La Pequena Luz vs. Glory Braddock

[Wisteria Waltz]

The first thing we hear is the sound of water flowing, and perhaps it's no surprise when we find ourselves moving along the Detroit River. Specifically, we're along the promenade stretching for miles along the waterfront known as the Detroit Riverwalk, filled with plenty of activities for anybody to enjoy right alongside the spectacular view of the river that runs through the Motor City. We appear to be here quite early as the sight of the sun rising in the distance casts a beautiful golden glow across the Riverwalk and the city as a whole, bathing it in the light of a brand new day. Almost as if embracing this, we find La Pequeña Luz standing at a railing along the river's edge, taking in the dawn with a smile that we haven't seen in quite some time from the radiant luchadora... a smile that indicates she's at peace. Clearly something's happened, but what exactly seems to have helped eased the burden resting on her shoulders isn't quite clear right now. She even lets out a pleasant sigh of contentment as she begins speaking, not quite turning to look at us just yet.

“The dawn of a brand new day... there are many meanings people have attached to it over the years. A fresh start, a turning point, a reason to be optimistic, a symbol of hope... experiencing this is just one reason I like waking up so early in the morning and watching the sun rise, feeling it bathe me in its light to remind me of the light I chose to be the moment I donned this mask. The path hasn't always been easy... I'm not going to stand here and admit that I haven't had my moments of serious doubt or frustration where I've questioned if I truly belong here, in SCW, among the very best athletes in the whole world bar none. I've had my major setbacks, I've had my losing streaks, I've made some questionable decisions. The thing is... that's what makes me human. The ability to make mistakes, feel guilty or frustrated, want to figure out how I can do better, they're all proof that even though I'm supposed to be some larger than life presence as far as the fans are concerned, in reality, I'm no different from any of you out there. The same can be said of any wrestler in this business, though some tend to forget that more than others, choosing to hide behind the image and legacy they've built because the concept of failure is supposed to be foreign to them.

Speaking as someone who was practically born into this business, someone who immersed herself in a rich and vibrant culture built around treating wrestlers as these larger-than-life personalities on par with actual superheroes, I speak from experience when I say this business is not an easy one. Sure, the physical toll it takes goes without saying, but what often goes unspoken is the mental toll it takes on us all. None of us are perfect, yet there are some people out there who expect us to be, and even more who believe this is the reality they have to live. When you spend so much time pushing yourself beyond your limits, trying to get better only for the results to paint a picture of no progress being made at all, you're left questioning if any of this is worth it, if you need to make a drastic change just to get the results that your best efforts haven't been producing. On the flip side, maybe you start believing in your own hype, let all the success go to your head, and then when you do hit a rough patch, you struggle to figure out why everything is suddenly going wrong, why you aren't getting the results you believe you deserve. You can't accept that maybe it's yourself, because you're already perfect, so clearly it has to be someone else's fault.

Wrestling takes it toll on the minds of the best of us, and I'm not going to stand here and act like I'm any different. Back when I returned to SCW, there was a period of time where I couldn't seem to get a win on the board outside of tag team matches no matter how hard I worked. By comparison, Amelia had earned a Television Title reign and was knocking at the door of a potential U.S. Title reign as well. With our paths diverged, there was a moment where the stress of this business started winning out, where I felt jealous that her stock was rising while mine couldn't even get out of the gate. For that reason, I understand exactly why Amelia spent so long struggling when the roles were reversed, why she felt like the path she ultimately chose was the only way. But she never gave up on me back then... it's why I ultimately secured a TV Title reign of my very own, why I earned several reigns as U.S. Champion, and why I returned the favor and gave her an anchor to pull her back before she drifted too far. Most wrestlers define their time in this business by how many championships they've held or how long they've held them, it's why so many of them can't stop talking about gold at any given chance. But championships aren't everything... to me, and to Amelia deep down? Just as important is being able to get in that ring and do something we both absolutely love, giving those fans the show they paid to see and getting to test ourselves to see how far we've come and how much farther we still have to go. It's simple, and it's something most people would scoff at, but that's because I think they've forgotten the value of simple joys like living your dreams in favor of being consumed by the need to prove themselves because in their minds, if they aren't champions... they're nothing.”

Luz lowers her head, her eyes watching the water as it splashes against the wall of the promenade beneath her feet. It's clear that she's thinking of the woman she loves, who fell into that same darkness and has only recently shown signs that she might finally be fighting her way back out, but that description could also apply to another wrestler Luz is all too familiar with. Knowing this, she sighs before she turns her back to the river, letting the sun rise at her back as her expression turns a little less joyful.

“The problem with this mindset is that it begins to warp your personality, make you believe in things that just aren't true. But it doesn't matter, because as long as they're true in your mind, then that's the reality. You are the best, you're already the pinnacle and don't need to improve anymore because no one else is supposed to be able to hold a candle to you, and worst of all, you start to lose the sense of self-awareness that allows you to see the cracks in the mirror that leave you looking at a reflection that, deep down, you know isn't you... you just don't see it.

I think that's part of why everything leading up to Rise to Greatness has felt so frustrating for me personally. Sí, I've been devoting more time than some people believe I should have towards trying to help guide my wife back from the abyss she'd fallen into, and I've even been called out on it because of this belief that I'm sabotaging my career just to focus on her... is that right, Glory? Is my relationship nothing more than a distraction and caring about someone who I want in my life even beyond the day when I finally hang up my mask and boots is such a distraction that you've convinced yourself that I'm wasting a spot on this roster and you're doing everyone a favor by kicking me to the bottom of the mountain and taking the easy way towards the prize my wife currently holds?

Make no mistake about it Glory... you've been talking for months now about earning your way back to the World Title, proving that you deserve to have one more run with it that lasts for longer than just a few minutes. It's gotten to the point where you talk down about opportunities like the Taking Hold of the Flame battle royal, calling it a waste of time that doesn't prove anything. And yet, I was the runner-up in that very endeavor, and between that and my wife being the World Champion, all of a sudden that match means enough that you want to walk up to me and try to manipulate me into a match where you truly believe a win will guarantee you the title match you want so badly, even after two straight losses that, if I'm remembering right from Breakdown, had you declaring that this very match we're about to have now means nothing to you.

You want to know why I've questioned the respect you say you truly have for Amelia and I, Glory? Take a moment to listen back to the things you've said to me, not just leading up to this match, but along this entire road that led us here to Detroit. Listen back to everything you've said to Amelia every time you've crossed paths, all the times you've put her down or claimed she was obsessed with getting that one win over you while you constantly gloat in her face that she can't beat you, no matter how hard she works or how much better she gets. Is that respect, Glory? Because it comes off to me like you're confusing respect with arrogance hoping nobody calls you out on it because you want to hear those fans cheer your name instead of seeing the truth. It is possible to respect someone's skills but not their attitude Glory... I'm not going to stand here and say that you aren't a great wrestler, and we've shared that ring plenty of times over the years for me to claim otherwise. But when you claim to respect me, respect my wife, and then talk down to us as though we're inferior, as though we don't have the same drive and passion as you do when I literally wear the passion of this sport born from my culture every hour of every day, it takes a lack of self-awareness that may as well be the size of a black hole to not be able to see why Amelia and I have reason to question whether or not you actually do respect us.”

Luz raises her hand, running her fingers along her mask as if to ground herself for a moment, taking some deep breaths. It's clear that Luz is fired up and determined to get her point across, and she wants to make sure that Glory understands that.

“Like I said, Glory, we've done this dance before, though you and I have never really met one-on-one until now. Fatal Fortunes pit us against one another in a triple threat match during my interim U.S. Title reign, and I'd be willing to bet you were frustrated at the fact that I won that match without pinning you. Then there was the tag team rivalry between The Light In The Darkness and Twisted & Sadistic, where you proved how badly you wanted to be a champion by any means necessary when you and Brittany refused to let Amelia and I negotiate a fair compromise regarding a rematch for the two of you and instead felt the need to bulldoze through the entire division in one fell swoop because earning it didn't matter to you back then... not when you felt you'd already earned it and the rules no longer applied to you. Yet, in the face of that, you feel the need to prod at me and try to convince me that Amelia is a lost cause and can't redeem herself when you acted no different and just expect people to forget any of that ever happen?

You want to know the tragic irony in all of this? Just like you've been doing with Amelia lately, you've spent years calling out the likes of Selena Frost and Syren for the way they've acted, putting down Syren especially because you refuse to accept that she could possibly change from the woman she was during the Infamous days a long time ago. But when I look at you, Glory... I see Selena Frost as the Blue-Eyed Devil. I see Infamous-era Syren. I see Amelia Blythe, the incarnation of my wife enslaved so deeply by her family name that she had to act like she was the perfect wrestling machine because anything less was unacceptable. You freely spout the words 'sic semper tyrannis' without looking in the mirror and realizing who the real tyrant is in this exact scenario. Don't believe me? Look back on every time you've walked up to me and tried to gaslight me over my efforts to dive into the abyss and help pull Amelia back from the brink, tried to position yourself as more worthy of a World Title shot because you refuse to comprehend just how hard I will fight, no matter what it takes, to save someone who means just as much to me as this business and the prize of championship gold. If you don't reflect back on everything you've said to me leading up to this Sunday night and see the very same person you've criticized so many for being because 'they can't change' and 'redemption isn't possible,' then you deserve the reality check you're going to get at Rise to Greatness when I defeat you Glory.

And make no mistake... I am going to beat you.

For someone who claims to want to do everything the right way and properly earn her opportunities, you've done an awful lot of work trying to move the goalposts and redefine what 'properly earning it' truly means, Glory, and believing you know better than I do on that front is the part that I think disrespects me just as much as the ego you don't seem to think you have. In my eyes? A real wrestler, someone who actually cares about this business and wants to get in that ring and compete night after night, will throw themselves at any challenge put in front of them and tackle it to the best of their abilities. It's why I walked into the Thunderdome earlier this year despite it being a more violent match than I'm used to engaging in. It's why I stepped up to the plate for Taking Hold of the Flame and almost won the battle royal, and that was on top of wrestling just beforehand in arguably the most humiliating stipulation I have ever had to endure in my entire career. It's why Amelia didn't hesitate to try her hand at that turmoil match that earned her an Underground Title reign, even if only for a few minutes.

And yet... you act like the battle royal doesn't matter and the efforts of the forty men and women who try their hand at it are a waste, but you go straight for the runner-up believing that a win over me means instantly being rewarded with the title shot you want so badly.

You obsess over becoming World Champion again by any means necessary because you want to erase a minutes-long run with that title from years ago... but it's alright for you to accept a similar reign with the Underground Title because you stepped outside your comfort zone by competing in that turmoil match? And that kind of match means more than a battle royal where you actually have to stand your ground and fight instead of running and hiding until you run out the clock?”

Luz audibly sighs as she turns her head to glance back at the sun that's now crept higher into the sky, her silhouette really starting to stand out in the golden glow now. After a moment of thinking, she turns back to us once more.

“You asked what lengths I'm willing to go to get what I want, believing that my head isn't in the game because I'm not obsessing over the World Title like you are, all because of whoever could hold it coming out of Rise to Greatness. You fail to acknowledge that I've proudly fought Deanna before, even as recently as two weeks ago with the Tag Titles on the line, just as you fail to acknowledge how Amelia and I have said for years we've faced each other in that ring multiple times and wouldn't mind doing that dance again in an SCW ring, maybe with the World Title in the picture. Well, let me answer that question right here and now for you Glory, because I challenge you to agree to a little stipulation for our match to add some more stakes to it:

Whoever loses this match will never be allowed to challenge for the World Title for the rest of their SCW career.

It's a stipulation I know you won't accept, Glory... despite trying to paint a picture where you will do anything to win and that losing to me is not an option, you've become defined at this point by your obsession with being World Champion again. To agree to this when there's even the slim chance you might lose, in your mind, would be a death sentence for your career. I'm not afraid, though... yeah, it would mean I could never ultimately try to become a Supreme Champion someday, but as I've been saying, there's more to wrestling than just being World Champion. I have a wife I'm proud to see standing at the top of that mountain, I have fans who enjoy everything that I do for them in that ring, and I have plenty of other titles I could fight towards if I really want to hold gold again. Being World Champion isn't the end all, be all for me Glory, especially not when I still have a long career ahead of me to get there, and that's why I'm willing to take that risk.

That's what this business means to me Glory... and why you've already lost the moment you made this challenge.

Rise to Greatness is a night unlike any other, and we both know exactly what it means to meet on that stage and do battle. Two years ago, the pride of Twisted & Sadistic became their undoing as The Light In The Darkness proved that we could defeat Glory and Brittany if we pushed ourselves hard enough to get better. This year, over at Ford Field, will be no different. I'm sorry Glory... I do respect what you bring to the table, and I acknowledge that you are going to be my toughest test to date, but I need to be the one to show you, through the sacred art of wrestling, exactly why you need to be saved from yourself if you truly respect me the way you say you do. Just like the rising sun behind me brings a brand new day to Detroit, on Sunday night, I will be the symbol of your fresh start Glory. You can either take it by shaking my hand and reflecting on everything I've said after I prove, once again, that you are not as infallible as you think you are when our past does not define our future.

Or you can let yourself keep falling down the same abyss that nearly swallowed Amelia whole because, just like her, you let one little losing streak eat you alive and you can't understand why.”

Luz closes her eyes and lowers her head, quietly saying something that anybody who understands Spanish might recognize as a prayer. When Luz finishes, she looks up at us again, that fire still burning brightly within her, but currently tempered by the genuine smile that implies brighter days are truly ahead for the luchadora whose name literally translates to “Little Light,” and in her mind... Rise to Greatness truly will be the dawn of a brighter tomorrow in SCW, and she'll fight like hell to make that a reality.