Giovanni 'GiGi' Aries vs. Selena Frost

[SnowQueenSCW]

The camera opens up to the interior of the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse arena in Cleveland, Ohio, the site of tonight’s pay-per-view and the first step on ‘The Road to Rise to Greatness’: Taking Hold of the Flame! A show that not only promises to set up the challenger for the World title at Rise by way of the traditional and iconic ‘Taking Hold of the Flame battle royale’ but may also decide the very champion that will headline the main-event with them, as Selena Frost defends the title against, quite possibly, her greatest challenge yet in the Spiritual Advisor to The Brand, Giovanni ‘GiGi’ Aries. 

And yet, for all that excitement, the familiar setting remains for such a segment as ‘Frozen Central’. The arena is devoid of people, seats are empty. There is a quiet stillness in this setting of set and ring and arctic blue and white lights as the camera settles down to a closer shot of the ring. 

There, standing in the center, is none other than the world champion, herself, Selena Frost. She wears a dark purple suit-top with a black shirt underneath, with black pants and shoes, the absence of their colors allowing the purple of her top, the platinum-blonde of her hair, and the gold of the World title to stand out amongst the lights. Reflectively, the Snow Queen looks around the empty arena, her eyes taking in all the details, including the graphics of both “Taking Hold of the Flame” and “Rise to Greatness” that hang proudly high above.

It was a year ago at this very event… she allows her words to settle for a moment as she looks down towards the title on her shoulder. A year ago that I realized my destiny.

Stopping, the Snow Queen gives a little chuckle before shaking her head. And I know that word is going to be tossed around and HAS BEEN tossed around over and over again at this event. Words like ‘path’ and ‘destiny’ and ‘dreams’ and ‘rights’ – Taking Hold of the Flame and its prize, to headline the biggest pay-per-view of the year: Rise to Greatness, seems to bring out such words and ideals from so many of us. Wrestler, fan, True Believer, whatever you are – you can feel it! In the air, beneath your feet, in every poster and commercial, every word uttered by us all – the Road to Rise to Greatness begins here!

Her voice echoes a little as she looks around the arena, the excitement beyond clear. 

And for some, let’s be honest, they are ‘just words’. They are catchphrases or ‘gimmicks’ or things used to, at the risk of sounding too ‘wrestler-like’, words that are used to ‘gain heat or attention’. But when I say that I realized my destiny one year ago at this very event, I say it believing it with every fiber of my being.

It was a year ago where I stood in this ring and challenged Cid Turner for the SCW World title. A title that had, up to that point, been treated with the reverence and prestige of a baseball trading card or a lunchbox meal. Where two men, Cid and Asher Hayes, felt they could ‘share the title’ and both be ‘Co-World Champions’ and the world would just ‘accept’ that. Where the SCW title was won, not by skill or ability, but by Holly Adams smashing someone in the head with the title and handing the win to Cid Turner. I mean, let’s face it, just watch The Brand NOW and see if they’ve changed those tactics all that much. ‘Title to the head’ has pretty much become their ‘go to’.

Despite herself, Selena shakes her head, her eyes closed as if recalling all the title shots to the head she had suffered in her wars with The Brand. Opening her sapphire eyes, the young woman continues to speak.

But at this very event last year, I sought to change all that. I sought to put on a world title match where there was no controversy. There was no ‘tainted win’. Just two wrestlers fighting for the greatest prize in the game – a challenger fighting a champion. Not ‘half of one’ like Asher tried to paint but truly a battle for who was the best in SCW.

And I won…

Again, Selena’s eyes fall to the title she holds. And as I gazed at this title, a title that I had been ‘removed from fighting for’ for four long years, I had to then see the former champion drop to his knees and beg me to hand it back over to him. A grown man begging me to just ‘give him back the title’ and pretend all that I and SCW went through to earn it meant nothing. As if that was all it took to be the world champion. Just have the belt and ‘say it’ and that makes it so in the eyes of the SCW Universe…

Still disgusted by the memory, Selena turns away from the title and paces a little in the ring. It was at that moment – the result of a war with Syren to get me there and a war with Cid Turner – that I realized my destiny. Yes, I was going to Rise to Greatness. Yes, I was the SCW World Champion. But my work wasn’t done. I had to do more.

Because the reason Cid Turner thought he could play ‘hot-potato’ with the world title responsibilities with Asher, the reason why Asher thought he could tout around a fake SCW world title and why Cid thought he could cry his way to getting it back was because that’s how far the value of the SCW world title had fallen. Gone were the days when this title was held with reverence, with dignity… with integrity. And in its place was a standard of ‘the ends justifying the means’.

The history of this title is littered with such a mentality. Ask Syren. Ask Ravyn. Ask Bree Lancaster. Ask Sienna Swann. Ask Cid Turner. Ask ANYONE that has seen and watched this show faithfully for the last few years and they will tell you just how many times schemes like ‘ambushes’ and ‘interferences’ and ‘distractions’ paved the way for a new champion rather than ‘talent’, ‘passion’ and ‘belief in oneself’.

The Snow Queen takes a deep breath. I wanted to change all of that. I wanted to make this title what it was meant to be. A symbol of being the best wrestler in the best company in the world. A symbol of integrity, of fighting the best wrestlers in a place where ‘talent’ and ‘heart’ meant something and weren’t just ‘taglines’.

She gives a knowing shrug of her shoulders. I knew it was going to be a hard battle. I knew there would be shortcomings. I knew that I wasn’t going to change the mindset of SCW, of its roster, of its crew and of the SCW Universe overnight. 

But from that moment a year ago, to losing the title and regaining it, I have stood by that destiny, that path to this point. Through all the good and the bad, the controversy of people trying to screw me out of the title. People trying to ‘change the rules’ just for their own ego and to make themselves relevant again. People trying to paint me in a negative light because it’s easier to do that than reach the standard I have set for this championship, I have stayed true to that path and all of you, the SCW Universe, have stayed there with me! She looks at the camera for a moment before her eyes scan the empty arena.

And now? A year later, we are one show away from, quite possibly, taking this new standard to the greatest pay-per-view in SCW! Of doing what many have thought would be impossible…improbable… unbelievable. She smiles at that.

But the situation is, what you would call, a reversal. See, I’m not the challenger this time around. I’m the champion. And the challenger I’m facing – the guy I am facing? Quite easily the most dangerous challenge to that “Unbelievable Main Event” sequel that everyone is screaming for. That man is Giovanni Aries…

Taking a moment, Selena removes the world title from her shoulder, holding onto it with her hand. Now, I’ve given Giovanni Aries credit. I’ve called him a ‘mastermind’, a ‘mad genius’ – a man whose intelligence rivals that of Ravyn Taylor and Vixen Cain. And you see, good as he is in the ring, it is THAT intelligence that makes him the true danger that he is.

See, Giovanni, is LOVING – LOVING – selling this image of me as some kind of ‘warped witch’. Where it doesn’t matter what I do, it’s evil. What I say, it’s evil. What I believe in, it’s a lie – there is nothing that I can do that he will accept or respect, unless I shill out 293 payments of $49.99 or something like that. Again, Selena rolls her eyes and shakes her head.

And like I said on Breakdown, I did not believe that Giovanni deserved a shot at the world title against me. Now… he’ll argue that he’s in the same boat I was a year ago. I beat Syren and was given a chance at the world title against Cid Turner. He beat me – and all the stuff that surrounds that match – and he’s got a match against me, so what is the difference?

She smiles knowingly. And see, this was the issue I had with you, Giovanni. How you go the ‘superficial’ rants you do. How you dress someone in new clothes and say “new person”! How you win a match by having your customer lowblow your opponent and you go “I DID IT ALL BY MYSELF!”. How you claim to have ‘numerous wins’ over me and none of them have been by yourself! How you win one match and declare “I’M THE NUMBER ONE CONTENDER!”.

The Snow Queen raises a hand towards the camera. Let me just get this out of the way, Giovanni. I didn’t get the match a year ago with Cid just by winning one match. I got to where I was with Syren after four years of beating the best names in SCW. Xander Valentine, Ravyn Taylor, Tommy Valentine, Kandis, Glory Braddock, Jordan Majors, Christy Matthews, the list is a massive one of me beating the best in SCW, including you. I earned my number one contender match with Syren after years of proving that I was not the same person I was when I held that title five years ago.

She lowers her arm. And you would like the world to think that is the same of you, don’t you? I mean, you’ve gone all in with this ‘new you’ haven’t you! You’ve traded the tie-dye shirts and big umbrella for the white suit and pants. You’ve traded rants about “Wonderland” and “Lizard Kingdom” for “Nirvana’ and “Salvation”! Hell, you’ve written a damn book. Not many people can claim they’ve done that here. she offers an amused smirk.

Like an artist, you have contrived a design to show the world that you have ‘changed’, just like you ‘changed’ Sammy Thomas Davies. But like I proved last Breakdown, once you start digging under the ‘fresh paint’, you see that the core is still the same. And that’s what terrifies you about me, Giovanni.

See, you NEED to keep trying to paint me in a bad light. You NEED to keep using made up accusations like witchcraft and hexes because I continue to poke holes in all your and The Brand’s promises. I continue to expose you and the Brand and the Haus of Nirvana. Tell me, Giovanni, how did Sammy take his loss to me? Did he see it as the learning experience that it was? Was it a wakeup call that success and ability couldn’t ‘just happen’ because he was shilling out money but took time and effort to earn? Or did you just blame hexes and witchcraft like you did when I beat Cid Turner and Holly Adams over and over again?

Despite herself, Selena laughs a little at the overused joke that’s Giovanni has used for over half a year. Giovanni, what you don’t see is that such a thing? That’s the beginning of the end for you and the Haus of Nirvana. And it continues at Taking Hold of the Flame. That doubt. That questioning of the validity of your claims – questioning the GENUINESS of your promises of ‘stardom’ and ‘success’ in life and in SCW. That’s your most loyal customer, just like everyone else in SCW, seeing you as what you truly are and have always been. A two-bit con man selling crap at the price of gold.

But seeing you on Twitter – something really got me thinking. What if you, in your warped mind, what if you believed in all of this? All of the nirvana and positivity that you talk about – I don’t mean for Sammy, who you just continue to swindle and get him nowhere – but rather believing in it for yourself?

The champion gives a shrug as she paces around the ring a little. And the thing is, Giovanni, even if that were so, you’re still the same guy. Whether you’re chasing a Lizard King or chasing Nirvana, you think that all you do is ABOVE SCW. You think that, long as you win, yeah, Sammy can kick Josh Hudson between the legs. Long as you get your win, yeah, someone can run in and attack me. Long as you get what you want, yeah, you can sit around and harass Shaun Cruze and the SCW staff.

You still think that you are better than SCW. You still think that what you have and represent is bigger so to hell with SCW’s rules and code! To hell with its honor and integrity!

Stopping, Selena’s eyes glare into the camera. And that, Giovanni, is where you and I have a genuine problem. I have said before for years, NOBODY is bigger than SCW. Nobody is better than SCW. How many times have you been gone from SCW, huh? Did SCW crumble after you were suspended? Or did it survive and thrive?

For a moment, her eyes cast down to the belt in her hand before she looks back up at the camera. And guess what? When my time is up and I have to leave, SCW will still be here. Will still be standing and still be the greatest federation in the world. Neither of us are irreplaceable. But where you seem content to do whatever you want in and to SCW, I want to leave SCW in a better place than when I came in. 

I want an SCW where people like Autumn Valentine and Kandis can get their shot at the greatest prize in the game and NOT be screwed out of it like Holly did to Autumn. I want an SCW where people EARN their shots like Glory Braddock and, yes, Cid Turner did against Syren. I want an SCW where people watch the world title match and get excited! Where the SCW Universe, the True Believers, all go “Who’s gonna win?!” instead of “Who’s gonna interfere and save The Brand this time?”.

You? You don’t care – you’ve proven that. You can have a whole team interfere and help you and you will just shrug it off as if it was ‘part of the better plan’. You can break every rule, cheat in every match, and you’ll chalk it up to ‘removing the negativity from SCW’.

Giovanni… you ARE the negativity. You and The Brand are the reason why I do what I do. You and the Haus of Nirvana are the reason my mission will never be complete and I will continue to fight against cowards like you, too afraid to EARN THIS- she holds up the world title a little. and PROVE what they say beyond a shadow of a doubt! Why I will continue to fight without needing a ‘backup plan’ or ‘interference’ to save me. Because I accept that one day, someone will beat me. Someone will meet my standard and they will surpass it. And I will do all I can to get better and better to meet that new standard – one day I won’t be able to – and it will be THAT person’s time to raise the bar and further change the standard. But if I can raise it and bring it up from the BS that you want to drag it back to just for profits, Gio? Just for ‘viewers’ and more money? If I can maintain the new standard and make it not a temporary thing in SCW, but a fixture of what SCW is? Then I’ll have succeeded, Giovanni. I’ll have succeeded and you and The Haus and The Brand will have failed.

Taking a moment, Selena points a finger at the camera, shaking it a little.You had Sammy say a lot of things on that podcast a week and some ago, Giovanni. I say you because I can’t imagine he’s capable of an original thought in his head with all the botox and other chemicals you pumped into him. But Sammy asked his listeners “who has Selena inspired” in comparison to how you have inspired him…

A knowing smile crossed her features. And I didn’t have to look far to get my answer… before she gestures to the large jumbtron at the top of the ramp.

Immediately, the screen is a light with the footage of various SCW superstars, all from this past week heading into Taking Hold of the Flame!

Owen Lee: You want to doubt me, fair enough but take a ticket and join the queue, because I’m turning doubters into believers… sorry Selena…And by the time I’m done, NO ONE is going to doubt me ever again.”

Glory Braddock: I will go through each and every one of you. I will do whatever it takes to win Taking Hold of the Flame. I will endure, I will survive, and I will punch my ticket to the main event of Rise To Greatness, no matter the cost.

Alexis Quinne: There’s a lot of people in this match that don’t stand for anything…That’s why, at a blink of an eye, they’ll change their tune and go from saying they fight for you to saying screw you. Because they’re afraid to be themselves. They don’t stand for shit. They got nothing! Fucking nothing! I got a lot. I got two eyes, two hands, two feet. One dream. Main event Rise to Greatness.

Adam Allocco: Most of all, I started to understand that changes were necessary. First, I needed to take control and responsibility… So listen here, I’ve returned to fulfill my one true purpose: to be the fucking best wrestler in the world!

Holly Adams: So once again, it is up to the Brand, because I know no one else in this company has what it takes to dethrone Selena.

Konrad Raab: I will get that explosion deathmatch against Selena Frost who's been a fluke champion.

Kimberly Williams: There’s only one person here who is not fake, who has been consistent since day one and that is the reigning SCW World Champion Juneau Frost. Juneau, I will give you credit where credit is due. You have never wavered from who you are… I am begging you, Juneau, please win! Please retain! Because it will be much sweeter to prove my point by fighting you at Rise To Greatness than it would to have to fight GiGi.

Josh Hudson: Selena, keep that throne warm for me because Daddy’s coming home.

Syren: Yet I’m here. In spite of my past, I’m here. In spite of the numerous people in this match wanting to see me fail, I’m here. No matter how many times I’ve failed before, I won’t give up. I can’t give up. Because I’ve not got a statistical advantage. I’ve not got a mathematical advantage. I’m not the biggest. I’m the strongest. Yet still I won’t give up. Because this year I don’t just want to win this, I NEED to win this.

The screen stops as Selena stares at it, a clear smile on her face – moved by the words of her fellow wrestlers. Her eyes linger on Syren’s for a moment before the screen goes blank, causing the world champion to turn back towards the inside of the ring.

Quite the inspiration, don’t you think, Giovanni? You can hear it in every voice that just spoke, can’t you? The passion! The conviction! The desire! The utmost NEED to win this royale and face the world champion at Rise to Greatness. You wanted to know what inspiration is? Listen to them again. Because inspiration is hearing people WANT to fight you like Kimberly and Konrad do! Inspiration is hearing someone like Owen Lee and Adam Allocco talk about redemption and turning everything around after months and months of hard work and standing by their beliefs. Inspiration is seeing Holly Adams ALREADY making plans for when you fail against me – unable to go a promo without saying my name ten times over! Inspiration is all of them and many more including Terry Marshal, Katie Steward, and Nicole Kinneck talk about the same thing! Inspiration is hearing Syren willing to risk EVERYTHING this time around because the idea of becoming world champion, beating the champion on the grandest stage – it MEANS something to every single one of them!

She gestures to the screen. It’s real. It’s genuine. And it’s something you will clearly never understand, Giovanni. You’ll never understand what it’s like to have someone want to go through the hell of 39 other wrestlers just to face you. Not for personal reasons, not because you made a ghost of their father appear. Not because you piledrived them or the boss but because you are the best of the best and they want to FIGHT the best of the best on the grandest stage in ALL of SCW FOR THE WORLD TITLE! she lowers her arm, shaking her head knowingly and taking a few long breaths, her eyes on the camera – on Giovanni.

Do you have any idea how much pressure is on you now, Giovanni? I don’t think you do. Several months ago, in November, you won one match against me on an episode of Breakdown…

And like the genius and mastermind you are, you have built a Haus on that foundation. You have build a name for yourself as “The man who beat Selena Frost”. And as long as I remained the world champion – remained consistent like Kimberly Williams said – and remained a force in this business, you effectively tied your success to mine because of one match…

She tilts her head a little. So… what happens tonight if you lose? Ever think of that, Gio? You made it amazingly clear what would happen if I lose to you. I lose the title, I lose my reign and I miss out on the Rise to Greatness main event and you will ensure that RTG is an infomercial devoid of integrity… But what if, for all your Positive Power and your Mastery of Nirvanna, what if you, just like Cid Turner and Holly Adams before you, just can’t beat me?

With her free hand, Selena runs it along her medium-length braid before swishing it with a shake of her head. 

You like to refer to Sammy and yourself as a ‘success story’, right? To go from nothing to everything within a year? “The most hated man in all of SCW turning it around to become the champion and headline RTG”! Yes! I would even see a movie like that! Even if it was filmed by Holly Adams’ crew, though I doubt it would get great ratings…

On paper, you sell a pretty story and you spin a pretty tale, Giovanni. But just like comparing your ‘nirvana experience’ to being a ‘True Believer’? The truth is far more than that.

You said it yourself, even Shaun Cruze stated it. You are not here because of who you ‘saved’, who you beat in Tactical Warfare or anything like that. You are here because of one match. A match, in November, where you beat me. Your entire argument over the last few weeks has been based on that fact. And you have your wish! You’ve got your match, but you’re trying to sell it like a success story…

Gio… that is not success. That is you winning one match and DEMANDING everything from it. No different from the entitled brats I’ve been putting away for years.

Taking a pause, the Snow Queen speaks a little slower. You want to know what a success story is, Giovanni? A person earning their shot at the SCW World title by beating 39 other wrestlers and making it to Rise to Greatness! Want a bigger success story? I’ve told you how you got here – winning one match.... How do you think I got here?

She holds her arms out a little. You’ve bragged on Breakdown about the one thing that got you here… did you ever consider how I did? Because I didn’t get here by winning one match, Giovanni. I didn’t get here by holding one victory for months and months and then complaining about it when it was the ‘best time to cash it in’. Unlike you, it wasn’t just one match that put me here. I am here in this match because I KEPT winning matches. 

I am here because for 179 days, I have held the world championship to a higher standard and have continued to surpass anyone that has stepped up for it. I am here because I have fought legends, icons, newcomers, veterans, and cheaters and cowards and STILL have stayed true to myself and my mission! I am here because for 179 days, I STAYED at the top of my game! I EARNED my spot here while yours was GIVEN to you. 

She grips the world title proudly. That’s the difference between where you are now and where I was a year ago. I’m not a champion that’s hidden behind friends and managers to stay the champ. I’m not a champion that’s thrived on nailing people in the head with their title when I couldn’t get things done. I’m a champion that has stood up to every challenge, every opponent and refused to let integrity be reduced or diminished. I refused to allow the SCW World title’s value to diminish. And while you have build your case on that one match, you are facing a woman that has build her reign on seven different title defences and six months of standing by her beliefs and her belief in the integrity of the belt she carries and of SCW! A woman that, in her reign, has seen officials stand up for integrity like Aaron Demitra! Seen superstars like Kandis and Autumn Valentine stand back and allow integrity to run its course in Double Jeopardy! Seen our own boss in Shaun Cruze strive to match it with his own integrity! And seen the fans cheer and respect that integrity with chants of “We Believe! We Believe!”

She gestures towards the camera. You? You’re a paper tiger in front of a storm, Giovanni, and you’ve built a damn impressive-looking Haus of Cards… but that’s all it is. Paper. A house of cards staying up on one thing. And if you don’t produce tonight? With everything on the line? Against the person that is risking everything she’s built to fight you? Your Haus of Nirvana? All you’ve built off of MY name and MY back? Selena snaps her fingers.

Gone. It all comes crumbling down and you are left as the ‘one hit wonder’ and the biggest loudmouth failure in SCW today!

Tonight, Giovanni, you are going to find out the difference between the one-match-shortcut-building House of Cards and the six-months building of the House of Frost – built with integrity, honor, and heart. And you may be able to laugh it off or run to Twitter and make up some excuses about ‘being hexed’ and maybe, just maybe, you’ll still be able to spin it so you can keep Sammy dolling out dollars for you but you know what you aren’t going to have, Gio?

You will not have the main-event at Rise to Greatness.
You will not have the SCW World title.
You will not BE the SCW World Champion.

Because no amount of ‘positive-thinking’ or ‘nirvana’ will take this title from me or from SCW!

Selena is silent as she stands in the middle of the ring, her words echoing for a moment before her voice is calmer. And when I prove you wrong, just like I’ve proven the Brand wrong over and over again all this year? When I beat Nirvana, just like I beat Gleebnorb and “Holly Adams Trademarked” and I send you packing back to the others, you won’t hear me say “Believe it” as the last words. No, Giovanni, the last words won’t be spoken but you will still hear them loud and clear…

Either all your months of planning and waiting to cash in that ‘one match’ will give you the biggest payout in SCW history… or it will just one more lie in the list of bullshit that’s come from your mouth and from The Brand. Either, “The Nirvana Era” will begin… or The Reign of Integrity will blow right past it and you will not be some ‘savior of SCW’ but just another name on the list of those that couldn’t match up to the new standard of SCW and the world title.

Lowering her arm, Selena’s glare grows colder, the personal history between these two evident. Giovanni, tonight, here in Cleveland, I am going to beat you within an inch of your life. I am going to watch you try your shortcuts, your lies, your BS and I am going to run right through them! And when I am done and I live you lying here in the ring, I am going to take the SCW world title and I am going to head straight to Rise to Greatness’ main event for the second time as world champion. And when I do… The “Nirvana Era” won’t just be a broken promise… Sapphire eyes narrow. It’ll be just like you… a ‘never was’!

Believe it!

Slowly, Selena Frost raises the world title above her head proudly, the symbol of integrity that has dominated SCW all this year. Slowly, the camera fades on her before going entirely to black.