Selena Frost vs. Tommy Valentine

[SnowQueenSCW]

The Royal Letter

The camera opens to the inside of a training area. Specifically, one for a wrestler. This is clear by the single ring that takes up the center and majority of the room. Sitting in the ring, so much like in her Frozen Central segments, sits the SCW World Champion, Selena Frost. She wears a dark green, long-sleeve shirt and dark blue jeans. Sitting cross-legged, her thumb drags along the center plate of the World title as she holds it over her shoulder, deep in thought.

It’s funny. she breathes, inhaling and exhaling slowly, a smile growing from her lips. I’ve had four weeks to put my thoughts together. About thirty or so days to contemplate the last thing SCW – what we – went through. A month to think about what I was going to say as we begin this incredible new season for SCW… Reaching up with her free hand, Selena scratches her scalp gently.

But, as the weeks went by, and as I sit here now… I just can’t find the words. she gives a little shake of her head, the hand holding the World title tightening, before she sighs.  I mean, how can I? 

How can I encapsulate that magical moment into words? Standing in the ring, with the pyro, hearing all of your joy and faith, my Deanna in my arms… Closing her eyes for a moment, Selena seems to be reliving that moment in her memory, the smile on her face. The emotions are not clear – joy, accomplishment, utter contentment, or perhaps a combination of all of them – but there presence are without question.

I can’t… I can’t put it into words. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to. Moments like that, they come around so rarely in our lives. And I will always be grateful to my wife, to SCW – even Ace and Lexy – and to all of you for helping me get there and for sharing in it. Slowly, Selena pushes herself to her feet, keeping the title over her shoulder. Because, in Inglewood, that wasn’t just my win. It was Deanna’s. It was SCW’s. It was each and every one of yours. she gestures towards the camera with her free hand.

Ever since this year began, I have had a chip on my shoulders, I’ll admit it. I was tired of how “the standard” was being represented. And you all heard Ace – for the one time he got off his lazy, drunken ass and did a promo – ‘everybody in the roster does it’, ‘everyone takes the easy way out.’, ‘everyone eventually turns their back on SCW’, and that everyone else knows how things, quote, “really are”… with a scoff, Selena shakes her head.

And Ace thought that I was fighting so hard because I refused to admit that. That I was delusional because I didn’t believe that he was right… she bites her lower lip as she gives another shake of her head. But that wasn’t why I was fighting with all I had. I was fighting with all I had because I knew he was right. Looking around the ring, so much like the SCW ones she had wrestled in for nearly a decade, Selena rests an elbow on the nearby ropes.

Nearly eight years I’ve been here, no lull, while Ace Marshall came and went when it ‘got too tough’ or ‘he got bored’ or maybe someone threw a shiny dime and he chased it right out of SCW… and in those near eight years, I saw just what Ace thinks that I didn’t see or refused to acknowledge.

Turning her head, Selena’s sapphire eyes are on her audience. I mean, how could I miss it? The line is a long one: Cid, Bree, Syren, Sienna, hell, James Evans cut the chains of an elimination chamber just to get back at Syren and take her out. Everywhere you turn, controversy thrives in this business. Thrives to the point where if you don’t have an army with you? Then you’re going nowhere right? That’s what’s become the ‘standard belief’ in SCW.

There was the Beauty Factory, The Beauty Network, Infamous, The Wonderland, and now we’ve got The Jackals running around, setting houses on fire! Frustrated, Selena runs a hand through her medium-length, platinum-blonde hair.

I’m not an ostrich. I don’t bury my head in the sand and pretend that things aren’t happening around me. I don’t plug my ears and go “LA LA LA LA” to drown out the truth. That’s the tactics of those groups and those individuals that keep needing to lie to themselves. Like when they can’t figure out why I beat them when they face me. Like it’s some “Da Vinci code” rather than simply “Selena Frost was better than me that match”. 

It’s not like I am hard to figure out. The reason I fought like hell more than ever before against the likes of Syren, Cid, and Ace Marshall is because I KNOW what constitutes ‘part of the norm’ in SCW and I hate it… 

Hate is a strong word, I know, but it’s the only word that fits. I hated watching people tell the world “aspire to be me” and then cry and whine for help and handouts when things got tough. I hated watching people tell the world to ‘be jealous’ and then need an army to beat one person! I hated seeing someone coast through this business on whims and then say “because I won one match, I’m the greatest in the world!”. Her eyes turn a little towards the title on her shoulder.

That’s what this title had come to represent for so long. Ambushes, onslaughts, underhanded tactics, outnumbering your enemy, hurting people and destroying lives…and I hated it. Because people would use this to justify some of the most heinous things this profession has ever seen! Families destroyed, innocent people hurt, destruction on a scale that would be considered criminal… all to get this title. 

And yet, every so often, I would see people like David Helms, Chris Cannon, Glory Braddock, and, at one point, Owen Cruze… people that fought not with an army but with their heart and soul. People who pushed the envelope of what wrestling and being World Champion meant. People that didn’t become World Champion because they had to “break the rules” or “screw with their opponent” or “set their house on fire” but because they rose to the occasion - rose to greatness - and surpassed their opponent and were the better wrestler…

And for those moments, whether it was for a few months or for a few seconds, I saw a glimpse of what this title – what this federation – could truly represent! And THAT is what I believed in. That is what I continue to believe in! Again, Selena’s eyes turn from the title to the camera, to her audience.

That is what I fought for – not a myth or a delusion like Ace said. Not because I ‘couldn’t see how things were’ but because I believe SCW could be that – that this title could be that – DESPITE ‘how things were’! she adjusts the title on her shoulder before shrugging.

And I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but nothing worth having in this world ever is. We all struggle. We all fight for what we want and what we believe in. I’m no different than the person fighting for a job promotion or fighting to make enough money for his kids’ college fund or maybe you want that vacation trip with your spouse… Your struggle is as significant and as hard as mine. And I wanted to use this-she gestures to the ring she stands in, followed by placing a hand on her world title. And this to not only bring SCW to something better but also as a platform to inspire and encourage all of you to keep fighting for what you want and what you believe and NEVER settle for shortcuts. NEVER settle for cheats! Earn every inch! her hand slams on the center title plate in emphasis to her last statement before she lowers the arm back to her side.

And standing under those lights and pyro a month ago, with Deanna and all of you with me, I… she smiles. I truly felt that glimpse again – like I did with the other world champions I mentioned in goodness. I felt that this… this wasn’t a fluke. This wasn’t a flash in the pan like my other world title reigns were. This was the beginning of something special. Something wonderful. Something that could change the landscape of SCW forever!

Slowly, a knowing smile comes to the Snow Queen’s lips. And just as that thought came to me, reality came back to me too. If this truly was “the beginning of something…” then standing in that ring at RTG, winning the Unbelievable Main Event, couldn’t be ‘the end’, could it? Selena tilts her head.

I said it a month ago – I live by the notion of “Step up or step aside” and that while there have been a number of superstars to step up to me, no one has been able to keep up with me. And those two words: “keep up” sums it up so nicely for me. 

Because if last month was SCW’s “Rise to Greatness”, then I realized that I need to be here to make SCW “Keep at Greatness”. I can’t start this season with a smile and a shrug and a “oh! I’ve done what I wanted! Now I can relax”. The second I do that is the second that this title… she gazes at the strap of golden plates. …this title falls back into the hands of someone like Ace or Cid or Syren. And just like that…she snaps her fingers, the sound echoing in the room. We’ll be back to square one. All the months of hard work, all the months of you wishing for more, for better… it all disappears. The standard returns to what it’s been for so long with this title and this belt – rather than meaning “you are the best in the world”… means nothing. And that is something I am not prepared to deal with.

Her focus is back on her audience. So, what do I do about that? How do I keep that from happening? Well, really there’s only one thing I can do. Hit the ground running and show the world that what we all did – what we all set as the standard at Rise to Greatness – was not a ‘one-night only’ thing like Ace Marshall. That this standard of excellence – passion, hard-work, and skill over the underhanded tactics – will not only encompass my time as World Champion, it will BECOME the standard and representation of this championship and this business!

Releasing a huff of a laugh, Selena rolls her shoulders and shakes her head. And boy, oh boy, what better way to start that than to take on one of the biggest, most-entitled people I’ve ever faced this coming Breakdown: Tommy Valentine!

The name alone would be enough for a scowl to come across Selena’s features, yet the Snow Queen remains somewhat impassive. 

And just like before, I am not sure where to start with you. I guess congratulations are in order – you became Tag-team champion again, right? Took you about a year after Regan and I beat you at Rise in 2020, but I can’t deny you are one half of the World tag-team champions, which makes this a champion vs. champion match at Breakdown. 

That, in and of itself, would be a hell of a thing to talk about. The Hall of Famer vs. the Face of SCW, right? The World Tag-Team Champion vs. The World Champion? Hell of a first main-event for the new SCW season, am I right?

But with you and me, Tommy, it goes a bit deeper than that, doesn’t it? And it’s not just ‘Regan and I beat you at RTG and took the tag-titles from you’, is it? Slowly, knowingly, Selena tilts her head.

Because, for so long, you have looked down on me as if I wasn’t worthy of anything in this business. You, Tommy, looked at me and at my sister, Regan, and told us that we were ‘unworthy’ to be World Tag-team champions. You told the world that you were the… how did you put it?... the guardians? The vanguards? The pillars of tag-team wrestling, right? And we were the invaders? The ‘unworthy’? 

Thing is, I really should thank you for that mentality, because it only made us want to win those titles all the more and prove you wrong… which we did… but you seemed to do it again all by yourself. As seems to be the case with you, Tommy, your words only hold until you feel like it, right? Because what happened when we beat you? What happened to the supposed ‘saviors of the tag-team league’ when you were eliminated early on from the tag-league while Regan and I fought our way till she was injured? Hmmm?

Selena doesn’t wait too long for an answer. Just like that… you didn’t give a damn about the division and called you and Kandis ‘spoilers’… Really? That’s what you went with Tommy? You couldn’t rise to the occasion that the Tag-League brought out so you tried to ruin it for those that worked harder than you? But now that you FINALLY managed to get back as the tag-team champions, you’re back to the whole ‘savior-mode’? 

I can’t tell if it’s just a switch you flick on and off in your brain or your ideals are as thin as Kandis' tights from overstretch, but I got a newsflash for you, Tommy. The SCW Universe didn’t buy that act a year ago and they’re not buying it now. Because where were you when the titles were basically ‘handed off’ by Cid and Asher to the Golden Boys? Where were you when Allocco was stumbling around drunk, that belt around his waist? 

Selena shrugs expectantly. Tell me, ‘savior of the tag-team division’. Because, if I was going to sum up the tag-teams this year that have made an impact on this division, you and Kandis would not even be close to the top 5 compared to Cid and Asher, Cannon and Knight, the Psychonaughts, Frozen Hell, or even, Odin forgive me, the Golden Boys. So, where were the so-called ‘saviors’?

Slowly, Selena shakes her head. See, Tommy, if you want to be a ‘savior’ then you better be willing to do the work of one. I don’t call myself that because, quite frankly, I can’t be. I’m not a saint. I’m not some perfect being or ‘holier than thou’ person. I don’t think I’m ‘amazing enough’ to solve every problem SCW has. And I sure as hell am not ‘perfect enough’ to think that way. I make mistakes. I say the wrong thing – I say dumb things. I come up short – I flat out fail… 

But, unlike you, I own up to every mistake and every failure and I learn from them. I’ve learned how to be a better wrestler and a better champion by accepting my shortcomings and striving to be better the next time around. She points a finger towards the camera.

And unlike you, winning the title that I hold was not just some ‘wait for my turn’ nonsense. I earned it by beating everyone that came in front of me. By fighting people that pushed me further and further. Who tested my resolve. She holds the pointed finger up.

And that’s the keyword that’s always separated us, Tommy. Resolve. Regan and I wanted to become tag-team champions and make history? We did by beating the best teams there were. I tried to become World Champion after Regan’s injury and I did. Headline RTG? Did that. Retain? Did that. Now, I want to beat the hell out of you… the Snow Queen smiles knowingly.

You? You make idle promises and then, when those fail, you make excuses. You blame someone else. You hold everyone else accountable but yourself. You couldn’t compete at the level of everyone else in the tag-league, so you adopted this grand ‘conspiracy’ against you. And, despite you bragging to be “all about the tag-team division unlike Selena and Regan”, you were the one who jumped at the chance to become World Champion again when you fought Bree Lancaster. And now, just as you did with Helms' and again with Pinnacle, rather than stay relevant through talent and hard work, you hitch your wagon to whoever’s making the loudest noise and sticking it to SCW at the same time.

The Face of SCW scoffs, thinking over her words before speaking again. A year ago, Tommy, you were a bitter, desperate man, willing to do anything to keep himself relevant. Ever playing the role of victim of some conspiracy or as some savior of the tag-team division when deep down, you were just scared of anyone stepping up to you. A year later, you’re singing the same songs and, as you showed us with Christy Matthews, you’ve got no problem being just like so many others when the time comes.

The world champion tilts her head with a knowing smile. Oh, did you think I missed that? You scurrying to her, offering her help to “secure” the Interim United States Championship – now, I’ll admit Christy stunned me when she didn’t use that. As someone that has fought her and had to deal with interference or rule-breaking from her every single time, that shocked me. But you? Oh you would have come running if she had, wouldn’t you? Because THAT’s who you really are, Tommy. Not a savior. Not someone that cares about the tag-team division.

You’re a parasite. Someone that is out for himself and his own advancement – not giving a damn how he gets it. The smiles is gone from Selena’s face, replaced by a cold stare.

So, how about we get to the real question about this match, Valentine? And it’s not really, who’s going to win – though it should be that. It’s when should I expect Kandis and the other dogs to come running to your aid? she gives a shrug.

What? Am I supposed to not know about this, Tommy? Am I supposed to not know that the Jackals will be watching? Am I supposed to pretend to not know that they’re going to get involved? That Kandis won’t get involved?

Last time I ‘believed’ in fair play with you? You attacked me from behind backstage with Kandis and threw me head-first into steel steps. And that was just to get to Regan. Now that I have this? She holds out the world title towards the camera. 

But you see, Tommy… a bit of a refresher, because I’m honestly just expecting little more than the same one-liners you threw at me last year. I’ve spent years and, especially the last seven or eight months, dealing with groups like The Jackals. Infamous, the A/C Blondetourage Unit, LexyMania or whatever she was calling it… and I survived. That’s what happens, Valentine, when people like you try and bend or break the rules to get ahead and they fight me. 

I dig deeper.
I push myself harder.
And I win. Ask Syren. Ask Cid. Ask Ace.

Because I refuse to allow myself – to allow SCW – to continue to be the place where those tactics are the ‘way to go’! I refuse to be beaten and broken by mere numbers! I’m better than that! SCW is better than that!! THIS- she holds up the world title. Is better than that!

Lowering her arm, Selena’s voice is calm again, but the cold glare in her eyes remains. I want you to know how this will end, Tommy. Because you’re not fighting “Regan’s sister” like you did last year. You’re not fighting someone that’s trying to make Regan’s dreams come true this time. You’re fighting the SCW World Champion. You’re fighting the winner of the Unbelievable Main Event. You are fighting someone that is going to take everything you can throw before they get back up and beat you down.

And I will beat you down, Tommy. I will beat you down until you throw up the sign or call for help. Then, as your Jackals inevitably come running: Konrad, Minerva, Kandis, and the rest… I am going to keep beating you down despite them! And, despite them and despite you, I am going to BEAT you!

A daring promise, but there is no shake in Selena’s voice or stance. Because, as I said, this is the new standard of SCW. Where we defy the odds. Where we overcome the low-bar you and those like you and the Jackals have set! Where we redefine what the words Supreme Championship Wrestling mean!

Slowly, Selena lifts the world title above her head. Believe it, Tommy! And welcome to the NEW standard of SCW!

The camera focuses on Selena as it fades to black.