Cowgirls From Hell vs. Light in the Darkness

[Wisteria Waltz]

Arguably one of the most famous and well-known areas in all of New Orleans is known as the French Quarter, often considered to be the very heart of the city itself. Boasting a unique blend of rich history, distinct architecture and vibrant culture, the French Quarter is easily a must-visit to anyone who comes to New Orleans. It's where you'll find jazz clubs, authentic Cajun eateries, and it's most infamous for being the section of the city that hosts Mardi Gras every year, making the whole area feel alive as though you're attending a never-ending party. Even now, as the French Quarter looks relatively quiet and peaceful in the early morning hours as the sun is only just now beginning to rise, the area looks just as alive as it does when it's actually party time.

In this particular moment, one other thing we can find here is a sight we haven't entirely seen in some time, that being the united front of The Light In The Darkness. It's one thing to see Amelia Nevado and La Pequeña Luz together on TV each and every week, but not since before Rise to Greatness have the two of them been united to address the same upcoming match. And yet, despite both that and their recent setbacks, both women are holding their heads high as they walk down the relatively quiet street, bathed in the light of the dawn as though they belong here, right in the heart of New Orleans. Even as they spot us, their smiles don't waver, their stride doesn't stop, but we can hear it in their voices and see it in their eyes: a competitive fire burning brighter than ever before.

“So... Under Attack didn't exactly go our way, to put it mildly. Amelia fell short in her bid to beat Syren, and I... well, I think it's painfully obvious I'm no longer the United States Champion. I want to be angry, to stand here and see if Gavin can decipher whatever I say to him in Spanish to make him understand how badly he messed up on this rather off-putting little campaign of his, I want to criticize Meghan for taking advantage of it, even unknowingly, and believing she fully earned that win over me, on a night that meant more to me than any other night in my life. I want to, more than you may believe... pero no lo haré. It's not worth it to stand here and get upset over being screwed out of a title I spent the better part of the past year fighting for and trying to uphold the honor it represents, because nothing I could possibly say right now will ultimately matter.”

“Now, I'm half-expecting many of you out there to take this as proof of these constant criticisms that we're 'too nice' for this business by thinking my wife is giving up too easily and just accepting what happened, and that couldn't be further from the truth. Yeah, Under Attack didn't go very well for us this year, and it couldn't have come at a worse time given everything that particular day meant to us beyond SCW. But something that even most veterans seem to forget is that it's not about what you say when you get knocked down... it's what you do when you pick yourself back up. Luz and I could be upset, doubt ourselves, start calling out people and swearing this and that, but where would that really get us? Syren and Meghan are already preparing to try and move on from us, putting bigger and better things in their sights, content that they've proven their points... but if we get back in that ring, make everyone understand those losses have only caused us to push ourselves to improve even more, and score a big victory come Breakdown right here in New Orleans on Thursday night?

Well... as the old saying goes, actions speak louder than words.”

“And Ames and I? We know a thing or two about letting what we can do in the ring do all the talking we'd ever need.”

Both women look oddly more at peace with their setbacks at Under Attack than we might've imagined, though their words make it clear how much fuel it's added to the fire of how badly they want to get back in the ring and bust their behinds more than ever before to turn it all around.

“You all probably noticed that we weren't present last week on Breakdown in Boise... the first time since we pretty much came back around where that was the case. Before anybody who loves trying to put us down breaks out their whiteboards and red string, let me share the truth with you: SCW gave us the show off and insisted we take the break. And honestly? How could we argue with that? For most of the past almost three years now since we've comes back, Amelia and I have been busting our butts literally week after week for SCW. We've been present even when we had no reason to be, we've stepped up and helped where we could even when it wasn't our job, and every time we've stepped into that ring, we've helped to elevate not only ourselves, but anyone who's met us and been willing to fight. That's a feeling the Strader family knows quite well with us by this point. Not once have we ever taken any time off... even when the Fall of Man tried to break us in half, we spent the next two weeks after that wrestling in a collective four matches between the both of us for Fatal Fortunes, on top of a Tag Title defense right after that. We've willingly left our careers in the hands of Selena and Deanna Frost, wanting them to dictate when we'd proven we were ready to stand at the level of champions in this company.”

“Not to mention the moment where we told CHBK, to his face, that we were more than willing to literally run a gauntlet where we couldn't challenge for any titles until we'd proven we could beat everyone in this company at least once. Yeah, he talked us out of it, but all of that just proves what SCW means to us and how dedicated we are to being here. It's gotten to the point where, for the longest time, many believed Luz and I had single-handedly revived the art of tag team wrestling in this company and elevated those titles to a level they hadn't been at in quite some time. We've even had some fans tell us lately, to our faces, that they've started to see us as the heart and soul of SCW itself now. That... that's a feeling I can't even begin to describe because no one has ever been willing to view us that highly, at least not without some sort of backhanded remark or impossible expectation attached to it. Regardless, I think it's safe to say the question of whether Luz and I belong here has long been answered, and finally getting a chance to have some time to go on our honeymoon, a full year after we married, really helped put some things into perspective for us once we gave ourselves that moment to take a step back and really think about it.”

“That's why I'll stand here and thank you for the endorsement, Meghan, of believing that I'm ready to join my wife in hunting for the World Championship, but I really hope you weren't ready to believe you were just going to sweep me aside that easily. Yeah, maybe I could go on to climbing the bigger mountain like you suggested, as I know you'd like to do as well eventually, but I hope you were paying attention when I mentioned what being U.S. Champion meant to me and what I hoped to achieve with this reign you ended. Last year, when Deanna was deemed mentally unable to wrestle, I was christened the interim champion until she could return and we could unify the titles... and I failed my initial promise to meet her one-on-one for that moment when Asher Hayes dethroned me. When I walked into the fatal fourway at Rise to Greatness and won the undisputed title outright, I promised her again that I would be a worthy successor to the reign she had... and like it or not, you made a liar out of me with Gavin's help. Maybe you feel content with that because you've made it clear you're the kind of woman who marches to the beat of her own drum and everybody just has to accept that, but to me? That may as well as be the equivalent of you staring your daughter Veronica in the eye and telling her that she's unworthy of living up to the legacy you created, and if me saying that upsets you... then welcome to how I feel.”

“Speaking of Veronica, it's good to meet you in that ring again, and funny enough... what I said to you when we met last year hasn't really changed, because I still envy you to a certain degree. Maybe it hasn't been with SCW, but I'm sure you've kept yourself busy elsewhere adding to your own resume in the interim while I've been fighting tooth and nail to try and forge my own path here and don't have much to show for it. And yeah, that does frustrate me, more than perhaps you'll ever know. Like with Luz's match against your mother, the fight I put up and how close I came to beating Syren at Under Attack should be worth keeping in mind on its own because I'm proving, even in defeat, that I belong at the top level... but I know exactly how you'll probably view it. We didn't win, and that's all people will care about. I'd be willing to bet that's why you were so eager to jump into the fray when SCW asked your mother to pick another Strader to stand alongside her to face us, because I wouldn't be surprised that despite the respect we forged last year, the thought of you failing to beat me one-on-one and then the eight-person tag loss right after that has been eating away at you, and you're eager to get the chance to pay us back just as Meghan is eager to try and prove her words right all over again. The fact that you've had over a year to prepare for this opportunity, so much of us to study, while we've been busy focusing on every other challenge that's been thrown our way between then and now? That... that's why I envy you this time, Veronica.”

“But that also presents us with a challenge we're more than ready to welcome. We've heard it time and time again every single time one of us has reached the top of a mountain in some fashion since we arrived here: it's one thing to be the hunter, but it's another entirely to be the hunted. And there is no one in all of SCW who is hungrier and more ready to start hunting than The Light In The Darkness. Meghan, Veronica, no matter how much you think you're ready for us, you're going to learn real quickly how much that little break actually helped us. Yeah, we can push ourselves to our breaking points and train until we're ready to collapse, but we've also come to realize we can't truly prepare for everything we could expect to see in that ring, and those split seconds that keep costing us because of that small gap? We're tired of them.”

“So come Breakdown, right here in the Big Easy, we're going to see exactly how well the Straders can adapt once their training and study starts to falter, because that's a little something we've picked up on over the course of our last few matches. We know we're outmatched in the experience department, and there's only so far we can go fighting against that with nothing but hard work and determination... we need to be smarter, too. There will always be that small window where even you, Meghan, and you, Veronica, are going to mess up, and you won't even realize it. This time, that's not going to be the difference-maker that puts us down once again... that's going to be the moment where the Cowgirls From Hell will remember exactly what makes La Pequeña Luz and Amelia Nevado so special, and we can only hope you'll be just as willing to evolve for the next time we inevitably do this dance again in some fashion.”

“Just as the French Quarter around us is seen as the heart of New Orleans... if fans want to start seeing us as the heart of SCW, then we welcome that with open arms.”

“Because that should be all the warning you need, Meghan and Veronica, to know that The Light In The Darkness is going to shine brighter than ever, which now begs the question...”

Luz and Amelia stop, right in the middle of Bourbon Street, exchanging looks before their smiles give way to rather daring grins.

“You constantly say that God forgives, but you don't, so now Ames and I need to know...”

“Will you be able to forgive yourselves when we earn this win on Breakdown and put ourselves back on track to fight towards where we want to be... where even you believe we should be?”

The sight of Luz and Amelia standing hand in hand, bathed completely in the golden light of the dawn as the city around them slowly starts to wake up and prepare for another beautiful, vibrant day of like in New Orleans, almost feels like the city itself is supporting the fight they know they're walking into, and not only are they not backing down, they're perhaps more confident and determined than ever before. It's a bit of a surprising change from The Light In The Darkness, but if they're going to put themselves in the position of being considered the heart and soul of SCW today, then they deserve to be as confident in themselves as the fans are in the action this company presents week after week. After all, you don't become the best without putting in the work for it, and perhaps no one on the SCW roster has worked harder over the past few years than Amelia Nevado and La Pequeña Luz.