Syren vs. Amelia Nevado

[Wisteria Waltz]

When we open up, we find ourselves in a dimly lit room, with just enough light provided to us that we can still see without too much trouble. Most of the light seems to be provided by candles spaced out along the shelf we're currently focused on. Notably, the first thing we see is a family portrait, with many intimately familiar with the British wrestling scene being able to recognize Aleister and Ophelia Blythe immediately. The three children around them we can assume are the twins Edward and Emily, and then their younger sister, Amelia. While Aleister and Ophelia seem to be wearing composed, confident smiles, none of their children are smiling, almost as though they need to portray this image that they are always focused... the image of perfection, a lie that left scars very few others could see.

Slowly, the shot begins to pan along this shelf, showing other framed photos: a picture of Amelia Blythe making her wrestling debut, a shot of her effortlessly making someone tap out, a still from the infamous match where she suffered her very first defeat at the hands of the woman who is now her wife. This sequence of image seems to grow happier the deeper in we follow it, showing Amelia and Luz standing tall with the very first titles they ever won, Amelia holding the very first world championship she ever won above her head, even familiar images like Amelia winning the SCW Television Title or the various moments where she and Luz became World Tag Team Champions. Notably, we stall for a moment on the memory of their first reign, with Amelia and Luz hugging while they're handed the titles as Syren lies defeated on the mat. The last picture frame is clearly a wedding photo, a heartwarming shot of Amelia and Luz posed together in full Día de Muertos wedding regalia.

“It's truly amazing how much things can change as the years go on.”

At the sound of the familiar voice, we pan back and over a little more, the camera rotating to properly catch the eye of Amelia Nevado as she stands before this candlelit shelf of memories, a timeline of her life from the cold and dark days of her childhood to the light and warmth that defines it now. Amelia's face is painted in the familiar calavera makeup that marks the very holiday that Under Attack will be taking place on, a holiday that has become ingrained into Amelia's life because of its importance to her wife. As Amelia's eyes scan along the photos, we see her smile as she turns her head towards us.

“Those of you who have been with me know the story by heart now. You've witnessed how I started in this business... cold, ruthlessly efficient, refusing to accept defeat because I was supposed to be perfect. So many people put so much stock into being that kind of person... Meghan Strader is simply the latest voice to join the choir claiming that I'm too nice for this business, believing that I can't possibly get to where I want to be because I don't have the fortitude, the killer instinct needed to succeed. They ignore the fact that I have been a former Television Champion, that Luz and I not only held the World Tag Titles three times but breathed new life into the division as a whole, that I was part of the winning Trios team last year... after all, it doesn't fit their narrative.

The problem is that the people with the loudest voices trying to tell me why I don't belong are the ones who don't actually know me. They haven't seen my journey, they aren't familiar with an Amelia who had everything they claim I need to reach the top. That's how I was when I first started out in this business... I had that killer instinct, I knew my opponents better than they knew themselves and every weakness was a target I could exploit because, in my mind, I was always superior and no one could prove otherwise. I was perfect... because I had no choice. The problem is that I wasn't the person I truly wanted to be... I was miserable, every word out of my mouth felt like ash because I was tired of putting people down just because I was supposed to stand on their necks and deem them unworthy.

And then there's the part that all these voices telling me I'm too nice for this business seem to constantly forget. Look at some of the people who were also told they were too nice for this business or they clung too tightly to their morals, like Selena Frost. Now? Now they're showing that killer instinct you all wanted, and you hate them for it. You hate how entitled they come off, you hate that they became exactly what you wanted them to be because it's not exactly the same as how you imagined it. Even worse... if they ever do decide to change their tune, try to become a better person, it's human nature to never let you forget that moment in time and allow you the change to try to change.

I'll fully admit that I'm lucky in that regard... all SCW has ever known of me is the woman who's 'too nice' for this business. Only those who looked farther back even know that there was a time when I was everything they think I should be and they hated me for it, just as I hated myself for having to be something I never was to begin with. When I started trying to turn it all around, gain control of my own life and career, prove that I truly was a good person willing to help this sport grow and thrive instead of treating it like a formality that I would conquer it all, no one believed it was genuine. Even with Luz by my side, a woman who has always been as close as you can get to an angel on this Earth, there was doubt. But over the years, I busted my behind to not just earn every accolade I've ever had to my name, to make my career my own and not just an extension of the family legacy I left behind after it broke me, but to earn my redemption and be seen for who I truly am.

In that regard Syren... I understand you.”

Amelia reaches down and gently grabs the framed photo from Under Attack two years ago, the night where The Light In The Darkness overcame Dark Fantasy to win their first Tag Titles in SCW. Her thumb traces along the smile she's wearing in her picture, as if she's reliving that moment in her head and using it as motivation.

“Under Attack has always been a special pay-per-view for me, and not just because it falls around the time of a very special holiday I've come to understand and embrace thanks to my beloved. Last year it was extra special, not because Luz and I ran the table in the Chamber and defended our Tag Titles, but because we had gotten married days prior, on the exact same date that this year's event takes place on, in fact. It was the first time I got to compete as Amelia Nevado, and I never felt more like myself than I did on that night. But then there's the night of Under Attack from two years ago... I know you remember that night well, Syren. You had been asked by Ravyn to revive Dark Fantasy, to be her partner when Ace Marshall disappeared. People questioned whether or not this modern day version of Dark Fantasy still had what it took to be as dominant as they were a long time ago.

That night, you showed the world that was still very much the case... but Luz and I took everything you had to throw at us and proved we could rise above it all to finally reach the top of the mountain.

I'm not patronizing you or exaggerating when I say that, Syren. That night, you and Ravyn looked every bit like the Dark Fantasy of old. You pushed us farther than we'd ever had to go before to get that win, and I still recall each and every superkick you hit me with, including the one right before I joined Luz in our Wisteria Waltz on pure instinct and adrenaline alone to finally pin you. We've crossed paths a few more times since then, including the last time we met one-on-one where you did defeat me, but I always remember that night specifically... not because it was the biggest win Luz and I had to our names at the time, but because you made me earn that moment every step of the way, forcing me to have to fight harder and harder with each passing second to prove I wanted it as badly as I said I did.

And now, two years later, we get to run it back... but this time? No Ravyn, no Luz, it's just you and me, Syren.”

Amelia carefully puts the picture back, letting her eyes linger on it for a moment longer before she turns to full face us now, the calavera makeup she's wearing giving her a very haunting look in the flicker of the candlelight.

“I said earlier than I understand you, Syren, and I mean that. I made it no secret two years ago that Luz and I had long followed your career, seen every moment of triumph you have to your name. Seven World Title reigns, eight if you count the interim one... that's not something you achieve on accident, that alone is proof that you will always be seen as one of the very best to ever grace an SCW ring. And yet, I've seen the signs that you've struggled with believing you truly deserve to still be seen at that top level, especially as more and more people come out of the woodwork wanting a piece of you not because they want to face the best, but because they think you've fallen so far from grace that they see you as easy money while still claiming they've conquered the best.

Even worse are the people who refuse to see you as anything other than the person you were before. You have tried, for years, to do this the right way, to prove that everything you've ever earned was because of your own skill and no mere fluke because you had help or powerful people setting the table for you. You've worked hard to redeem yourself in the eyes of the fans, but no one can let go of the days of Infamous, the days when Syren was nothing more than a self-absorbed diva who believed she deserved to rule the world and how she got there was irrelevant so long as you were there. People want to see you as weak, a shell of your former self, but the moment you start proving them wrong and gaining momentum, they immediately fall back on believing the 'old' Syren is back, that you don't deserve to be in the discussion for the World Title because you're still the same entitled diva as you were back then.

Just as people believe I'm not worthy of being in the World Title discussion at all because I'm 'too nice' to even be in this business altogether, no matter how many times I've proven I can succeed despite that just as you have redefined yourself despite everyone who refuses to see that you may have changed, but your skills are as sharp as they've always been.

They may not see it, Syren... but I do.

I saw it two years ago, at this very pay-per-view when we first crossed paths. I've seen it every single time we've crossed paths, regardless of how those matches ended. I know that when you say you should be next in line for the World Title, you've more than earned it. And that's why I stepped up to challenge you. Make no mistake, Syren... I'm not looking to cut in front of you, I'm not looking to undercut your claim. This match? This is me acknowledging that while people are wrong about me being 'too nice' to be here, there is some truth that if I'm going to follow up on my efforts at Apocalypse, if I'm going to prove that I deserve another shot at the World Title myself someday, I can't just sit back and hope I've done enough to be considered. I have to be willing to take my shots against the very best, to show initiative and make them see that I still deserve to be a possibility.

Just as you did once upon a time. You remember, don't you Syren? You stepped up to the plate, you called your shot believing you had what it took to stand at the top, and now you're regarded as one of the greatest of all time.

That's what I need, Syren... I need to test myself against one of the greatest to ever do this, I need to be willing to call my shot like you've done time and time again, I need to prove, once and for all, that I have what it takes to be World Champion someday. That is what drove me to overcome Chris Cannon at Rise to Greatness, and if you wish to pay me back for that, then I welcome that fight with open arms. But know this, Syren... I called my shot, and I'm not backing down. I see you, I know what you can do, and I know this is a win I'm going to have to fight tooth and nail for because I've done it before with you. And if you do go on after this match, win or lose, and become World Champion again, I'll be more than happy to meet you there and do this dance all over again.

At Under Attack, you and I are going to show those fans around the world exactly who we truly are Syren, and that's all I want at the end of the night. I want the Syren I know can push me to the level I need to be at if I want to be World Champion someday... and I look forward to meeting you in Minneapolis and proving that Amelia Nevado isn't a name you can erase from the World Title scene just yet.”

Amelia nods to us before she looks back along the row of pictures, mentally walking down memory lane one more time to know that she's come so far, but she still has father to go. And as she leans down and snuffs out the candles to plunge us into darkness, we know that she is ready and willing to fight with everything she has to make it happen.