Willow Aspen vs. Glory Braddock

[Konrad Raab]

2 RP Limit for singles

Deadline: 11:59:59 pm ET Tuesday, March 21, 2023

[Braddock]

1 of 2
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March 14th, 2023
London, England
Off Camera
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Glory Braddock has had one goal for a long time now; just the one goal ever since she lost the United States Championship to Josh Hudson at Under Attack. The British Bombshell wants to complete the journey to Supreme Championship status. Doing so required winning the SCW Television Championship and the SCW World Tag Team Championship. Braddock quickly completed part of that task by defeating Amelia Blythe for the SCW Television Championship, which now puts her on the precipice of achieving her goal. Yet becoming the Television Champion has now given The British Bombshell reason to pause, to think about who she is as a competitor, and who she is as a human being. It is the one question that has been dogging her and eluding her for quite some time now. She thought that she knew what it meant to be a Braddock. She thought she knew what her legacy was all about. Yet with the passing, first of her father Glenn Braddock and then of her mother Maria Kurinsky, The British Bombshell is left unsure of herself for the first time a very long time. She thought she had everything figured out; she was certain that she knew her father only cared about wrestling and never really loved her as a father should. She was certain that her mother, Maria, was simply an absentee mother who ran away from her parental duties. These certainties led Braddock to all but abandon her own heritage.

Now both her mother and father are gone and Glory Braddock has come to doubt everything she thought she knew. Grief and remorse over the death of her mother, as well as the painful memories of her father’s demise returning, nearly drove The British Bombshell to madness. It nearly ruined her professional career. Glory Braddock did manage to compose herself and find her footing. She is once again a champion in SCW and is close to achieving Supreme Status. But as great as that achievement would be, Glory Braddock recognizes that trying to rediscover herself and what it is to be a Braddock is far more important than any materialistic possessions. So what does it mean to a Braddock? That is a loaded question, one which Glory does not have an answer to just yet. What she is certain of is that being a Braddock doesn’t mean running away from challenges. It means taking on any and all challenges. So she intends to be the best SCW Television Champion she possibly can be and she will take on any challenge placed before her. So when Willow Aspen challenged her to a one on one match at Retribution, Braddock had no qualms accepting.

The British Bombshell may have her dancing partner set for Retribution but she still needs to wrestle with the question of her familial legacy. What was her late father’s true legacy? What was her late mother’s true legacy? And what do those answers mean for Glory Braddock? To answer these and other questions, Glory has decided that she must return to her native home of London, England. London is where Glory was born and raised. London is where her father, Glenn Braddock, made a name for himself. London will have the answers she seeks. Plus there is an added benefit of a visit to her familial home; educating her youngest daughter, Dawn Logan. Glory and her husband, Kurt Logan spent time in London only briefly before moving to Miami, Florida. Dawn Logan was born in the United States and spent almost her entire life in the United States, unlike her older half-sister Melinda Braddock who spent nearly half of her life in the United Kingdom. This is an opportunity for Dawn to learn about her family legacy as well.

This brings us to the Braddock family home. It used to be a simple, modest, one story home where a poor working class individual would live. Glenn Braddock never particularly liked living in the lap of luxury even if he could afford better. But ever since his passing his youngest daughter, Julia Braddock, has upgraded the home significantly. It is now a two story expensive home. Large moving men with brown uniforms are walking in with boxes, luggage, and some furniture. Among those individuals is Kurt Logan, who is dressed in khaki pants, a white silk button up short sleeved shirt, and brown dress shoes. He is carrying a large box into the Braddock family home. Following him from behind is Dawn Logan who rushes quickly into the living room.

“Watch out, Dawnie.” Kurt says with a chuckle. “You almost tripped me.”

“You shouldn’t be carrying this stuff anyway, love.” Comes the voice of Glory Braddock, who comes in after him wearing denim jeans, flip flops, and a royal purple t-shirt. “We paid for movers for a reason.”

“Yes, well I don’t want to sit around and do nothing. I should be helping. You know?”

“Suit yourself.” Glory smirks as she follows her daughter into the living room. Once in the living room, she finds Dawn on the cream colored plush leather sofa seated next to Julia Braddock, Dawn’s aunt and Glory’s sister. Julia is wearing a white floral print design dress with short frill sleeves, a tie waistline, and a mid-length hemline. She is perched atop sandals with a low heel. “First tripping your father, now bothering your aunt Julia?”

“She’s not a bother, Glory.” Julia says, kissing her niece on the forehead. “In fact, I’m really grateful you decided to fly in for a visit. We haven’t spent much time together lately.”

“I admit that it is difficult to spend any time with anyone considering the amount of workload the both of us have.” Glory says as she walks over and sits down next to Dawn and Julia on the sofa. “You have Global Championship Wrestling, I have Supreme Championship Wrestling.”

“We are a busy wrestling family, that’s for sure.” Julia says with a wink. She looks down at her niece. “Dawnie, why don’t you go upstairs and check out your room. There might be some fun games in there for ya.”

“Awesome!” Dawn hops up off of the sofa and bolts out of the room like lightning. Glory sighs and calls out after her.

“Try not trip the movers…or your father!”

“Dawn is adorable. She has grown so much since the last time I saw her.”

“Yeah, she is.” Glory says, nodding her head. “She’s growing in mind and in body. That’s part of the reason I wanted to come here. Melinda spent her entire childhood here before I moved the family permanently to Miami. Then she spent another few years here training at dad’s wrestling school and competing on the European circuits. Melinda has had ample opportunity to embrace this side of her family, the Braddock side. But Dawn hasn’t had that kind of opportunity to learn about her past.”

“It’s good that you’re giving her this chance.” Julia says. “And I’m grateful to have you. This is an opportunity for us to bond as sisters. Speaking of which, how long are you planning to stay?”

“Well…” Glory’s voice trails off. She admittedly is uncertain of a timeframe at this point. “...uh, as long as it takes.”

“As long as it takes?” Julia repeats Glory’s response with a confused look on her face. “What does that mean, mate?”

“It’s hard to explain.” She sighs deeply. “Everything that happened recently, beginning with the death of our mother…our biological mother…I pretended to be strong, I put on a brave face, I acted as if it didn’t bother me. But in reality it nearly drove me insane. You, Kurt, and everyone else who warned me that I wasn’t handling her death appropriately were right. I wasn’t dealing with it very well. It brought painful emotions and bad memories back to the surface and I decided instead of dealing with the grief and the pain to just block it out, to ignore it by becoming someone else entirely.” Tears form in her eyes. Julia embraces her older sister in a hug.

“It’s ok, mate.” Julia pats her on the back.

“Do you remember when we met Aphrodite Noel?”

“Of course.” Julia nods her head as Glory brings up the woman who has become their adoptive mother.

“You embraced her as your new mother very quickly. But it offended me. I was offended by how you turned your back on our father, on our Braddock heritage. Yet it wouldn’t be long before I joined you, and allowed myself to be adopted. Aphrodite convinced me by reminding me about our mother, about how Maria ran off after she divorced our father. It brought back very bitter feelings that I had been holding up inside of me, bitter feelings I held towards our mother for what I perceived as abandonment. That’s why I embraced Aphrodite as my mother the first time, I did it to strike back at our real mother. I wanted to hurt her. But I didn’t realize that our mother would reach out and try to make amends with me. I was also arrogant enough to believe that there was no chance of us reconciling.” Glory smiles. “But we did…me and mom reconciled. We grew closer, and in the aftermath of our father dying, I needed that closeness more than ever.”

“I see why mom’s death hurt you so much.” Julia states. Glory nods her head slowly.

“It hurt me so much that I just had a knee jerk reaction. I decided that being a Braddock was too painful because it reminded me of mom, my real mom, the woman I had reconciled with. It reminded me of the pain I had put upon her when I betrayed her the first time and of the guilt I felt. I didn’t want to have any of those painful memories or emotions so I decided to become someone different. I decided to act differently and behave differently. I thought just by becoming someone else that I could numb the pain.” Braddock shakes her head. “But it didn’t work. All it did was create a host of new problems. I caused turmoil in my company over rumors of a hostile takeover, I nearly drove Melinda away from me, and I burned so many bridges in SCW. I will be totally honest with you, Julia. I am worried about what is happening to me.”

“What don’t you see the therapist again?” Julia suggests. Glory shakes her head.

“The therapist didn’t work the first several times I tried. The definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over and expecting different results. I am not insane and I am not going to try the therapist again.”

“Then what is your plan?”

“This right here.” Glory states plainly in a matter-of-fact tone. “I need to remind myself of my roots. I need to remind myself of who I am and what it means to be a Braddock. I spent so much time running from it that maybe I forgot about it? I need to relearn the lessons of our father.”

“Is that it, eh?” Julia asks. Glory nods her head.

“Yeah, that’s why I’m here.”

“Well, I think I know the perfect way to start.”

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March 14th, 2023
London, England
Off Camera
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A few hours have passed and everything that Glory and her family brought over from America has been moved into the Braddock home in London. Kurt, for his sake, is perfectly fine with resting after the hard work he did by helping with the moving. His daughter, Dawn, is also in for the night even if she still has enough energy to party the night away. But the sisters Glory and Julia still have something important to do to cap off this evening. After hearing Glory’s story about her descent into madness and how she had to fight her way back, how she still struggles to this day with her identity, with what it means to be a Braddock, Julia is confident that she knows the perfect way to help. The Braddock sisters, both Glory and Julia, find themselves just outside of a small, run down bar in Southampton. Julia is smirking confidently as she catches a quick glance at her older sister Glory. The British Bombshell stares in awe as she immediately recognizes this place in front of her.

“Is this…?” Glory’s voice trails off. She cannot quite finish her thought. Julia can guess what she was about to say and just simply nods her head in confirmation.

“Yes, it is.”

“That pub dad used to spend damn near the entire bloody night.” Glory chuckles softly. “It drove mum insane.”

“Yeah, she didn’t particularly care for dad hanging out with his wrestling buddies at the pub while she stayed at home with you and me.”

“I felt bad for mom. She never said anything about him, but she didn’t have to. I could tell she was upset with him for hanging out here with his buddies after matches. But once I made my own debut and I started wrestling myself, I understood why dad felt the need to go do this. After so much stress and tension, after the pressure of trying to be the best and beat the best, you just need something fun to do to unwind.”

“It was the opposite with me.” Julia points out. “I was on dad’s side when we were younger.”

“Of course you were.” Glory points out. “You were a party animal then.”

“Indeed. But one thing Mother Aphrodite taught me was the important of focus and taking things more seriously. After learning from the tutelage of Mother Aphrodite I quit being a party animal. Now I see why our real mom was so bloody annoyed by dad’s antics.”

Julia Braddock begins to make her way towards the entrance and Glory follows her. Julia opens the door and enters the pub, followed by her older sister. The sisters enter the bar and find their way to two empty stools. Sitting to one side is another empty stool and on another side is a stool occupied by a gentleman with gray hair. The bartender, a young woman with long black hair, approaches the sisters to take their order.

“What do you want, mates?”

“Guinness.” Glory answers.

“Same for me.”

“It’ll be right up.” The bartender turns and walks off to fill the order.

“Sorry, but I couldn’t help but overhear.” The gentleman sitting next to them speaks up. “Can I get a look at you for a second?” Glory and Julia turn and stare at the gentleman inquisitively. He smirks and nods his head. “I knew it.”

“Knew what, mate?” Glory asks.

“I thought you pair looked familiar when you walked in. Then your voices sounded familiar but I couldn’t quite peg ya. Then ya ordered the Guinness. That was it.”

“What are you on about?”

“Guinness was your dad’s favorite.” The gentleman remarks.

“Dad…” Glory is confused at first but then after staring at him for a moment her face begins to light up in recognition “...wait a sec, Blake?”

“That’d be me.” He answers.

“Glory?” Julia is still confused and looks to her sister for answers.

“You don’t recognize him, Julia? This is Blake O’Malley. He’s a former wrestler, in fact he wrestled around the same time as dad did.”

“Your old man and I were close. We were best mates.” Blake states. “It gutted me to hear about his passing. But I am glad you are here. I have been following both of your careers and let me tell ya, Glenn woulda been proud as hell of both you.” The bartender returns and places drinks in front of Glory and Julia. Glory takes hers and takes a sip.

“He was proud.” She answers. “I can honestly say that.”

“Are you staying in England for any length of time?” Blake asks curiously.

“Well Julia lives over in London at dad’s old place.”

“What about you?” Blake asks.

“I’m staying with her and I will be around for awhile, except when I’m traveling around for matches.”

“Well, it is good to see some friendly faces.” He finishes his glass of beer and places it on the bar along with some cash for the bartender. “I have to exit, ladies. But please, don’t be strangers. Stop by my gym sometime.” With that, Blake O’Malley turns and makes his exit from the bar. Once he is gone Julia turns to her older sister.

“That was dad’s friend Blake O’Malley?”

“Yes.” Glory says as she sips her Guinness.

“Why is it that I don’t recognize the name or the face?”

“No clue.” Glory shrugs her shoulders. “I can tell you that he and dad were very close. They wrestled with each other, against each other, trained together.”

“So sort of like you and Sophie?” Julia says with a wry grin. Glory nods her head.

“You could say that. Sophie and I have worked together, beaten the hell out of each other, trained together, so yeah, it’s an apt comparison.”

“What’s Blake doing now?” Julia asks.

“He quit wrestling shortly after our father did. There was something else about their relationship. As good friends as they were, their methods and approach towards wrestling were diametrically opposed to one another.”

“Really?” Julia takes a sip of Guinness. Glory nods her head.

“Dad thought Blake was too reckless. I think that’s the best way to put it.” Glory sighs deeply. “That’s why he never hired Blake to work with him at his wrestling school. That’s probably why you never saw him that much. He and dad grew apart because of this disagreement they had over wrestling.”

“I take it this left a sore spot with Blake?”

“It did. But he definitely got a form of payback by stealing one of dad’s students out from under his nose.”

“Who is that?” Julia asks out of curiosity.

“Matthew.”

“Matthew? As in Matthew Taylor?” Julia’s eyes grow wide with shock. “So he is the one who trained Matty to wrestle?”

“Does it surprise you?” Glory asks. “Matthew was trained by a guy who dad considered to be a reckless lunatic, a daredevil in the ring. Matthew got into wrestling just to entertain people and a reckless, daredevil approach was more in line with that plan. Blake wanted payback against Glenn for not hiring him to work at his wrestling school so he stole Matthew out from under him. They had a common interest.”

“I suppose that makes sense.” Julia sighs and then shakes her head. “Still, I’m surprised that I just found out about this.”

“Blake is good people. It’s a shame that he and dad ended things the way they did.”

“I wonder if they ever reconciled?” Julia asks.

“That’s a good question.”

[Braddock]

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March 17th, 2023
London, England
On Camera
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The camera begins to roll. The scene before us is that of an empty gym; this gym has certainly seen its better days, you can tell by the paint peeling and the overall run down feel of the place. The coloration of this workout building is not a very bright one; mostly grays, blacks, and browns fill the scene before us. There are heavy bags in one part of this gym, bar bells and other weight lifting equipment in another part of the gym, but the centerpiece and arguably the main attraction of this gym is a four sided standard regulation professional wrestling ring set up in the center of the room. Even though it looks run down and abandoned, most would recognize this location as the Braddock Wrestling School, founded by legendary amateur and pro-wrestler Glenn Braddock, and now owned by his daughter, SCW Television Champion Glory Braddock.

As if on cue a door can be heard opening on the far side, just off camera. The camera turns suddenly in order to catch a glimpse of the visitor. We spot none other than The British Bombshell herself entering the gym, shutting the door behind her. Glory Braddock is wearing black dress pants, black high heeled pumps, and a royal purple silk blouse. Her long blonde hair hangs down unrestrained to past the shoulders. Braddock has her SCW Television Championship title belt draped over her right shoulder. An air of confidence can be seen on her face and in her stride as she makes her way across the gym floor.

“Respect. Breakdown, Willow Aspen confronted me, demanding that I prove my respect. I suppose that’s what this match at Retribution is all about, then? You want me to respect you? Is that it? But do you even have a concept of what respect is?” Braddock shrugs her shoulders as she continues walking.

“See, Willow, it is easy, very easy, to start the fire and create the chaos. It is easy to just sit back and watch the world burn. It is far more difficult to look into the mirror, and recognize the mistakes you have made, recognize that you have stumbled, you have erred, and you need to make changes in order to get across that finish line. I have been wrestling for fifteen years and yes, I have made my share of mistakes. The only reason I have been able to achieve the success that I have achieved in this business is because I looked in the mirror each and every night and saw my own flaws, recognized what needed to be corrected, and I worked to fix the problems. Did I make a ton of mistakes this past year? Damn right I did. But I didn’t just wallow in self pity. I did what I needed to do in order to fix the problem. I realized that the core of my problem went back to the very beginning…” Braddock finally makes her way to the wrestling ring, dead center of the gym. She waves her arms, motioning to her surroundings.

“...right here, this is my beginning, and this is where I needed to return to in order to fix my problems. This is my father’s legacy, his wrestling school that I now own and I continue to keep operational so that future generations of wrestlers can learn the craft and make names for themselves. And this is where I needed to return to. I needed to leave Miami temporarily and return to my home, return to London, specifically I needed to return here, to my father’s school, and get back to basics. I needed to return to my roots. Because this school is where The British Bombshell was born. I was Glenn Braddock’s very first student.” Braddock steps up onto the ring apron and then steps through the ropes, into the ring. The SCW Television Champion steps towards the center of the ring and turns to face the camera.

“This ring is where I was taught respect…respect for the business. There are certainly times that I come off as a bit of a stuck up prude, other times I can admittedly go too far to the other extreme and be so damn annoyingly immature that it pisses people off, but whether I am strictly by the book or just out there having fun, at the end of the day I am and always will be someone who respects this business. This business has done so much for me and my family and it has always been my goal to use my own wrestling career as a platform to give back to this business in some way. And I give back by going out to wrestling rings, such as this one, week in and week out, competing against anyone and everyone that is put in front of me. It doesn’t matter if I am fighting for the top prize in Supreme Championship Wrestling, its lowest prize, or for no prize whatsoever. Any chance I get to compete in this ring is a chance to give back to this business. That’s what respect for this business is all about.” Glory pats the Television Championship belt that rests over her right shoulder.

“When I won this title from Amelia Blythe, I could tell how heartbreaking it was for her. I could tell how much it stung for her to lose this championship so shortly after winning it. But that’s the nature of the beast, isn’t it? You win some and you lose some. Losing sucks. You haven’t tasted defeat yet, Willow. Not in SCW. You haven’t tasted true defeat or true adversity in SCW. Perhaps that is why you came after me? Maybe that’s why you wanted to confront me and challenge me for Retribution? Respect…” her voice trails off as she pauses momentarily to allow her words to sink in.

“...when I won this Television Championship from Amelia Blythe, I made a promise to myself and to the fans of Supreme Championship Wrestling that I would do my damndest to make sure this title was upheld to the prestige and honor it deserves. This championship has been defended by the likes of Autumn Valentine and Kennedy Street, two of the longest reigning champions in this title’s history. My family has held it, Marie Jones and Kimberly Williams. My cousin Angelica Jones is a former SCW Television Champion. I owe it to this title’s history to defend it to the best of my ability. This isn’t just some notch on my belt. This isn’t just some trinket for my trophy case. I fully intend to defend it against anyone and everyone who crosses my path.”

“Respect also means not backing down from any challenge. That’s another thing I learned from my days at this school. Willow, you approached me at Breakdown and demanded that I prove it? I spoke of respect and you challenged me to prove it?” Glory chuckles softly. “Did you honestly believe that I would back down from your challenge? You obviously haven’t heard of me, you clearly don’t know who you’re talking to; I am The British Bombshell. I am Glory Braddock. I will fight anyone and everyone and that includes you. You wanted a match at Retribution? You asked for that match? You got it.” A sneer forms across her lips.

“It’s just like I said, you haven’t truly been tested yet since your arrival in this company. I have been following you. I’ve done my homework. So in case there are those who haven’t been keeping up with your record in SCW, I will gladly elaborate. You beat a local talent named Devinn Hale. You beat Crystal Zdunich.” Braddock nods her head, feigning that she’s impressed. It is unclear whether this is sincere or not. “Nice work so far, Willow. But there is one problem for you, one really big problem.” Braddock smirks and pats herself on the chest.

“I am NOT a Devinn Hale. I am NOT a Crystal Zdunich. I am Glory Braddock. Fifteen years of wrestling experience under my belt, seventeen reigns as a world champion, former SCW World, Adrenaline, United States, and current Television Champion. Two times a Trios Tournament Winner. And at the end of the day, as Retribution draws ever so near, I still have no idea what you decided to call me out. What is it about respect that I need to prove to someone like you? Are you among those who cry foul or don’t believe in my sincerity when I said that I am getting back to basics and changing my ways? Forgive me, but I somehow doubt you really care about any of that. I’m not even certain you really care whether or not I respect you…I do, by the way, I do respect what you can do in the ring. But like I said, I don’t believe that you really care about any of that.” Glory shakes her head.

“You look at me and you see an opportunity. Kimberly and I recently threw down for the SCW Television Championship and thanks to Alexis Quinne attacking her mid-match, we will never know what might have been. Could I have avenged my earlier loss or would Kim have become Television Champion?” She shrugs her shoulders. “We’ll never know, unless SCW grants Kim a rematch which they should. But what I think, what I believe, is you look at me and see a vulnerable champion. You see not just a legend but a vulnerable legend. You see an opportunity for you to beat someone who has some real star power behind them. You can only beat people like Crystal Zdunich and Devinn Hale so many times before you have to step up and take on bigger, more difficult challenges. And when you look at me, you think this is your opportunity to seize the day, and defeat what you perceive as a weakened Glory Braddock.” The British Bombshell laughs softly under her breath.

“How wrong you are, Willow. I am not weak and I am not vulnerable. In fact, I am at the top of my game. Becoming Television Champion reinvigorated me. It helped me to focus on what is most important about this business…competition. When you are Television champion you have to be ready at all times to meet any challenge each and every week. Now I am laser focused, I am ready to take on all comers, and that includes you. Do you want me to prove my respect? Do you want me to prove that I am taking this business seriously? I will erase any and all doubts when I choke you out or make you tap out to the Shekhinah Glory at Retribution. You want me to respect you? I already respect you, Willow. After Retribution, you will have no choice but to respect the name of Glory Braddock, The British Bombshell, and your SCW Television Champion. You have had it easy so far, Willow. Now, you are about to step into the real world of Supreme Championship Wrestling. You get a serious challenge. I hope you know what you asked for, I hope you are ready to get just what you wanted. Because I am coming to Dallas for Retribution and I am bringing hell with me.” Braddock shuts her eyes.

“Sic Semper Tyrannis.”