Aaron Blackbourne vs. Regan Street

[Team Desire]

SCW Adrenaline Championship
Aaron Blackbourne vs. Regan Street
 
 
 
2 RP Limit for singles; 4 RP Limit for tag
Deadline: Noon ET Tuesday, March 26, 2019

[Regan Street]

OOC: This Follows Chris Cannon’s and Jennifer Helms Rp’s in one scene. This is a huge turning point for Regan and other characters involved in her world. Really happy how this turned out. Good Luck Rupster.






Warning: The Comments and views expressed in this promo are those of Regan Helms and do not reflect that of the publisher. Viewer Discretion Is Advised.

A HELLCAT REBORN CHAPTER 5:
HELPLESS

(Click Title)

[Ruppy]

OOC: I won't begin to lie... I thought for sure I wasn't going to be able to do what I wanted for this match. Anyone curious as to my tweet from last night that told the tale of my frustration... I lost an entire day off I had planned to work on this yesterday to being in the hospital because some throat issues I've been dealing with all weekend finally hit the point where my throat was so swollen shut I couldn't swallow and could barely breathe. Other than some steroids that thankfully opened up my throat, it was mostly just me waiting there for hours on end to find out what the deal was and when I could leave, which didn't happen until almost midnight last night. Thankfully, learning that I apparently have a combination of strep throat and very bad laryngitis to also explain why I've lost my voice did come with a doctor's note that put me off work today, so I was able to forget about it and do what I needed to with the extra time I was afforded today. This CD has been a long time coming, and while I've been honest in admitting my hesitation for wanting to use it for this particular match, I'm not going to postpone it any longer. I gave it my best shot and I'm at peace with how it all turned out and where I can go from here in future work, especially with how much getting this out of my system helped me to forget about the problems of yesterday. Best of luck to you as well Omar... hopefully I brought you a fight worth having for this long awaited title match.
----------------------------------------

If Aaron had to describe his entire situation right now with just one word, he would probably go with ‘bittersweet.’

Retribution was in the rearview mirror now and a good part of the SCW roster could breathe a sigh of relief. Tactical Warfare had come to an end with Owen Cruze stomping Syren into the mat and securing Sasha’s impending reign as the captain of the proverbial ship going forward, which was going to leave those who sought so much from Katya being in charge and everyone else vying for their own power feeling like they were in hot water now, but at least from his own personal experience Aaron could saw that Sasha would be able to bring an order to the chaos. Of course, there was still the lingering mess of what happened when the pay-per-view was going off the air, and while Sasha would no doubt be starting her first Breakdown in charge off by addressing the issue, Aaron wouldn’t hesitate to say that whoever had the balls to attack Mr. D in his closing moments of being ‘the boss’ like that had better be ready to pay the piper, because even the creative soul fancied a chance to take a crack at the culprit.

At least Aaron thought he could rest easy in the wake of the show as far as his own ordeals were concerned, though. After all, managing to have a chat with Owen weeks before the big night (as well as before what happened in the kid’s own life, something he needed to reach out to him about soon) had helped inject some hope into his thought process, and being able to use his usual efforts of sharing his creative mindset with the world to simultaneously pay tribute to Andrew’s own in addition to his memory en route to knocking off two former World Champions who were a little too high on themselves had felt like nothing he’d ever experienced before. He’d even cried a bit out in that ring once the bell rang and he didn’t care, because at least he got to send this final message on his terms and could only hope his brother enjoyed and appreciated it from the next life.

With Retribution out of the way, however… there were no more distractions in regards to the funeral itself, and that familiar sense of fear and dread began to creep in once more.

This was one of those rare moments where even having Liane by his side didn’t help to put him at ease or brighten his mood, but she could understand why and wouldn't lie about being nervous herself through all of this. The day of Andrew’s funeral should be an occasion to honor his memory and say their goodbyes to him, but the fact that Aaron still had no full idea how his parents were going to react to him being in their presence again still rattled him on some level. For all he knew, they wouldn’t think twice about twisting this in some way to make him feel guilty like he somehow had some hand in this even though, worst case scenario, they were all just as guilty for not being able to get through to him until it was too late, and that could hardly be considered their fault if they tried their best and Andrew simply didn’t listen until it was well too late. Aaron was going into this thing trying to stay as positive as possible given the situation, but one thing he was really hoping for was to avoid any sort of fight or ‘blame game’ in a situation where it was completely unwarranted.

Then again, maybe he wouldn’t be as panicked over how wrong everything could go if he didn’t feel like he was on the verge of being late.

Aaron and Liane had just touched down at Boston Logan and wasted no time in getting a rental car and making the roughly half hour drive to Aaron’s birth town of Lowell, with the artist silently cursing the fact that he might be a little late even if he’d called Austin ahead of time to let him know. He didn’t think he’d be arriving back here to deal with everything all at once, but to his surprise, SCW had needed him the day after Retribution to do a few promotional shots so they could start promoting his impending Adrenaline Title match with Regan ASAP, seeing as how it wasn’t too often you had title matches that didn’t involve the TV Title confirmed for a Breakdown that wasn’t a special Fatal Fortunes show or would have the title match announced on the show itself, and by shuffling his originally booked flight because he couldn’t talk them out of waiting until after the funeral had passed to do this, said flight ultimately ended up being canceled due to weather. At least things had cleared up on the Wednesday the funeral was set to take place on for him to be able to rebook, though the fact that the two-and-a-half hour flight had been delayed before he and Liane could finally board wasn’t sitting well with him. At least they’d made it alright, but to say that he wasn’t stressed the hell out was an understatement.

“It’ll be alright Aaron. If they’ve traveled by plane, then they should understand.”

“I want to hope so Liane, but given the track record I’m working with I’d hate to take any chances.”

Liane still put a comforting hand over his on the steering wheel as they navigated to the funeral home where this was taking place while her other hand smoothed out her dress. At least Aaron had the foresight to suggest they dress in their clothes for this thing before catching their flight on the off chance things went this way, but she still needed to squeeze his hand a bit to help remind him that she was right here for him no matter what, and it at least made him feel a little less tense as the miles racked up and their destination came closer. Still, it was difficult for him to just calm down until he actually got there and saw how everything was going to play out, especially since he couldn’t simply ‘zone out’ and retreat into his imaginary Sanctuary while he was driving unless he wanted to risk an accident, and Liane didn’t know these roads as well as he did. As he knew he was getting close, his nerves slowly seemed to be flaring back up again and Liane knew it, so she managed to get his attention by softly humming to herself. Her fiancé couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at her as she just continued to smile at him and do her best to let her positivity keep him together.

“What are you humming?”

“It’s a tune that Liza came up with to hum whenever she was feeling down or stressed out, and she would always hum it to me whenever I felt like I’d hit rock bottom when our parents never appreciated me like they did everyone else. I know this isn't exactly the same scenario, but you shouldn’t forget about what you told me Owen said about how everything should work out. He’s right about situations like these always closing rifts in a family, even if it might take a bit of time. The fact that you said your mom and dad even tried not to impose on you about funeral costs is proof even they want to kind of start over if you ask me.”

Liane had a point, and Aaron couldn’t help but nod as Owen’s words began echoing through his mind again to help reassure him on top of it. When he and Austin initially talked it was made clear to him that the only reason they ultimately did ask for help was because despite their best efforts they hadn’t been able to scrape enough together in time to cover it all, and asking the one sibling left they knew was still on good terms with him to be the bridge of communication had been a wise move in the process. As Liane continued to him, Aaron let his mind be soothed by the melody as he slowly tried to prepare himself for what would hopefully be a more positive outcome to everything. His mind had been drowning in the negatives for far too long with everything that had happened, and today was a big day for it all to turn around and start moving in a new direction at long last. Not even any amount of attempts he could pick up on by Nemesis to try and drag him back to his previous point with ‘warnings’ about how wrong it would all go were going to faze him today, especially when that monster desperately needed to be deprived of all his strength to end the other lingering issue that was going to become front and center once he was through this.

“Well, time to find out… we’re here.”

After what felt like an eternity of driving, Aaron finally pulled into the parking lot of the funeral home. There were several other cars here, but considering he’d still made it relatively close to the time when the showing portion was scheduled to start he figured a lot of these were probably here for another showing or service. After all, the place was big enough to accommodate multiple services of all kinds if need be. He stepped out of the car and opened Liane’s door for her before they slowly walked to the front door hand-in-hand, needing a deep breath to compose himself as she once again squeezed to remind him that he wasn’t tackling this alone. Slowly he opened the door and turned into the first room where he saw the signs signifying his lost brother’s presence.

The following moment started off so quiet you could hear a pin drop… well, if it wasn’t for the other showing he’d confirmed was going on in the room just across the hall that had been going for at least an hour now to explain the number of cars outside already.

The moment he and his fiancée had entered the fairly spacious room, her eyes began looking around in amazement at everything that was set up to honor the life of the late Andrew Blackbourne. Various photo albums covered the tables of him growing up, including several pics with his brothers that also gave her a look into what her husband-to-be looked like as a kid, in addition to framed artwork Andrew himself had drawn over the years pursuing his own artistic interests in the wake of Aaron’s decision to leave home to pursue his own dreams while getting out from under his parents’ burdens. Up near the top of the room where numerous different flower bouquets and wreaths sent in memoriam for the service that surrounded a small table that bore the special custom red marble box that would serve as Andrew’s urn, even complete with his initials engraved into the side in a replica of his own handwriting. None of this was lost on Aaron either, but his eyes immediately settled somewhere else right away and never left it.

Returning his gaze near where the urn was resting were his mom, dad, and two remaining brothers.

The two sides just silently stared at each other for a moment while Aaron let Liane take everything in before she fully realized the situation at hand, almost quietly sizing each other up to figure out what the first move should be. It had been quite some time since he’d been in his mother’s presence, and even longer in the case of his father or either of his brothers. Both his mom and dad almost looked quite a bit older than he remembered, though he could easily chalk that up to how weary they both looked from dealing with this whole situation and he couldn’t blame them. Austin was the only one who was openly wearing any kind of smile to his oldest brother’s arrival, though it was a more reserved one that was trying to help invite him closer, and part of it might’ve had something to do with the girl he was also locking hands with to do for him as Liane was doing for Aaron in this trying time. And young Alec… well, Aaron was honestly surprised he didn’t look like he’d gotten any older despite the fact he had to be in high school by now from the last time he’d seen him, but what he lacked in size he certainly made up for in passion as he seemed to already be crying a bit upon seeing that Aaron truly had come back for this after all.

It’s not too late Aaron. You’ve seen what you needed to see, so you can always just walk away now and save yourself-

Aaron shook his head a bit, not wanting to let Nemesis gain any traction in his head on this of all days. He’d already come this far… he wasn’t going to suddenly skip town now. Slowly he began to close the distance, his grip on Liane’s hand loosening in the process as she let him do what needed to be done as she carefully watched. Step after step he moved closer and closer to where they stood, no expressions changing as he approached as the creative soul’s mind almost felt like it was starting to move a mile a minute again with possibilities both good and bad. He finally came to a stop just shy of where they stood together, his mouth slowly opening and closing to try to speak but finding that no words wanted to come out. This is when Austin let go of his own fiancée’s hand and made the first contact, moving to embrace his oldest brother for the first time since he’d walked away and doing so in a manner that made it clear at least somebody was welcoming to having him here as Aaron slowly returned the gesture. This was when he felt Alec’s arms wrap around his waist as he joined the hug, and Aaron placed a hand on his back to show appreciation for the fact that even after everything, he still hadn’t left his youngest brother’s memory. Finally, his mom and dad couldn’t remain stone-faced anymore as they moved in to hug all of their remaining children tight, the tears slowly beginning to fall from everyone’s eyes as the weight of the reunion finally began to set in. Slowly the embrace ended and Austin and Alec backed off a bit to allow Aaron a chance to actually speak with the two who had driven him away in the first place.

“I’m sorry you had to come back under these circumstances Aaron…”

“And we’re sorry that our issues with each other and the financial burdens it put on you-”

“Please… not today guys. We have plenty of time to make amends, but today’s not about me. It’s about Andrew.”

No one could argue with that, but the apologies were certainly a great first step and there would be plenty of time to work out the rest afterward since he wouldn’t need to hit the road again for Breakdown until well after the funeral was over. Still, it felt like a colossal weight was being lifted off his shoulders that everything was on such civil terms and the gates were open to bridges being repaired at long last. Aaron slowly found himself looking past his parents briefly to take in the sight of the urn with a sad smile.

“They did a really nice job with his urn. I think he would definitely approve.”

“It did add a bit to the cost, but while we didn’t want to make a huge affair out of this we certainly wanted to be a little more true to his own creative visions for his final resting place.”

“He certainly deserves it, mom, especially after everything that happened leading up to this and whatever happened that brought us here today.”

“Austin said he filled you in over the phone. What all do you know so far?”

“I don’t know if anything new’s come up since I had to shift gears to focus on getting through the Retribution pay-per-view, but last I heard the police were investigating foul play after things clearly started not adding up.”

“They’re investigating, but we’ve kind of been pulling teeth to really get anywhere. Down where this all happened that police department’s all buddy-buddy with Dylan’s family so they’re taking information from him over immediate family first, but they’re kind of cooperating with us since we got the state involved. I know that he’s not welcome back here in Lowell at least… going off the drug trafficking charges he had against him around here, our police have a warrant for his arrest if he sets foot anywhere around here, and they have no reservations on picking up the slack of that other department to make sure proper justice gets dealt out.”

That helped Aaron breathe a sigh of relief at least. One of his smaller fears clinging to all the potential family issues that could’ve spawned from today was that the man who had to have some role to play in this would’ve surfaced to ‘say goodbye’ to his boyfriend when he’d be the last person any of them wanted to see, and it seemed like even the police weren’t going to let him pull a stunt like that if he was smart. Aaron could almost feel his blood boiling when his mom went into detail about new information even he was unaware of, such as the fact that Dylan still had his brother’s phone and bank cards when he had no right to possess any of that, which was just mounting evidence against him that he had some part to play if he wasn’t willing to let them go. He also had the police impound Andrew’s car on a mostly false report of being ‘wrecked and abandoned in his front yard’ just to make the Blackbourne family cough up the extra cash to get it back, even though a complete rework revealed that car had a full tank of gas when they knew it didn’t prior to Andrew’s passing since he’d stopped by just hours beforehand before driving all the way back on little cash to fill it himself. Add to that the fact that Dylan had been using Andrew’s social media accounts to effectively harass the family before they managed to get them all locked down in memorial status and get the phone remotely disconnected by Andrew’s service provider, and the eldest sibling could almost feel the desire to let one of his demons take over in a means that transcended everything he advocated to end this the wrong way once and for all. Thankfully, Liane had been listening in as well as she approached and wrapped her arms around him to help quell the building darkness.

“And who is this you brought with you?”

“I remember seeing her after that one show I tried to catch you at, as well as on TV with you every now and then.”

“I guess I should formally introduce myself at long last. I’m Liane Forte, slowly working my way towards being a professional comedian and Aaron’s… well, fiancée now as of about a month or so ago.”

Thankfully, Aaron’s parents took to this revelation a lot better than he’d hoped, looking very pleased with the fact that he had found someone who truly made him happy and was willing to be with him through thick and thin, unlike the scenario for Andrew where things looked that way on the surface and then got severely ugly once all the ‘magic’ seemed to be gone. As people began to arrive at this point for the showing, the family kind of dispersed a bit to talk with them over everything that happened and accept their condolensces, though there were occasions where they took breaks to catch up with one another as well. Aaron learned through this that his mom was working two jobs right now but seemed content with them both as they helped fixed the financial bridge that looked to be burning down when he finally decided to stop trying to be its most vital support beam, not to mention that for as nice as his dad was being despite being just as torn up about this as everyone else the man still hadn’t let go of his alcoholic tendencies and couldn’t resist using even this situation as a means of trying to garner sympathy for how ‘awesome’ he was compared to his ex-wife, which just made Aaron shake his head as he knew his dad would spin an entirely different story. The man’s post-divorce ego trip clearly couldn’t even put on the breaks in the face of a tragedy and it just made him sad to think of how far from grace he’d truly fallen even if things kind of seemed to be getting better between his parents now. He also got to meet Austin’s fiancée Holly at long last and learned they were planning to wed that summer, and he couldn’t help but smile at how, despite all his health issues, Austin managed to find someone to be in his life even amidst her own health issues, creating a bond he could truly respect. He’d even caught up with Alec to hear that despite some of the mental health issues he’d fallen into over the years he managed to become stable now and was even a soccer star and had fought his way onto the high school basketball team despite being vastly outsized by all his friends, giving him something to strive for as he even proceeded to honor Andrew’s memory by writing his name on any athletic tape he used during games, an idea that gave Aaron something to consider for the future as well.

The showing itself was everything it needed to be through it all, with so many friends and family coming together to grieve and talk and reminisce in the comforting embrace of one another in a showing that even the staff of the funeral parlor were a bit surprised by, clearly having underestimated the influence of the Blackbourne family and the connections they’d made over the years. They may be far from rich or be necessarily famous, but they knew how to influence and affect people’s lives that makes forgetting them and everything they’d done for you virtually impossible. It was this alone that Aaron got to catch up with nearly all of his old teachers over the years in addition to other family members he hadn’t seen since he’d moved to Seattle for good, not to mention tons of his old friends, most of whom were amazed that he’d managed to break into the wrestling business after all as things evolved beyond backyard wrestling every now and then on his old trampoline and watching pay-per-views together. Even a lot of Andrew’s friends that he hadn’t burned bridges with through the whole Dylan mess showed up that he chatted with to learn a little more about how much happier things seemed to be looking when Andrew finally seemed like he was completely breaking away from the Stockholm Syndrome-like relationship he’d spent so long in and out of, with one of them even offering his own “R.I.P. Andrew” piece of athletic tape from a battle royal he’d participated in, calling back to mind the fact that some of his brother’s own friends had broken into the business themselves and were more than happy to help him do the same if he ever wanted to. It was all exactly the kind of thing Aaron could hope for, and it reminded him of everything he truly had back here once all the ugly issues of the past were swept under the rug.

“You doing alright?”

“Yeah… just trying to get my bearings a bit before the actual service I guess.”

With about ten minutes or so until the showing was to end and the actual memorial service to close out the evening set to begin, Aaron had opted to step outside for a bit of fresh air. As much as things had really worked out the way he was hoping to and helping him to see he was stressing over nothing, after all, he still needed a moment to clear his head and take it all in. Austin had decided to join him while their respective wives-to-be took the opportunity to kind of gush over the younger pictures of them joining Andrew’s visage in the photo albums, needing a moment to sit down himself as this wasn’t normally the kind of event his physical health could withstand for this long, but he was doing his best to make it through for the sake of Andrew’s memory.

“I know what you mean. It’s all a lot to take in… I still kind of feel bad for-”

“Please, bro, don’t get yourself on that again. It wouldn’t have mattered if that title match I had would’ve come at or after Retribution, because I’d still have to be dealing with it in the wake of today either way. I guess at least postponing it because of Tactical Warfare gives me the extra time to make sure I can move on from this, and at least I’m facing someone who, regardless of how she decides to present herself to everyone, respects the value of family enough to not use this against me like I know Ravyn would have.”

“If I had to watch that situation play out, I’d probably be sick to my stomach for reasons completely unrelated to any issue my body’s dealing with right now. Either way, at least I’m sure he’s looking down on you right now with a smile over how you decided to pay tribute to-”

Austin found himself trailing off as he caught sight of something before Aaron did, and while the older sibling looked a bit confused the younger one’s face twisted into one of disdain. A young man who was frantically looking around almost as erratically as a drug addict trying to find his dealer because he was in desperate need of a fix was moving towards them through the parking lot, and as soon as he got within range to even hear the two of them he quickly thrust an envelope into Aaron’s hands before taking off like a bat out of hell away from the place. To say that Aaron was lost at whatever just happened was a very clear understatement.

“What was…?”

“That was Dylan’s younger brother, probably trying to get around Dylan knowing there’s a warrant out for his arrest if he ever comes back here.”

That shed some light on why Austin didn’t look too happy, and it didn’t take long for Aaron to join him when this mixed with him looking down and seeing that the letter he’d been handed was labeled as “one final gift to Andrew from his love,” which just made him sick to his stomach. The temptation was certainly there to open it, but Aaron simply continued to stare at it before he confirmed to Austin he was simply going to put it out of sight and out of mind. His family had already put up with Dylan’s postmortem mind games, and he had no plans on being dragged into it himself or allowing them to suffer from any more of them if he could help it. The two of them headed back inside and quickly informed their mother about it, and considering she was conveniently discussing things at the time with the local police chief (who was also glad to see Aaron again as his son was a high school classmate of the creative soul’s, which is how the two sides got on such good terms in the first place) he took this news fairly seriously and stepped out for a moment with the letter in hand to let some of his on-duty men know. If there was anything Aaron could say in hindsight, this was, at the very least, the only somewhat black mark on the day, though he was hoping it was one that wouldn’t attempt to try and toy with him any further.

As the time came for the proper service to begin, a lot of the guests took their leave while the family members and several friends stuck around. It was fairly standard fare, honoring Andrew’s memory and what he meant to each and every one of them, and several of Andrew’s friends even came up to read pre-written speeches about their memories of him and what they were doing in his honor. As the funeral director gave one final call for sharing these speeches, Aaron kind of surprised a few people when he slowly rose and moved to the stand that had been set up, especially since there was no sign of any paper in his hand containing a speech of any kind. Instead, as Aaron looked out at the crowd of people, from his family to the love of his life to those who were friends of his and Andrew’s, he knew that this was a time of creative thinking that just had to come straight from the heart to truly have the greatest impact.

“As I’m sure many of you are aware, I haven’t really been around here in quite some time. I’m sure some of you even drew your own conclusions depending on what you heard, but all of that is irrelevant now. The fact of the matter is that I, like many members of my family, did everything we could to try and help Andrew when we all knew he was at his lowest points, and it breaks my heart to know that it ultimately wasn’t enough. Even still, Andrew meant the world to me, perhaps in ways he’ll never know now. He was always a source of passion and energy when everyone else seemed like they could use it and he always wore his heart on his sleeve, a trait that some might say did not fit the kind of person he should be but one that summed him up perfectly to anyone who knew what he was truly all about.”

Aaron had to pause for a moment to look back at the urn as a tear came to his eye, but after a deep breath and a soft smile he turned back and continued on.

“He never deserved to go out the way he did… no one ever does but as a good friend of mine once told me: ‘sometimes the right situation has a way of fixing bridges you think might be burned for good.’ Looking out here today at all the support that’s come through that door for my brother’s memory, even from those who themselves gave up on him because they couldn’t stand the decisions he made anymore, is greater proof of that than one could ever imagine. I’m sure he’s looking down at us right now, touched that he was able to make such an impact on so many people and everything you’ve all done to make sure he is never forgotten… from all these beautiful flowers and wreaths to those of who honoring his name in sports or starting up memorial funds on his behalf, to one last gift he gave to me that allowed me the chance to pay my own tribute to him fairly recently. I remember he once asked himself the same question many of us might ask ourselves at some point in time… ‘if I’m gone, would anybody miss me?’ I don’t think there’s any doubt today that Andrew is well and truly missed by all of us, and hopefully seeing this will help him to remember that in the next life no matter how he decides to live it. Thank you.”

Aaron took one last look back at the urn with a nod before he returned to his seat, some soft clapping being heard as he noticed he’d brought a few tears to other sets of eyes as well. As everything continued and ultimately wrapped up, Aaron couldn’t hold back the tears anymore but also couldn’t ignore that everything happened for a reason, and even all of this truly felt like it needed to happen in some fashion in order to lead to something much greater. God works in mysterious ways after all, which was a reminder from the funeral director himself as the service concluded. He may have lost his brother, but he was finally coming to terms with it and even reformed several key connections that had long since been severed in the process, which could only make him stronger in the long run. For the sake of anything that may be lying on the horizon that he hoped wouldn’t come into play involving Dylan, for the sake of knowing he had one last issue to lay to rest that he wouldn’t allow consuming his mind and imagination any longer and especially for the sake of his SCW career and whatever happened with his Adrenaline Title opportunity and what awaited beyond it… he could only hope this was a truly necessary step in the right direction of it all.[/color]

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A lot of people will look back on Retribution in many different ways, all of which ultimately depend on where you stood in the grand scheme of whatever you were involved in.

Some involved in the Cannon/Mason scenario might think things went a little too far, for example, while others feel like everything was truly resolved once and for all and everyone can finally be at peace with the situation.

Many obviously look at Tactical Warfare, and while most of us are happy that a sense of order and knowing you need to earn your place around here as opposed to being handed everything for one reason or another will return at long last, there will be many who take issue with the fact that they no longer have any entitlement to a sense of power they would’ve no doubt abused anyway, and all of that still doesn’t even scratch the surface of the elephant in the room regarding whatever happened to Mr. D at the end of the night.

On that note… whoever decided to take out a man I will always be grateful to for allowing me a chance to be myself and share my mind with the world around me within his company had better know what they’ve started, because as some who have thought they could jerk me around and get away with it have found out over the years, karma isn’t exactly a forgiving mistress in any sense.

For me, Retribution was a night I decided to make personal, and in hindsight, I have no regrets about doing what I did. A few days after that pay-per-view was my brother Andrew’s funeral service, which would’ve made his untimely death public knowledge regardless. I took the initiative to share that with all of you on my own terms so that I could do what I felt was right in paying tribute to someone I will always wish I could get a chance to share that ring with even in spite of what happened, and someone who, despite his own personal demons and not in the same sense as the ones I present to all of you every now and then, will always inspire me in ways that I don’t think even he could’ve begun to imagine. Even if the situation awaiting me at Breakdown was just a little bit different, I’d have still gone through with this in order to rob any potential of this being used against me out of the blue away from a certain someone who has proven that despite being a mother and caring so very much about that title that she lacks the soul necessary to avoid stooping to such lows in order to keep her place around here.

No matter how people want to look at her and whether you love or hate her, that is one thing Regan Street will always hold over Ravyn Taylor: she understands and deeply respects the value of family, regardless of whatever happens, and she’s not afraid to shelve it just for the sake of her standing in the company like those who choose to sell their souls just to stay anchored in place.

That said, some of you might be getting a sense of deja vu with this picture, and I wouldn’t blame you. This is an eerily familiar scenario to what we saw happen regarding Slayter McKinney some time back against Ravyn, and I wouldn’t be surprised if once you heard that my brother was finally laid to rest not that long ago that it might be for the best if I call this match off and nobody would fault me for it. I appreciate the concern, but I promise you all I’ll be fine. After all, I still competed at Retribution even after I shared this information with both SCW and you, the fans, and I gave it my all to ultimately knock off two former World Champions who needed a reality check in all honesty anyway. Considering how long I’ve known about everything and kept pushing forward regardless, I can assure you all that I’ll be fine. I’ve always been the kind of person that fares better when I’m working through the problems with some sort of outlet, such as my art or the wrestling ring, and as I said I’m not in a position where I’m facing someone who will manipulate any of this against me just because she would feel she needs any advantage possible to hang onto her title belt.

Regan needs no extra advantages over me, and she doesn’t need to remind me of that herself for me to know I’m in for the fight of my life come Breakdown.

I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I know many people have seemingly come out of the woodworks on Twitter to throw their support behind you Regan, both leading up to the night you dethroned Ravyn and going into Tactical Warfare, but no matter how you want to look at it I want you to know that anything I’ve said towards you has been a hundred percent genuine. Maybe there’s a part of you that feels like I have no reason to want to look forward to a match truly worthy of that title you hold, and I wouldn’t hold it against you. After all, AJ didn’t really believe my sincerity either about the respect I had for him even in the wake of everything undeserving that happened to you and him last year and despite the heated bout between us that followed I ended up eating a low blow that only then seemed to spark the issues that led to your match with Owen not too long afterward. But the fact of the matter is that I’ve never been someone to look at the idea of morality as a purely black and white picture and cast stones accordingly. Like with many of the creatures my imagination gives life to, many people in this world are more complex and have justified reasons behind actions that may not seem to endear them to the masses to warrant being labeled so easily. That’s why I’ve said time and time again that even I disagreed with the way things went all that time ago and no matter how you acted, I still respected the hell out of what you are capable of and the fact that no matter what, you always stay true to who you are and what you represent even when nobody else thinks you’re in the right for it.

Even if we never seemed to end up in this civil war between the D. family over control of SCW and you would’ve stepped forward as a leading force against everything that Katya stood for, that alone is why I still would’ve preferred what awaits me this Wednesday night instead of having to put up with whatever Ravyn would’ve concocted to try and use everything she can get her hands on to throw me off my game.

Of course, there does remain that formality that we both know one of us has to walk out of Newark with that title, and you won’t let me rest until you’ve drilled the point home that you have no plans on letting go of that title just yet. I can’t hold that against you, especially since this is your first official defense since the reign of Ravyn came to a satisfying end and the idea of letting go of championship gold that soon never sits well with anybody. I know some people are probably even chomping at the bit to call this a case of the present vs. the future to play off what used to be for you once upon a time, but even though you no doubt look at me and to some degree see someone still fairly new to SCW even after a full year that needs to learn a thing or two, I don’t want to simply be considered ‘the future’ anymore. I’m just as much a part of the present as you or anybody else on this roster now and I know that as time goes on I’ll continue to learn and evolve to further fit that mold, just as you did for so very long. That’s why I’m not going to stand here and say that me kicking your ass and claiming that title is a foregone conclusion or anything along the lines of what virtually anybody else that could’ve been in this exact same position following that battle royal all the way back at Making Things Right might attempt to spout off to you.

That’s not a sign of weakness Regan… that’s me acknowledging that I’m about to walk into a war, and I can’t say for sure if I’m truly ready to stand tall at the end of it with that championship in hand until that bell actually rings.

There are many factors in play here that might not have been the case if this match ended up taking place at Retribution like everyone first thought. You’re still not too far removed from a hell I can’t begin to comprehend in Tactical Warfare, and I’m not that far past laying to rest someone so very close to me outside of this business. Your physical and my mental state could be considered curveballs that no one truly knows the effectiveness of until we meet in that ring, not to mention the fact that I know full well how badly you want to keep your momentum going and not let go of the Adrenaline Title just yet, or at all if you can probably help it. I don’t want to feel like I’m playing spoiler after the ride you’ve been on since wining Trios, but I want to make it clear to you that I’m not going into this match simply willing to roll over and die that easily. To do that would truly be disrespectful to everything that title stands for and everything you stand for as a competitor, regardless of how you wish to approach this match now that the fate of SCW is well and truly decided.

As I said on Twitter… Sasha deserves a match to truly show the world what can be expected of her running the show now for her first night back, and through hell or high water, I plan to deliver that with you no matter what happens.

Consider this for a moment Regan… maybe not to the exact same extent, but I’ve at least been here long enough now to have an idea of what goes through your head whenever someone dares to use what you hold dear against you and ends up setting you back far more than you’d ever like. It may never be to the same degree as anything you’ve gone through, but the mess Katya couldn’t resist fanning the flames to that I put up with near the end of last year left me in a state of mind where I questioned if any of this was even worth it. Sure, I have two TV Title reigns to my name, something not even a good amount of the roster can even lay claim to, but any chances to try and fight to prove I could be considered for other opportunities were taking a back seat to my personal life being invaded and toyed with for the whole world to be ‘entertained’ by, and by the time I finally managed to put it all behind me we were all stuck dealing with someone in power who saw no value in what I brought to the table and tried to keep me as much of an afterthought as possible to avoid dealing with her role in my problems, to begin with. No matter how much I scratched and clawed to try and keep my ship moving in the right direction, those opportunities I may or may not deserve never seemed to get any closer for me to know for sure if I was truly ready for them. That was why I took pride in winning that battle royal to secure this shot and why I wasn’t as put off as some others might be at how it kept seeming to be pushed aside in the wake of other, truly more important matters at hand.

Sooner or later, I would get that shot I secured, and at long last, I can finally get the answer for myself as to whether or not I’ve come far enough to stand toe to toe with the Hellcat herself, in the middle of that ring, and be able to walk away with my hand raised in victory and a title belt to prove that, at least on this night, I was able to prevail.

I promise you this Regan: even if that’s not the ending that’ll be written to this particular tale, my story is far from over and I can promise you I will give you every last thing that I have to prove that even if March 27, 2019 is not my night to ascend to the throne of Adrenaline Champion just yet, I am still someone worth keeping your eye on as time passes and whatever this business throws at me only makes me stronger. After all, no matter what anyone says about you it can’t be denied that if it wasn’t for the years you’ve spend wading the rising tides of SCW even at their harshest, you wouldn’t be the woman you are today, and even if victory isn’t in the cards for you on this night there will always be that Trios contract and the fact that you’ve been proving time and time again lately that maybe the time of the Hellcat at the very top of this company isn’t as far away as people may think. Even if Wednesday isn’t my night, that will only make me more determined to fight my way back to this point again to prove that I belong here just as much as anybody else.

Wearing your heart on your sleeve and refusing to hide what you are passionate about because it defines you and never holds you back as some might claim…

This applies just as much to me as it does to you, Regan… and I look forward to proving it to you in the ring firsthand no matter what you have to throw at me because I welcome it with open arms to show both you and the world that Aaron Blackbourne is far more than who anyone thinks I’m am.

I’m a creative soul that’s truly worthy to be considered an important piece of the SCW puzzle going forward as much as anybody else is.