this is my time
Aug 18, 2016 17:49:01 GMT -5
Post by bmac on Aug 18, 2016 17:49:01 GMT -5
August 15th, 2016
*OFF CAMERA*
“Happy birthday bitch!”
Molly laughed as her friend Ashley Borden walked along the beach towards her. In each hand were two beers and as she got close enough she tossed two of them to Molly. She cracked one of them on the edge of her beach chair before taking a big swig and laying back as Ashley sat down beside her.
“Thanks Ash. Halfway to fifty!” Molly exclaimed with a hint of bitterness about her increasing age.
“Yeah I always forget you’re such an old lady,” Ashley joked as she cracked her beer as well. Molly jokingly punched her in the shoulder as she laughed. “Though I’m not that young either I guess.”
Molly chuckled to herself, “Yeah, just one more year and you’ll be sitting right here where I am.”
“Ugh don’t remind me,” Ashley sighed. “Where is everyone else anyways?”
Molly shrugged. “Annie said she’d be down in a bit, I think she just wanted to go talk to Dom about something first. Haven’t seen the others yet. They all said they’d meet here though.”
Molly had rented out a floor at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas for her birthday weekend and invited a bunch of her friends down with her to celebrate. A bunch of them had been here and left, and Molly had lost track of who was leaving when. But she was pretty sure just Annie, Dom, Katie and Laurel were left.
“Well they’re missing out on some serious morning sun and beers, that’s for sure.” Ashley said as she looked up at the sun “And your damn birthday.”
“They’ll be down soon, I already saw Annie and she gave me a big birthday hug,” Molly said as she took another drink.
Ashley laughed, “Man Annie’s pretty funny. Didn’t expect her to be so wild.”
“She’s a sweetie but she’s had more of a wild side lately,” Molly laughed, thinking about the old sweet innocent Annie. “I blame myself, I probably encouraged her to be a bit more crazy than she was before. Oh whale.”
“Pshhh you’re so basic anyways, what could you encourage her to do anyways,” Ashley teased as Molly frowned at her. “God I’m just kidding Molly! You hosted a birthday week party in the Bahamas, you’re anything but basic.”
“Whatever,” Molly shrugged and grinned at Ashley. Just as she was about to lean back in her chair and start to tan, she heard her phone beep on the table beside her. She rolled over and grabbed her phone to look at it. Yet another message from Evan Envi. “Ugh,” Molly sighed as she dropped her phone back on the table.
“What’s that about?” Ashley inquired as she turned her head from the chair.
“It’s just this guy that I work with,” Molly replied.
“Oooooh, Just a guy that you work with?” Ashley asked playfully. “Although judging by the ugh and phone drop, it’s not a good thing is it?”
Molly sighed again. “I don’t know. He’s a really nice guy and he and Annie are pretty good friends. But he’s just been really weird lately.” Ever since they had that awkward encounter backstage at Vertigo, Evan had been tweeting, texting, messaging and even calling Molly. Every time with some weird message about being there for her, or helping her. He even called her a sculpture of art. Every time he would mention something about giving hope. Molly was trying to be polite but she was getting tired of it. She and Evan had never really been that close and now all of the sudden he was basically stalking her. But she didn’t want to do anything because of his friendship with Annie and others. Plus he genuinely seemed like a nice guy, just a bit weird.
“What do you mean?” Ashley questioned.
“Well like, I don’t want to say he’s stalking me,” Molly responded, “but it’s something along those levels. He keeps saying he’s going to help me and I give hope or something. I honestly have no idea what he’s talking about most of the time.”
“Damn,” Ashley looked around for a moment before looking back at Molly. “Maybe you should tell someone about it?”
Molly shook her head. “I mean he’s generally just a nice guy I’ve found. I think he’s just a little obsessive or something and once he gets something in his head he can’t stop. I don’t know. I’m hoping if I just ignore him he’ll eventually give up. Plus I told him that he can’t come try to help me in the Frontier Lions Cup so I feel pretty confident that he’ll listen to me.”
“Hey, extra help isn’t the worst thing in the world is it?” Ashley asked, clearly thinking back to her wrestling days when her boyfriend and her wreaked havoc as a duo together.
“Meh, I don’t want the help honestly. I know I’m good enough to succeed on my own. Obviously I want to win, but I want to win on my own. And I know I’m good enough. I know I can beat everyone in this tournament. I have to.” Molly wanted to win, but she didn’t want anyone to question that win. After all of her disappointments in recent memory, she absolutely needed to do this on her own. She needed to prove to herself that she could do this.
“Hey, a win’s a win,” Ashley said, snapping Molly out of her trance. “It’s wrestling, win at all costs right?”
“Meh, it is, but not this time. I want no doubters. I don’t want anyone to question how I won, or that I didn’t deserve it. I want to take no shortcuts, I want to win straight up by myself, no help,” Molly answered.
Ashley shrugged her shoulders. “I love you Molly but you’re not ruthless enough. Fuck what people think, fuck what people say. Wrestling is just as much about out-thinking someone, and if that means using an outsider to help you win then whatever. Just do whatever you want and as long as you’re successful with it then who cares?”
“Whatever. We’re not going to agree on this so let’s just enjoy my birthday yeah?” Molly said, wanting to move on from this to avoid any argument.
“See you at the bottom?” Ashley held up her beer which was slightly more full than Molly’s. The two women smiled at each other before clinking their bottles together before downing them both and leaning back in their chairs to enjoy the hot Bahamian sun.
August 18th, 2016
*ON CAMERA*
The camera opens with a shot of Molly Reid, sitting in a large chair as she smiles and waves emphatically at the camera.
“Hey guys! It’s been way too long since I got to talk to all y’all. I didn’t have a match last week so I didn’t really get a chance to talk to you. But it was an awesome Vertigo wasn’t it? And now we’re here at Above and Beyond, and I’ve got one or two or three huge matches coming up. That’s because two Vertigo’s ago, I beat Salem and qualified for the Frontier Lions Cup!”
“That match with Salem was so much fun. She’s going to give Annie a run for her money this week for the Mid Atlantic Legacy Championship, that’s for sure. But when the two of us faced off, I was just not going to be denied. I told everyone that the FLC is my chance to show everyone that I don’t just keep disappointing people when I’m faced with these huge opportunities. And I told you all that I was going to beat Salem and qualify for the FLC. And that’s exactly what I did. I knew she’d be a challenge. But I knew I had it in me, and I dug deep and pulled through. And now, here I am at Above and Beyond, one of the eight entrants in the prestigious tournament.”
“Now the real work begins. To win this tournament I need to win three matches in one night against three incredibly high level opponents. I mean, my very first match is against Johnny Karma. After that I would have to face some combination of Fujiko Mine, Savannah Taylor, Mark Storm, Yun Goeun, Chandler Scott or Dom Harter. Like those are some of the who’s who of FGA right there. Every single one of those wrestlers is so incredibly skilled in that ring. I’d have a hell of a time against any of them in a one-on-one match, let alone three in one night.”
“First up I’ve got Johnny Karma. I mean we all know who Johnny is. He’s a former two-time Pride Champion here in FGA. He’s been proving since 2010 that he’s one of the most talented wrestlers in the business. He’s won more matches than I can count here. Heck, he saved me from a New Kings beatdown way back a few months ago. I told him then that I owed him one and I still mean it. So if I dig deep and beat him, then I’ll have to face either Fujiko or Savannah. Fujiko is the current Pride champion, the one who recently beat Karma. She’s been on fire lately, definitely one of the favorites in this tournament. Savannah doesn’t have the belts or accolades that some of these wrestlers do, but I won’t sleep on her. She’s got so much talent in that ring and it would’nt surprise me to see her in that second round. Then there’s the finals. There, I’d have to face off against one of Dom, Chandler, Storm or Yun. No disrespect to Yun or Storm, because they’re both amazing wrestlers. I’ve seen Yun a few times and know how dangerous she can be in that ring. I’ve wrestled with and against Storm many times as well, so I know first hand what he can do. But Chandler and Dom are basically FGA legends. Both of them are two-time FGA World Champions. They’ve won Pride titles. They’ve done it all here in FGA, won more matches than I can even count here. When you think of FGA, they are definitely two of the names that you think of first. Beating them, that’s far from a simple task.”
“But I’m not worried. In fact, I’m excited. To potentially face either Fujiko or Savannah would be amazing. Two of the top women in the company, and to get to battle with them for a spot in the FLC finals would be a dream come true. And then if I can get to the finals to go up against one of those four? A dream come true. I have been wanting to wrestle against Dom since we first started dating. As have every single one of his exes I assume. And people like Chandler, he’s someone that I desperately want to face because he’s one of the best. That’s the reason I wrestle. To put myself against the best of the best and challenge myself to hang with them. I know that when I bring my all, I can compete and beat anyone in the world. That’s something that I truly believe. And so to get the chance to prove that, to show the world, but most importantly show myself, that I can do exactly that. To show that I can compete with the best, in one of the greatest tournaments in the wrestling world.”
“But now I need to focus a little bit on the one match that I KNOW I have. Facing off against Johnny Karma in the opening match of the tournament. I couldn’t be more excited. Karma is one of the most talented people in this company. That’s who I want to wrestle. The best of the best so I can challenge myself every single night. I know how badly Karma wants to win this tournament. If he wins, he’ll get a chance to possibly take on the New Kings and get some revenge for the hell they caused him back when he was battling Tony for the Pride title. Or it could be Zero, who beat Karma last Vertigo. A chance for some revenge for that defeat. Not to mention the honor of being named the champion of the Frontier Lions Cup. So yeah, I don’t think much more needs to be said about how much Karma wants to win this.”
“But I absolutely believe that I can beat Johnny Karma. I know I can. I know that when I step into that ring on any given night, that I have the talent and the ability to beat anyone in the world. Karma is no different. He’s a phenomenal wrestler, probably one of the best pure wrestlers in the entire world. But everyone has a weakness. He doesn’t like to move very quickly. Well I sure as shit do. That’s part of the reason I’m so excited for this tournament. I get to show off and use my cardio. Against Karma, it’ll be a classic battle of new school speed vs old school methodical wrestling. It’s a battle that I’ve been a part of many a times, but never with Johnny Karma. But that’ll all change come Saturday night when we face off.”
“See, for me, this tournament isn’t about some kind of revenge for something that happened to me. This isn’t about me thinking I deserve a title shot and this is how I get it. This isn’t about who I’d get to face for a title shot if I win. For me, this tournament goes so far beyond the prize of winning. To me, this tournament is my chance to prove to myself that I can succeed when the pressure is on.”
“For the last two years I’ve been in a rough spot. I’ve been given shot after shot, in IWF, in SCW, even in MLC, and now here in FGA. I was given a chance to qualify for the opportunity to compete for the IWF World Championship in a scramble match two years ago. I failed, and did not get to take part in that match. In SCW, I was given two Heritage title shots. Both times, I couldn’t come away with a victory. In MLC, I was given a title shot against P3 and I was beaten. I was given another title qualifier against Cass Madrigal and lost that too. Now here in FGA, I’ve already been given a chance to win the Mid Atlantic Legacy Championship. But once again, I couldn’t get over the hump and I couldn’t break through. If you’re counting, that’s six, fucking six chances I’ve been given to either win or compete for a championship. Six of the biggest opportunities I’ll ever get. Six of the biggest matches I’ll ever have. And I didn’t win a single one of them.”
“It sucks. It fucking sucks to sit here and say that. It makes me sick to my stomach to think about how close I was in pretty much all those matches, only to lose it one way or the other. To know that I’ve been THIS close so many times and yet come away with literally nothing from them. I’ve won so many matches over the course of my career, but lately I haven’t been able to win jack all in terms of important matches. Now I’m here, with one of the biggest opportunities of my entire career. This is not just a chance for me to win a title opportunity. This is a chance for me to be immortalized as the winner of the Frontier Lions Cup. To get my name alongside the likes of Tony Carmine, Cordy Stevenson, Sean Sands. That’s why this match might be the biggest of my career.”
“And now it’s up to me to prove that I’m not going to waste this chance. To prove to myself and to the entire world that Molly Reid can win a big match. That she can be given an opportunity and actually run with it. This tournament means fucking everything to me. I can’t keep blowing my chances. I’m going to channel every bit of disappointment, every bit of anger, every bit of hate that I have towards losing those past matches and I’m going to use that to push me through this tournament. I’m done with feeling sad as I sit in the ring and watch someone else’s hand being raised. I’m through with looking back at my matches to see what I did wrong. I’m absolutely finished with coming so fucking close only to see it vanish in an instant. I don’t care who’s across from me in that ring. Johnny Karma is someone I respect immensely but I’m not going into that ring to respect Karma. I’m stepping in there to get him flat on his back while the referee counts to three. Then I’m on to Fujiko or Savannah and my goal doesn’t change. Dom Harter, Chandler Scott? They may be near-legends but I’ll never be intimidated. It could be anyone standing across from me and nothing would change. I’m in this tournament to win. I’m not here to have a good match but leave with nothing. I can’t fail. I won’t fail. Not this time.”
“Once I’m in that ring, I’m shutting everything out. I won’t hear anything, I won’t see anything. Nothing except whoever is across from me in that ring. Nothing is more important to me than winning the FLC. I’m fueled by my past failures and I’m not going to let that happen again. I’m never going to stop fighting. If someone is going to beat me, they’re going to have to kill me because I’m never staying down for a three count. I’m never getting put in a submission hold that I can’t escape from. And I’m going to come at Karma and whoever I face with every fucking fibre of my being. They won’t even be able to see me in that ring, I’ll be coming at them so quickly and non stop. This is MY moment. This is MY time to succeed. No more disappointment. No more failure. Just me, in that ring, at the end of the night, with my hand raised as the Frontier Lions Cup winner.”
August 16th, 2016
*OFF CAMERA*
“Don’t look now but those fucks have zeroed in on us” Ashley said, as Molly glanced over to a group of shirtless twenty-something year old guys along the beach. They looked like a bunch of classic frat boys. They’d been hooting and hollering all day and had now apparently set their sights on Molly and Ashley.
“Hey babes, you two look pretty DTF, why don’t you walk your pretty little asses over here and say hi,” one of the guys yelled at them as his buddies laughed along.
“Just ignore them,” Molly said, as Ashley stared angrily at the group. Eventually one of them recognized who she was.
“Yo holy shit that’s Molly Reid!”
“Oh shit really? Hey Molly Reid, come over here and talk to us!”
Molly tried her hardest to ignore them as they kept yelling and hooting at her and Ashley, who was very obviously growing angrier. Eventually Molly turned around to look at them. “Look guys we’re just trying to enjoy ourselves, can you leave us alone please?”
Molly turned back around and as she did, she heard the leader of the frat guys say softly, “Whatever, I didn’t want to get chlamydia from that whore anyways.”
The guys all laughed as Molly shook her head, trying to ignore them. Ashley looked at her incredulously. “Are you just going to ignore that shit?”
Molly nodded slightly, “What else can I do? They’re not worth it.”
Ashley shook her head, “For fuck’s sake Molly.”
With that, Ashley stood up and marched right over to the group of guys. As she got closer, the leader grinned and stepped forward towards her. Ashley didn’t even break stride as she approached the guy, cocked her fist and rocked him right in the jaw, dropping him to the sand like a brick. Ashley spun right around and walked back towards Molly as the rest of the guys rushed to his aid. Ashley grabbed her towel and stood up as Molly quickly followed along with her, speaking to her as she walked, “I’m not always going to be there to stand up for you Molly. Show some aggression for fucks sake, you’re a wrestler. I love you. But come on.”
Maybe Ashley was right, Molly thought to herself. She was always so passive, trying to just avoid overly confrontational situations. Trying to act like things didn’t bother her when they did. But maybe she just needed to be more like Ashley. Maybe she needed to start taking things personally. Maybe she needed to let the anger out. Maybe she needed to be a bit more ruthless.
*OFF CAMERA*
“Happy birthday bitch!”
Molly laughed as her friend Ashley Borden walked along the beach towards her. In each hand were two beers and as she got close enough she tossed two of them to Molly. She cracked one of them on the edge of her beach chair before taking a big swig and laying back as Ashley sat down beside her.
“Thanks Ash. Halfway to fifty!” Molly exclaimed with a hint of bitterness about her increasing age.
“Yeah I always forget you’re such an old lady,” Ashley joked as she cracked her beer as well. Molly jokingly punched her in the shoulder as she laughed. “Though I’m not that young either I guess.”
Molly chuckled to herself, “Yeah, just one more year and you’ll be sitting right here where I am.”
“Ugh don’t remind me,” Ashley sighed. “Where is everyone else anyways?”
Molly shrugged. “Annie said she’d be down in a bit, I think she just wanted to go talk to Dom about something first. Haven’t seen the others yet. They all said they’d meet here though.”
Molly had rented out a floor at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas for her birthday weekend and invited a bunch of her friends down with her to celebrate. A bunch of them had been here and left, and Molly had lost track of who was leaving when. But she was pretty sure just Annie, Dom, Katie and Laurel were left.
“Well they’re missing out on some serious morning sun and beers, that’s for sure.” Ashley said as she looked up at the sun “And your damn birthday.”
“They’ll be down soon, I already saw Annie and she gave me a big birthday hug,” Molly said as she took another drink.
Ashley laughed, “Man Annie’s pretty funny. Didn’t expect her to be so wild.”
“She’s a sweetie but she’s had more of a wild side lately,” Molly laughed, thinking about the old sweet innocent Annie. “I blame myself, I probably encouraged her to be a bit more crazy than she was before. Oh whale.”
“Pshhh you’re so basic anyways, what could you encourage her to do anyways,” Ashley teased as Molly frowned at her. “God I’m just kidding Molly! You hosted a birthday week party in the Bahamas, you’re anything but basic.”
“Whatever,” Molly shrugged and grinned at Ashley. Just as she was about to lean back in her chair and start to tan, she heard her phone beep on the table beside her. She rolled over and grabbed her phone to look at it. Yet another message from Evan Envi. “Ugh,” Molly sighed as she dropped her phone back on the table.
“What’s that about?” Ashley inquired as she turned her head from the chair.
“It’s just this guy that I work with,” Molly replied.
“Oooooh, Just a guy that you work with?” Ashley asked playfully. “Although judging by the ugh and phone drop, it’s not a good thing is it?”
Molly sighed again. “I don’t know. He’s a really nice guy and he and Annie are pretty good friends. But he’s just been really weird lately.” Ever since they had that awkward encounter backstage at Vertigo, Evan had been tweeting, texting, messaging and even calling Molly. Every time with some weird message about being there for her, or helping her. He even called her a sculpture of art. Every time he would mention something about giving hope. Molly was trying to be polite but she was getting tired of it. She and Evan had never really been that close and now all of the sudden he was basically stalking her. But she didn’t want to do anything because of his friendship with Annie and others. Plus he genuinely seemed like a nice guy, just a bit weird.
“What do you mean?” Ashley questioned.
“Well like, I don’t want to say he’s stalking me,” Molly responded, “but it’s something along those levels. He keeps saying he’s going to help me and I give hope or something. I honestly have no idea what he’s talking about most of the time.”
“Damn,” Ashley looked around for a moment before looking back at Molly. “Maybe you should tell someone about it?”
Molly shook her head. “I mean he’s generally just a nice guy I’ve found. I think he’s just a little obsessive or something and once he gets something in his head he can’t stop. I don’t know. I’m hoping if I just ignore him he’ll eventually give up. Plus I told him that he can’t come try to help me in the Frontier Lions Cup so I feel pretty confident that he’ll listen to me.”
“Hey, extra help isn’t the worst thing in the world is it?” Ashley asked, clearly thinking back to her wrestling days when her boyfriend and her wreaked havoc as a duo together.
“Meh, I don’t want the help honestly. I know I’m good enough to succeed on my own. Obviously I want to win, but I want to win on my own. And I know I’m good enough. I know I can beat everyone in this tournament. I have to.” Molly wanted to win, but she didn’t want anyone to question that win. After all of her disappointments in recent memory, she absolutely needed to do this on her own. She needed to prove to herself that she could do this.
“Hey, a win’s a win,” Ashley said, snapping Molly out of her trance. “It’s wrestling, win at all costs right?”
“Meh, it is, but not this time. I want no doubters. I don’t want anyone to question how I won, or that I didn’t deserve it. I want to take no shortcuts, I want to win straight up by myself, no help,” Molly answered.
Ashley shrugged her shoulders. “I love you Molly but you’re not ruthless enough. Fuck what people think, fuck what people say. Wrestling is just as much about out-thinking someone, and if that means using an outsider to help you win then whatever. Just do whatever you want and as long as you’re successful with it then who cares?”
“Whatever. We’re not going to agree on this so let’s just enjoy my birthday yeah?” Molly said, wanting to move on from this to avoid any argument.
“See you at the bottom?” Ashley held up her beer which was slightly more full than Molly’s. The two women smiled at each other before clinking their bottles together before downing them both and leaning back in their chairs to enjoy the hot Bahamian sun.
August 18th, 2016
*ON CAMERA*
The camera opens with a shot of Molly Reid, sitting in a large chair as she smiles and waves emphatically at the camera.
“Hey guys! It’s been way too long since I got to talk to all y’all. I didn’t have a match last week so I didn’t really get a chance to talk to you. But it was an awesome Vertigo wasn’t it? And now we’re here at Above and Beyond, and I’ve got one or two or three huge matches coming up. That’s because two Vertigo’s ago, I beat Salem and qualified for the Frontier Lions Cup!”
“That match with Salem was so much fun. She’s going to give Annie a run for her money this week for the Mid Atlantic Legacy Championship, that’s for sure. But when the two of us faced off, I was just not going to be denied. I told everyone that the FLC is my chance to show everyone that I don’t just keep disappointing people when I’m faced with these huge opportunities. And I told you all that I was going to beat Salem and qualify for the FLC. And that’s exactly what I did. I knew she’d be a challenge. But I knew I had it in me, and I dug deep and pulled through. And now, here I am at Above and Beyond, one of the eight entrants in the prestigious tournament.”
“Now the real work begins. To win this tournament I need to win three matches in one night against three incredibly high level opponents. I mean, my very first match is against Johnny Karma. After that I would have to face some combination of Fujiko Mine, Savannah Taylor, Mark Storm, Yun Goeun, Chandler Scott or Dom Harter. Like those are some of the who’s who of FGA right there. Every single one of those wrestlers is so incredibly skilled in that ring. I’d have a hell of a time against any of them in a one-on-one match, let alone three in one night.”
“First up I’ve got Johnny Karma. I mean we all know who Johnny is. He’s a former two-time Pride Champion here in FGA. He’s been proving since 2010 that he’s one of the most talented wrestlers in the business. He’s won more matches than I can count here. Heck, he saved me from a New Kings beatdown way back a few months ago. I told him then that I owed him one and I still mean it. So if I dig deep and beat him, then I’ll have to face either Fujiko or Savannah. Fujiko is the current Pride champion, the one who recently beat Karma. She’s been on fire lately, definitely one of the favorites in this tournament. Savannah doesn’t have the belts or accolades that some of these wrestlers do, but I won’t sleep on her. She’s got so much talent in that ring and it would’nt surprise me to see her in that second round. Then there’s the finals. There, I’d have to face off against one of Dom, Chandler, Storm or Yun. No disrespect to Yun or Storm, because they’re both amazing wrestlers. I’ve seen Yun a few times and know how dangerous she can be in that ring. I’ve wrestled with and against Storm many times as well, so I know first hand what he can do. But Chandler and Dom are basically FGA legends. Both of them are two-time FGA World Champions. They’ve won Pride titles. They’ve done it all here in FGA, won more matches than I can even count here. When you think of FGA, they are definitely two of the names that you think of first. Beating them, that’s far from a simple task.”
“But I’m not worried. In fact, I’m excited. To potentially face either Fujiko or Savannah would be amazing. Two of the top women in the company, and to get to battle with them for a spot in the FLC finals would be a dream come true. And then if I can get to the finals to go up against one of those four? A dream come true. I have been wanting to wrestle against Dom since we first started dating. As have every single one of his exes I assume. And people like Chandler, he’s someone that I desperately want to face because he’s one of the best. That’s the reason I wrestle. To put myself against the best of the best and challenge myself to hang with them. I know that when I bring my all, I can compete and beat anyone in the world. That’s something that I truly believe. And so to get the chance to prove that, to show the world, but most importantly show myself, that I can do exactly that. To show that I can compete with the best, in one of the greatest tournaments in the wrestling world.”
“But now I need to focus a little bit on the one match that I KNOW I have. Facing off against Johnny Karma in the opening match of the tournament. I couldn’t be more excited. Karma is one of the most talented people in this company. That’s who I want to wrestle. The best of the best so I can challenge myself every single night. I know how badly Karma wants to win this tournament. If he wins, he’ll get a chance to possibly take on the New Kings and get some revenge for the hell they caused him back when he was battling Tony for the Pride title. Or it could be Zero, who beat Karma last Vertigo. A chance for some revenge for that defeat. Not to mention the honor of being named the champion of the Frontier Lions Cup. So yeah, I don’t think much more needs to be said about how much Karma wants to win this.”
“But I absolutely believe that I can beat Johnny Karma. I know I can. I know that when I step into that ring on any given night, that I have the talent and the ability to beat anyone in the world. Karma is no different. He’s a phenomenal wrestler, probably one of the best pure wrestlers in the entire world. But everyone has a weakness. He doesn’t like to move very quickly. Well I sure as shit do. That’s part of the reason I’m so excited for this tournament. I get to show off and use my cardio. Against Karma, it’ll be a classic battle of new school speed vs old school methodical wrestling. It’s a battle that I’ve been a part of many a times, but never with Johnny Karma. But that’ll all change come Saturday night when we face off.”
“See, for me, this tournament isn’t about some kind of revenge for something that happened to me. This isn’t about me thinking I deserve a title shot and this is how I get it. This isn’t about who I’d get to face for a title shot if I win. For me, this tournament goes so far beyond the prize of winning. To me, this tournament is my chance to prove to myself that I can succeed when the pressure is on.”
“For the last two years I’ve been in a rough spot. I’ve been given shot after shot, in IWF, in SCW, even in MLC, and now here in FGA. I was given a chance to qualify for the opportunity to compete for the IWF World Championship in a scramble match two years ago. I failed, and did not get to take part in that match. In SCW, I was given two Heritage title shots. Both times, I couldn’t come away with a victory. In MLC, I was given a title shot against P3 and I was beaten. I was given another title qualifier against Cass Madrigal and lost that too. Now here in FGA, I’ve already been given a chance to win the Mid Atlantic Legacy Championship. But once again, I couldn’t get over the hump and I couldn’t break through. If you’re counting, that’s six, fucking six chances I’ve been given to either win or compete for a championship. Six of the biggest opportunities I’ll ever get. Six of the biggest matches I’ll ever have. And I didn’t win a single one of them.”
“It sucks. It fucking sucks to sit here and say that. It makes me sick to my stomach to think about how close I was in pretty much all those matches, only to lose it one way or the other. To know that I’ve been THIS close so many times and yet come away with literally nothing from them. I’ve won so many matches over the course of my career, but lately I haven’t been able to win jack all in terms of important matches. Now I’m here, with one of the biggest opportunities of my entire career. This is not just a chance for me to win a title opportunity. This is a chance for me to be immortalized as the winner of the Frontier Lions Cup. To get my name alongside the likes of Tony Carmine, Cordy Stevenson, Sean Sands. That’s why this match might be the biggest of my career.”
“And now it’s up to me to prove that I’m not going to waste this chance. To prove to myself and to the entire world that Molly Reid can win a big match. That she can be given an opportunity and actually run with it. This tournament means fucking everything to me. I can’t keep blowing my chances. I’m going to channel every bit of disappointment, every bit of anger, every bit of hate that I have towards losing those past matches and I’m going to use that to push me through this tournament. I’m done with feeling sad as I sit in the ring and watch someone else’s hand being raised. I’m through with looking back at my matches to see what I did wrong. I’m absolutely finished with coming so fucking close only to see it vanish in an instant. I don’t care who’s across from me in that ring. Johnny Karma is someone I respect immensely but I’m not going into that ring to respect Karma. I’m stepping in there to get him flat on his back while the referee counts to three. Then I’m on to Fujiko or Savannah and my goal doesn’t change. Dom Harter, Chandler Scott? They may be near-legends but I’ll never be intimidated. It could be anyone standing across from me and nothing would change. I’m in this tournament to win. I’m not here to have a good match but leave with nothing. I can’t fail. I won’t fail. Not this time.”
“Once I’m in that ring, I’m shutting everything out. I won’t hear anything, I won’t see anything. Nothing except whoever is across from me in that ring. Nothing is more important to me than winning the FLC. I’m fueled by my past failures and I’m not going to let that happen again. I’m never going to stop fighting. If someone is going to beat me, they’re going to have to kill me because I’m never staying down for a three count. I’m never getting put in a submission hold that I can’t escape from. And I’m going to come at Karma and whoever I face with every fucking fibre of my being. They won’t even be able to see me in that ring, I’ll be coming at them so quickly and non stop. This is MY moment. This is MY time to succeed. No more disappointment. No more failure. Just me, in that ring, at the end of the night, with my hand raised as the Frontier Lions Cup winner.”
August 16th, 2016
*OFF CAMERA*
“Don’t look now but those fucks have zeroed in on us” Ashley said, as Molly glanced over to a group of shirtless twenty-something year old guys along the beach. They looked like a bunch of classic frat boys. They’d been hooting and hollering all day and had now apparently set their sights on Molly and Ashley.
“Hey babes, you two look pretty DTF, why don’t you walk your pretty little asses over here and say hi,” one of the guys yelled at them as his buddies laughed along.
“Just ignore them,” Molly said, as Ashley stared angrily at the group. Eventually one of them recognized who she was.
“Yo holy shit that’s Molly Reid!”
“Oh shit really? Hey Molly Reid, come over here and talk to us!”
Molly tried her hardest to ignore them as they kept yelling and hooting at her and Ashley, who was very obviously growing angrier. Eventually Molly turned around to look at them. “Look guys we’re just trying to enjoy ourselves, can you leave us alone please?”
Molly turned back around and as she did, she heard the leader of the frat guys say softly, “Whatever, I didn’t want to get chlamydia from that whore anyways.”
The guys all laughed as Molly shook her head, trying to ignore them. Ashley looked at her incredulously. “Are you just going to ignore that shit?”
Molly nodded slightly, “What else can I do? They’re not worth it.”
Ashley shook her head, “For fuck’s sake Molly.”
With that, Ashley stood up and marched right over to the group of guys. As she got closer, the leader grinned and stepped forward towards her. Ashley didn’t even break stride as she approached the guy, cocked her fist and rocked him right in the jaw, dropping him to the sand like a brick. Ashley spun right around and walked back towards Molly as the rest of the guys rushed to his aid. Ashley grabbed her towel and stood up as Molly quickly followed along with her, speaking to her as she walked, “I’m not always going to be there to stand up for you Molly. Show some aggression for fucks sake, you’re a wrestler. I love you. But come on.”
Maybe Ashley was right, Molly thought to herself. She was always so passive, trying to just avoid overly confrontational situations. Trying to act like things didn’t bother her when they did. But maybe she just needed to be more like Ashley. Maybe she needed to start taking things personally. Maybe she needed to let the anger out. Maybe she needed to be a bit more ruthless.
