Ravyn Taylor vs. Glory Braddock

[Braddock]

2 of 2
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September 12th, 2022
London, England
Off Camera
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It is a closely guarded secret of Glory Braddock’s that she has post traumatic stress disorder. And any stresses, any pressures that accumulate within her professional or personal life, are enough to potentially trigger The British Bombshell to potentially start acting out, to begin the process of a mental breakdown. Very few know of this mental disorder that Glory has been dealing with for much of her adult life. Due to her pride and reputation’s sake, she has kept it secret from nearly everyone. Only the closest of family knows about it. Even many of her close friends and extended family do not know about it. One individual who does know about her mental issues is her younger sister, Julia Braddock. Having deeply personal psychological problems that they have had to battle through is something that the siblings have in common. Julia, herself, had to battle addiction early on in her wrestling career. Unlike Glory, Julia was up front about her drug addiction battle. She does not hide from it. She does not try and keep her past problems, and potentially future problem were she to ever fall off the wagon, hidden from everyone. Julia acknowledges her past. She also recognizes that her sister needs help now more than ever.

Glory Braddock’s psyche was already beginning to show signs of weakness with the rapidly spreading rumors of a hostile takeover within her company and then the revelation that her daughter, Melinda Braddock, was dating Clyde Sutter again. Things had looked up when Braddock earned a United States Championship opportunity by winning Double Jeopardy at Rise To Greatness. Unfortunately now her psyche has taken another major hit with the recent passing of her mother, Mary Ford-Kurensky. Both sisters have taken their time to grieve, including Julia, but Glory has had the most difficult time of it. She has taken this loss the hardest and Julia is concerned for her older sister’s well being. Her psyche was already weak before, after now suffering the tremendous loss of her mother, how fragile is her state of mind? It must be severely cracked, and how much more hits can Braddock take before her mind completely goes?

It is for this reason that Julia has insisted that her older sister spend some weekends with her. In her mind this is the perfect opportunity for them to bond as sisters. Their own cousins, Angelica and Kayla Jones, grew closer after they lost their parents. Perhaps Glory and Julia can grow closer in the aftermath of the loss of their mother? But Julia also wants to use this opportunity to watch over Glory and get a feel for what her state of mind currently is.

This particular weekend was unique. The British Bombshell chose to stay an extra day with her younger sibling. It is Monday morning, the weekend is over and the plan is for the siblings to get some joint training in at their father’s famed wrestling academy. Both are active professional wrestlers and Glory herself has a major title match coming up against Josh Hudson. More immediately she has a match against Ravyn Taylor on Breakdown this week. Braddock will need to be in top condition and training regimen could do her some good. That was the plan for this afternoon. But plans change and now Glory Braddock finds herself in her late father’s bedroom. She is staring at a bookcase which has several pictures on it…pictures of happier times, when she and Julia were just little girls, when Mary and their father Glenn were married and happy. Before they got divorced, before they both eventually died. Before all the pain and heartache. They were just happy.

Behind Glory is a king size bed where Glenn Braddock used to sleep. And resting on that bed is a loaded pistol that was once owned by her late father.

“Gloria, where the bloody hell are you?” Comes the voice of her younger sister from down the hall. Glory doesn’t even pay attention. She remains mesmerized at the pictures on the bookcase. “I called you nearly twenty minutes ago, where are you?” Glory still doesn’t listen. Eventually the door to the bedroom opens and Julia walks in. “Glory what are you…” the younger Braddock stops dead in her tracks. She notices Glory frozen in place, as if she were in a trance, almost hypnotized by the pictures. But what really bothers Julia is the weapon resting on the bed.

“Uh, Glory…” she points to the gun “...is that dad’s old pistol?”

“Yeah.”

“Is it loaded?”

“It is.”

Julia swallows hard. She knew her sister was taking the loss of their mother rough but she had thought she had made progress, she thought she was beginning to heal. This time together that they had spent, she thought it had helped Glory to move on. Julia had no idea Glory was still suffering, suffering to the extent that she was considering this as a way out. The younger Braddock slowly and cautiously makes her way closer towards Glory. She hopes that she won’t make a sudden movement towards the weapon.

“Gloria…you are not planning to use that, are you?”

“No, I’m not.” This answer from Glory causes Julia to let out a big sigh of relief. “I won’t deny it, there were time in the first week after mom died that I seriously thought about it. There was at least one time I had it all planned out.” She sighs. “I was just too weak to pull the trigger.”

“That isn’t a weakness. It is a strength.” Julia says as she gently wraps her arm around her sister’s shoulder. Then they sit down on the edge of the bed. With her free hand Julia moves the gun away from them.

“It’s funny…” Glory chuckles softly “...I used to quietly look down on Angelica for her suicide attempts. She tried at least three times, if I recall. But last month I tried to end it all myself. I suppose I’m just as weak as Angelica.”

“Angelica isn’t weak and neither are you.”

“Last month I wanted to take the easy way out.” Glory says as she looks at her sister with a stoic glare. “What do you call that?”

“I call that grieving. You were hurting and in pain. You lost someone so important to you, how does the mind cope with that?”

It is a good question. How does anyone cope with that kind of loss? For your average person, coping with the loss of a loved one is hard enough. For someone like Glory Braddock who has suffered in the past from PTSD, who is currently dealing with other stressors such as the threat of her company being taken from her, her daughter dating a man who Glory is convinced is a sexual predator, all of this combined with the death of her beloved mother, how does Glory cope with this trauma?

“How do you do it, Jules?”

“What do you mean?”

“You coped with father’s death fairly well. Even this, you have held up strong, much stronger than I have held up. How did you cope?”

“Honestly, Glory, I didn’t cope much better than you. I hurt as well, just like you. I just had my own way of coping.” She smiles at her older sister. “We always have dealt with our problems differently, sis. You will get through this just as I have.”

“Just do me one favor.”

“What’s that?”

“Don’t tell anyone about the suicide attempt. And I mean no one, not even the people we usually trust like Sophie and Mark, don’t even tell your boyfriend JaMarcus.”

“Does Kurt know?” Julia asks curiously. Glory shakes her head.

“He doesn’t even know. This secret doesn’t leave this room, understand? If rumor got out that I attempted suicide last month, the board of directors would get the idea that I was mentally unfit to run my company. It would definitely be grounds to remove me from office.”

“Yeah, I’ll keep my mouth shut.” Julia says with a nod of her head. “But ONLY if you seek therapy.”

“I don’t need therapy.”

“Yes, you do.” Julia says sternly. She even gives Glory a rough shakes, almost as if to wake her up back into reality. “Look at you and all that you have dealt with lately. It is enough to make anyone crack. And yet not only are you dealing with that but you are still insistent on going forward. You fight Ravyn this week. You have Hudson at Apocalypse for the United States Title. All of this stress weighing on your mind is too much for you, Gloria.”

“I admit that there has been a great deal weighing on my mind lately.” Glory sighs deeply, reluctantly agreeing with Julia. “I have members of my board of directors spreading wild rumors about a hostile takeover…are these rumors true or are these individuals just trying to use me and manipulate me for their own gain? My daughter, sweet Melinda, has been corrupted by that monster Clyde Sutter. Our mother has died.” She shakes her head. “It would be just easier if I could forget.”

“Exactly, that’s what you need to do.” Julia gently rubs her sister’s back. “Forget it all, forget the company and Sutter. And try to move on from mom…don’t forget but try and move on. Push all of this stress out of your mind.”

“No, you don’t understand.” Glory shakes her head. “I want to forget all of it. I want to forget about every single bit of this. This is NOT my cross to bear! This is NOT the life I want to live, Jules!”

“It isn’t that simple.” Julia says with a little grin. “What you’re asking for is fantasy and you know it. Somehow you have to find a way to fight through the pain.”

“It isn’t fantasy.” She points a finger at her sister. “You do it. You do it all the time, or need I remind you of your relationship with Aphrodite?”

“That’s different.”

“How? You live in her fantasy. You feed into her fantasy of her being royalty and you being her daughter. You did that to help you kick the drug habit. But now I see you’re using it as a coping mechanism to help you with our real mother’s death.”

“I did not choose to become “play into Aphrodite’s fantasy” simply to cope with my drug addiction. Aphrodite helped me kick my drug habit. She paid for my rehabilitation and kept it quiet, secret, until I was ready to take it public. I was eternally grateful for what she did and I was willing to do anything to repay her. She is eccentric, I will give you that, and she wanted a daughter. So I gave her that. I’m not “eccentric like her, as you put it. I am just trying to repay someone who was kind to me. But what you are proposing really is to live in a fantasy world. You are proposing to take up a fantasy in order to numb your pain. That is…it’s…”

“Is it insane?” Glory asks. Julia is silent. “You can say it. And maybe I am going crazy? Maybe I should just give in to the insanity? Like I said, it will numb the pain.”

“I am not going to tell you what to do, Gloria, and far be it for me to tell you not to once again bend the knee to Aphrodite. She did help you once before. She taught you everything you now know about the business world. And you took that knowledge and built yourself a corporate empire in a very short amount of time. In exchange you spent two years appeasing her, giving her what she wanted in exchange for the knowledge she gave you. Are you prepared to go all in on what you once called insanity? Because you may not be able to pull yourself out if you do.”

“I don’t…” she shrugs her shoulders “...I don’t know…”

Julia rests her hand on Glory’s shoulder. “Just go to a therapist, Glory. Go to a therapist before you do anything rash. See what the therapist suggests and go from there. Promise me that, ok?” Glory sighs and nods her head.

“Fine. You win, Jules. I’ll see a therapist.”

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September 14th, 2022
Miami, Florida
On Camera
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The warm sun is shining brightly overhead in Miami, Florida this afternoon. We are poolside at someone’s luxurious home. As the camera zooms in closer to get a closer look at the pool furniture and other patio chairs and tables we spot the lovely figure of none other than “The British Bombshell” Glory Braddock lying back, relaxing in one of the green patio chairs by the pool. Braddock is dressed in a sleeveless short pink sun dress with a v-neck blouson bodice, string ties that hang down from the shoulders, a light crinkle woven print fabric, flocked band at the waist with ruffled trim that tops the a-line skirt. She has brown sandals on her feet and her nails, both finger and toe, are colored a matching pink color. She has a wide brimmed hat covering her head. Her long blonde hair cascades down to past the shoulders. Sunglasses cover her eyes. She has a tiny glass of drink, potentially a margarita, in her hand that she is sipping on.

“Oh, there you are…” Braddock feigns surprise, as if she did not know she were being filmed; a low chuckle escapes her lips before taking one final sip of her margarita. She rests the glass down on a nearby table. “...I was curious when you would arrive…and by you I mean the entire SCW fans all over the world watching this. Welcome to my home, my residence here in Miami. And at the risk of sounding cheesy or corny, I cannot wait to compete in front of the many Floridians who have adopted me as their own. I suppose I could talk about how this is my home turf and that alone gives me an edge over Ravyn Taylor on Breakdown. That would certainly be true. Hearing the cheers and adulation of the fans…cheers and adulation that I definitely deserve…well it does inspire me and motivate me. It gives me a little bit more energy and drive to do everything I do just a little bit better than usual. So yes, I could talk about how I have a homefield advantage over Ravyn tomorrow night on Breakdown in Miami.” She shakes her head.

“But I’m not going to go that route. It’s too easy a route to take. Everyone knows I make my residence right here in Miami. Everyone knows that the people of Miami have embraced me as one of their own and therefore I will no doubt be the crowd favorite tomorrow night. Why point out the obvious? Instead the one thing I will point out that gives me a decided edge against Little Miss Birdbrain is the simple fact that when you compare her string of activity…or inactivity as it were…to my own, you will see a clear and obvious difference.” Braddock smirks nastily. “For someone who fancies herself as the smartest woman in the room, you are either really stupid or really lazy, Ravyn. It has to be one or the other. Instead of honing your craft, instead of trying to better yourself and improve yourself, what have you been busy with lately?” She shrugs her shoulders.

“You have been toying with Nicole Kinneck. You could use that brilliant mind of yours for so much but instead you get bored and choose to experiment with Nicole and all of those alters floating around in that head of hers? Specifically you provoke Luna to come out of hiding just to see what will happen? It’s like I said, you are either really stupid or really lazy with nothing better to do. If you really don’t have anything better to do, Birdbrain, then have no fear because you came to the right place. I will give you something to do. I will give you the fight of your life on Breakdown. Trust me, Birdbrain, you won’t be bored tomorrow night because I am coming to kick your ass, break your bones, and maybe choke the life out of you. I don’t give a damn who you are or how smart you think you are, the simple fact is that you do make mistakes, Ravyn, and one of them was making an enemy out of me.” She shakes her head.

“I haven’t forgotten Rise To Greatness. I haven’t forgotten when you and your Infamous pals cost me the SCW World Championship in the main event years ago. You were part of that, so was Syren and Christy. I already whipped Syren’s overrated ass and proved that she is not in my league. I own a victory over Christy in Double Jeopardy and while I may not have beaten her straight up, the fact that she couldn’t get past that BDSM freako gimp Konrad is proof positive that she isn’t in my league either and isn’t worth my time.” She points a finger at the camera. “But I still owe you an ass kicking, Ravyn. I have been looking forward to this one for a very long time, bitch, so get ready to tap out, get choked out, and then acknowledge me as your superior! Because that is exactly what will happen tomorrow night and there isn’t anything you can do about it! While you have been playing games out of boredom, I have been fighting top notch competition, I have been beating the very best all over the world. While you have been playing with a loony toon, I have been busy kicking asses, taking names, and earning a shot at the SCW United States Championship. By the time Breakdown is over, you will see that you, just like Syren, are NOT in my league!” A confident smirk spreads across her face. She points at the camera.

“Now that brings me to you, Joshua. I could make the same case against you. You have been busy bitching and griping about the younger generation of wrestlers, about young kids in this business like Owen.” She chuckles softly. “Hell, I enjoyed watching you beat his ass at Rise To Greatness, Hudson. But face facts, old man, you are not facing a kid who has barely had any experience in this business. You are not facing a loser with an identity crisis. You are facing a woman with over fourteen years of professional experience under her belt. Hell, you can talk about your experience that spans nearly three decades, but son, I may as well have that much experience because I was born into this business. I grew up in this business. I have this business running through my goddamn veins! Yeah, you beat me at Holly-Wood of the South, after I had already been through two other matches. Can you beat one of the single greatest technical wrestlers alive and walking god’s green earth when she is fresh as a fucking daisy?”

Braddock shrugs her shoulders. “We’ll find out at Apocalypse, won’t we? But for now you just watch tomorrow night. Watch what I do to Ravyn on Breakdown. As much as I am going to love competing before the Floridians who idolize me…as they should…I want you to watch this more than anyone else, Hudson. I want you to see me beat Ravyn half to death and make Birdbrain tap out like the little bitch she is. That will be what happens to you at Apocalypse.” Glory laughs softly. “How ironic? The highly celebrated and lauded Ravyn Taylor is reduced to being nothing more than an example, all thanks to me, The British Bombshell.” Glory Braddock reaches over and picks up her margarita. She starts sipping on it again. The camera fades to black.