Deanna Frost vs. Jenni Anderson

[SnowQueenSCW]

The Guard Tower

The camera opens up to the interior of the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. More specifically, the camera swoops overhead of the site, showing the lights and grids of metal that illuminate the arena and will be performing a lightshow worthy of such a night of entertainment in professional wrestling for SCW’s episode of Breakdown: The first Breakdown episode on the iconic ‘Road to Rise to Greatness’! The décor proves such a statement as a large Rise To Greatness XIX sign hangs high above. 

It is that sign that is being watched by the, currently, closest person to it, as the camera backs away to reveal the catwalks that line near the grids, making various walkways of their own. Leaning on one of the rails, the back of the woman is seen as she gazes, almost in awe, at the large RTG sign. Her hair stands out in its red hue, and the lights around her allow the viewer to see her wrestling attire of black pants long-sleeve shirt. Red, orange and brown leaves wrap around her right leg, decorating the attire all the way to the back and front of her black wrestling top. There is a purple sash wrapped around her waist that hangs down near the opposite leg. A slow, quiet exhale is heard as Deanna Frost turns her head, fixing her gaze to the ring several feet below.

The Road to Rise to Greatness… the first show… she whispers, her hands clasped together as she leans on her forearms on the rail. The first step towards the biggest show of the year… and it’s my first chance at becoming an SCW Champion…

It’s almost surreal.

She gives a shake of her head, gazing out to the massive empty arena below her.

I mean… I know that’s what everyone wants when they become a wrestler here, right? Win matches, win titles, get famous or something like that? I mean, part of the whole drama about this matchup was because my opponent was so obsessed with becoming a champion and then trying to weasel her way to becoming World Champion…

I remember when my wife, Selena, didn’t believe she was worthy of becoming world champion. She was adamant that she wasn’t good enough or strong enough or smart enough to not only beat the world champion, Alexis Quinne at the time, but more than that, she didn’t feel like she could handle the responsibility. I… I tried my best to convince her otherwise. To me, she was beyond amazing. You win two tournaments, two different title reigns in the Adrenaline division and beat the best in all of SCW, and then are CHOSEN by the SCW Universe and True Believers, how can you not think you’re ready?

But now… I sort of get it.

Because I didn’t come here to win titles. And that isn’t me disrespecting them or those that want them. But being a ‘singles’ champion? I never factored that into things as I began competing as a wrestler. What I wanted was to be with my wife and fight by her side. To make a difference – a REAL difference – here in SCW. Holding a singles title never entered into the equation for me and I didn’t mind that. 

But, suddenly, here I am, about to fight for one and… like Selena, I can’t help but wonder if I am ready. Not ‘ready’ as in able to win – at the risk of sounding arrogant, I do NOT have any concerns about beating the holy heck out of my opponent – but like my wife, I can’t help but wonder if I can handle it.

I mean, now that it’s here? Now that it’s actually possible? I am stunned. I’m excited. I’m nervous. I’m a slew of emotions – even a little sick in the tummy. Part of me can’t stop thinking about what it would be like to hold an SCW title while my wife holds the SCW World title – of getting pictures with her and me posing with our titles – something so cool like that. 

But again, I understand what my wife went through – because the second Shaun Cruze made the call to give me this match, all I could think about for the next few days was if I could handle being a champion. I mean, the pressure, the new standard, and… the expectations.

I mean, come on! You heard Jenni. All I’ve been up to this point has been ‘the world champion’s wife’. It didn’t matter that I was beating people like Dawn Lohan or Marie Jones or fighting main-event superstars like The Brand. I was still just Selena’s wife and I was okay with that, for the most part. But becoming a champion? Holding an SCW singles title and having my name chiseled into the history books – or is it written? I mean, they ‘etch’ the winners of the Stanley Cup INTO the cup but history books are books and they’re written, right?

Deanna exhales a long sigh, shaking her head to regain her focus. The point is – if I do this, if I win the title, I know everything will change. Suddenly, I’ll be part of that history, even if it’s just for a week – people will look at me and say “she’s a former champion!”. Suddenly, I won’t just be a target for being in love with Selena but because I’ve been something… something special. Something that maybe not everyone can do here.

And it’s scary.

It’s so much pressure – and yet, I’m not scared about having that pressure. I want it. I… I want to have it. I want to try. I want to take on that responsibility. And if it weren’t for Shaun Cruze and all that’s happened, maybe I would be too nervous to think straight and see it that way. Maybe all I’d see is the demands of the Television Title. What winning it will require of me. How things will change so much…

Biting her lower lip, Deanna turns her attention over to the camera.

But I guess I have you to thank for reducing that anxiety quite a bit, Jenni. See, while all those emotions are still there in me, they are being rather overpowered by the much stronger desire I have to kick your butt!

I mean… you realize this is all on you, right? You asked for this! You could have just come to the ring at Taking Hold of the Flame – scratch that! – you could have just given me the damn match we were supposed to have on that episode of Breakdown weeks ago! You had all the opportunity in the world to showcase what you were capable of! To show what you could do against someone that could wrestle, but you chose to pay off someone just so you didn’t have to look bad getting pinned or made to submit! And THEN- she half-laughs, half-scoffs. When you were given ANOTHER chance to get in the ring and fight me, a match where you had NOTHING to lose other than some pride or ego, your new TV title wasn’t even on the line, you refused again! You refused to face me and sent that Mallory-girl after me again! You even tried to bribe Shaun just so you wouldn’t have to fight me.

Deanna shakes her head. Jenni, what the hell are you afraid of? I’m not my wife! I don’t have a near 200-day streak of momentum that no one can seem to stop. I don’t have a resume or list of defeated opponents that would make people shake in their wrestling boots like she has.

So what the hell is your problem? Why are you even here?!

Do you honestly think that that being an SCW wrestler is just showing up, flashing some cash and being handed your wins? That it requires no work or effort, just a large wallet and several hundred-dollar bills?

Briskly, Deanna shakes her head. No, you know what? It doesn’t even matter anymore. You had your chance to have some semblance of integrity and to take pride in being an SCW superstar and you blew it, okay? All you’ve done is insult what it means to be an SCW superstar! For someone like me that spent years training and learning to even reach an entrance-level at this point? It’s an insult what you do, Jenni, and I am done trying to understand it or you. I am done trying to rationalize it in my own mind just to give you the benefit of the doubt. 

I’m just done seeing you keep running from me and from being an SCW superstar and champion.

So, yeah, maybe I am nervous about the idea of possibly being a champion for the first time in my life, but honestly? I have no negative emotions in finally getting my hands on you. Finally beating you in that ring. she gestures to the empty ring fair below her.

You know what that is called, Jenni? The fact that you tried to ambush me with a hired rookie and I’m still here? The fact that you tried to ‘sub-in’ and then cheap shot me and I’m still here? The fact that you have bought more people than I am willing to consider in SCW and I’m still here? The fact that, regardless of all your tricks and the ‘coincidence’ or ‘convenience’ you have of Michael Constantine always refereeing your matches, all the ‘opportunities’ you’ve been given and never really earned… I’m still here. You know what that’s called?

It's called grit, Jenni. It’s called heart. It’s called getting back up after you’re knocked down and still fighting with all you have! 

And maybe you’ve got everyone else trying to connect the dots with you – you talked about a Syndicate, right? Of something big in SCW that was going to guide you to greatness and your ‘rightful place’, right? But I’m not scared of that.

Because you think you’re this big, bad, scary woman of money and power – but I’m not scared, Jenni. No, if anything, you’ve proven just how scared you are of me. You’re scared of what I can do in this ring. How I can embarrass you. How I can make you, this supposed mastermind and ‘Queenpin’ look like a damn jester in the ring. You’re scared that not only can I beat you… Emerald eyes narrow. But I can hurt you.

And the thing is, Queenpin? I do. I want to hurt you. Because I am in a more dangerous place than that Breakdown we fought or even when we were supposed to fight at the Flame. Now? I’m angry. Scratch that, I’m seething. Because I could have been fighting in Taking Hold of the Flame Battle Royale, proving myself against the greats like Syren and Alexis Quinne and Josh Hudson and gods know who else. I put that aside to fight you. I put that opportunity aside to take you on and focus entirely on you! Because you and I? We needed to fight! But no! You left me high and dry and fought in the royale… for what? Ten seconds? THAT was more important that proving yourself against me?

Yeah, I’m a little bitter at that, Jenni. I’m also a little bitter at how you hold that Television title. How you got the shot after losing to me, how you managed to win it when Beard NEVER tapped out. I’m bitter that you seem to have a hundred different ways to screw people out of matches but not one way to EARN your title. EARN your win!

Cracking her knuckles, Deanna jerks her neck a little, popping the joints a little. So at the bottom of my emotional pile, Jenni, yeah, you’ve got my nervousness. On top of that, you’ve got my anger and bitterness and my desire to just beat you into the ground. And on top of all that? It’s your boss. It’s MY boss. It’s the guy in charge of SCW, Shaun Cruze, telling me to do what you don’t have the guts to do:

Bring INTEGRITY to the Television title!

A slow smile creeps across Deanna’s face. Imagine that. He doesn’t have to say that with a guy that blasts drunken slurs on television like Beard, but with you? He feels that title needs the same treatment that my wife is giving the world title and you know what? I agree!

That title you hold needs someone like it had with Autumn Valentine. A woman that sees the worth in DEFENDING it with integrity. Taking on all challengers! Raising the bar with it over and over again until she can’t anymore! Of pushing the perceptions and limits of this title and allowing the letters “S-C-W” to actually mean something in this division! 

That woman, Jenni, clearly isn’t you. Because a champion doesn’t run from a challenge. A champion doesn’t hide from a challenger. A champion doesn’t make excuses or give payouts or bribes. A champion doesn’t need to be goaded into defending their title or wrestling in matches – they SEEK competition! They THRIVE on challenges! A champion of SCW is someone that has done something special. A special level of excellence, even if it’s only for one week or, hell, one day or even one minute. Someone that stands as a benchmark, a symbol, a standard.

Shaun Cruze asked me to bring that back to this division… and I never felt more honored by anyone that wasn’t my wife. Deanna pauses for a moment. So, I am not going to let my fears take hold of me. I’m not going to run away because I’m nervous. Because I’m not you. I never will be you and I never want to be you.

I don’t want to be a woman like you.
I don’t want to be a champion like you.
I don’t want to be an SCW wrestler like you.

I want to make Shaun and my wife proud of me. I want to make SCW and the True Believers proud of me. I want them to, that’s right, ‘believe’ in this division’s champion again! I want them to see something wonderful with that title and this division!

Casting a glance towards the ring, Deanna returns her gaze back to the camera. Jenni, there’s no way out for you this time. You lose any which way but one. You try and run, you lose. You try and hide, you lose. You try and cheat? You lose. The only way you can win is by fighting me and beating me clean because there is no way I am giving up this match for ANY price!

Tonight, Jenni, I am not just going to beat you up. No. That could have been your fate the first time or even again at the Flame. No – at the Flame, I knocked you out cold with a knee and I shattered the ‘untouchable’ fascade you’ve placed around yourself – the mask of the ‘Queenpin’. I shattered that fascade by doing with others hadn’t done yet. Knock you out.

Tonight, I finish the job. Tonight, I will BURN DOWN and BURNOUT what is left of that fascade… Deanna takes a step forward. I am going to destroy that fascade and I am going to embarrass you, Jenni. I am going to embarrass you like no one ever has in SCW – maybe in your entire life. I am going to take your title and I am going to beat you down so fast and so emphatically that it’ll make Selena’s beating of Samuel Davis a few weeks ago look like a five-star classic!

The bite is clear in her voice as Deanna glares into the camera. And then, I’m going to take your title and I’m going to show you how to REALLY be a damn SCW champion! I’m going to make you nothing more than a vague whisper of a memory in the long list of champions that have held that TV title. A footnote in its history – the answer to a trivia question: Who did Deanna Frost beat to win her first title in SCW?

Taking a deep breath, Deanna calms herself a little but her tone is still sharp. It’s inevitable now, Jenni. No one can help you. No one is going to save you this time. Tonight, you’re paying back what you owe me – what you owe the SCW Universe - with interest. Tonight, the Queen’s Guard comes to collect. Tonight, I hit the ground running on the first show on The Road to Rise to Greatness by becoming an SCW champion! Tonight… I end this on MY terms. And you? You go back to your money and your supposed ‘Syndicate’…

Because SCW doesn’t need a fake-champion like you. It deserves a HELL of a lot better!

Checkmate, bitch!

The camera fades on Deanna before going entirely to black.