Selena Frost vs. Cid Turner

[SnowQueenSCW]

The camera opens up the interior of an arena space but not a massive one that such a segment usually warrants. There are no thousands of chairs in this space or grand technical majesty such as ramps and titantrons. No, all that is in this small space is a wrestling ring with some lights from above shining down on it. And yet, standing in the ring is the same woman we’ve come to expect with these segments.

The Snow Queen Selena Frost.

Dressed in black track pants and a gray t-shirt, the young woman leans on the ropes, her arms on them and her eyes on her audience watching from around the world.

I know these segments aren’t usually held until I’m in the city of the next event. she offers an apologetic smile. Normally, I’d be doing this in St. Louis inside the Enterprise Center, the place for this year’s Taking Hold of the Flame, with blue and white lights shining down in front of an empty arena – able to collect my thoughts in the silence…

Slowly, she shakes her head. But, as most of you know, this is far from an ordinary event for me. For the first time in my career, as far as I can recall, I will NOT be participating in the Taking Hold of the Flame Battle Royale this year…

That’s the first thing that makes this “Frozen Central” different from the others. The other reason, the big reason, is why I am not going to be in the royale this year. It’s because, after four years of waiting and grinding my way through the ranks of SCW, I finally have an opportunity to, once again, call myself the number one contender and fight one-on-one for the SCW World championship.

The statement, judging from Selena’s tone of voice, holds a lot of weight to her, not that that isn’t much of a surprise given the fact it involves the SCW World Title.

It’s…it’s almost unreal. So unreal.

That’s what this whole thing feels like to me. For four years, the only way I got close to the world title was by one of my peers using their Trios to place me in some kind of cluster of a match. For four years, I wondered what more I could do to get back to the place I was knocked down from – to get back to being a contender for the World title instead of a charity case for Trios winners. To get another crack at the World title on my own. And as the years passed me by and other people were chosen, I started thinking maybe it just wasn’t in the cards. So, from fighting Infamous and defeating Syren to getting to this moment, I almost have had to take it week by week as things came at me. And given the last few weeks I’ve had, maybe that was a mistake. Because the current champion is certainly unreal in his own right.

Giving a shake of her head, Selena refocuses on the camera. Right. No distractions. No long-winded speeches about everyone other than my opponent. No, Cid, this is about you and me. That’s what Mr. D. has made this about. Your ‘friends’ are barred from ringside. You will be on your own against me.

The Snow Queen suddenly stops for a moment, as if interrupted by an errant thought, one that causes her to quietly chuckle.

It’s funny because, as I’m standing here, thinking about that and everything else, I can’t help but wonder if even talking to you now will make any difference. I mean, you clearly are content with letting Asher and Holly control what you see and hear. So, will my words even make it to you, Cid? Will they even be my words? Or will they be some warped version that Asher and Holly make through Photoshop or Audacity or MovieMaker and you just believe whatever they give you without using common sense?

A pale hand runs through Selena’s platinum-blonde hair as she shrugs. Who knows? Maybe you will actually take me seriously enough to listen to me on your own. her tone grows colder. Or maybe you will just check my accolades and run through my match history or whatever clips Asher and Holly grant you.

I mean, Cid – you said it yourself – this is the most important match so far right? Sure as hell is one of the most important matches of my career! So much is on the line! And no one cares about being the SCW World Champion more than Cid Turner, right?

But if that’s so, Cid, if you care so much about that title… why are you not even trying against me?

“Selena is jealous! Selena is a fraud! Selena doesn’t care! Selena is a sham! Snow jokes! Fake hair! Incest jokes!”

Is that the best you have, Cid? Seriously? Insults that were old in 2015 when Thomas Watson and Autumn Valentine were using them?! Selena shakes her head, clearly disappointed.

I don’t know why I expected more from you in terms of your views towards to me, considering I saw your television set – which might explain things…

Do you even know why I am here and not in the arena, Cid? Why I am doing this segment first instead of last like ‘the same old. Same old’ Selena? Because this match – this WORLD title match, with implications towards Rise to Greatness! – is NOT just ‘the same old’. Everything is different now! So much more is on the line and I NEED to do something different, be something different in order to have a chance against you!

Because that’s how good I know you are, Cid. And if anyone is going to understand you at this point? It’s me.

Slowly, turns back to walk along the ring, wide lights keeping her illuminated.

You say that all of this has been because of friendship? You talk about someone saving you and how everything you do is for them? That no one will understand it, Cid.

I do.

For all of last year, I LIVED by that concept. You mentioned it, after all, we were BOTH in the Tag League, remember? But it seems that you are the one that forgot about it – or at least the parts that didn’t concern you.

Remember who were the champions in the beginning of that tournament? Frozen Hell? Ring a bell? Remember how Regan and I got those titles and defended them round after round until we lost them? And then kept fighting despite the odds being stacked against us? for a moment, Selena looks down at her hands, rubbing them together.

For a year, I did all I could for my sister, Regan – for her dream. Because she deserved that dream. To become a Supreme Champion, a defending tag-champion, and to have, what could be, one of her greatest RTG moments in her career – just as it was one of mine. Selena smiled at the memory.

Her battles were my battles. Her problems were mine. And vice versa. We faces unstoppable legends together, monsters, everyone…

To this day, there is little I wouldn’t do for Regan, my sister… The Snow Queen turns her gaze back to the camera.

But, apparently, that’s not worth mentioning in your little world, is it, Cid? No, you just see that the last night of the tournament, I teamed with Glory Braddock instead, so I must have been using Regan, right?

Sapphire eyes narrow.

Tell me, Cid., where were you when I was in tears in the damn hospital, scared out of my mind for my sister’s future, not just as a wrestler, but as a mother and a wife and a person?! Where were you, Cid, when Regan held my hand and told me the words I have continued to live by to this day?! “Keep fighting”. Where were you, Cid, when I promised to do so and, thus, found myself a partner to finish what she and I started? Where were you, Cid?!

Let me guess. Locked in your changeroom, fiddling with the dials of your television set?

See, Cid, Regan and I proved our sisterhood and love for one another through years of overcoming obstacles, even when those obstacles were one another. We both have bled, scarred, and shortened our careers to get to where we are as sisters!

You?

You haven’t dealt with one true hardship since the A/C Unit began. You haven’t been knocked to the ground, denied your goals and dreams and told you will never achieve them. You haven’t stood there while your friend contemplated their future in this business. You’ve never had to be there to pull them from the brink, just as they have done for you.

No, what you’ve had is a wave of good fortune. Sienna Swann being taken out of the tournament gave you the keys to the finals, Regan taken out gave you the Psychonaughts, whom Regan and I beat, I’ll remind you, and we all know how you got that World title, Cid… so it’s easy for you to declare how ‘strong’ and ‘rewarding’ your friendship is with Asher and Holly when you’ve never had to deal with true hardships. It’s easy for you to sit on your erected pillar, looking down at all of us because we struggle, therefore, we must be weaker than you, right? We suffer, therefore, we must not be as ‘great’ as you and Asher, right?

The difference between you and me, Cid? Selena tilts her head. Is I know Regan will still love me if I can’t be the World Champion when all of this is over…

Can you say the same thing about you and Asher?

The Snow Queen takes a deep breath. You know what else I know, Cid? I also know a thing or two about the self-doubt you talk about every time you’re in ‘Turner-Time’ mode or in front of a camera. How you often like to start your promos with that. You talk about not wanting the World title this time around or about not deserving the World Title. Your ‘on and off’ self-deprecation is clear here, Cid… and I get it.

Stopping her pace, Selena stands to the side near one of the turnbuckles, her closest hand grasping a ring-rope. I really get it, Cid. Because five years ago, when my time first came – the end of 2016 – I thought the same thing. I didn’t think I was worthy of being the world champion either. I didn’t think I could handle it. And unlike you, this was after I won two tournaments and beat everyone there was to beat on the roster…

It’s not a BS thing to say, Cid. Because you know as well as I do that the World Champion has to do more than just ‘win matches’. The World Champion has the whole company on their back. They represent the company. They promote the company. They carry the ideals and the standards of SCW… or they should… Selena bites her lower lip at the slight edge in her voice at that last part.

I didn’t feel I was ready for that. And I was scared, I mean. I was so scared to take that on. But, like you, I won the title and I ‘worked with it’. I did all I could to measure up to what that title represents. And I tried to do, just what you have said you wish to do, take on the best and beat the best, right? That’s what you told Bree, right? That you wanted to take on the best and beat them? That’s what I have tried to do – and even when I failed, even when I was maybe too young to be the world champion… I kept trying…

Turning a little, Selena places her other hand on the rope, giving it a good tug with both hands. Between the ropes, Cid, you’ve been on fire. You have! I mean, that title match aside at Retribution, you’ve turned back Datura, Bree Lancaster, and you beat Derek Adonis just last week!

She gives a weaker tug on the ropes. Between these ropes – I don’t care if some call it luck or some call it skill. I don’t care what you call it, Cid, you’ve done well here. From the tag league to now, you have every right to be proud in your skill set as a wrestler. And I have every right to say you are dangerous in this ring and a threat to what I hope to achieve.

The Face of SCW shakes her head. It’s why I did what I did last week, Cid. It’s why I came to you. To show you what’s been going on behind your back. To show you what ‘you being World Champion’ really means to Asher. What your ‘friendship’ really means to Asher. I thought… she sighs.

I thought that if I could just show you – show you what’s happening to this business you claim to care about. Show you how you’re being manipulated and overshadowed… we could get back to what this should be about – what this should ONLY be about... SCW and the SCW World title. a sad, knowing smile crosses Selena’s features.

And then you hit me in the head with the title belt…

Her jaw clenches as she pushes herself away from the ropes, moving back towards the middle of the ring.

You can claim otherwise, Cid! Lie to me like you seem to do so easily to yourself and every person that calls you out on this crap. Twist it around like you have everything else. But we both saw Asher coming at me with that belt, ready to hit me like he told you to do the week before, and like he and Holly did to me the week before that. You know that what I did was simply defend myself against him. But you chose to ignore that. Slowly, Selena lifts her hand up to rub her head.

And I gotta tell you, Cid, when I got hit in the head with that belt for the third time in as many weeks… In that moment, Cid, when you were cursing at me for kicking Asher? I saw it. I saw the man you truly are. Cause it’s the same look I’ve seen on the face of Syren before she sold out for the umpteenth time! The same expression I have seen on the faces of Infamous and countless others like them. The Snow Queen tilts her head a little, eyes still on the camera.

I saw that look of obsession, of fear, of desperation. I saw how you were just looking for an excuse, any excuse, to take the shortcut and use that belt on me. And when you had one, you didn’t hesitate, did you?

Because deep down, just like them, Cid – all this? she gestures towards the camera, referring to Cid Turner. This humble guy? This guy that seems to be a nice guy just being manipulated and who doesn’t know better? she shakes her head. I don’t believe in that person anymore.

I don’t believe you’re that guy, Cid… And it’s because of a simple lesson my father gave me. It’s an old saying. “None are as blind as those that refuse to see. The most deluded people are those who choose to ignore what they already know”. Now, apparently that’s from the Bible and anyone who knows me knows my issues with religion, in general, but the lesson and message are still very true to this day – and, more than that, that is why I don’t believe in your ‘ignorant innocence’, Cid, even as you parade in front of a camera – nice job by the way… was I not worth the set of ‘Turner-Time’ with you, Jason, Holly and the mannequins? Are you that over-confident in your passion and so sure of mine? After the last three weeks, and all I saw, I can’t say I’m surprised by that.

But last week, Cid, I gave you the opportunity to do the right thing. I gave you the opportunity to see. You had a chance to see the reality of what you were doing in SCW – what your friends were doing to SCW… and you refused to see it. You refused to listen to the truth. And the truth is, Cid, it’s because you don’t want to.

And you’re not some new person in the picture, Cid. You’re not some person that’s never been at the top of the mountain. You’re Cid Turner! You were “THE KING OF THE WORLD”. Like you said, you’ve actually headlined Rise to Greatness! You know what it means to be World Champion. You KNOW how a World Champion should be. In other words, you ‘choose to ignore what you already know’.

Selena crosses her arms.

You ignore what Asher is doing to that title you keep losing track of.
You ignore what Holly is doing in your name.
You ignore it every step of the way, just as long as they stay your friends, and, most importantly, you can keep that title that you ‘love more than anyone else’.

With a click of her tongue, she looks away with a shake of her head. You know, it was a good con, Cid. Had me fooled. Had most of us fooled. Everyone was treating you with kid gloves. I mean, they wanted to beat you, sure, when you had the world title, but I saw how, outside the ring, in promos, everyone was trying to get you to understand. Get you to come out and see the light. Get you to actually be the World Champion of SCW that the SCW Universe deserves!

And at the same time, everyone was blaming Asher and calling him the fake world champion and all that. I was one of them. Guilty as charged, Cid. I won’t mince words, I think Asher walking around with a clear replica is a farce and a disgrace to this company. Hard not to see that, yet, once again, you manage to. The point is that I don’t see Asher as a world champion. Just a man as desperate as they come to have something he failed to earn. Selena turns her head back to the camera.

But, getting back to you, Cid, last week, I realized that I think we got it all wrong. Because as big of a delusional liar and a fake as he is – you’re just as big a liar and a fake as him, aren’t you?

See, Asher pretends to be the World Champion. You? You pretend to care about being the World champion.

It’s like I said before, Cid, the World Champion is meant to use that belt, not just to simply better their career or accolades or whatever, but to represent the company. To represent the ideals that the words ‘Supreme Championship Wrestling’ stand for. To carry themselves with integrity and honor both inside and outside the ring in the name of this company and as the example of the best there is in professional wrestling – to be, as I have fought for, a measuring stick for the standard of all other wrestlers to aspire to. You have done none of that. Her eyes narrow, arms crossed.

And maybe that’s because you didn’t earn it, Cid, so you don’t really appreciate it. Maybe, because you didn’t have to struggle in the last year to get where you are, you can be so condescending to me and everyone else who’s had to struggle, I’m not sure. Or maybe it’s because you’re just too afraid to do the work that comes with the title – the job you KNOW how to do - so you hand it off to Asher so you can sit in your changeroom, suck your thumb and clutch that belt whenever Asher allows you to for as long as you can. she shrugs.

Regardless of the reason, Cid, you stay in your little bubble while your ‘friends’ belittle and look down on someone like me and you just join in when you’re allowed because it’s easy. And that’s something that just frustrates me, Cid. You look me and say ‘I don’t need to listen to her.’, ‘I don’t need to respect her or take her seriously.’. You look at me and think all you gotta do is sit in front of a camera and repeat whatever Holly and Asher said – and you’re too stupid to ask why.

Why, Cid? You disrespect me because why? Because I honored my sister’s wishes and all we fought for for a year? Because I didn’t get a rematch for the United States title and had to move on, which, apparently proves that I didn’t give a damn about it?

Let me give you a refresher, Cid. Rather than cash in my Trios contract at Rise to Greatness, I used it to get a shot at the United States title. I fought like hell against Bree Lancaster in a roofed cage match, surviving it just to become the U.S. champion. I defended that title every time I had a singles match, turning it into a championship match! I defended it in a damn scaffold match and got tossed twenty or so feet off a platform for that title. I won a damn tournament just to get it back and call myself the champion once more and then, when I had no reason to, I defended it in a tag-team match at Rise to Greatness just to ensure it got the prestige it deserved on such a big night, while you were holding onto Asher’s hand and getting your ass kicked by Dark Fantasy!

With a huff, Selena uncrossed her arms, giving her head a jerk before returning her gaze on the camera.

You? Won the world tag-team titles and you treated them as a consolation prize under your ‘co-world titles’ and then tossed those tag titles away at the very next pay-per-view to The Golden Boys, and you followed that up declaring how it was ‘A/C Unit’s destiny to hold the world title together, so screw that tag division’. The Snow Queen shakes her head.

You’re in a glass house throwing stones, Cid, and you don’t even know it. And you don’t have the first damn clue about me, how hard I’ve worked for this company or for everything I’ve earned because I’ve believed in every element of it. Every division I’ve been part of. Every title I’ve won to get to this point.

Selena shakes her head. But that’s what I do, Cid, when I get knocked down or when I meet opponents like you. I keep fighting. I keep going until I can’t anymore – and the reason even people that hate me like Bree and Xander take me seriously and respect me is because, despite all those dumb insults and jokes… I rise above all of it, I keep fighting, and I win.

So follow that trend, Cid! Insult my marriage, mock my abilities in the ring like you have… When it comes time to put up or shut up, as fake or whatever as you think I am, you three are the ones that couldn’t seem to give me one decent match since this whole thing began, could you?

Three times you guys could have just shut me up by beating me clean. Asher couldn’t do it. Holly couldn’t do it. They both needed you interfering, Cid, just to pin my wife, a non-wrestler.

Selena takes a slow breath, as if to slow and calm herself. Yet, I’m supposed to look at you and say “that’s the world champion”? “That’s who I should aspire to be”? After all I’ve been through to get here?

The platinum-blonde gives a quick circle pace around the ring before turning back to glare at the camera. Let me give you one last quote from my father, Cidnay. I’ll be honest, he also took this one from someone. Edward Burke. Because you were right, Cid, when you said that I would see you as ‘evil’. Because I do. You are evil to me.

The quote is “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”.

You understand, Cid? You can claim you are a good man. You can claim you’re a decent, honourable man all you want and that you care about the SCW World title and SCW. Bottom line, you did nothing while they attacked my wife. You did nothing while they dressed you, the world champion, in a jester costume with bells and had you dance around stage. You did nothing while they threw streamers at Bree Lancaster. You did nothing while they beat me down with that fake title, just because I wrestled a match against Asher and he couldn’t beat me. You did nothing as they dragged the world title, and all it means, through the mud. You did nothing while others tried to help you and this company, telling you this is wrong. You have done nothing for this company that made you a Hall of Famer.

And when I gave you your chance to do the right thing – you did nothing.

Selena takes a deep breath, standing in the middle of the ring. So if you do nothing while SCW, the place you claim to care about – while the world title you claim to care about more than anyone else – is disrespected, while innocent people are hurt at the hands of your associates, then that makes you evil, Cid Turner.

I will not be so inclined to do nothing. I REFUSE to simply ‘do nothing’ as you have done!

I am going to keep fighting. I am going to go to Taking Hold of the Flame and I am going to end the fascade – no, not of this Co-World Champion crap you’ve created for your own insecure egos. No, I will end the fascade that is Cidnay Turner. I will end the fascade of the man that has done nothing but lie, hide, and make excuses of how he has failed as a World Champion. I will end the fascade of the man that speaks of struggle here yet hasn’t struggled a second since he came back! I will end the fascade of Cidnay Turner and I will become the one, and only, SCW World Champion!

Believe it, Cid! Cause if you don’t… then you’ll be too busy with your head up Asher’s ass to see it coming...

The camera fades on Selena as she stands in the ring before it all goes to black.