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 |  Subject: Re: Lennox vs Cade  Sat Sep 29, 2012 4:39 pm | |
| “This is my sanctuary.”
The cameras are already on and shooting as they see Vanessa Cade in a rather simple yellow sports bra, black track pants and sneakers, her toned body put to show here. Behind her is a wrestling ring and around her are a few pieces of exercise equipment like track bikes, weights and the like. The location at hand is none other than the second “Palestra Rectus” gym in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada – currently deserted but normally packed in with people during its open hours. Her father was the founder and while she was not wrestling, Vanessa was mostly likely helping out at this location, making sure things are running smoothly (as her dad mainly oversees the first gym in Toronto) and even running a few classes with the trainees that flock in for pro wrestling training twice a year during spring and fall courses. The cameraman takes the time in which Vanessa is quiet and films around the entirety of the wrestling gym before returning the lens right back to the so-called “Natural.”
“Ever since I was a little girl, this place has been home for me. The stench created by the sweat, blood and tears shed here, the commotions each and every day, the sound of bodies crashing against the mat – all of it has been family to me since my youth. Many years ago after retiring due to a series of knee injuries, my father’s dream was to open wrestling schools in all of the provinces in Canada…to pass on his knowledge to a new generation, to produce new stars that could shine brighter than the rest. I know this place like I know the back of my hand, just like I’ve known ever since I can remember anything that I was born to do this. That I was the one who would take the mantle of my father, drape it around my neck and with it, rise to heights that he couldn’t make during his time, exploring and conquering the bright lights and bigger stages that I am to stand in. Not just for his sake, but also for my own.”
Her bright, blue eyes shine through even with the dim lights of the gym, showing an uncanny sense of passion out of the often confident woman who crosses into the threshold of arrogance on a daily basis. Regardless of the circumstances that have fallen her lately due to embarrassing showings during her bookings over the past weekend, she doesn’t seem to be overly down on her luck or cursing the heavens, trying to drown the frustrations by nearly destroying herself with each and every workout until her next match like she did against the Mackenzies in the afterward of SVW Climax – the other company she works for on a regular basis alongside the mighty IWF.
“For some, it may be a difficult concept to grasp. Nearly impossible. See, not many in IWF have exactly been born with the golden spoon in their mouth when it comes to this business. I get that. But being a second-generation wrestler, I’ve come to learn that some things come very, very easy while others take years or an entire career to earn. See, the facilities, the training…that comes easy. Most times, even if the parents or siblings try to stop you from following in their line of work, they just can’t do it. Again, that’s the easy part…but finding your own way into the world, proving that you’re everything that comes with the last name or the blood ties…now that’s a whole different animal.”
The word ‘animal’ escapes her in a rather sardonic, bitter tone. Four years of experience wrestling in multiple parts of the world, seeing both the good and the bad have shaped her considerably since her training days. Hell, even her training was shaped in ways and forms she could not believe.
“As much history as there was with my last name in the Land of the Rising Sun thanks to some of my father’s work, it wasn’t enough to make ‘Vanessa Cade’ a commodity there. Instead, just about everybody and their mother out there insisted on a mask and an identity that belonged to a specific group of people where they could make a profit – an acquaintance of mine by the name of Sara Mackenzie a.k.a. Tiger Lotus had to go through the same thing. But instead of crying foul, I shut up, got to work alongside my agent and worked a compromise. I’d be under a mask and an identity that I’d fashion myself, partner up with sponsors and go from there…and so, ‘The Muse’ was born. A homage to an old series of comics known as the ‘Honor Guard,’ for which SVW wrestler Lyn Dallins and a few other wrestlers in the defunct GSB Wrestling federation wrote, drew and etc. Under that mask…I made it my personal mission to dominate every single piece of that godforsaken country I stepped on and by hook and by crook, I did just that. Any and all names that crossed my path, I put through the grinder. Every piece of hardware that I won, I earned by putting my ass on the line knowing that someday, when the giants came forth to scout, the facts and the accolades would be too much for them to deny…and quite frankly, the big boys from North America did come with their contracts. But the day I signed, on what was supposed to be my last night in Japan…my rotator cuff got torn.”
Instinctively, Vanessa’s left hand goes to her right shoulder, her head lowering down a few inches as she grits her teeth thinking very well of just how helpless she felt that faithful night. It didn’t take too much long for her last match, her last title defense as the WAR International Jr. Heavyweight champion ending shortly after she felt her shoulder basically go nonresponsive and her opponent capitalizing on the opportunity itself. The painful hospital hours, the contract that eventually got nulled and voided, the bureaucracy and chaos created by the injury that kept her in Japan…all of that showed on Cade’s face, which shifted into a light shade of red.
“Bitter…weak…helpless. I’ve felt like that every single day up until I recovered and each of those emotions drove me to the limit as I went through rehab. So that I could prove I hadn’t lost a step, that I was still worthy of the attentions of the Western world. I sold the rights of the mask and identity to a young girl in Japan that I felt was good enough to carry on the mantle and stepped into North America with a purpose. In four years, I’ve come to experience the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, even with the nice little family name and the second-generation genes. Something that I’m sure you’re trying to get your brain around of and that you are likely failing miserably at doing, Lennox Laroux.”
The focus returns to the reality ahead as she lets go of her shoulder and crosses her arms, her gaze moving back up to meet the camera lens with eyes narrowed, sharp and ready for the battle ahead of her in just a few days’ time at IWF Fallout at the Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.
“The first time we met in that ring, you were quite full of yourself. I was coming in recovering from a concussion, you were coming in with the whole ‘I am burdened with the curse of greatness’ scenario. Which is all well and good, because hey, guess what? Me too. When you look at the statistics, the heritage and everything else…we are quite alike, you and I. Granted, no modeling or anything of the sort for me, but having a kickass agent does help with getting some endorsements. Nevertheless, you went out there on round one and you knocked me out good. No denying of that. You earned a right at a shot at this IWF Uprising title that I hold after going through hell and an egotistical asshole to get it.”
Slowly, Vanessa Cade shakes her head. In between the intensity in her eyes, the more she continues to contemplate about this bout that is to happen at Fallout in her first IWF Uprising title defense, the disappointment begins to grow. Not only just at her opponent but due to the fact that Lennox Laroux’s string of losses remind Vanessa of her own small string of bad luck over the last few weeks.
“But it’s a new day and at Fallout in New Orleans, it’s round two of our little battle. Lines have been drawn, contracts have been signed, the spot in the card has been set and while our match won’t have the fancy settings to it…well, it’ll be what it is. It’ll be what we do best, which is a WRESTLING match. A show stealer, if we have it our way. See, you made a decent point in establishing a certain thing about who is the better submission expert between us femmes and the fact is…yup, you got me there too. Which is all well and good. It’s given you the confidence, I’m certain, that you are the absolute best female submissionist in the IWF. It’s given the fans an expectation that you are coming into Fallout with the exact same purpose. Enough for them to believe that the French-Canadian can get it done for the second time around and claim her first IWF title…”
While she may have stopped shaking her head at Lennox Laroux a few moments ago, the disappointment remains with each word spoken, with each second she glares at the camera, with each second she has to wait until she has a chance to break somebody else’s jaw. A bitter smile slowly appears on Vanessa Cade’s features.
“Enough to make the little girl who once shocked the world think she can do it again.”
Vanessa lets that sentence echo across the sacred halls in which she has poured every bit of vim and vigor she has had to offer every time and then some. Her sanctuary, her refuge from the world and what has become a pillar of strength any time she doubted herself over the years – using every memory she has made in these halls to push herself further and further. And finally, something within her just…lets go.
“Respect aside and all of that, let’s put it simply…you think you can hang with me at one hundred percent, Laroux? You think…that you can fucking touch me at full strength?! You really think you can do it again and take my title? Well, keep it up, Laroux. Keep thinking that, because it’ll just make it all that much more enjoyable when round two goes anything but your way at Fallout. Plain and simple, when it’s time to get into the ring, you better just start making your peace with one simple thing…I am not going to just settle for pinning you with some cheap, out of nowhere pinning predicament, basic training bullshit roll…fact is, I won’t satisfied unless I break your limbs and force you to tap the mat furiously to make me stop or I knock you the fuck out!”
Cade wasn’t quite to the point of furious or angry or any volatile emotion yet, but the sharpness of the words indicated that she was slowly, gradually rising up to that level.
“After Fallout, you are going to be yesterday’s news; the impact of your shock victory over me at Battle Grounds will have lasted as long as Parker Wayde’s IWF Full Throttle title reign. This may be the part where I push my luck and insult you whole, Lennox…but you know what, I’m going to say it anyway. See, unlike you, I’ve proved myself as a wrestler and as a woman under the harshest of circumstances, overcoming obstacles of all shapes, sizes, sexes and forms in our years and people like you, Lennox…you dare stomp onto all of that hard work…and then you dare look me in the face and feel like you belong to be in the same ring as me, you dare act as if you deserve some semblance of respect because you will share the same squared circle that I am going to step in?!”
Vanessa cannot hide her scowl any longer, her hands having long turned into fists as she takes two steps closer to the camera lens, eyes blazing with fury and a hint of nothing more than the simple desire to desecrate Lennox Laroux whole and toss her to the wolves by the time it was all over.
“Some of those people may hate me, Lennox…they may hate that I wear the custom suits, the diamonds, that I fly the private jets and am driven in the limousines, they may hate the fact that at the end of the day, I am better off than most if not ALL of them…but Lennox Laroux, they know that I have earned that ring over the past four years. Win or lose, they respect me, Lennox! They respect what I can do, they respect all that I have sacrificed to get to this point in my career…and they know damn well that I put on a show like no other woman’s wrestler they have ever seen on this godforsaken planet! They respect me so much that they are willing to cheer me on no matter how much I may toss them under the bus! But YOU?!?! YOU…ARE NOTHING MORE THAN JUST A LUCKY WIN WHO IS GOING TO GET PUT IN HER PLACE BY THE ABSOLUTE BEST PROFESSIONAL WRESTLER IN THIS PLANET! And they…they are going to let you know, Lennox Laroux…New Orleans is infamous for making their feelings well known towards those they love! At the end of the day, no matter what you tell yourself, that’s exactly what you are…and to me, that makes you a target for the damn thing that’s made me famous across the world at large.”
The cameras gradually close-up on the face of the woman with the “Golden Elbow.” Which she brings into the view of the camera lens, patting it once with an unmistakable amount of pride.
“You can pretend to play at wrestler all you want, Lennox Laroux. I encourage you to do so for the time being…because once time is up, you get in the ring with somebody – who like your last opponent – has earned her stripes in the wrestling world the way it should be done. See, when I step into it…that won’t just be a wrestling ring any longer. It will be my sanctuary! My holy proving grounds to the IWF faithful! My moment of triumph in a company that I plan on scaling up the ladder and conquering! So twist my words all you want…play at the webcam celebrity you once were playing at wrestler to your heart’s content…but it won’t change squat. When that bell rings for the second time, your jaw is going to be sprinkled into tiny little pieces all over the damn mat like Rosalie Knight’s and by then, Lennox Laroux, you will have learned what the IWF Uprising champion is all about.
You will have learned that silence is golden…and so am I!
Vae victis, Lennox Laroux!”
Fade to black. |
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