Deanna Frost vs. Amelia Nevado

[Wisteria Waltz]

It's hard to see much when we first open up, but what we can see is breathtaking view of the city of Detroit, Michigan from the rooftops above. The reason it's hard to see too much is because we see the sun off in the distance looking like it's only beginning to rise for the day, so the city is still shrouded in the darkness of night and its residents are still dreaming peacefully of what tomorrow may bring. Despite the beautiful view and the sense of calmness washing over us, the peace and quiet of a city that hasn't quite woken up for the day yet is broken by the sound of shattering glass somewhere behind us. At first, it's just one instance, but then it's followed by another, and another, and several more. Slowly, we turn away from the rising dawn to look down along the roof of this building, finding shards of broken glass everywhere. Slowly, we see shoes start to walk across this field of broken glass, their steps delicate but also not avoiding the glass as it crunches into smaller fragments and dust at their feet. We can assume the glass belonged to a mirror as the shards reflect someone's face from above, but it almost feels like we're trying to piece together an illusion as every shard reflects what looks like a different version, even if they all share the same recognizable face.

As the steps approach us, we slowly pan up to confirm the figure is none other than the SCW World Champion, Amelia Nevado. While the World Title belt rests over her left shoulder, we also noticed that she looks nothing like the champion she's tried so hard to present herself as for months now. If anything, her casual attire looks more like something borrowed from her wife's wardrobe, and if anything... it makes her look more like herself. Her hair is undone and blowing freely in the early morning breeze, and there's a look in her eyes and a smile on her face that makes it immediately clear this is not the Amelia Nevado we've been witnessing throughout the year so far. There's a genuine reluctance to the smile, but we can almost get a sense of freedom from how relaxed she looks despite the magnitude of what awaits her on the horizon. When she finally speaks, there's a gentle remorse that resonance in our souls at the tone of her voice.

“I'm sorry for failing all of you... and for failing myself.

By now, I've painted a very clear picture of the life I lived growing up. Parents who were abusive and didn't think twice about breaking me, believing that any weakness I possessed could simply be erased when they rebuilt me in their image. My older siblings suffered in the same way, but they coped with it by taunting and bullying me to express their disdain for the fact that I was the chosen heir to the Blythe legacy because mom and dad wrote them off at birth purely because they were born as twins. Through it all, we were expected to present ourselves to everyone, from family business partners to wrestling connections to fans, as the perfect family. We were flawless, we were unbreakable... hell, our family motto was 'never show weakness.' Back then, I didn't have a choice in who I became... I was forced to sever any friendships my parents didn't believe would benefit me or our family professionally above all else, I was supposed to marry some wealthy and talented man because my parents refused to accept that I was only interested in other women and continuing the Blythe legacy was more important than 'distractions' like love, wrestling and being the absolute best at it was supposed to be everything to me... to the point where I began to hate this sport and everything associated with it.

Back then, I was saved by a literal light in the darkness who saw through the walls I put up and refused to write me off until I got to decide for myself who I wanted to be and figured out my own path forward. Because of her, I found a reason to love wrestling, a desire to embrace the challenge of wanting to prove myself and earn everything with my own bare hands, not because I was owed the world because I was a Blythe, but because I earned it for myself. And through it all, I learned to embrace my imperfections, because the truth of the matter is... nobody's perfect. We all have our flaws, the cracks in our reflection, and unlike what my parents always told me, they are nothing to be ashamed of and shouldn't be hidden, because they are what make us human.

Unfortunately... I never realized just how deep my own cracks went until recently, and I'm ashamed of the woman I see when I look back on the last several months of my career. Not because it's a face I don't recognize despite being my own... but because it's a face I know all too well, and hoped I would never see again.”

Amelia's smile fades as she moves around us, and we turn to watch her as she takes a seat on the edge of the roof. She shrugs the World Title belt off her shoulder and lets it rest in her lap as she side-eyes the rising sun off in the distance, illuminating the scene just a little bit more in its warm glow.

“The woman you've all been watching for the past few months is not Amelia Nevado... in reality, it's been Amelia Blythe, the 'real me' according to my parents. That's the very person I fought so hard to escape from being when Luz came into my life... and yet, I found myself falling back into her embrace and letting her take over when my doubts began to consume me. It's easy for any wrestler to lose a match, maybe even find themselves on a bit of a losing streak, and say they'll bounce back and earn their way back into the winner's column again... unless you're me. There's a reason I fell into such a depressive spiral that I became vulnerable to promises of power and found myself on a path I swore to never walk again, why I became such an arrogant bitch standing as the crown jewel of Frank Delatosso's New Order, and one only needs to look at the psychological scars I wear to get an idea of why I failed myself after fighting so hard to escape from being... this.

When most of your life is spent being told that you're nothing but a failure, that you're not worthy of living up to impossible expectations as a poor attempt at motivation, you begin to internalize those words. All you want is the acceptance and acknowledgment of the progress you've been making, only for the goalposts to be moved without explanation because even success itself isn't good enough for you in the same way it is for everybody else. Even after I finally escaped those chains, not a day went by where I didn't hear the voice of my mother or father echoing in my head, berating me when I lost or mocking me for thinking any of my wins meant anything. After a while, I learned to tune it out, knowing they were wrong and having people around me who reassured me that my worth in this world wasn't tied to my wrestling success and nothing else.

Eventually, however... the voice changed, and I think you, Deanna, might understand this next part better than anybody else.

When I lost to Glory back at Shattered Reality, another setback in a big match when I was fighting so hard to prove myself, I stopped hearing the criticism masking itself in voices I knew never truly cared for me. Instead, it adopted a far more painful tactic... it began using my own voice. Other Amelia, I called it, my inner critic, digging deeper into my scars than the echoes of my parents ever did, convincing me that I was always going to be lost in Luz's shadow, the weak link of The Light In The Darkness... just as people have tried to claim for years that Deanna was the weak link of the House of Frost, doomed to forever vanish in Selena's lofty shadow. No matter how hard I fought to resist it, the voice kept digging, kept reshaping me in cruel ways that even my parents never thought to consider, and before I knew it... I had fallen back into the same darkness I thought I'd escaped from, back to being the Blythe prodigy who existed solely to be the perfect wrestler and nothing else.

I think you, perhaps even more than Luz, can understand why I lost my way Deanna. I saw it when you came back after everything that happened with Veil... physically, you were here, but mentally, you were still fighting against phantoms that only you could see, haunting you and convincing you that you were weak, worthless, pathetic despite being a survivor, trying to convince you that you had to change if you wanted to prove everyone wrong whenever they compared you to Selena. We are both women whose scars run deeper than anybody will ever truly know... but the biggest difference between us, Deanna, is the fact that you proved you were stronger than me, and I'm not afraid to admit that. Where I eventually let the frustration consume me, break me, force me to once again put on a porcelain mask to hide the cracks because everyone had to believe I was perfect... you overcame your trauma. You proved just how strong you truly are, bouncing back from losing the U.S. Title to Luz at last year's Rise to Greatness to having probably the best year anybody's ever had in SCW history. You're the Adrenaline Champion, Shot of Adrenaline winner, Taking Hold of the Flame battle royal winner... one-half of the World Tag Team Champions...

Don't feel bad for that, by the way... truth be told? I needed that reality check to finally remember exactly who Amelia Nevado is, and I'm sorry it took me this long to finally wake up and come back to you.”

Amelia's eyes slowly drift down to the World Title in her lap, her fingers slowly tracing the letters of her name engraved into the nameplate.

“It's funny... all those voices, both in our heads and around us, who told us we were the ones destined to be lost in the shadows of the women we love, yet here we are, in the main event of Rise to Greatness, facing one another for the biggest prize in this industry on the biggest stage we could possibly have. We've accomplished things even Luz and Selena haven't... I became World Champion, but even that pales in comparison to everything I said you've accomplished, half of which even Selena never did. If that doesn't prove that you deserve to be here Deanna, even after every awful thing I've said to you because that arrogant little voice in my head was desperate for any sort of psychological edge, then listen to me carefully as I tell you the biggest reason that proves you belong across the ring from me on this stage.

You defeated Luz at the very end of the battle royal.

On paper, maybe that doesn't sound like such a big accomplishment despite everything that's happened between all of us, but I've known that woman for almost my entire wrestling career, Deanna. Believe me when I say that when Luz is really determined to make something happen, not even an act of God can stop her, and she made it perfectly clear that she was hellbent on winning that battle royal to stand where you are now, not because she wanted this title, but because she wanted me. She wanted to use this match as the ultimate test to remind me of who I truly am, the perfect callback to the moment where she handed me my very first professional wrestling defeat and then comforted me afterwards and helped me realize that one loss truly isn't the end of the world. You weren't fighting Luz at the end of that battle royal, Deanna... you were fighting a force of nature that wasn't going to be denied the chance to save me through the art of wrestling that connected us in the first place, and you won. You eliminated her, you earned the right to be in this match... and you deserve it more than me.

I want to sit here and try to think positively about my reign as World Champion, to believe that I've earned the right to be here with you, Deanna. When you really look at the fine details, I did earn every major victory that got me here the right way within the context of the matches I had to contend with. I won the four way that earned my my World Title shot all on my own, making Kemal submit while Glory tried and failed to break the Blight Choke. I won the four way that put this title in my hands when I made Selena pass out to that same hold, the only person in that match who didn't have anyone helping me regardless of the reason. I was forced to team with Luz to defend this title against the Glimmer Sisters in the most embarrassing and humiliating experience either of us have ever endured, made even worse by everything they did during the match to try and erase our talent and efforts just to paint us as raw sex appeal on par with theirs, and I came through for both Luz and for the prestige of this title and the Tag Titles when it mattered most.

But I'm sure you'll agree with Selena and even me, Deanna, in admitting that my reign is tainted, no matter how hard I try to look for the positives.

I wasn't supposed to be in that number one contender match in the first place, probably wasn't even supposed to have a match at all in my own home country, I was added at the last second by our CEO. Maybe I could have proved it if I won this title one-on-one against Gavin, despite the shift in attitude, but I wasn't given that chance and didn't even beat the champion to win the title. Even Taking Hold of the Flame raises questions because I needed Luz's help to retain, even if that was the hand I was dealt on that night. In that regard, Selena was right about me... I may be holding the World Championship, but I haven't earned the right to truly call myself a World Champion.

And that's exactly why I want you to give me everything you've got at Rise to Greatness, Deanna.”

Amelia swings her leg back over and stands up once more, the sun rising higher into the sky now as her silhouette stands against the warm glow of the dawn, bathing her in its light in an image that just feels right to see.

“I want you to forget everything I've said to you on the road to Ford Field, Deanna, because if I have anything to say about it? Amelia Blythe is dead and won't be standing across the ring from you come Sunday night, just like you watched her die in that chapel in Mexico on Día de Muertos two years ago when I cast off the shackles of the Blythe name and was reborn as Amelia Nevado. For the past several months, I have done wrong by my wife's name and it's high time I make amends to her, to you, and to the SCW fans.

The truth is, Deanna... I know you can beat me. I know you are worthy of being World Champion, of doing right by this title where I have failed thus far in that regard. We've met in that ring enough times over the years, and regardless of whichever one of us won, it was always a hard-fought war up until the very end where no one, especially not us, knew who was going to be the one with their arm raised in victory. I'm sorry it took me so long to get my head screwed back on straight and remember who I truly am, and even more than an apology Deanna, I owe you the best damn wrestling match either of us has ever delivered, a match that eclipses the classic we put on against each other years ago in that U.S. Title tournament, a match that not only proves that Deanna Frost is ready to be a true World Champion to guide the way towards the future of this company...

But proves that I'm just as ready to be the World Champion I should've been all along, even if this night ends in my defeat and I have to start the climb all over again.

Make no mistake, Deanna: if I'm going to put on a match worthy of the Rise to Greatness main event, if I'm going to give you the challenge that, should you win, proves that you are a worthy World Champion, then I can't just hand this title over that easily just because I'm done letting my inner critic take the wheel and drive me back towards being the Blythe I never wanted to be in the first place. If anything, this is my first real challenge as World Champion, not because Selena, Gavin, Syren or the Glimmers weren't good enough, but because you are the first chance for me to truly prove, especially to myself, that I can wear this title and not let the title wear me. I want to learn from not only Selena's mistakes she tried to warn me about, but from my own mistakes that have defined this title reign thus far. I want to give you everything I have to offer and then some Deanna, all in the name of trying to retain this title... not because you aren't ready, because I know damn well that you are and I will tell you that to your face before the bell rings if I have to, but because this is my chance to wipe the slate clean and start over, make Rise to Greatness the first real night I can truly call myself SCW World Champion and mean it. If we don't give each other our absolute best and beyond, then we'll both walk away with doubts when all is set and done... and I don't want that.

I want to be able to look you in the eye if you beat me, raise your arm and put this title around your waist myself while knowing that I can start over and work my way back up to you the right way.

I want to be able to hold this title over my head if I win, knowing that I not only truly earned that moment, but also knowing that someone as incredible as you will be hot on my heels to give me an even better match the next time we meet.

And as for Delatosso's little scheme? As far as I'm concerned, Selena will be out there to support her wife and watch you prove what you both already knew deep down, that you were never in her shadow... just as I know Luz will be supporting me in the same way. And while I apparently can't command the New Order to listen to me, I know that Selena and Luz won't let them ruin this for us just because I don't want to be Delatosso's only actual success story he's desperately clinging to anymore.

I want to prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I can stand at the top not because Delatosso opened the door for me and tried to coddle me, but because I'm truly good enough to be here among the best of the best on nothing more than my own skills.

I'm sorry it took me so long Deanna, but I mean it when I say that I am proud to consider you a sister figure in this business, and I'm grateful for your help in reminding me of who I truly am. Come Rise to Greatness, it's time for the whole world to see the dawn of a brand new era in SCW.

An era defined by Deanna Frost... and the rebirth of the real Amelia Nevado.”

Amelia slowly raises the World Title in front of herself, as if holding it out for Deanna to take. As the sun continues to rise, Amelia is bathed in that feeling of a fresh start, embracing the dawn of a new day as the beginning of her road to redemption and the chance to prove truly truly is capable of Rising to Greatness, not because someone put her there and told her she deserved it, but because she was always good enough to earn it with her own blood, sweat and tears and will finally be able to prove it.