End of the Year Open Invitational

[The Matt]

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December 27th, 2021
Boston, Massachusetts
Off Camera
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It has been two weeks since Marie Jones had been confronted by her half-sister Jessica Lasiewicz. Her Polish half-sister does not trust Marie, at least not fully, because she is well aware of Marie’s tendency to act in her own selfish desires as opposed to the selfless desires of those around her. In this case, with The Phoenix seemingly wanting to involve herself in the life of her identical twin sister Kimberly Williams once more, Jessica Lasiewicz was not certain of Marie’s motivation. But what is it to Jessica? What does she care about Marie’s true motivations? Jessica Lasiewicz never truly trusted Kimberly in the first place. If Jessica had her way, Kimberly would still be in a sanitarium somewhere locked away in a padded cell. It was Marie who took a chance on Kimberly. It was Marie who risked it all to reach out and try and help guide Kimberly out of her madness. It was Marie who was the first to accept Kimberly as a member of the Jones family. As a matter of fact, Jessica was the last holdout, the last one to finally accept Kim into the family. And even to this day Marie has her doubts as to whether or not Jessica actually trusts and accepts their sister. But Marie, she was willing to trust Kimberly, to accept Kimberly, and to ultimately help Kimberly out of the darkness. Marie helped Williams when she needed it the most. And now Kimberly is at a point in her professional career when she needs help yet again. She feels as if she is being used and exploited by SCW, used and exploited by its fans, and the anger that comes from it has caused her to become even more unstable than before. Marie realizes that an unstable Kimberly Williams is no good for anyone. So Who else could possibly help Kim except Marie Jones?

As for Kimberly Williams, she trusts Marie with her life. She is also fiercely loyal to Marie Jones. She is certain that Marie, above and beyond anyone else, knows what is best for her. If anyone can help her, if anyone can guide her, it is Marie Jones. This is what brings Kimberly to the home of her twin sister Marie in Boston, Massachusetts. Kim is seated on the floor playing a video game…Mario Kart to be precise…with her nephew, Marie’s song Sean Connor Jones. Kim and Marie are dressed identical, in denim jeans, black boots, and black t-shirts. The only difference is that Kim’s shirt reads “I Am Not Marie” on the front in hot pink lettering. Williams thinks that this is a humorous way to help her nephew Sean tell the difference between Auntie Kim and Sean’s mother Marie. For her part, Jones is sitting on the sofa, watching the pair have a good time. The Phoenix has a glass of wine in her hand, which she sips on as she watches the proceedings.

“Hey! No fair!” Kimberly complains angrily. “You can’t use a turtle shell on me! I rolled immunity to charm and spell!”

“Uh, that’s Dungeons & Dragons. And we played that last night.”

“Yeah, but I have yet to use it so it carries over.”

“I don’t think it works like that.” Sean says with a chuckle in his voice.

“Who made these dumb rules anyway?” Kim says throwing her game controller to the side and folding her arms up over her chest like a pouting, spoiled brat. “Where is my Dalek? I’ll ask him if this is true.”

“You mean the drone? It’s off and it’s in the garage getting repaired, Auntie Kim.”

“What?!” Kim sounds shocked by this news. “No! They’ll break him!” Marie hops up and prepares to bolt away but before she can leave Marie reaches out and snatches her by the arm, stopping her.

“I think Dalek will be fine, sis.”

“Are you sure? The last time I spoke with it, it wanted to exterminate Kennedy Street. That is NOT normal!”

Marie rolls her eyes. “I don’t think anything about that machine is normal, but nevertheless, it is going to be fine. In fact, why don’t I send Sean out there to check on him?”

“Yeah! The robot is cool, Auntie Kim! Can I go play with it?”

Williams turns and looks into the pleading eyes of her nephew. Immediately her heart is warmed and The Woman Scorned nods her head. “Alright, go on kiddo. Me and your mom will be right here.”

“Awesome!” Sean gets up and then embraces Kim in a tight hug. “And I’m glad mom is taking care of you. I was really worried about you.”

The fact that this child cares this much about her, about Kim, warms her heart even more. It’s almost like The Grinch, her heart grows three sizes in that moment. Williams rubs her nephew’s hair. “Thanks, kiddo.” With that, Sean breaks the embrace and then makes a break for the door, exiting the living room area. As soon as he is gone Kimberly turns towards Maire and a genuine, sincere smile forms across her face.

“He cares about me. Doesn’t he?”

“Of course he does, Kim. And so do I. That’s why I decided to come back. That’s why I decided to help.” Marie motions to the sofa. Kim walks over and sits down next to Marie. “Now Kim, I understand that I haven’t spent that much time with you lately…”

“Two years.”

“Huh?”

“It’s been almost two years since you’ve done anything with me. In fact, I remember the last time; it was SCW Retribution 2020. You lost an SCW Adrenaline Championship Match against Jordan Majors and Asher Hayes. Had you won you would have been only one world championship win away from Supreme Champion. And I suppose that kind of disappointment hurts. I suppose you felt that there was nothing left for you so you just left SCW altogether. But there was something you could have done.”

“Kim…” Marie’s voice trails off as she tries to speak but her twin sister talks over her.

“You could have stayed and helped me. Because you weren’t the only one to lose something that night, Marie. I lost the United States Championship that night to Bree. But you left. You left and me? I didn’t know what to do next. But then Jessica came along. We had something, didn’t we? We had Vengeance. And we had a damn good time. No, we didn’t capture the tag team championships but we did find something else…a bond, a sisterly bond that I thought I would never ever have with Jessica. I also earned her trust, something I never thought I would earn. Now Jessica is gone and you’re back. And I just want to know one thing; why?”

The Phoenix sighs as she shakes her head. This was not the conversation she wanted to have with her twin sister. She had hoped Kimberly would just trust her and go along willingly with whatever she said. But Kimberly is infinitely too smart for that. Marie just smiles half-heartedly and places a hand on her shoulder.

“Look, Kim, I won’t lie to you. I was selfish back then. You’re right, I was only thinking about padding my own resume, trying to make myself look even better by adding the Adrenaline, World, and eventually Supreme Championship to my already impressive list of accomplishments. Failing to become Adrenaline Champion that night was painful. But what’s even more painful is right here and now because I see now that by abandoning you that night I had hurt you even more than losing had hurt me. But Kim, think about it like this, you have proven yourself since then to be capable of so much more than what anyone could possibly comprehend.”

“You think so?” Kim asks. Jones nods her head.

“I know so…think about it, when we split, when Twin Magic went its separate ways, you would branch out. In HKW Underground you became the Bloodlust Champion. In MWE you became the Chicago Way Champion. You forced SCW to resurrect the Underground Championship and declare you the new champion and you forced that by doing what?”

“Beating Jordan Majors.”

“That’s right.” Marie says with a wicked grin. “You did what I couldn’t. You kicked her ass literally all over the nation and then ultimately in a steel cage to become Underground Champion. You have proven that you are capable of so much in this business and that you are more than just some violent tool to be used by SCW whenever it wants. And the fans of SCW? They don’t deserve someone as supremely talented as you. You proved your superiority over that dumb freak show Konrad when you spared him. You could have caved his skull in but you didn’t. That sends a message that you can do that anytime, anywhere.”

“The fans sure as hell wanted it.” Kim chuckles. “They were cheering for it. I heard them.”

“That’s right but you didn’t give it to them. Which shows your power over them. You decide what happens, you decide who is spared and who gets maimed, not those bloodthirsty leeches. You are powerful, Kim.”

“I know that now.” Kim says nodding her head. “And that’s why I need to know why you are here? Do you want to use me like so many others have used me before?”

Jones reaches over and clasps her sister’s hand tightly. “I am here to help you. I was wrong to leave you high and dry nearly two years ago. And now I look at you here at the crossroads of your career. You won the Underground Championship, you beat Syren, and then suddenly the fans turn on you like venomous snakes. They could have proven their loyalty to you by giving the world title shot to you but they didn’t. They awarded it to Holly Adams. But I have always been loyal to you, Kim. And I will always be loyal to you.”

“Except for the one time you left me high and dry in the aftermath of Retribution. How do I know you won’t leave me again?”

“I get it. You have trust issues, Kim, and you have every reason to doubt my sincerity. But I am going to commit myself to you, to us, and one way I can and will prove it is at the End of the Year Open Invitational.”

Kim arches her brow out of curiosity. The End of the Year Open Invitational is coming up, and Marie had mentioned entering it. But she didn’t know how serious she was. “Wait, so you really are entering that thing?”

“Damn right I am.” Marie says with a smirk on her lovely face. “You aren’t the only one with something to prove around here. SCW has overlooked me and has not appreciated my hard work for a long time now, just as they never appreciated you. At the End of the Year Open Invitational, I make my grand return and I am going to do so in a spectacular fashion by proving to them all that I am one of the greatest wrestlers in the world today.” Jones points a finger at Kim. “And I’d like you to be by my side as I do this.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think you know exactly what I mean, Kim…” she winks playfully “...or is it Marie?”

Kim smirks devilishly. “I like how you think.”

“Then let’s do it. Twin Magic rides again.”

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December 28th, 2021
Boston, Massachusetts
On Camera
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In 2016 Supreme Championship Wrestling was graced with the greatest gift of them all, the biggest blessing any wrestling promotion could ask for, and that is the mere presence of yours truly, The Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling, signing on the dotted line to appear as a contracted SCW competitor. From 2016 to 2020 I won the Television Championship twice, the United States Championship, and the World Tag Team Championship. My star was on the rise, I was on the fast track to becoming Supreme Champion before I left the company in 2020 after the Retribution pay per view. I was two championships shy of Supreme Champion. And I had already come damn close to winning both on numerous occasions. So why would I leave when I was so close, when I was so popular, when I was on the fast track to greatness?

The reason is simple: I was being overlooked. I was underappreciated by SCW management. People like me had to fight harder than everyone else to get an opportunity around here. I had to go that extra mile to open the eyes of the SCW front office. Otherwise they’d ignore me. Even the fans did their best to ignore me. It was ok if The Phoenix lost here and there, she can take it, she can handle it. But oh no, just think of the unimaginable horror on their puny little faces when their heroes like Selena Frost or Jordan Majors happened to lose.

Does this rhetoric sound familiar? I hope it does because it’s the same reason why you damn near lost another big star in the form of my twin sister Kimberly Williams. Yes, let’s keep giving Syren more and more main event opportunities and more world title opportunities, while ignoring the fact that Kim just beat her ass a few weeks ago. Let’s give Lucas Knight a shot at Kim’s SCW Underground Title, a shot he had never earned, just so long as we can continue to shine a great big spotlight on The OOC reunion! But what does Kim get for being the SCW Workhorse? What does Kim get for being the single hardest working wrestler in this company?

Konrad Raab.

That isn’t rhetoric, by the way. It is fact. Kim has gone unappreciated and overlooked for far too long. She has every right to give up on this company and its fans. But don’t worry, The Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling has returned to save your ungrateful asses once more. Thanks to me, you get to continue basking in Kimberly’s greatness and you also get the bonus of yours truly returning. How is that for icing on the cake?

But don’t expect things to go the way they used to. The fact is that I am returning not to be someone who is just happy to be here, not to do my part and WAIT on the good things to come. I am here to TAKE what I rightfully deserve. No longer is The Phoenix going to sit idly by and wait for opportunities to fall into her lap, The Phoenix will TAKE the opportunities, and she will take them away from others if necessary. And you do not get a much bigger or better opportunity than The End of the Year Open Invitational.

I know what all of my legions upon legions of fans are thinking…what sort of opportunity is there in the Open Invitational? Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars is good. But for me, it is a drop in bucket. And the car? I already have the finest cars. So if I don’t need the prize money or the vehicle, what is the purpose of entering this Open Invitational?

It is all about making a statement.

Did any of you ever stop to think about what I did during that time I took away from Supreme Championship Wrestling? Did any of you ever bother to keep up with my career after Retribution 2020? Retribution 2020 was an eye-opening experience for me. It was the night that I realized that I could not play nice any longer. I realized that if I wanted to get ahead in this business I had to start looking out for myself and I had to be ruthless. In other words, I had to start making my own opportunities.

So I went out looking for an opportunity. My mother, Angelica Jones, had long since held the mantle of Matriarch of the Jones Wrestling Family. It was her mantle to carry because she was the oldest and most successful of us. I boldly issued a challenge to her for a one on one match and not just once but TWICE I beat her clean in the center of the ring. After being beaten by me for the second time my mother realized that her time had ended and she retired from the sport. In other words, ladies and gentlemen, I took the torch and pried it from her hands. I wanted the mantle of Matriarch of the Jones Wrestling Family so I took it away from her.

I set my sights on what I wanted and then I just took it. Now I have my sights set on winning that End of the Year Open Invitational because by winning that match I make just as big and bold a statement as I made when I kicked my mother’s ass and ended her career. Just think, some big names have already made their intentions known to enter this match. And those big names will get dropped flat on their ass by me, The Phoenix, The Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling. Big stars are entering this, thinking that they can get one last big cheer from the fans, but they will be humbled and brought to their knees by me. And when I bring some of SCW’s greats, hell when I bring some of WRESTLING’S greatest to their knees at the End of the Year Open Invitational, SCW management will be forced to give me what I am owed, to give me what I deserve.

Not the cash, not the car, but the OPPORTUNITIES that I deserve. Because on one single night I am going to prove how indispensable I am to this damn company and how lucky they are to have me back.