Deanna Frost vs. Chris Lawler

[SnowQueenSCW]

Frost No More

”A trick and a treat...”

Streets of NYC
New York City, New York
October 21st, 2025
6:54pm

Deanna Frost pulled her red hair into a tight ponytail as she walked down the street, her irritation of the dark auburn locks being blown everywhere (including into her face) leading her to a rather quick decision, which now resulted in her having to ignore the slight pangs of pain she had felt from inadvertently pulling her own hair in the profess.

She had been walking up and down the streets of New York City for close to two hours, which was long enough for her to receive a concerned text from Selena, the platinum-blonde asking if she was alright. Of course, Deanna could barely type back a civil “I’m fine, baby.” reply in her restlessness, though she was sure to add a heart emoji just so the Snow Queen hadn’t overthought the short response or the ‘tone of it’.

[Overthinking... Deanna sighed. Like I’m one to talk...

It seemed to be a trait for Frost women, either born or married into – maybe that was the type for all Frost men and women that sought female-companies? Must overthink – HARD! It wasn’t really that funny but Deanna giggled at her own joke quietly as she pulled the olive longcoat tighter around her frame.

It wasn’t anyone’s fault for her living the Eyrie Tower. Nothing ‘bad’ had happened per say. It had just been a matter of getting out of the penthouse suite for a little bit. She had already cleaned the apartment – twice – in the last few days, done laundry, rearranged some things (which had REALLY thrown off Selena), helped her kids with their homework last night, and watched each match of Chris Lawler’s that she could find twice.

Yes, while she would not admit this to anyone, Deanna (to her slight shame) had tried turning her little bout of ‘cabin fever’ and ‘homesickness’ into focus for her Breakdown SoA match. Maybe it had been the short promo that Chris had fired at her a few days ago – a short little clip where the veteran of SCW had said his peace to the redhead, declaring up and down that she would be facing a ‘new’ Chris Lawler. That he ‘wasn’t holding back anymore’. That he ‘knew Deanna’.

It was sort similar to his promo against Selena at Apocalypse – same kind of promise. Same kind of ‘you don’t know me’ talk. And while the younger Frost had certainly been slightly intimidated by the intensity of his gaze and his words, there was no ignoring the other little voice that kept speaking to her.

How cliche can a man get?
Is he trying to make you feel guilty with his little sob story? ‘On the edge! Oh no....”
Didn’t see him sitting on the sidelines with PTSD this year, did you?
Does he really know just because he said he does? Sounds more like a gloss over than an actual analysis... and after all your hard work studying him...


Deanna shook her head in memory of such words that weren’t her own. That had been the Heart’s commentary all day, the wretched thing picking away at Lawler’s small recording. Despite the shortness, Deanna had watched it over and over again – she had lost track around the sixth or seventh time. Just trying to better understand the man. Trying to better understand the choices of such a message.

Was he trying to scare her?
Was he trying to make her feel sorry for him? That if she beat him, she would be adding to his misery?
Was he trying to look untouchable and all powerful when Selena had proven otherwise?

Deanna still didn’t know – and her need to leave the apartment had only been fuelled by this irritating train of thoughts. Especially when Selena had appeared in the room and sat to just Deanna for the last set of viewings. Why? Because her commentary matched the damn Heart’s!

“He doesn’t have a clue.”
“Hasn’t done a single thing of work studying you.”
“Generic.”

Words like that, combined with a few laughs and shaking of the head, had been too much, and Deanna had simply walked away, citing her need for some fresh air away from her ‘studies’. Except now, two hours, she was still thinking about it and still not sure what Lawler had meant.

“And he doesn’t care about clean wins or match-of-the-night honors...” Deanna whispered to herself, repeating a line from Lawler’s video. What the hell did that mean? Was he going to cheat? Was he going to snap like he had earlier this year and just angrily attack? She got that he was pissed at Dante Slayton and Selena and his mounting ‘less-than-stellar’ matches/match-record but the man’s only win in this tournament had been a disqualification win. Didn’t he want to earn his victory? Didn’t he want to prove what this ‘new version of Chris Lawler’ could do? Why would he just accept a win ‘by any means’ if he wanted to intimidate and show the world how much better he was?

It’s a damn contradiction! Deanna thought angrily, not for the first time. It doesn’t make sense!

"Just focus, Deanna," she muttered to herself, shaking her head slightly to dispel the thoughts that insisted on intruding. Carefully, she pulled the dark blue hood of the hoodie, her favorite (splashed with Selena’s snowflakes along the shoulders as embroidery), as if the hood could silence the thoughts like alumin foil could stop mind-readers – she had watched too many old black-and-white movies this week in her attempt to silence her nerves. “Focus on anything else...” she further instructed to herself.

The crisp autumn air wrapped around her, the fall colors filling her vision. It was beautiful, Deanna could still appreciate what autumn brought to NYC. Yellow, red and orange leaves danced along the sidewalk while the chatter of pedestrians filled her ears. She watched as children skipped past her, their laughter blending into the symphony of car horns and hurried footsteps, the kids blissfully unaware of the complexities that adult lives often bore.

Such is life... Deanna sighed to herself as she strolled along.

That is until she spotted the flash of black, green, orange and white out of the corner of her eyes. Turning her head, the former champion couldn't help but notice the Halloween decorations sprouting up on every corner, this time a series of ghosts and bats and even the Frankenstein monster in some kind of display behind a window of a costume shop. She had seen dozens like them. Storefronts adorned with cobwebs and smiling jack-o'-lanterns, restaurants with hanging decor and stickers on the windows...

It all beckoned her to stop and observe – enjoy - but she kept moving each time, determined to escape the memories of past Halloweens spent with Selena and their children. Back when the air would be filled with the scent of pumpkin spice and laughter, as they all carved out terrifying or beautiful or funny or silly or ‘What-the-hell-is-that-supposed-to-be’ faces on pumpkins together.

Even so, with each display passed, the heartache seeped deeper. That reminder of what she would not be having this year. No colorful lights strung across the living room, no cauldron bubbling with treats, no  trick-or-treaters knocking at the door. The absence of those familiar touches in Selena’s penthouse still felt like a gaping wound, even if the walk helped a little.

She just wanted to go back – even just a year and some. Back before everything started being taken from her, bit by bit. First, by Veil and then by life.

She wasn’t sure at what point she decided to head home, but in a second, her eyes suddenly recognized where she was, as if she had turned the corner and was suddenly back near the Eyrie Tower. All those house of walking, of trying to make sense of everything – and she hadn’t achieved any of it. Least I’m tired now... she thought in sad humor, even laughing a little at her own private joke, feeling the fatigue of her day settle into her bones, before she opened the door to the building, made her way to the elevator, and rode it up the many floors to the penthouse, her body feeling weaker and weaker with each passing second.

Hot shower, check on the kids, check on Selena, then maybe go to bed early and... she was met with an unexpected sight as the doors opened, one that stopped her in her tracks and derailed her thoughts.

The penthouse she had sighed as ‘bland’ was transformed! Bewitching shadows danced across the walls as candlelight flickered from a dozen small jack-o’-lanterns, their grinning faces illuminating the space with warmth! Cobwebs draped elegantly over furniture and on the walls! Eerie decorations hung from the ceiling! The dullness of the penthouse had been stripped way to a hauntingly beautiful scene—the embodiment of Halloween. It was all too much to take in at once.

“Am I in the right house?” she slowly asked, her steps even slower as she stepped over the threshold and into the space. The noise was enough as, from the corner, a head of platinum-blonde hair poked around it, a knowing smile beaming at Deanna.

“Selena?” Deanna breathed, barely audible as she stepped further inside, her heart pounding in her chest.

The Snow Queen’s hair was pulled back into a messy bun, a smudge of black paint across her cheek. She wore a mischievous smile. “Welcome home,” she said, gesturing expressively at the setup. “REALLY glad you took a longer walk!”

“You” Deanna looked around, unable to really believe her eyes. “You did all this?”

The older woman shrugged her shoulders. “Well, the kids helped. I had to promise them ice-cream after their homework.” Biting her lower lip, Selena eyed Deana carefully. “I wanted to bring back some memories,” she slowly admitted, stepping forward. “I know things haven’t been easy, but…I miss those times. I miss us.”

Deanna melted a little at Selena’s words. Why hadn’t she seen it before? She had been so upset and homesick over all the changes in her life... that she hadn’t even thought about how Selena had handled it. The divorce had taken away all that and more from Selena – and she had lived these kind of emotiomns now plaguing Deanna for over a year. And yet, despite it, the platinum-blonde had done this— a careful effort to reignite a spark that had dimmed but never fully extinguished.

“I-it’s beautiful,” Deanna managed, taking in the sight before her.

“It’s just a bit of fun,” Selena shrugged, nonchalantly, fooling no one. “Besides, we need something, don’t we? A reason to enjoy being here together, however long that is.”

A bittersweet ache tugged at Deanna's insides. “I miss it too.” she confessed, stepping closer to the taller woman, not caring about the Snow Queen’s disheveled appearance.

Selena’s smile softened as she caught Deanna's gaze, the woman reaching out and brushing her fingers lightly against Deanna’s cheek, a whisper of a touch.

“I know I said things can’t be the same as they once were.” Selena admitted. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t want so many things back in our lives while we’re still here.”

The confession sent a wave of hope through Deanna, and she nodded slowly, heart racing. In that moment, simply enjoying a simple Halloween decor – perhaps the most beautiful she had ever seen – the voices weren’t as loud. The doubt wasn’t as strong. And it didn’t matter to her whether her opponent really knew her or didn’t...

In the end, she was the one that needed to know herself. And one way or another, she was not going to stop until she found herself in this tournament!

Even if I have to defy every odd to do it!


_________________________________________

So… where do we start?

I mean, I could talk about Trios. That was the last thing I did right? But if you’ll indulge me, I’d like to not do that. See, while I have a lot of respect for the Trios Tournament, while I have a lot of respect for so many of the men and women fighting in that tournament, I have to admit to you all, gritters, it didn’t feel right for me to be in that tournament.

I did my best to be a good partner. I did my best to try and help my team to victory. I didn’t hold back, but every step of the way, every second I was there, I didn’t feel exhilarated. I didn’t feel excited. I didn’t feel any of that. I felt ‘out of place’. Because as much as I respect the Trios tournament and what it is and what it means and what it proves... it didn’t feel like ‘my tournament’. It didn’t feel like ‘my place’, you know? It didn’t feel like my tournament to win.

No... that’s because I already had one...

I already had a tournament to win and it was The Shot of Adrenaline Tournament! This tournament! The tournament that, FINALLY, I get to continue along my journey to trying to conquer! Trying to become the SCW Adrenaline champion! I may have been the first match with Spencer Pryce that, maybe, set the pace for this thing, but I have sorely fallen behind because of distractions and that ends tonight! It ends tonight on Breakdown when Deanna Frost returns and I’m not returning quietly, oh no, I am returning loud, proud, redheaded, full-hearted, gay, married, and everything else I could possibly be!

And I know that is a contrast to you, Chris. Because while I am coming into this thing fast and passionate, you are lurking in dark rooms with dim light, telling me to be afraid. Telling me that I don’t know what I am facing...

And you may be right. I might not know who I am facing. Because I’ve done a bit of research on you, Chris, and what you are doing? Well, it sounds kind of familiar. It does! I mean, if you’re not ‘holding back the darkness’, you’re embracing it! If you’re not embracing it, you’re defying it! If you’re not defying it, you’re finding a middle ground! You’re ‘a beacon for SCW’ one moment, ‘a desperate villain’ the next, and if we blink, we might miss the guy that wanted to ‘show Selena Frost what a true class-act of SCW looks like’.

You’ve got more faces than Jason Zero, Lawler, and you change them faster than I change my shirts!

And I envy that of you...

Don’t get me wrong! For all your talk about me not knowing you, I don’t think you know me at all. You can’t just ‘get me’ by running off some adjectives. I’m not JUST what you can gleam off my bio and my accolades, if you even looked. I am much, much more than that! Just like you are much more than a man that’s wandered back and forth in the midcard or played back and forth with the Television title, or DQed his way to a few victories in the last few months! I know you are more than that!

I know you HAD Dante Slayton before he took the easy way out.
I know you were seconds away from beating Polly Pignotti.
And I know you pushed Selena to the brink at Apocalypse.

I know all these things, I get what’s in your head – those frustrations – and I know that you are every bit as dangerous, as focused, and as determined as you say you are! But when I say that, that’s not me coming up with stuff off the top of my mind, Lawler. That’s me doing the work. The research. The learning because that is what I needed to do to be ready to face a man like you!

But I envy you, Chris. I said that. I said I envied all the ‘faces’ you keep changing while you make simple cliche lines about me – trying to sum up my story, my struggles, my life, in so few, generic words as possible. I said I envied all that because while it’s confusing, while it’s odd, while it’s even screams of desperation from you to try and get some quick attention like Jason Zero did with his masks...

It’s definite. It’s definite that, any given day, whether you are hiding the darkness or embracing it or whatever, Chris Lawler knows EXACTLY who Chris Lawler is or who Chris Lawler wants to be! Chris Lawler knows what Chris Lawler wants! Chris Lawler knows what Chris Lawler is going to do! And Chris Lawler knows Chris Lawler period!

I can’t say that about myself. If you look back at things since my return, I have rambled through this scene, bumbling and fumbling my way around, sometimes not even appearing on Breakdown episodes, not because I’m not there but because no one knows what to do with me and that included myself.

I don’t have different ‘views’ or ‘masks’ or ‘personas’ to put on each and every week, Chris. And I can’t do a sudden ‘turn’ just to try and get ahead. How can I when I don’t even know where I stand? Am I good for wanting to do the right thing? Or am I bad because my last name happens to be ‘Frost’?

I don’t have any more nicknames.
I don’t have any catchy gimmicks.
I don’t have a dark-edge that I bring out ‘when I have to’.

All I have is myself, my fists and my feet, and that is all I am bringing to Breakdown this week against you, Chris. But somewhere – SOMEWHERE – I have to believe I’ve still got some of that GRIT in my bones. The grit that let me conquer an Elimination Chamber. The grit that had me survive a building burning! The grit that pushed me to come back sooner than anyone expected. And I didn’t do any of that for ego. I didn’t do any of that for pride. I didn’t do any of that because it was ‘cool’ or ‘dark’ or ‘to get ahead’, Lawler. I did it because it was the right thing to do and never, not for a second, do I stop fighting!

And while I don’t entirely know who I am like you know who you are, Lawler, I do know what I'm meant to be and no, it isn’t you. I may envy your certainty, sir, but I do not desire it. Not that kind. I don’t want to be relying on gimmicks like ‘switcheroos’ or ‘turning heel or face’ or whatever. I don’t want THAT kind of identity, Lawler. I rather be myself every minute of every day than switch just because I can’t accept a few losses along the way!

No, Chris. The one thing I want to be! The one thing that I want to become? Is the Shot of Adrenaline Tournament winner! The one thing I want to become is the SCW Adrenaline Champion!

That is where I belong! That is my purpose! That is my light, my guide, my drive, Lawler! It is the one certainty I have amidst the sea of doubt I have tried to navigate in for months. That I am meant to be in this tournament and I am meant to win it! Not for the accolades, not for the ego, but to find myself and where I fit in the world of SCW!

So I want you to keep snarling, Lawler. I want you to keep swearing that I don’t know you. Because while you’re coming in – according to you – with no strategy and all scars? I refuse to be so unprepared! I am coming in with strategies! I am coming in with scars! I am coming in with every single weapon I have fully loaded and ready to unleash onto you! Because if you think being as unprepared for this match as you were in that promo talking about me? If THAT is your mentality going into this, Chris?

Then I may not know who Deanna Frost is yet... but neither the hell do you!

This Breakdown, it won’t the bell opening a door for Chris Lawler. It won’t be some ‘dark place’ for you to go, Chris. No, it will be a continuation. It will be a continuation of Deanna winning her match, getting her points, and getting closer and closer to locking her spot in the semifinals of the Shot of Adrenaline tournament!

And when you’re done losing your temper and showing your scars? You’ll know at least one thing about Deanna Frost... and that is on that night, in the SoA match? She was better than you!

Checkmate, bitches!