Legacy Revived

You don’t always get blessed with a second chance, a chance to do things differently, a chance to make up for past sins.  In my experience with the Catholic Church, you can confess your sins to God or to a priest and get them absolved, wiped away, and the slate is clean.  You can thus start fresh, brand new.  But the past is still the past.  What you did and your consequences are still there.  Rarely does anyone get a chance to turn back time and rewrite their own legacy.

Yet that’s what I’ve been able to do.  I’ve been able to turn back time and rewrite my own legacy.  Instead of merely reviving it, I am changing it altogether.  No longer will I be known as The Dragon because I’m a monster who kills the lives and careers of her enemies.  I will be known as The Dragon because I possess that warrior spirit who will conquer any opponent who dares to challenge me.  I will be known as The Dragon because I possess the power and majesty to overcome any obstacle.  And now, after defeating Torsten Voigt, I am known as The Golden Goddess, the new SCW Television Champion.

My legacy has been revived and rewritten.  Now comes the hard part; keeping up the momentum.  The target is on my back and you had better believe that I will fight like hell to keep that momentum going.  I just now got back to where I want to be and no one is going to stop me now.

Not even Donovan Kayl.

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Breakdown

February 7^th, 2018

Off Camera

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After completing the monumental task of toppling the powerhouse known as Torsten Voigt to become the new SCW Television Champion, Angelica Jones now steps back through the curtain and walks through to the ready area that leads to the backstage of the arena.  The beautiful redhead has her newly won championship belt draped over her right shoulder as she walks the hall, searching for her dressing room.  Jones holds her head high as a sense of pride seems to emanate from every pore, just like the sweat that currently pours from every pore as a result of this hard fought contest.

She has a right to feel proud.  A string of victories that started with Konrad Raab and continued with a win over Bill Barnhart has now led to this, her opportunity at championship gold against Torsten Voigt.  She’s had championship opportunities before, at singles gold on her own and with tag team gold on the line as she stood side by side with her sister Kayla, but each and every time she got the opportunities it seemed as if she would come up short.  For awhile she began to think that she may not get back to the gold standard she had once set for herself.

Yet here she is, walking the halls of an arena at an SCW show as a champion.  No longer is she the woman who comes up just short.  She took full advantage of this opportunity granted to her.  And as a result she is the SCW Television Champion.  Or to put it another way, The Dragon is also The Golden Goddess yet again.

There are other SCW officials and superstars lining the halls; some of these individuals are watching her closely.  Perhaps they want to congratulate her?  Or maybe they want a shot at her title?  Angelica ignores them either way.  She already knows her next opponent will be Donovan Kayl.  That much is set in stone.  But she won’t even worry about him tonight.

Definitely not tonight.

Being the television champion means constantly being ready to defend the title on each and every edition of Breakdown.  Angelica knows this and she knows that she won’t have any time to rest and very little time to enjoy her moment in the sun before the threat of Donovan Kayl looms its ugly head.  So the rest of tonight will be about enjoying herself and celebrating this night, the night when she finally regained her gold standard.

Angelica approaches her dressing room door and turns the door knob before pushing it open.  Jones steps inside and is immediately met with a big, tight hug from her daughter, Marie Annabelle Jones…

“Congrats, mom!”

“Thanks, Marie.” Angelica says with a sigh. “Though I’m not sure even you have any idea how much this means to me.”

“Oh come on, mommy…” that’s the voice of Kimberly Williams.  Angelica and Marie turn to get a good look at Marie’s twin.  They are identical in every way except the clothing.  While Marie is more nicely, and modestly attired in her long ankle length skirt, flats, and long sleeve red blouse, Kimberly definitely looks rough in torn denim jeans, flip flops, and her “I Groped Mr. D” t-shirt. “…I haven’t been part of this Sicilian crime family very long and even I know how much winning is supposed to mean to us.”

Marie rolls her eyes upon hearing this.  Angelica just chuckles lightly as she approaches Kimberly and embraces her in a hug.

“You’re right, Kim, this is a fiercely competitive family, and we don’t accept anything short of winning, but this was different.” Angelica takes her championship off of her shoulder and holds it out in front of her.  She stares at the title lovingly, almost as if it were a child, with a smile on her face. “I had stepped away from the ring, Kim.  I made my return in 2012, called it may “Legacy Revival”.  I wanted to prove to the world that Angelica Jones can be a major threat anytime she wants anywhere she wants.”

“Yeah, and you did that…” Kimberly answers back “…in GCW when you won their Global Title, or GFC when you won their world title.”

“I had the backing of groups like Apocalypse or Silas World back then.” Angelica remarks, shaking her head. “I really didn’t do it on my own.  But this right here…”

Jones pats the Television Championship belt “…I did this on my own.  I won it on my own merit.  No groups providing backup, no cheating, no tricks, no smoke and mirrors.  Just me.”

“Sounds boring.” Kimberly remarks with a shrug of her shoulders. “But if that’s what you like, more power to ya!”

Kimberly snickers as she walks past her mother and Marie.  The more sinister child of Angelica Jones then exits the dressing room door, shutting it behind her.  With her gone Marie turns back to face her mother and sighs, shaking her head.

“Sorry about that, mom.  You know how Kimberly is, though…”

“I know, but really I should expect it.  It isn’t like I was much of a role model during my life, you know?”

“You did the best you could.”

“Did I?” Angelica frowns. “So many of my championships, so many of my accomplishments, they were ill-gotten gains.  I often ask myself, am I famous for what I have accomplished in this sport, for how I broke glass ceilings for women athletes everywhere or am I infamous for HOW I accomplished those goals?”

“It shouldn’t matter.” Marie shakes her head. “You did so many great things throughout your career.  This sport is better because of you.”

“I’m still not sure.  I mean, yes, I’ve done many things, but the ends should not justify the means and yet that’s how I’ve practiced things my entire career.” Angelica kisses her SCW Television Title belt. “But this right here is the symbol of how I’ve revived my legacy, how I’ve reshaped it.”

She turns and looks directly in her daughter’s eyes. “You’ll carry on my legacy, Marie.  Hell, the torch has already been passed, hasn’t it?  But I want to leave you with a good legacy to carry on.  I’ve been given an opportunity to change that legacy and thus far I’ve done a pretty damn good job.  Konrad Raab, Bill Barnhart, and now Torsten Voigt, all of them beaten, all straight up, and I have a championship to show for it.”

Angelica places her title belt on top of her gym bag.  She then heads over to the showers. “I’m taking a shower, Marie.  You and Kim wait on me…”

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Later That Night

Off Camera

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We open at the third floor of the Grand Hyatt Hotel.  The elevator doors slide open and Angelica Jones exits the elevator, all by herself, carrying her gym bag which contains her wrestling gear and her new championship belt.  The redhead is wearing her normal clothes now, which consist of denim jeans, black boots, a red floral print blouse, and her signature black leather jacket.  She takes her gym bag with her, carrying it as she walks the hall, following the numbers on the doors, for they’ll tell her where to go…201, 202,  203, 204, and on and on, passing few other hotel guests along the way until finally arriving at her room, at room 207.  Angelica slides her key card through the door and she hears it clicking, signaling that the door is now open.  Angelica pushes the door open and then steps inside.  She lets it slam shut behind her.  Angelica walks into the room and drops her bag down onto the floor.

“Now time to celebrate.” Angelica walks over to the mini-fridge and opens it up.  She looks inside at the options and finally produces a bottle of red wine, shutting the door behind her.  She looks at the wine bottle for a moment before shrugging her shoulders, popping the cork, and turning the bottle back, drinking it straight from the bottle.  A wide ear to ear grin forms on her face.

“Damn!  It feels good to be champ!” Angelica takes the wine bottle with her and collapses onto the king size bed. “No one is taking it from me. Not anytime soon, at least, and not Donovan Kayl.”

RING! RING! RING!

The ringing of her iPhone startles Angelica to where she sits straight up in the bed.  Angelica hops up off of the bed.  She places the wine bottle on the nightstand and then goes over to her gym bag.  She unzips it and produces her ringing iPhone.  She looks at the caller ID and it’s her sister, Kayla Jones.  Angelica chuckles lightly.

“I wonder what she wants?”

Angelica answers the call and flips it to speaker before dropping the phone onto the bed.

“Hi sis!  What’s up?”

“Just a congratulatory call.  Hope I didn’t wake you.”

“Pffft,” Angelica rolls her eyes “you should know me better than that, Kay.”

“Yeah, typically you stay up late.  But you just got through fighting Torsten Voigt, I wasn’t sure how exhausted you would be.”

“Oh I’m exhausted, Voigt definitely was a tough customer, but not too much to take me down.”

“I can almost see the arrogant smirk on your face when you said that, Angel.”

“Arrogant?” Angelica frowns. “What do you mean arrogant?”

“It means exactly what it says.  You sounded a little full of yourself.”

Kayla is right, of course.  Angelica is a little full of herself right now and she knows it.  Angelica, though, is still in denial as she sighs, shaking her head.

“I’m not full of myself, Kay.  I’m just happy, you know?  It’s been awhile since I’ve had a singles championship.”

“Yeah, nearly three years I think.”

“So am I not allowed to be happy?” Angelica asks, now sounding slightly defensive.

“Angel, it’s not that you can’t be happy, it’s just…oh just forget it.  I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“No, no, say it.” Angelica insists. “I mean, you’ve already opened the can, it’s out there, so let’s hear it.”

“Angel, it’s just that I’ve seen this pattern before. You feel like you need to prove something, you prove it, and then you get a little full of yourself because you’ve proven everyone wrong.  You’ve shut all your doubters up so you feel you’ve done it all now.  You’ve finished the task.”

“Haven’t I?”

“No, you haven’t.  And if you have that mindset then you’re going to lose that Television Title straight away to Donovan Kayl.  He’s coming at you with the same mindset that you had tonight against Torsten Voigt.  Remember that mindset you had in the days leading up to the match?  I hadn’t seen you that intense before, sis.  Well Kayl is coming at you with that same level of intensity because he wants to be champion again, and I dare say he’s gone longer than you without a title.  Think about that.”

Angelica’s eyes grow wide as she realizes her sister is right about everything she just said.  After a momentary pause…

“Angel? You still there?”

“Yeah…”

“So?”

“Yeah…I’ll think about it.”

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On Camera

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This has been a long time coming…a VERY long time…but finally, after all of the struggle, after overcoming obstacles like Konrad Raab, Bill Barnhart, and finally Torsten Voigt, I can now call myself the SCW Television Champion!

The Golden Goddess is back with gold around her waist.

I’ve been wanting this for a very long time because these victories, and the subsequent championship, just proves that I still have a lot left to give to this business and that I will bring my career to an end when I want it to end.  I will not go quietly into the sunset.  I’m sticking around and ruling over this land with the Television Champion held firmly in my vice-like grip.  And if anyone ever wants to take it from me, they’ll have a Dragon to contend with, a Dragon that stands fierce and wrathful, ready to consume any and all who get in its path.

Donovan Kayl appears to be that next victim.

Though putting all metaphors aside, this really should be a great contest of two like individuals.  Two veterans of the sport, two legends of the sport; I’ve been spending my time trying to revive my legacy and now, after my victory over Torsten Voigt for the SCW Television Championship, I believe I can safely say that I’ve accomplished that goal.

What are you after, Kayl?  What is it that you want from this match?  Is it just for the thrill of competition or is there something deeper, something else that you want out of this?  Maybe you’re trying to prove something to someone else or to yourself?

Or maybe none of it matters because at the end of the day, Kayl, whatever your motives are, whatever your reasons are, it won’t be enough to motivate you past me on Breakdown.

Now don’t get me wrong.  That isn’t meant to be disrespectful.  That’s just me telling you flat out that while you may have your dreams, your goals, your motivations, that I also have my own motivations.  And my current motivation is to KEEP this SCW Television Championship.

I just won this title, Kayl.  I just now ascended back to the throne.  How do you think it’s going to look on me if I lose it first defense?  I’m no Derek Adonis.  I’m not a one hit wonder and I am damn sure not a joke.  My reign is to be taken serious and I will not let this championship go anytime soon.  I refuse to lose and become an afterthought on the Television Title history books.

Something has to give, Kayl; your dreams or my title reign.  And I’ll be damned if my title reign ends on Breakdown.  I’m not ready to end this just yet.  I’m not done proving people wrong. I’m not done proving to myself that I still have something left to give.

See, Kayl, I may have the title, and it may appear that I have everything I want right now, but in reality there’s still something missing.  I DO have everything I want, but you could take it all away and just can’t let that happen.  Thus, therein lies what’s missing.

The continuation of my title reign.

Being Television Champion is a never ending series of title defenses.  You can never rest once you win the title.  So I will never rest until you and each and every other challenger has been beaten.  That means my job is never over.  I must continue fight again and again and again in order to continue what I have fought so hard to obtain.

You may be like me, Kayl.  You may be fighting to get back to this spot, this position where you have gold around your waist.  If my memory serves, I ended your last title reign.  Kayla and I defeated you and Simon for the tag titles.  We’ve been in each other’s shoes.  The roles are reversed now.  You want to get back to that championship prestige.

But I want to keep it and my desire to keep it is a hell of a lot greater than your desire to win it, Kayl.  I can promise you that.  And no matter what you do, no matter you throw at me, I will not stop, I will not quit, and I will not be beaten on Breakdown.