Amelia Nevado vs. Ryan LeCavalier

[Konrad Raab]

2 RP Limit for singles

3500 Word Limit Per RP

Deadline: 11:59:59 pm ET Wednesday, May 14, 2025

[Wisteria Waltz]

Even now, with Breakdown having gone off the air, Amelia Nevado still felt frustrated.

It was hard to blame her, considering this was far from the homecoming she had hoped for, even if she appreciated the break after that brutal Steel Cage Match last week.

She and Luz had waltzed to the ring so she could speak to her fellow countrymen and vent her frustrations. Luz had been more than willing to stand back and her let speak her mind, as it was hard to argue that she didn't have a valid issue with how things had played out. They had fought tooth and nail, showed how well they had adapted and were potentially closing in on getting that win, and the Tag Titles, back from the Fall of Man.

Only for the frustrations of others to once again interfere and screw them over.

“It wasn't just Xander...” Amelia quietly pondered as she sat in their locker room. “The Phantom Troupe... they ignited some of their own chaos too...”

The thought didn't reassure her any, nor did it take the sting out of Xander marching down to the ring to practically berate her and Luz for being 'too nice' and 'too honorable' to keep going with this war. Amelia hadn't backed down, just as she hadn't when she wrestled Xander and earned his respect in that ring. Luz, though, had stepped in to keep her from potentially letting her emotions get the better of her, and she was silently grateful to her wife for doing that.

The last thing she needed was to lose her head enough to basically become her mother and destroy all the hard work she'd devoted so many years of her life into becoming her own person... the woman she truly wanted to be.

“I'm sorry, Ames,” Luz suddenly said, snapping Amelia out of her thoughts as she raised an eyebrow towards her partner.

“For what?” Amelia couldn't help but ask. “You didn't do anything wrong, Lulu. If anything, I should be thanking you for saving me from spiraling so far I almost... became her...”

In response to that, Luz moved from where she'd been leaning against the wall, texting Ivy so they could coordinate meeting up now that the show was done to head back to the hotel and decide how long they were going to linger in London before flying out to Austin for the next Breakdown, where they knew Amelia was going to be in singles action. She didn't hesitate to kneel down in front of where Amelia sat, taking her wife's face in her hands and looking her dead in the eye.

“First off,” Luz said, using that firm voice that left no room for argument, the voice Amelia knew her wife only used when she truly wanted her to hear every word she had to say. “You are never going to become your mother. I know how much you worry about it, and I'm not going to deny that your fears are valid, Ames. But you've resisted that temptation every single time, reminded yourself of who exactly Amelia Nevado is. And if you ever feel yourself slipping, you know that I'll always be here to pick you right back up, just as you've done for me.”

Amelia just blinked, her mouth opening in a bit of awe as she knew tears were starting to form in her eyes, but Luz wiped them away before she gave that gentle, radiant smile that only La Pequeña Luz could.

“And second,” Luz continued, “I know this is frustrating. Believe me, I know as well as you do that we could've actually had that match won. I respect Xander and the Troupe in the ring, but we're allowed to be frustrated by them letting their issues with the Fall of Man override our own equally valid issues with them. How many times have we been told for years now that the 'right way' we wish to abide by was never going to get us anywhere?”

“More than I care to keep track of,” Amelia admitted with a slightly bitter chuckle. “But every single time, we've proven them wrong.” She pauses for a moment, breathing deep and trying to clear her head. “David, Chris, and them want to keep pushing until their SCW careers are at risk because they refuse to realize when they're going too far. Xander used his Trios contract to literally try to destroy himself if it means he can try to take all of the Fall of Man with him.”

“He's probably hoping the cracks we saw forming will be enough to break them apart when the World Title is up for all of them to try and grab,” Luz noted.

“As much as I respect them in the ring, maybe it's better if we let them fight their fight,” Amelia lamented. “Let them get it out of their system... we'll gladly start from the bottom and fight our way back up, knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that we're ready when we earn that next shot. We can explore other avenues in the meantime as well... you may still be in the U.S. Title picture, I still have my own Trios contract, Taking Hold of the Flame is coming up...”

“We have options,” Luz added, grinning as she saw Amelia starting to smile again and she was more than happy to keep building her mood back up.

“And we'll explore them all on our terms,” Amelia firmly said as she placed her hands over Luz's on her cheeks. “They can keep telling us the way we want to do things won't work... we've proven that it can, we've found success doing so, and we know that our light will shine brightly again. As long as we have each other, we'll never lose sight of who we truly are, who we truly want to be, and as long as we're still here, still fighting and still earning everything that we aspire to achieve... they can never truly beat us.”

Luz nodded and chuckled as she kissed the corner of Amelia's lips. “As much as we hate how this played out, maybe it's a blessing in disguise. We can take a step back from the Fall of Man for right now, reset ourselves, and deal with them once things are clear... and maybe when they think they've beaten us for good just because we're not going to become them in order to beat them at their own game.”

Amelia nodded as Luz helped her up and the two of them finally started to leave, slinging their bags over their shoulders and making their way out of the O2 Arena. Admittedly, she wasn't too keen on just walking away from a fight they knew they could win if they kept trying, especially after everything they'd endured at the hands of that group for the better part of half a year now, but she also wouldn't put it past William Heaven to hide behind excuses to avoid another rematch until she and Luz could make it impossible to avoid, and she didn't want to give them the satisfaction of wasting her Trios contract just to make that happen. She still had a few months to decide what to do with it, and she wasn't going to make that decision lightly.

Thinking about her Trios contract, however, did bring her thoughts back to something she remembered coming up during that tournament.

“You think Selena's going to say 'I told you so' the next time we get a chance to talk with her?” Amelia suddenly threw out as she and Luz headed out into the parking lot.

“What do you mean?” Luz inquired.

“You remember the conversation I told you I had with her after the finals were locked in?” Amelia noted. “Where she tried to sow seeds of dissension between me and my Trios teammates? She did warn me about trusting Xander... even then, though, I knew that the respect between us could only be something that existed in the ring and that could be all there was to it.”

“If she got a chance while the cameras were rolling?” Luz nodded as they approached their rental car and opened the rear door. “I could see it, just to help her think she's got some sort of mental edge if she realizes we're considering throwing our names into the battle royal this year. In private, though? I'd want to hope she knows by now we're not willing to buy the whole 'villain' thing when she doesn't have to-”

Luz cut herself off as the next minute became a blur that left both women's adrenaline spiked and their sense of dread and discomfort higher than ever.

While Luz had been speaking, both her and Amelia had heard the sound of rubber squealing against asphalt. They paid it no mind at first as it sounded a ways away, and it could have been attributed to any number of things happening at night. But it wasn't long before the unmistakable roar of an engine growing closer to them at breakneck speed became impossible to ignore.

Almost on instinct, Luz had stepped away from their rental car and Amelia had dove at her, tackling her out of the way just as a white car came barreling in, slamming headfirst into the rear of their rental and absolutely obliterating it. The both of them clung to each other on the parking lot pavement, eyes wide and breathing heavy as even a few seconds of delay could have seen their bodies become as mangled as their rental car now was. Perhaps even more horrifying was the sight in the driver's seat of the car that had just tried to turn them into roadkill: the familiar attire of someone within The Empire, except their plague doctor mask had flown off from the impact, revealing a bloody face of a young man perhaps a year or two younger than they were... a face that no longer seemed to have any life to it after what he'd tried to pull.

“Well... I suppose that's what I get for putting my faith in the quality of disposable fools.”

While Luz's head turned more abruptly, Amelia's turned far slower. It was a voice they knew all too well, a voice that haunted Amelia's every waking thought from the moment she was born, a voice they should have expected to hear tonight but had desperately hoped wouldn't be the case for once.

Amelia had to quietly curse to herself... of course she couldn't visit her home country without having to deal with at least one of her parents.

This, however, was a far different situation, however. Ever since she'd tried to cut her parents out of her life, she'd dealt with phone calls, visits, sudden appearances especially while she was in England, all warning and demanding her to cut Luz out of her life and 'return to her senses' as if everything Amelia knew she truly was had been forced upon her by the woman who was now her wife. She'd put up with the gaslighting, manipulation, physical and emotional abuse for so long that it was almost laughable to think her mom would ever try anything else, least of all an attempt on her life. Luz's, maybe, as sad as that was to admit, but not the daughter she still believed she could 'salvage' for the future of the Blythe name.

And yet, the evidence to the contrary was right behind her in a big heaping pile of twisted metal with at least one casualty as the messed-up cherry on top.

“What the heck!?” Luz yelled, eyes narrowing into a glare beneath her mask.

Ophelia Blythe just rolled her eyes in response, not even bothering to respond to Luz. Or if she did, then Amelia didn't hear it... not only the sound of her own heartbeat echoing in her ears as she slowly pulled herself to her feet, her hand grabbing Luz's so she could be the anchor for her wife to rise as well.

“You... actually tried to kill me...” Amelia slowly said, a dangerous edge to her voice that made a chill run down even Luz's spine.

“Oh, don't be so dramatic, dear,” Ophelia brushed off the accusation like it was nothing. “I knew you would have the reflexes to be able to avoid the impact. If anything, you wasted time trying to protect that-”

“You... actually tried to kill me...” Amelia repeated before her mother got the chance to say something that would likely be racist towards her wife, her voice sounding even more strained as though she didn't know whether to be in disbelief or outright furious.

“You can believe that if you wish,” Ophelia shrugged. “But I do believe Caleb warned you months ago, young lady, that if you wouldn't give up this sinful charade, then what happened next would be your own fault.”

“What would killing either of us solve, though!?” Luz yelled, barely holding herself together as she, understandably, looked about ready to just rush the woman, and Amelia wouldn't blame her if she did because she was in that very same boat.

“Plenty, in your case,” Ophelia scoffed. “But if Amelia had proven how useless she's become all thanks to you corrupting her... well, that would've sadly proven that Aleister and I might just have to consider trying for another child to succeed where she has clearly failed.”

Amelia's thoughts went blank in that moment. She had heard a lot from her mother over the years, bared the physical and mental scars she had been left with by the woman's hand and silver tongue, but her mother clearly making an attempt on her and Luz's lives and showing absolutely no remorse whatsoever for it... she didn't think it was physically possible for her to hate the woman standing before her any more than she already did for destroying her life just because it had to be molded into something she and her husband approved of in every single way, without exception.

Tonight, Ophelia Blythe had crossed a line, and Amelia knew even the slimmest hope she may have somehow clung to of ever forgiving this vile witch and watching her maybe redeem herself once she realized how awful she had been had died along with the Empire grunt who had senselessly thrown away his life just to do her bidding.

Amelia didn't lunge, she didn't rush, she simply took one trembling step towards her mother, not intending to start a fight but almost daring her to resort to what she's always fallen back on to 'keep her in line' so she could finish it. Unfortunately, she never got close, as she and Luz suddenly found themselves being held back by a swarm of white cloaks and plague doctor masks, feeling themselves being restrained as Ophelia simply smirked in that smug, self-satisfied way that always caused Amelia's blood to boil.

“Did you honestly expect me to be alone, Amelia?” she laughed. “What kind of fool do you take me for?”

“The kind who has to know that we didn't come alone, either,” Luz spat.

“Ah, yes, your little friends,” Ophelia rolled her eyes. “I assume they're currently preoccupied?”

“Yes, ma'am,” one of the Empire goons replied.

“You see?” Ophelia grinned again as she took a few steps forward, making sure to stay just out of reach in case either Amelia or Luz broke free. “This little rebellious phase is over, Amelia. Your father and I have been as patient as we possibly could, but we're tired of indulging your little make-believe-”

“The only one playing pretend is you, Ophelia,” Amelia spat, with Luz's eyes going wide as she'd almost never heard that much venom in her wife's voice before. “From the moment I was born, all I ever was to you was a doll you wanted to dress up so I could be the 'perfect successor' to you and dad. Nothing I wanted mattered, who I wanted to be friends with didn't matter, who I loved didn't matter. And yet, for as much as I hated you for every slap you gave me, every injury I had to work through because of dad's 'tough love' trying to make me 'perfect,' every vile, disgusting word that ever came out of your mouth because I'm a lesbian or the woman I love just so happens to be Latina or my best friend you forced me to cut ties with happened to have two dads... I stupidly gave you chance after chance to look in the mirror and hate what you saw staring back at you, hoping you would change, because despite everything, you were still my mother.”

Ophelia raised an eyebrow, surprisingly unfazed by Amelia's furious retort, and even Luz wanted to vomit at just how little this woman truly cared for anything that wasn't exactly what she wanted, no matter the cost to make it a reality.

“But I think it's painfully clear now that you'll never change...” Amelia continued. “I was right to cut you and dad out of my life, I was right to testify against you both and watch you be sent to prison where you clearly belong... and I'll be right when I watch you crash and burn once The Empire falls and your greedy obsession with a legacy that you married into in the first place costs you everything.”

The moment Amelia uttered those final words was when a loud SMACK! echoed through the parking lot. Luz's face shifted from horrified to more furious than she'd perhaps ever been in her entire life at seeing Ophelia openly slap her daughter across the face, making sure the rings she was wearing caught Amelia right across the lips to split them open.

“You ungrateful little brat,” Ophelia seethed. “You could've had it all... you could've easily been the greatest wrestler in this entire Godforsaken company by now, you could've been a princess in a world God will leave behind specifically for people like us, and yet-”

Ophelia never got the chance to rant any further as Amelia suddenly dropped to her knees, shifting her weight forward to throw the Empire figure restraining her into her mother. Ophelia managed to sidestep before he collided with her, but Amelia wasted no time in lunging for her mother, tripping her up with a single leg takedown. Before she could try to do anything further, however, two more of the cronies she'd brought with her each grabbed an arm to restrain her and drag her off. One of them, however, was close enough that Luz could kick off of his back, freeing Amelia and allowing her enough momentum to backflip out of the grip she'd been trapped in. Amelia wasted no time in clocking the other man restraining her with a forearm to free herself, only for Ophelia to crack her daughter right in the jaw with a sucker punch before scrambling off.

While she managed to get away, Luz and Amelia thankfully wouldn't be outnumbered for long. Just when it seemed like The Empire was going to bury them with a numbers game that put even the Fall of Man to shame, several cars suddenly pulled into the parking lot and the Empire goons were quickly corralled by London police and NCA agents, surrendering almost immediately once they realized the Elite they'd come with had left them high and dry to save herself.

Amelia couldn't say she was surprised, even if the blood she was spitting all over the pavement wasn't the only bad taste in her mouth right now.

“You OK?” Luz asked as she knelt down beside her wife as law enforcement worked to cuff the cloaked cult members and drag them off or investigate the horrifying remains of the car crash that instigated this mess.

Perhaps it sounded like a stupid question to anyone else, considering Amelia had just been berated and assaulted by her own mother in a manner that made it clear what little hope had been holding her back from outright disowning the woman entirely despite everything, not to mention had a bruised and bloody lip. But she knew that would be healed by the time the next Breakdown rolled around, just as she knew that she was still alive, as was Luz, and all of their loved ones were also alright as she could see them running in to check on them now that they were free of whatever her mom had pulled to try and keep them out of the way.

“I think I will be...” she admitted, and deep down, despite everything that had just happened... she truly believed it.

[Wisteria Waltz]

We open up on an absolutely gorgeous view of Austin, Texas, the city bathed in golden light courtesy of the sun slowly rising into the sky to begin a brand new day. The skyscrapers stand tall against the golden sky, and the light reflects off of the Colorado River cutting through the city in a way that almost makes one want to open their mind for some introspection. From where we're perched on a balcony connected to a hotel room, we find somebody who seems to be doing just that. The silhouette of Amelia Nevado leans against the railing, looking out at the city, hair already tied into her signature ponytail and already dressed in workout clothes, the sweat reflecting off her skin an indication that she's already gotten in a very early morning workout. As her ponytail flutters in the breeze a bit, she doesn't actually turn to face us just yet, but she begins speaking nonetheless.

“This business isn't easy... that's something I knew full well before I ever wrestled my first match. Growing up, my parents always insisted otherwise as they trained me, but that was because they had a very warped outlook on both this industry and life as a whole. To them, just because I was their daughter, I was automatically destined to become the greatest wrestler, bar none, walking this Earth today. I would never lose a match, I would always stand above the petty nonsense, and no one could ever hope to defeat me fair and square because I was expected to just be that good. Personally, I never bought into the idea that I would just coast through each and every match I would ever wrestle, but my parents would not relent, and eventually... I was too broken to believe otherwise.

You all know the story by now, about how the woman who is now my wife handed me my very first proper defeat in the squared circle, and ultimately saved me from the woman I had become. But there's one other thing that always stuck with me after that night, beyond just Luz's kindness she chose to show me even when I probably didn't deserve it and the effect it would have on me for the rest of my life. That loss made me realize just how much it hurts when you put so much pressure on yourself to succeed that losing absolutely isn't an option, and when the inevitable loss does come... it becomes so much harder to pull yourself back together. After all, you start to believe that you cannot be beaten, you ignore that the possibility could ever exist, and it leaves you struggling to figure out what to do when faced with the fact that we're only human, we have limits, and sometimes... losing is necessary in order to grow and evolve.

Yeah, losing sucks, and I'd like to think Luz and I have a valid reason to take issue with our most recent loss, even if certain other individuals continue to echo the same tired message over and over again. We get it: Luz and I are too 'nice' and 'honorable' to survive in SCW... never mind the fact that we've both not only found singles success but carried the entire tag team division on our backs for the past year or two, in spite of that belief, on nothing but out wrestling skills inside that ring. It goes back to what I said about this business not being easy... there are people who just can't handle when things don't go their way, when their own mortality is proven to them no matter how much they believed they could never fall. Some let it affect them so thoroughly that they start to lose sight of who they were once upon a time, instead becoming a dark reflection of who they may want to be and become who they think they have to as long as it gets them the results they so desperately desire.

To give up everything that makes you who you are just to find the success you believe you deserve like it was always yours, to begin with? That's the easy way out... the real challenge is being willing to fight against that temptation to prove that you are strong enough to survive in this business without letting it break you, because those are the wrestlers who go on to truly inspire and open the door for future generations and prove that it is possible to thrive without losing yourself, so long as you're willing to fight for it.”

Amelia slowly turns around at this point, and while it looks to have healed up quite a bit, even in the light of dawn we can still see what looks like the remnants of a split lip that was certainly not present when we saw her on Breakdown last week in her home country. Despite that, she stares into the camera intently, her message clearly meant for someone in particular. Maybe her opponent for this upcoming Breakdown? Maybe somebody else? It's hard to know for sure, but Amelia doesn't falter regardless.

“Now, it's obvious that the road ahead for The Light In The Darkness isn't so clear anymore. We know we have to start from the bottom and work our way back up to earn another shot at the World Tag Team Titles... and yet, despite everything, we're actually alright with that. The Fall of Man can preoccupy themselves with other matters in the meantime, because Luz and I know that we'll be haunting the back of their minds, making them worry about whenever that time comes where we're knocking on their door once again. After all, they failed in the one thing they claimed they would ultimately do... they did not break us, they did not eliminate us from SCW, and Luz and I are not wallowing in despair and letting ourselves spiral even if we have an issue with how that Steel Cage Match ended. Instead, we're taking a step back, learning from that night, and improving for the future.

And for the record Xander, if you're watching... I do still respect you, nothing has changed on that front. But I am allowed to take issue with you becoming so consumed by what the Fall of Man have done that it interferes with my own business with them, and I am allowed to stand up for myself and call you out on thinking the answer is resolving this fight by yourself when you're not the only one in this war.

In a twisted sort of way, it's almost ironic how much this situation reminds me of the woman I will meet here in Austin come Thursday night.

Ryan LeCavalier, the woman who won the honor of Star of Tomorrow last year, and someone whose skills I am honestly looking forward to matching wits with in that ring. And yet, the more I look at Ryan, the more I find myself looking into a reflection of the woman I used to be once upon a time. Much like Xander, Ryan has spent so long believing all the hype that she, admittedly, has rightfully earned with how well she's done since first coming to SCW to compete, to the point where the few times she has tasted defeat... well, I can tell from what you've had to say as of late how much it's affected you, Ryan. That failed effort to dethrone Waylon when he was in the midst of his seemingly unstoppable Television Title reign, the loss to Selena in that Ironwoman Match during Fatal Fortunes... both very well fought, both opportunities to learn and grow as you still find your way in SCW, but that's not quite what you've done, is it? No, instead you've tried to become a ghost haunting the both of them at every turn, determined to get your chance to prove that you can beat the likes of Waylon and Selena, that you should've beaten Waylon and Selena in those encounters. They couldn't possibly have just been the better competitors on those particular nights, could they?

Not in your mind. Not when Ryan LeCavalier cannot be bested by anybody. Not when she is destined to beat the Fall of Man to the punch in burning this company to the ground just to rebuild it in her own image and rewrite history as proof of her destiny.”

Amelia slowly shakes her head, mumbling something under her breath that sounds vaguely like her mother being proud of someone like Ryan, a thought that certainly makes her look sick to her stomach. It's at this point that she looks past us, calling back into the hotel room she's staying in.

“Hey, hermosa? Was I really that bad when we first met all those years ago? Be honest with me.”

“Being honest?” we hear Luz call back from somewhere behind us. “Yeah, sorry, you didn't sound too far off from that yourself.”

Amelia flashes a smile that makes it clear to Luz, wherever she is behind us and regardless of what she's doing right now, that she's not upset at the honesty. Rather, she's grateful that her wife is willing to acknowledge her old faults as a sign of just how far she's come as a person since then. Her gaze drifts back down to us, the smile fading as her focus takes over once more.

“I get it, Ryan, I really do. As I said, I was there myself when I first started in this business, though not entirely of my own volition. I thought I had no say in who I wanted this business to see me as, that I had to be exactly what I was told was the sole purpose I was even born: the perfect wrestling machine that, in my mind during that time, not even you could've held a candle to, as much as I know you would argue otherwise. That's not who I am, though, nor is it the kind of person I want to be known as, it's just who I was made to believe I needed to be in order to become everything I was told I was destined for. Deep down, by your own admission at points, I can tell that you're in the same boat, but you refuse to fight for it because you've made it clear that the few losses you've had thus far broke you enough that the proverbial kids' gloves had to come off, that you would need to make the world understand that you are everything you say you are and no one will stop you from walking into Taking Hold of the Flame, winning that battle royal, and then going on to Rise to Greatness and becoming World Champion, the destiny finally complete.

If it were that easy to manifest reality based on how badly you want something, then I would be standing here as a four-time World Tag Team Champion right now, regardless of what happened in that steel cage two weeks ago.

Do you know why I'm not deterred by my setbacks anymore, Ryan? It's because I know I can bounce back from them, that I can start over and earn my way back to where I want to be. So long as I have breathe in my lungs, I will step into that ring and wrestle with everything that I have... not because I have to prove anything to anyone, especially myself, but because I want to show the world what I'm capable of, how far I've come and how much farther I can still go. Maybe you think it's naive of me to still have such an optimistic outlook on this business, but that's because I refuse to lie to myself any longer about who I am and who I need to be, especially when I've proven that I can be a champion without having to become a bitter, spiteful shell of myself obsessed with achieving immortality immediately.

Over the past three years since Luz and I came back, I've etched my name into SCW's history books on several occasions, matched wits with some of the very best this company has to offer, and no matter how long it takes me to do so, I will earn even more accolades to my name with nothing but my bare hands and what I'm capable of in that ring, just like everything I've earned thus far the same way, no matter how tempting it's been to let myself slip and become the broken puppet I once was, heir to a legacy I was born into but wished to forge my own.

Know this, Ryan: when all is set and done come Breakdown this Thursday night, I will walk away from that ring respecting your skills, because I know you and I are capable of putting on a technical wrestling clinic for the ages. But regardless of the outcome, I will keep marching forward, learning and evolving as I continue to prove that I am strong enough to not let this business break me no matter how much the tides of chaos shift against me. Maybe that will resonate with you, maybe it'll only add me to your list of people you feel the need to prove wrong, especially if I do happen to best you on this particular Breakdown. Either way, I doubt this will be the only time our paths cross...

So let's make our first meeting one to truly remember, shall we, Ryan?”

Amelia can't help but smile, curious as to how Ryan would respond. Regardless of whether she joins the choir telling her that she's foolish for thinking this business won't break her or not, Amelia is not deterred from that challenge. After all, sometimes that's the real fight in this business, and she knows she's already proven herself plenty of times and has all the time in the world to do it again. If Ryan wants to insist that her time has to be now... then maybe her desperate haste is already proving to be her undoing, and she's too immersed in convincing herself of who she needs to be to realize it.

[Ryan Lecavalier]

Ashes to Ashes