Syren vs. Selena Frost

[SnowQueenSCW]

The camera opens up to reveal the interior of the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The seats are empty (though they will soon be filled) and a familiar set of arctic-blue and white lights illuminate the wrestling ring located in the center of the area. And as the camera changes to another shot, one closer to the ring, a slight change is noticed. Rather than sitting in the middle of the ring as usual at the start, the Snow Queen is standing against the ropes, her hands grasping them as she leans on the supporting wrapped structures, her eyes taking in the empty seats as the lights illuminate her black and snowflake-embroidered wrestling attire.
 
Selena Frost vs Syren…
Syren vs. Selena Frost…

Her voice is clear despite the camera catching her expression of deep contemplation.

You can rephrase it and paraphrase it, read it forward, read it backwards, write it down on paper and turn it towards a mirror so it gets inverted, you cannot deny the magnitude of such a match. Her hands tighten against the ropes.

I mean, we have not even begun the road to Rise to Greatness, and yet here we are! This is a match that could very well be worthy of such a pay-per-view! The supposed “Face of SCW” against the supposed “Standard Bearer of SCW”! She lifts a hand, imagining the marquee that such a match could fill on the electronic billboards.

I mean, this match has happened, what? Once? Maybe two or three before in my entire career? During the first Best of the Best tournament six years ago and an episode of Breakdown about a year after that? And we all remember what happened a month and a half ago. But now? Here we are, the first ever Pay-Per-View that will see us fight one-on-one! And while I can’t wait to hear Syren tell the world why this match shouldn’t happen or that I’m beneath her or maybe she’ll throw me some blatant lie where she pretends to ‘respect me’ like she did last time we fought one on one, she’d be a fool to ignore the implications of a match like this.

Turning around, Selena releases the ropes and takes a deep breath, gazing down at her hands.

See, a couple of weeks ago, I decided to put myself right in Syren’s supposed “destined” path towards the World title. I decided to start working towards, for a third time, becoming the SCW World Champion.

And even though it’s been a while, even I know what beating someone like Syren would be a huge step in that direction – hell, the winner of this match would have taken a huge step in that direction! So, to say that this match, first of its kind on a pay-per-view scale, is going to shake the foundation of the World Title contender standings? Pretty easy to believe, isn’t it?

She gives a shake of her head, her platinum locks moving a little with the movement. But as we set up for such a historic match, one that could shake the very foundations of SCW, I find myself wondering who we should be thanking for such a match? Selena gives a slight shrug as she looks around the arena.

I mean, the match was made my Mr. D., spurned on by weeks and weeks of me coming out here and demanding a chance to fight Syren one on one and being refused by both Syren and CHBK time and time again. So, really, who do we thank? Do I thank the boss? Do I take the credit myself? Do I thank all of you for making your voices heard loud and clear? She motions towards the camera, to the fans she knows are watching.

Hard to say. But, I know who Syren wants me to thank…

Syren wants me to bend the knee and kneel. Gracefully, Selena bows down, kneeling in front of the camera, her eyes on it. Syren wants me to praise her. To thank the ‘ever generous Syren and CHBK’ that they have agreed to grant me this opportunity for a match, right? Because this is ‘the great Syren’, right? The woman with ‘bigger fish to fry’? The woman ‘destined to make history by winning the world title more times than any superstar in the history of SCW!’. And you heard her, what three weeks ago? Heard her say what she deserves as ‘the most decorated wrestler in SCW’?

Clicking her tongue a little inside her mouth, Selena shakes her head as she gets to her feet, a smile forming on her lips.

Cause that’s what this all started as according to you, right, Syren? Respect? You came around and started shoving lines in my face at how I “don’t respect you and never respected you”, right? That I have never taken a match with you seriously, right?

Let me tell you a little story about respect, Syren… Selena’s eyes narrow.

You go back about 6 years or so, and I was put in a match called “The Elimination Chamber”…

Across the ring from me? A stable known as Monarchy. With members like Chris Cannon, Trinity Street and Lucas Knight.She gestures from one corner to the other. And beside me? It was Ravyn Taylor… and you.

Now, I doubt you remember that night, Syren, because you seem to have an issue remembering what I said two or three weeks when you do a damn promo, but let me continue the stroll down memory and lane, and don’t worry! If you don’t believe me, just actually watch the show. Under Attack 2015, it’s there, trust me. she shrugs.

But back to the match. You, me and Ravyn vs Monarchy. And during that match, there was a moment where I had a choice. A moment where I saw you, Syren, on your hands and knees and Trinity Street charging right at you…ready to punt kick you hard enough to cave your chest in with what Sharper declared “would have taken Syren out”.

And in that moment, I made the chose to push you out of the way and, literally, take the bullet for you.

Her hands on her hips, Selena releases a small laugh, shaking her head as she walks around the ring.
And for about six or so years, I’ve never been asked why I did it. Never been asked why I, as Sharper said, “saved Syren’s career” that night. Again, his words, go and watch it if you don’t believe me.

But as for why I ‘saved you’, Zoe, I’m going to tell you now because it’s important you understand. I didn’t do it so you would ‘owe me one’. I didn’t do it so I could hold it over your head. I didn’t do it to prove something…

I did it because I respected you, Syren. I did it because I believed in you.

The Snow Queen crosses her arms over her chest.

That night, there was no doubt in my mind. You were the leader of our group. You were the greatest superstar in SCW. The legend, the icon, the future Hall of Famer. And I knew that if anyone could finish the job and win that match, not just for you, or me, or Ravyn but for SCW, it was you!

That is how much I believed in you, Syren. Enough to risk my own ‘just-beginning’ career. That is how much I respected you. she points a sharp finger to the camera.

And maybe, in spite of everything you’ve done in the past, there was a part of me that was still in that past when we first faced - when we fought over a month ago on that episode of Breakdown. Because, despite everything that had happened at the hands of you and Infamous, I tried to truly understand you. I tried to understand how someone like you, so close to achieving the impossible, would walk away from a bona fide opportunity as that gauntlet match for the world title.

Out of respect for you, I tried to understand your mentality because all I wanted was the chance to see how I stacked up against the supposed “best in all of SCW”.

And how did you respond, Syren? You threw a tantrum that I ‘didn’t get it’, and for the last few weeks, you’ve stated that I’m not a ‘legit competitor’? That I don’t respect you? Tell me something, Syren, how did our singles match go? This should be easier for you to recall. It was only a little over a month ago.

Another shrug comes from Selena, not really waiting for an answer. I gave you everything I had. I brought no one but myself. I fought tooth and nail, fang and claw for every moment and inch that I could get against you. Because if I was going to beat the supposed ‘best’, the self-proclaimed ‘measuring stick’? I was going to do on my own abilities. That was how much I respected you.

And in that moment, when I was fighting to lock in the Frost’s Bite on you, my mind was racing with a thousand thoughts! What would it mean if I did beat Syren clean? What if I took on everything the supposed ‘standard’ threw at me and overcame it?

Would it say anything bad about Syren? How could it? When it comes to ability and accolades, Syren, you’re practically untouchable! You’re a Hall of Famer, multiple records of multiple titles, more Rise to Greatness main-events than practically anyone. Certainly more than me. a sad smile crosses the Snow Queen’s features.

Beating you would have said little bad about you, Syren, but it would have said so much about how far I have come. From the girl that was little more than a meat-shield to protect you to being able to stand in the ring with you and beat you. a pale hand tightens into a fist.

But the Syren I fought wasn’t the Syren that I saved all those years ago, was it? No, the Syren that I fought was someone that, for years, had had her fascade chipping off the more she wrestled. The Syren that, the more she fought, the more her words started becoming lies. Her attitude started changing into complacency. And finally, one day a couple of years ago, that fascade fell and the world saw past the “Syren fascade” that everyone, including me, had fallen for.

And that was when Syren became the real Zoe Sperling: a self-entitled, whining little bitch.

The Snow Queen’s tone grows colder as she glares at the camera.

You say I don’t respect you, Syren? You’re right. I don’t respect you now, Zoe, because when the time came for you to respect me in that ring? When the time came for you to show respect to someone that had respected you for years, you couldn’t do it. You couldn’t even give me one match. You brought CHBK and Ravyn to the ring. You had CHBK interfere and save your ass and then, when it all came to a head at Retribution… you spit on me. the slight growl in her voice can be heard.

Yet, you stand there in front of a camera and cry on your blog and say I’M not a legit competitor? I’M the one being disrespectful? I’m not taking you seriously? Selena gives a laugh before shaking her head.

I’ll give you this, Syren, you managed to piss me off when you said that. Because you read the contracts that I filled out and all the stipulations I offered to you and you thought that I wasn’t taking you seriously.

You got it wrong, Syren. I’m the only one out of the two of us that is taking this seriously. I’m the only one that was willing to put whatever the hell you wanted from me on the line just to get you to come out and give me a match. The reason why the offers got more ridiculous, Syren, is because you let them become more ridiculous. Because if you were taking me seriously, taking a match with me seriously,  one contract would have been all that was needed. One, Syren. A pale hand holds up a finger, symbolizing the spoken number.

But no. I wasn’t worth discussing, was I? I wasn’t worth considering contracts to you, was I, Zoe? And rather than actually respect me or take ME seriously, you basically passed me over time and time again while throwing the “Infamous generic one-liners” at me.

You don’t believe me? Let me try and guess the main points you have cause I’ve heard them so many times:

“Golden Girl”
“Always handed opportunities”
“Spotlight hog”
“Title whore”
“Liar and manipulator”
“Steals from other superstars”
And, of course, more so because it’s you, Syren: “Disney, Disney, Disney Disney.”

A laugh escapes the Snow Queen at the insults she’s heard, especially from members of Infamous, since day one of her time in SCW.

And believe me, Zoe, I’m excited to see just how many times you can say those same insults as I play “Infamous Bingo” backstage while I’m watching you, but, at the same time, with you, it’s different.

Because, you’re not Christy Matthews. You’re not Ravyn Taylor. You are Syren. You’re the person that’s supposedly so high up on the hierarchy, looking down on the rest of us, that you’re untouchable. And with you, Zoe, it’s 100% more hypocritical and 100% more frustrating.

The Snow Queen crosses her arms as she stands in place.

And really, that’s what bothers me the most about this, Zoe. You, of all people – you, who have failed against newer talent like Owen Cruze and Jordan Majors because you underestimated them. You, who have looked down on so many people, just to get upset – hell, a few weeks ago, you and Christy lost to a brand new, rookie, tag-team on Breakdown, didn’t you?

You, after all that… you get on your blog or in front of a camera and use the same, tired, insults I’ve heard over and over again that every entitled person here has used against me before you. You, with all your years of experience, good and bad, and all your accomplishments and all your skills, have the gall to just wave me by like that. To dismiss me and say that THAT is ‘good enough’ against someone like me?

I didn’t understand that, initially. Because the one original thing you said about me over a month ago, Syren, was that my name should be with other World Title Contenders. That, while it made you sick to admit, Selena Frost is a world-title contender…

As if confused, the platinum-blonde gives a shake of her head. See, that’s what baffled me originally, Syren. That you’d say I was at that level but then say I didn’t deserve a match with you?

But as the weeks went by, it started making sense. Because you need to keep me at the level, don’t you, Syren? You need me to be ‘undeserving’ to face you. You need to only use ‘one-liners’ that were dumb in 2013 now to keep me OUT of the World title picture, because why, oh why should SCW invest in a…

She smiles.

Well…insert Syren one-liner insult about me here. And you need that to stay the same because now? It’s no longer no real loss to you if I beat you. Now, if you lose to me, I not only remain in your way for the World title, I STAY in your way! And that terrifies you, doesn’t it, Zoe? Bad enough you had me to deal with in a singles match just for competition, but now to have me in your path, preventing you from making history?

The reason you never signed any of those contracts wasn’t because you had ‘bigger fish to fry’ or whatever. The reason why you never signed a contract to face me, Syren, was that you knew that if you did and CHBK wasn’t there to hold your hand or bail you out like every other time…

The Snow Queen snaps her fingers.

Everything you’ve been bragging about? Everything you’ve been trying to prove with your methods? Disappears like that. And suddenly, the little girl that wasn’t worth more of your time than a “Disney joke”? Suddenly, that little girl is ahead of you. Suddenly, you don’t go back to square one… oh no. You STAY at square one and I springboard ever closer to the title you can’t live without!

And that idea, that’s what really makes you sick, doesn’t it? It’s not some cliché line like my catchphrases or the clothes I wear or the things I say. No, Zoe, what makes you sick to your stomach when you think of me is the very real possibility that I can beat you and more than that, when push comes to shove, I can do what you do far better than you can. a knowing smirk graces Selena’s lips.

I mean, let’s talk about that, Zoe! A couple of weeks ago, you claimed that I am barely here in SCW, right? That while I “walk around in the back” and “beg for attention”, you’re in the ring, what was it you said? “Every damn night wrestling and performing”?

The smirks turns into a small laugh. I found that interesting considering the weeks you refused to fight me, but I did some checking to see if that line had any validity, Zoe, and you know what I found out? So far this year? You’ve wrestled on SIX episodes of Breakdown. You know how many episodes I wrestled?

The sly grin returns. Six.

Yeah, hard to see your logic when the numbers don’t lie. While you’re out there and online, bragging about “showing up to work”, I’m here doing the exact same thing you’re doing. The biggest difference? I don’t need six or seven people at ringside holding my hand to do my job!

Every match I’ve had, I’ve come in here, fought with all I had, all my heart and soul, on my own, in this ring and I’ve done it with only my own drive to help me keep up with the amazing talents like David Helms and Chris Cannon and Glory Braddock, just to name a few.

Selena looks around for a moment before settling on the camera. You? You stroll into Breakdown, whine and cry backstage and in the ring and if you so happen to fight? You half-ass it until Infamous INEVITABLY steps in and does the job for you when you can’t hack it!

Selena holds a hand up, as if silencing someone. But oh! According to you? It’s okay to screw people out of matches and screw with me because I’m the underserving one. I’m the one that’s “handed everything I’ve ever been given”, right? I’m the one that’s ‘stealing the spotlight from people like you because I’m a fame-hog, right?’

A scoff escapes her. Putting aside you laughing in my face almost two weeks ago about you “deserving to have CHBK hand-pick your opponents”? I’m going set you straight right here and now, Syren:

I’ve not held the world championship since the end of 2017.

Nearly four years, Zoe, and in that time, never – NOT ONCE – did SCW management ‘pick me’ or ‘select me’ or ‘hand me’ a chance at the world title. Not one time did SCW ‘choose’ me as someone to try and get a contendership for the world title. It didn’t matter if I beat Xander Valentine in record time, or beat him again in a Last Person Standing match, or ripped my way through a damn tournament. It just didn’t happen. And maybe that’s on me, maybe that wasn’t enough for management to look my way.

But then there’s you… again, sapphire eyes narrow as Selena holds up a hand to count the instances.

Learning from History 2018? You were handed a world championship match that you never earned by manipulating Mr. D. with Ravyn and CHBK.
Rise to Greatness 2018. You were picked to be part of a number one contender match for the World title.
Making Things Right 2019. You had Katya give you a golden opportunity for the World Championship by robbing the rightful contender in Cassidy Carter.
Under Attack 2019. You were gifted a world championship match inside the chamber.
Clarity 2019. You were granted a world title match in double jeopardy.

Her head giving a little jerk, Selena lowers her arm. In case you haven’t counted it out, Syren? You were handed more world title opportunities by SCW management in two years time than I’ve gotten in EIGHT!

Yet you stand there and accuse SCW of ‘passing you by” and being ‘held back’ by someone like me? That I’m just ‘desperate’ for a title.

You’re right, Syren. I am desperate to be World Champion, because, unlike you, I haven’t been given a chance over and over and over again. I haven’t been handed a damn thing where you have been handed EVERYTHING!

Selena takes a few breaths to calm herself. And for four years, I’ve had to wait on the sidelines and watch you, a loudmouth ingrate, bitch and, despite SCW bending over backwards for you, it’s never enough. It’s now either ‘too hard’ or ‘unfair’ or “not perfect enough’, right?

With a yell, Selena kicks the ropes, causing them to shake. It’s a slap in the face, Syren, to someone like me, who has to work for over a year and half to get ANY kind of title opportunity and you, getting opportunity over opportunity and still demanding more!

You haven’t the first damn clue about being ‘passed over’, You’ve been the lion at the top of the mountain. Roaring and roaring while your pride gift wrap everything for you, from wins to title matches. ‘Bring me titles! Bring me challengers! Bring me everything!’.

Me?

I’m the hyena clawing at every single opportunity I get because I don’t know when the next one is going to be. I don’t know if there will EVER be another opportunity for me. So am I going to dive into an opportunity even when the odds are near impossible like the gauntlet? You’re damn right I am! Am I going to take what little I’m given in this business and make it worthwhile with all I am like I did defending the United States Championship every time I had a match in my first reign? You better believe it!

That’s how I’ve functioned here  in SCW, and in those four years, Syren, I fought through hell to become a two-time United States Championship, risking my life cages and scaffolds while you hid behind a BS ‘neck injury’ to keep your reign alive. I was honored to represent SCW in the God of Wrestling tournament, while you sat on your ass and twiddled your thumbs. I teamed with my sister, Regan, to make one of the most unlikely tag-teams in SCW history and CONQUERED the SCW tag-team division, beating even you and Ravyn, using it to be part of a tournament that gave the division the focus it so deeply deserved. I won tournaments like Trios and the US title tournament. I was the second last match at Rise to Greatness for three years straight, just to name a few of the things I did.

I took what little scraps SCW gave me and made it into something great because they- she gestures to the sea of seats within the arena. They deserved nothing less than the best I can give them every single night. They deserve it and I deserve it.

Slowing her pace, Selena turns back to the camera.

But, according to you, my success has nothing to do with that mentality. No, you say that the only reason for all of my success has been because of you. That all I’ve done was only possible because of you and Ravyn Taylor and Christy Matthews ‘paving the way for me’. That’s what you said right? That the girls of Infamous ‘paved the way for little, ol’ me’?

Reaching up to scratch her head, Selena gives it a shake before continuing.

You know that’s interesting, Syren, but I think you’re missing a few people in that little conversation. I could start with Katie Steward, the woman that SHATTERED the glass ceiling for women like us. I don’t like her, and I don’t think I ever will, but while you were content just going after the women’s and tag titles? She was breaking the ceiling by being the first woman to be WORLD Champion. Yet she’s not on your list?

Alright. How about Rachel Foxx? A woman that showed not only how tough women can be but how violent and dominant, reinventing the Underground division for women that don’t fit your ‘beauty queen mold’. Where’s she on your list, Syren?

Okay, what about Stacy Kissinger? Celestie Camini? Liana Lewis? Women that held singles title deemed “men divisions”, including the tag-titles, long before you even thought to try? Where are they on your list, Syren?

Slowly, almost ashamed of her future opponent, Selena shakes her head. Eight years I’ve been here, Zoe. And you know what I’ve seen in those eight years? I’ve seen Christy Matthews take the highest honor SCW can give someone – the Hall of Fame membership – and spit in their face. I’ve seen her and Ravyn play “hot potato” with the tag titles from Zero Fucks to Give just so they could say “we’ve held the tag titles!”. I’ve seen every member of Infamous take handout after handout in trying to beat me and countless others that deserve so much more!

But most of all, like I pointed out, I’ve seen you manipulate lives and ruin families just so you can be handed the world  title – just so you can hold it a little longer in your desperate hands. But you say you ‘broke the glass ceiling for the rest of us?

No, Syren. You crawled through the hole that Kate Steward made and then you set yourself up there with Infamous and Pinnacle and then Infamous again to KEEP you there and the rest of us out!

So when I say that I’ve been successful, Zoe, it’s not because of you. No, I’ve been successful in this business IN SPITE of you! the scene grows quiet as Selena’s words sink in.

Because for eight years, that’s how I’ve worked here, Syren. That’s how I’ve existed here. Good, bad, or otherwise. And while everyone else, from you to Owen Cruze have buckled when things got tough – have sold out and taken the easy path, I’ve never faltered in my beliefs, I’ve never sold out my beliefs, and I’ve NEVER given up on the SCW or the SCW Universe!

And when you take it all away, Syren. When you take away the names and the catchphrases and the accolades – take it ALL away until it’s only Zoe and Selena standing eye to eye? That’s the biggest thing you can’t stand about me, isn’t it?

I was there, Zoe. I was there over two years ago, when you lied and cheated your way to another world title at Learning From History – when you used the manipulations of CHBK and Ravyn because it got you what you wanted. And I watched as you stood there and told the world the same thing over and over again. The same excuse you’ve been declaring since that day and every time someone’s called you out on your crap.

“Anyone else would have done it if they were in my place.”

It’s been your excuse. Your ‘go to’. Your crutch to try and justify every person you’ve hurt. Every wrestler you’ve cheated. Every rule you’ve bent. Every single time you’ve betrayed the very ideals of SCW. “You all would have done it too!”

But you’re wrong, Zoe. Not everyone would have done it. Not everyone would do it.

Not me.

The platinum-blonde rests a hand over her heart. I’m the one person that can look at you and say that, just like I’m the one person that can say you’re not “THE standard bearer of SCW”.

You’re just “A standard bearer of SCW”.

You are a standard that screams that it doesn’t matter how good you are or how hard you train or how much you put into it: blood, sweat, tears, broken bones, missed time with our families. Long as you have enough people holding your hand and fighting your battles for you, you can win any title, win any match, do anything.

Selena sets her hand to a level close to the mat.

That may be your standard, Zoe, and might be a standard that many others have adopted in their time here in SCW at, at least, one point or another… but it is not my standard. It is not how I choose to have my career defined. It is not how I choose to live my life!

I refuse to have so low a bar as my standard, Zoe. Not when I can do so much more… She raises her hand closer to where her head is. At this standard.

Slowly, Selena lowers her arm. Eight long years, I have overcome every single person that has stepped in my way. I have conquered every division, won every tournament there is to win. I have fractured bones, bled, passed out, been ripped apart but I have overcome every person that has stepped in my path…

Except you. Sapphire eyes glare into the camera. Never have I had that defining moment of standing above Zoe Sperling, of standing above Syren, having beaten her on my own and showed the difference in our standards! she looks around the arena before settling back on the camera.

Tonight? I finally get my chance. Whether you think I deserve it or not, I finally get my chance to cross that line. To do what may be impossible in your eyes but not in mine! And like the hyena I am, Syren, I’m not going by your standard. I’m not going to toss this opportunity aside like you did simply because ‘it’s too hard’ or ‘not perfect enough’. Simply because it could easily be one of the toughest matches in my career.

No, I am going to do what I know I can do – what I know SCW truly stands for. I am going to bite, scratch, and claw my way up until I am reaching that bar – until I am reaching that standard that surpasses yours! The standard that belongs to me!

And then I’m going to surpass that one too and set up a NEW standard before the match is through!

So you can either join me at the top, or I can drag your ass as high as it can go and then watch you fall back to the ground where your standard is. But either way, Syren, the SCW Universe WILL get what we DO deserve… Selena’s glare drills into the camera, to the woman she knows is watching.

The SCW Universe – the True Believers - will get our answer. I will get my answer. And, whether you or CHBK believe it or not… I will know that I am BETTER than you!

Believe it, Zoe. Because I refuse to settle for anything less!

The camera fades on the Snow Queen, eventually going completely to black.