Post by Lavender on Apr 19, 2024 19:19:07 GMT -6
'Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards' - Søren Kierkegaard, Danish theologian and philosopher.
'In spite of his incessant ramblings, Moises Ferro said something that struck a chord with me leading into my match against his gargantuan giant, ZERO; 'why on our beautiful Earth would he give some pain-pill addicted junkie so many opportunities?'. There have been many days where I have asked myself the same thing; in lieu of all the abhorrent things I have done throughout my life - from the drug addiction to everything else in between - why was I ever allowed to dig myself out of those holes? My mother perished in my arms so that I could continue to live a fulfilling life and I chose to honour her name by stuffing pills down my throat in order to endure another pain-free day. Those were my darkest times and heaven forbid, I hope she turned a blind eye when I stooped to my lowest moments because I know if she were there in those moments she would have been ashamed of the woman I had become, even if externally she never showed it. However, Moises Ferro wasn't the first nor will he be the last to question why a supposed 'drug addict' was able to reach the heights she has reached, and every time I ask myself the same question I circle back to the same answer; I have sequestered my demons'.
'I am not naive to think they will go away... they will never go away... every time I put my body through insurmountable pain inside that squared circle there will always be that lingering thought of popping a magical white pill to make the pain go away. However, it is what I do at that moment that defines whether I am indeed a drug addict' or a recovering addict'. That is why I have earned the opportunities placed before me... because I have worked my fuckin' backside off to earn them by always striving to be a better version of myself. There will always be those who question my merit but as long as I continue to strive to better myself, none of their judgments hold any substance. It is in these moments, however, that you are reminded of the fact that you can never escape your past, you can only accept it, forgive it, and grow from it like a nurtured tree growing from its roots. There will always be someone to dig up your past and use it as weaponry to destroy the person you have become in the present. It is important to realise that yesterday has been and gone and tomorrow has not yet arrived, we only have the here and now, and what we do within that moment is all that truly matters.
The silent princess reaches up towards her ear and places her pen behind it like a flower before closing the pages of her diary. In a few short nights, she will be competing inside one of the world's largest stadiums, Wembley Stadium, as she finally gets her opportunity to reclaim the United States Championship; an opportunity she had been waiting nine, long months for. After everything she had put into defending that championship the last time around, including the barbed wire, glass, explosions, and the subsequent seizure that followed her losing the championship, the masochist inside of her was ready to do it all over again. However, the dynamic of EWC had changed since the last time she had held the United States Championship, new faces had emerged - including the monolith she had brought to their knees in Alabama - to Cosmo Goldworthy - who, despite being penned in to be a future prospect, was still a pawn in The House's attempts at mass promotional dominance. Now, he sat with the United States Championship over his shoulder after beating Chris Page at WrestleFest. In fact, four new champions had emerged since Lavender had lost the championship and she was ready to restore some consistency to the championship she cherished so much.
The weather in Wembley had been uncharacteristically warm with temperatures predicted to reach twenty-nine degrees Celcius before the end of the day. The silent princess had lathered her pale skin with sun protection to ensure she wouldn't be sunburnt red heading into her match at Stranglemania inside Wembley Stadium. The last thing she wanted, or needed, was to be taking bumps with sunburnt skin. Cosmo Goldworthy would have surely taken advantage of such an obvious target. Seated on a park bench, Wembley Stadium towering in the background, the silent princess reflects on her journey up until this point. The defeat at the hands of Mercenary had been devastating, but not debilitating, she had proven this by grounding, and making Moises Ferro's monolith, Zero, submit in the middle of the ring with the Fragile Serene. Now she was just nights away from contending against Cosmo Goldworthy, climbing a ladder, and reclaiming the United States Championship; a championship that held sentimental attachment for the silent princess with it being a physical embodiment of all the blood, sweat, and tears she had poured into just being noticed, let alone being given opportunities to become the reveled and heralded competitor she had become. Never in a million years did she expect anyone to ever look at her as anything more than an orphan girl, but here she was, about to step into one of the largest stadiums in the world, in front of ninety-thousand people, not only as the challenger but also as a woman people felt the need to beat to cement their own legacies.
'I don't think you understand the attachment I have to that championship resting around your chiseled waist, Cosmo'. Lavender says as she lifts her head upward to seemingly address Cosmo Goldworthy directly. 'It isn't just a championship to me. It isn't just a means to an end for me. It has nothing to do with patriotism or brand loyalty, my attachment to that championship is strictly personal. It was the first championship that ever crossed my attention when I walked through those curtains, not just because of the illustrious history etched into its history, but the history being paved by Ace King as he decimated challenger after challenger en route to cementing an astronomical seven-hundred and seventy-seven-day run as champion. Through all the words and the puffing of chests, no one is beating that record. It is etched into history for eternity. I know all too well how difficult it is - I've tried twice - but across the span of that reign, he only defended that championship eleven times... I defended it nine times across two reigns'. Lavender pauses for a moment. 'That's not me trying to puff my chest out, Cosmo, but I have held that championship for three-hundred and thirty-one days across two reigns - just over a month shy of a full calendar year - and most of those defenses came during the BORT where you had to be on point the entire time. There were no days off, there was no room for error, and every move I made had to be precise otherwise everything would go up in a ball of flames... and I was on point - night in and night out - for an entire calendar year before losing the United States and Undisputed Championships respectively at WrestleFest... and then another entire calendar year - only losing the United States Championship in a four-way Iron-person match where I needed to be electrocuted and blown up with explosives to keep me down and losing the Undisputed Championship in the Rumble match - before being outright beaten by Xavier Reid in the Rampage season finale... but none of that would have happened if it weren't for that United States Championship'.
The silent princess stands to her feet, closes her eyes, and takes in the warm weather, envisioning the United States Championship once over her shoulder. She then opens her eyes and starts walking, Wembley Stadium always looming in the background. A cheerful smile permeates her face as she reflects on her past.
'I can describe every little intricate detail only that championship - from the intricate details etched into the gold to the emerald gemstones meticulously burrowed into the gold - not because of the collective days it rested upon my shoulder but because it is a physical embodiment of all the blood, sweat, and tears I have poured into this industry - and my entire life in general - finally paying off. Yes... finally... because as you so eloquently put it in Louisville, it took me longer than a full calendar year to reach the heights you have achieved in exactly that; a full calendar year. But those years that I toiled - unsure whether I should even be stepping through those curtains - taught me valuable lessons that can't be taught without setbacks and downfalls. Those years prepared me for my inevitable return to this industry and the absurdly high expectations I placed upon my own shoulders in order to succeed. I gave myself a year, Cosmo, one full calendar year to be satisfied with the trajectory of my career otherwise I would walk back through those curtains for the final time. I inked my new contract knowing that if I walked into contract negotiations a year later with any doubts or any dissatisfaction with my accomplishments there would be no contract renewal. Cosmo, I walked into that contract negotiation a year later with the United States Championship over one shoulder and the Undisputed Championship over the other shoulder with no reservations about what my future might hold for me. It took me an entire calendar year to go from being content with beating Karver to qualify for the BORT to becoming a double-champion, joining the shortlist of competitors to have transcended what it meant to be a champion, including the very man I had watched defend that championship for over two years from behind the curtains'.
The silent princess continues to walk with Wembley Stadium starting to become smaller and smaller in the background. The uncharacteristically warm sun continues to beam down upon her pallid white skin, a bead of sweat glistening from her brow.
'Even in defeat - losing both championships at WrestleFest - a new flower bloomed from the ashes of the old, wilted flower and both of those championships ended up over my shoulder once again. I have an unrelenting urge to repeat the same success for a third year running, and Cosmo, your 'destiny' to become a champion, accompanied by your desire to defend said championship, will not keep me from achieving those same results again. What EWC needs is not for you to step up to the plate, what EWC needs is someone who will represent that championship with the utmost honour and respect it deserves. Not a single person to hold that championship since Ace King's illustrious seven-hundred and seventy-seven-day run has encapsulated that more than the silent princess. And I realise how absurdly pretentious such comments may sound, but I think the things I have accomplished with that championship over my shoulder justify my moxie just a little, don't you think? I realise I told you to your face in Louisville that not a single person since Stranglemania two years ago has successfully defended that championship apart from me, but I think it bears being repeated; not a single person has successfully defended that championship in the last two years other than me. Why? Because when that championship was over my shoulder that was all that mattered, keeping it there. When it wasn't over my shoulder all that mattered was getting it back over my shoulder. And now, as I stand upon the precipice of becoming a record-breaking three-time champion, all that matters is getting that championship back over my shoulder... not for the record, that's a by-product, but because I need that championship and that championship needs me. It is said that the championship makes the champion. It is said that the champion makes the championship. But Cosmo, that championship and I; we better each other'.
An assured smirk upturned the corners of Lavender's lips knowing that her two reigns as United States Champion had unequivocally spoken more volumes than any other since either Melody Malone or Ace King held that same championship. It wasn't an attempt at arrogance on her part, she was simply proud of her accomplishments knowing that just two years prior, no one had expected anything from her other than to once again crack and crumble under the pressure of living up to more successful and imposing men and women.
'So what makes you think you can beat me and fulfill your destiny of successfully defending that championship - albeit it after over one hundred days? The unpredictability of a Ladder match? Sure, all it takes is one moment for you or I to be lying unconscious for the other to erect a ladder, climb it, and pull down the United States Championship. But Cosmo, I've been here before, defending that very championship in a Ladder match and I walked out of that match a dual champion. That was the Finals of the BORT, my United States Championship against Moxie's HBO Broadcast Championship, and, as his name suggests, he walked in with all the moxie in the world and walked out with nothing to show for it. You have made it abundantly clear that you won't repeat the same mistakes as those who came before you - choosing to show dignity and respect to the silent princess once the bell rings - but what happens to Cosmo's newfound good nature when he loses control of the match and watches everything he has worked for slip between his fingertips? What happens when you stare down the barrel of another loss to your name, what then? Are you emotionally intelligent enough to pick up the pieces, stay true to your game plan, and walk out as you had promised; a defending champion? Or will you crack and crumble under the pressure? You chose to belittle the fact that it took me years to achieve the level of success I have achieved whereas it took you a full calendar year, but what you don't realise, Cosmo, is those years prepared me for the setbacks and downfalls. Those years allowed me to develop the mindset to persevere under pressure. Those years, Cosmo, allowed me to equip my wrestling toolbox with the necessities to ensure I walk out of Wembley Stadium the new, and record-breaking three-time United States Champion'.
The silent princess stops in her tracks and turns her attention back towards Wembley Stadium. The stadium had become smaller in the background but still was just as large and imposing as before. Lavender stared towards the direction of Wembley Stadium knowing that shortly she would be in the middle of one of the world's most famous stadiums, with ninety-thousand pairs of eyes staring back at her as she looked to once again reclaim the United States Championship.
'You said that you hoped that 'the Lavender that has crushed dreams, broke bones, [and] overcame the adversity of every single thing thrown in her way is at StrangleMania', but you don't need to hope, Cosmo, because I will bring her and then some to ensure that the championship that means the absolute world to me ends up back over my shoulder. Even if that means hoisting your beaten carcass high into the air, mere inches away from the United States Championship we are both scratching and clawing to acquire, only to bring you back down to Earth with an avalanche Amity Affliction from the top of the ladder. It is sure to shatter my coccyx and send unrelenting pain shooting up my spine, but it will be worth it to send you crashing through the canvas so I can make that triumph climb back up the ladder, and reclaim the United States Championship. No one can escape their past, Cosmo, it is as ever-present as the moon in the night sky. No matter how far we run or how high we climb, the past still remains. My past may be filled with sadness, despair, and drug addiction, but it is also filled with happiness, hopefulness, and that United States Championship. I never dreamed I would have beaten Darna Dare for the United States Championship, I was merely content with challenging for a championship I held so near and dear to my heart. However, once it came time to tear that championship away from Ace King inside of a steel cage I knew - without a shadow of a doubt - that I was capable of doing it. So much so that I made it adamantly clear that I would beat him by pinning him in the middle of the ring, not by climbing out of the cage. And now, standing before the precipice of again dethroning a United States Champion, there is no uncertainty or questioning my abilities, Cosmo, I know - without a shadow of a doubt - that I can beat you inside of Wembley Stadium and stand victorious atop the ladder, the United States Championship hoisted high in the air, as ninety thousand people celebrate me once again crushing dreams, breaking bones, and overcoming the adversities of those who dare to question my integrity'.
The silent princess stares towards Wembley Stadium for another brief moment before turning back around and continuing to walk away. After nine months of waiting, it was time to either sink or swim for Lavender. She had been in these high-pressure situations before, against a myriad of competitors determined to stomp the delicate flower beneath their feet, and she had walked out the other side virtually unscathed. Now was the time to do that all over again, against a man determined to successfully defend the championship, so that she could once again hold the championship that held a world of sentimental value to her, the United States Championship. Her past may define her, both the good and the bad, but that wasn't necessarily a terrible thing knowing she had become a better and stronger person as a result.
