to my name with nothing but my bare hands and what I'm capable of in that ring, just like everything I've earned thus far the same way, no matter how tempting it's been to let myself slip and become the broken puppet I once was, heir to a legacy I was born into but wished to forge my own.

Know this, Ryan: when all is set and done come Breakdown this Thursday night, I will walk away from that ring respecting your skills, because I know you and I are capable of putting on a technical wrestling clinic for the ages. But regardless of the outcome, I will keep marching forward, learning and evolving as I continue to prove that I am strong enough to not let this business break me no matter how much the tides of chaos shift against me. Maybe that will resonate with you, maybe it'll only add me to your list of people you feel the need to prove wrong, especially if I do happen to best you on this particular Breakdown. Either way, I doubt this will be the only time our paths cross...

So let's make our first meeting one to truly remember, shall we, Ryan?”

Amelia can't help but smile, curious as to how Ryan would respond. Regardless of whether she joins the choir telling her that she's foolish for thinking this business won't break her or not, Amelia is not deterred from that challenge. After all, sometimes that's the real fight in this business, and she knows she's already proven herself plenty of times and has all the time in the world to do it again. If Ryan wants to insist that her time has to be now... then maybe her desperate haste is already proving to be her undoing, and she's too immersed in convincing herself of who she needs to be to realize it.