Chris Dumont, Shaun Cruze & Syren vs. Amelia Nevado, Polly Playtime & Gavin Taylor

[Wisteria Waltz]

The setup we find is professional enough. Good lighting, carpeted floor, a plain wall behind a banner advertising the upcoming Rise to Greatness... perhaps the only thing that doesn't fully check out at first glance is the fact that the Rise to Greatness banner is clearly an old one from before the main event was set in stone, and to be fair, it's still not quite set in stone at the moment despite there being a clear World Champion and a clear winner of the Taking Hold of the Flame battle royal. Still, while there's nothing inherently wrong with this setup, something about this scene just feels wrong for reasons we can't quite seem to place. After a few moments, we see a figure move to stand in front of the Rise to Greatness banner, her brown hair tied back into a neat bun and a fine black pantsuit making her look like a proud professional. That feeling of wrongness only seems to intensify as the figure turns and reveals herself to be none other than Amelia Nevado, the SCW World Championship resting proudly over her shoulder. Despite the fact that she's also one-half of the World Tag Team Champions as well now, that title is nowhere to be found, apparently truly left in the possession of her wife after everything that went down in Las Vegas. After taking a moment to position herself comfortably, she begins to address us, though it becomes noticeable almost immediately that there's some sort of strain to her voice.

“June 14, 2026 is a night I would like to forget about for the rest of my life. Unfortunately, it is a night that will forever be etched into the memories of everyone who bore witness to what happened, which unfortunately can be considered a small victory for two people who have spat in the face of everything women like myself have worked so hard to achieve in our careers. But to the Glimmer Sisters... I warned you. I warned you that you were so lost in your disgusting and delusional fantasies that you would think your little scheme was a gimme, and you paid the price for it. The honor of being considered one of the very best in a company like SCW is not something you can lay claim to just by flaunting your bodies and skating by on as little effort as possible... it's something you can only truly earn. You stepped up to a tag team that well and truly earned the right to be considered one of the best to ever work together, and as I said... no matter where things may stand between us right now, Luz and I are defined by a synergy you could never understand.

You had every advantage you could possibly ask for, you forced us into the most humiliating situation we will ever find ourselves in, the way the both of you kept 'playing' with us should honestly have the two of you fired for blatant sexual harassment... and yet, despite it all, you still lost. You can laugh all you want about how you forced us to wrestle in nothing but... I want to say our lingerie, but you couldn't even let us have that. By the time that bell rang, I walked out of Allegiant Stadium not only still proudly calling myself the SCW World Champion, but also finally returning the World Tag Team Titles to a team that respects the art of tag team wrestling and will scrub away everything the two of you did to taint the proud legacy that was built by myself and... and...”

It's obvious what Amelia wants to say next, but she finds herself struggling to get the name to leave her lips. Even when she did mention the name earlier, there was a moment where the strain seemed to break, where a passion we thought was starting to be buried managed to claw its way through for the briefest of moments. There's a brief tremble that rips through her body, but she takes a deep breath and manages to push forward, her composure restored... for now.

“I guess I can't ignore the elephant in the room forever, can I? In order to retain my World Title at Taking Hold of the Flame, I needed the help of La Pequeña Luz. It wasn't by choice from either of us, but that didn't stop us from pulling together when it mattered most to deprive the Glimmers of what I think we can all agree, regardless of where you stand in the SCW landscape right now, would have been the darkest day in this company's history. After we won, I chose not to accept the Tag Title belt that rightfully belongs to me now... let me clarify: I did not refuse the belt and leave Luz as one person defending the Tag Team Titles by herself. The Light In The Darkness are your World Tag Team Champions, and after all the work we put into helping to make the division what it was before the Glimmers got their hands on those belts, I am not going to turn around and disrespect those efforts by leaving her to clean things up by herself. We're a team, in wrestling and in life.

At least for right now, though... I need to focus on what's in front of me, and I need to figure some things out. There will come a day where I will feel ready to hold that title belt again, but my immediate concern is Rise to Greatness, its main event and trying to walk out of it the same way I'll be walking in: as your World Champion.

And my opponent on that night could have very well been Luz herself.

I'm willing to be honest for a moment... where we are now? It's my fault. There are some individuals out there who should share in some of the blame, but ultimately, we're here because of me. I've noticed, Luz... I've seen how supportive you've been of me being World Champion, even when you don't agree with anything Mr. Delatosso has done, and I'd be lying if I said some of this hasn't gotten a little too out of hand in my own opinion. And yet, like the lovable dummy you are, you just keep pushing forward, ignoring all of your own issues because all you want is to make it back to me... even after I've snapped at you, even after I got so jealous of all of your success that I let it completely derail me and started lashing out at everyone around me. When I saw you eliminate one of the men I'll be facing this Thursday night and make it to the final two... I found myself cheering a little bit, believing that you might make the impossible a reality, even after everything the Glimmers had just put us through.

All I'm asking for is a little time Luz... a little time, and for you to keep holding onto that hope that has defined you from the moment I first met you.”

The smile Amelia gives isn't one of arrogance or confidence... it's a real, genuine smile that's become rarer and rarer to see from her as of late. For perhaps this one moment in time, that feeling of wrongness fades, as if something is finally right in the universe once more. Unfortunately, the moment doesn't seem to last, as Amelia lets out a sigh, and the smile is gone. There's a familiar focus in her gaze, but not even the proverbial mask of professionalism she's now wearing can hide the cracks we've seen beginning to form.

“Put yourselves in my boots for a moment. You've been scratching, clawing, fighting with everything you have for months to prove you're good enough. It's been years since the last time you earned a real opportunity all on your own merits, and even when you feel you're ready and step up to take your shot at the biggest opportunity of your life, all you're told is that you didn't truly earn it, that you don't deserve to be here. Even when you falter, you push yourself harder than ever, trying to prove you are good enough, that you still belong in that discussion and deserve another chance. One could argue that setback after setback, failure after failure are proof that you just aren't ready, but then you turn around and see people who haven't won a match in ages, people who have cheated to 'earn' their keep with barely any effort, people who you know you've worked harder than be rewarded with opportunities for their efforts while your own are ignored and buried beneath the failures... failures that aren't the same burden they should be to all those other names. All you want is one opportunity... just a chance to finally prove you do deserve it.

When someone steps up and offers you that very chance, even if you aren't certain you can trust them... are you going to turn it down?

It's easy to say you could resist that temptation, but it's a lot harder to actually turn in down when the times comes. Deep down, you know you're good enough, that you just need that chance to finally prove it. It's a chance that Syren has taken before, that Shaun Cruze and Chris Dumont would take if they found themselves at their lowest and desperate to put an end to all the critics telling you that you aren't good enough, that you don't belong here. Don't even try to deny it guys, because at the end of the day... we're all human, we all make choices that others don't agree with, and we bear the burden that comes with those choices. Maybe I will always hear that I wouldn't be World Champion right now if Frank Delatosso didn't open the door for me... but let my title reign and my body of work in that ring speak for itself before you judge me for the actions of others.

I'm not going to stand here and say I agree with the actions of my New Order partners this week, Polly and Gavin, but I do understand why they felt this was the path they needed to take. Just like me, how long have they been trying to make their mark only to be told the burden of their failures weighs heavier on them than it does someone else, perhaps someone who's also failed time and time again but keeps being rewarded for their efforts while the likes of Polly and Gavin are told they're just not good enough, that they just need to start winning. The human psyche can only take so much hypocrisy and criticism before it ultimately snaps... that's why Gavin is far from the pure athlete who cared only about putting on his best performance in that ring and letting his efforts prove why he was called the All-Star. That's why Polly has gone through several iterations at this point and grown increasingly more unstable with each one. Did any of their victims deserve what they did to them? I would actually argue no... but unfortunately, something like this was bound to happen eventually, and that is what Mr. Delatosso is trying to fix.”

Amelia lets out a slow, shaky breath, still clearly struggling with something going on in her head, but she does briefly flash a look of apology towards us. Maybe Gavin and Polly won't fully agree with what she's had to say, but while they may all be part of the New Order, that doesn't mean she has to fully agree with everything going on. It's why she stuck to her own address to open the last Breakdown and then let Mr. Delatosso and everyone else have the floor after her while she left to watch the rest of the show play out.

“Now, on paper, this match makes sense. The team we're facing isn't just composed of wrestlers who've stood to oppose Mr. Delatosso and the New Order, but every member of that team has a specific issue with one person on our team. Chris Dumont wants to get his hands on Gavin, Shaun Cruze has been trying to deal with Polly, and it's obvious I'm holding the very thing that Syren wants.

So I guess that's where we'll start then.

Syren, I mean this when I say it: I truly do respect you as a wrestler. Everything you've accomplished in that ring is proof of why you're a member of SCW's Hall of Fame, why you've held the most World Titles out of anybody in history, why you call yourself the Alpha Female. I said as much when we crossed paths for the very first time, back during the first run Luz and I had here before injuries derailed everything. CHBK dictated your path directly at that point in time, and while we were still such a new team around here, he gave us a contract to face you in tag team action. I said as much every single time Luz and I crossed paths with Dark Fantasy in or efforts to finally become World Tag Team Champions for the very first time. I even said as much going into the match where you beat me back at Under Attack.

As I asked you going into Hubris, though... when does your desire to be the best start becoming pure greed on your part?

You know exactly where I'm at right now Syren... you've made it clear you want me to step off this path because you've traveled it before. Now, I've never resorted to shoving Infamous back in your face like everybody else likes to do, believing you haven't changed... but it's getting harder and harder to know for sure how much you truly have. How many times during the period where you were required to win ten matches in a row before you could be World Title eligible again did you end up with other opportunities, even when you were struggling and your streak kept being reset? How many wrestlers could have been a future World Champion one day, only to be sacrificed because Syren had to be the best and fight her way to the top no matter what? When is enough truly enough, Syren?

When does it stop being about you proving you're the best when you've already done that several times over... and it starts being about you convincing yourself that you're the only one who should ever hold this title?”

Amelia's voice falters a bit towards the end, but she clears her throat and seems to pull herself together. It's hard not to miss that she sounded a little upset at having to say that, but she soldiers on anyway, proverbial mask firmly back in place and that fire still burning in her eyes despite everything.

“Just because Syren is my 'destined rival' I suppose when it comes to the lineup of this match, that doesn't mean I don't still have two other opponents to address, just as I know they'll address me. Shaun Cruze is one such individual, a man who came very close to being my opponent for Rise to Greatness in his own right. Shaun, I've heard what you have to say, and I do understand where you're coming from. The problem is that you're making a lot of assumptions about me just because you're trying to paint yourself as the hypothetical messenger telling me what I've already been hearing from the moment I won this title... never mind that I won our four way at Retribution with nothing but my bare hands, never mind that I did the same at Hubris to win this title even when everyone else in that match had somebody getting involved to try and help them win. Even at Taking Hold of the Flame, forced into a stipulation meant to humiliate and degrade me, I still proved that my own wrestling talents are why I am at the top.

And if anybody else in the New Order wants to try and take my place? All they have to do is meet me in that ring and prove they're good enough.

Resolving wrestling problems in a wrestling ring... that's the philosophy I've always subscribed to Shaun, even now. If Mr. Delatosso doesn't believe in my ability to be World Champion, he would have never opened the door for me to grab the brass ring and run with it myself from there. If he starts to doubt me, then he can say as much to my face, just like you've got the opportunity to come Thursday night at the Hyvee Arena. But you've experienced this for yourself now Shaun, so you should know: I have sacrificed everything to pull myself up and prove that I'm worthy of being at the very top, and I will continue to sacrifice if that's what it takes to stay here and keep proving I'm good enough.”

Amelia's gaze drifts for a moment as something seems to cross her mind. There's one other unspoken thought, one she dares not acknowledge even if it would destroy Shaun's entire argument: she knows, now more than ever, that if Mr. Delatosso ever does decide that she needs to be replaced, any move he makes towards doing so will find interference to counter it by the one person who's made it clear she always believed in her and always will. Knowing that is enough to push Amelia forward through her last obstacle.

“All that leaves is Chris Dumont... a man who probably no longer cares about the respect that used to exist between us, the battles we fought together against a common enemy in the Fall of Man. If all you see me as is just another person who needs to be destroyed with no regard to the reasons as to why I'm standing across from you Chris, then I'm sorry you feel that way. Truth be told... you, just as much as your teammates, should know as well as anybody that this business isn't always as black and white as it seems on paper. While I'm not going to stand between you and Gavin if that's what you want above all else, as I said earlier I've always been an advocate of resolving wrestling problems in a wrestling ring, I will make it clear that you have no right to blindly judge me when your actions, time and time again, have tread that line perhaps more than anybody else on this roster.

It's one thing to want vengeance... it's another to try and hold others to the same moral standards you refuse to be held to.

If you wish to try and end me all the same, then I will remind you of why that task is far more difficult than you realize, just as I will bust my behind to once again prove to Syren and Shaun why, despite everything, I truly have earned the right to stand at the top of the mountain. This may have started with Mr. Delatosso, but everything else has been me taking that ball and stepping up to prove that I can carry this company on my back.

Polly? Gavin? Come Breakdown, we'll prove this and more once again. We don't need tricks or help to get the job done... trust in me, as your World Champion, when I tell you we're good enough with the tools in our arsenal to get the job done in a way that leaves no doubt as to how good we truly are.”

While Amelia's face has gone completely emotionless, the look in her eyes is a different story entirely. There's almost a sense of conflict going on within her head, one that's not quite enough to make us believe she fully disagrees with anything she's said here today, but as we begin to fade out, it's clear enough that maybe, just maybe, her recent experiences have started to chip away at the walls she's put up around herself... just like so very long ago.