+++Scene I+++
+++MLC? Or no?+++
+++My House, Santa Monica, LA+++
+++Saturday, February 28th+++
I turned the paper over in my hands a few times. I flipped through the few pages again, as I had done a hundred times already. No matter how many times I ran this through my hands, it wasn’t going to change. The terms, the agreement, everything was the same, even if I tried to will it to change.
I was holding a contract for the Macto Legion Championship. The newest premier mixed martial arts company in America. This was a contract for a fight on the next show. There was no opponent specified, only that they would be around my height. The contract was not for very much money, but it wasn’t like I was doing this for the money anyways. My dad left me so much money that I never had to work again. If they asked me to wrestle for free, I’d do it. But they don’t, and it’s nice to see me get rewarded for being good at something. Anyways I’m getting a little sidetracked. Back to the MLC.
A few weeks ago I had gone up to Atlantic City to watch the inaugural MLC pay-per-view live. It was an incredible experience. I figured a lot of people from Los Angeles would be heading out, so I invited the public to climb aboard my private jet, and we all flew over together. Most of them were the classic fight bros and some of their girlfriends. There were a few really big MMA purist fans who I talked to a lot. I knew a few of the fighters, like James Shark and Marissa Kane, so it was definitely interesting to really talk to some fans about them. They all loved Shark, no surprises there. They were a bit divided on whether Marissa would overcome the size and strength disadvantage, but I fought hard for her!
Anyways, the actual fight night was a blast. I got drunk, and watched people beat the shit out of each other. I was sad to see Marissa lose, although she put up one hell of a fight. But Shark won the main event by an amazing knockout, and that really ended the night on a high note. The rest of the night was spent just partying in Atlantic City, which is always a blast.
But the next morning, I woke up and really thought about what had happened the previous night. How much fun I had had just watching. And then I really thought about it, and I wondered if this was something that I really wanted to try. Fighting in that cage looked like such a challenge, but also it looked so extremely rewarding. There was something about spending weeks in a training camp with a team of fighters and coaches, and finishing off with one massive fight payoff. It was very different from the weekly wrestling match where sometimes you didn’t even know who you’d be fighting the next week. This was different.
But now that I had the contract in my hand, I had no idea if this was something I really wanted to do. Was this just a sort-of phase, that was going to eventually pass by? Or was this something I was really serious about. At this exact moment, I was dead serious about it. But I also had zero mixed martial arts experience. I was a fairly adept kickboxer, and I had a good amount of wrestling experience, but it wasn’t the same. I had never competed in any kind of sanctioned non-wrestling fight in my life. Some of these people had been honing their craft for years.
Suddenly my phone rang. I looked down at the screen. Anna was calling back. I had left her a message earlier, asking her to call me back. It was related to fighting, so I’m glad she called back right now.
Molly: Hey Anna!
Anna: Hey Molly, what’s up? You wanted me to call you back?
Molly: Yeah I did. How busy is the gym right now? More specifically how busy is Brandon?
Anna: Uhhh, give me a sec.
I could hear Anna pull the phone away from her face as she yelled at someone. She and Brandon had opened up a gym a few blocks down from my house a couple of months ago. They had been nice enough to hire my personal trainer to work there. So I had been training there as often as I could, although generally sticking with Sam, my trainer. Brandon was usually teaching mixed martial arts, and generally doing group stuff. I liked to just work on my own with Sam.
Anna: You still there Molly?
Molly: Yeah sure am
Anna: His class is just wrapping up, so if you want to come down now, he’s got about an hour before he’s supposed to meet with the team.
Molly: Sure thing. Tell him I’ll be there in five or so
Anna: See you soon girl.
I hung up the phone and jammed it into my pocket as I quickly hurried down the stairs and out the front door. I quickly locked it behind me as I hurried down the street towards the gym. If there was anyone who could help me with this, it was Brandon. He was a former MMA champion and I guess probably a legend of the sport. He had fought in the biggest MMA company in the world at the time, and was one of their most dominant champions. He had experience in so many different fighting disciplines. He was a little bit nuts though. Almost two years ago he was accused of being the leader of the biggest drug cartel in the world, based in Mexico. Then he disappeared for six months or so, and eventually huge news broke one morning that he had been killed in a shootout with Mexican Marines and DEA agents. Then a few months after THAT, the FBI and DEA suddenly announced that Brandon had been an undercover agent the whole time, and with his help they had taken down the entire cartel from the inside. The entire thing sounded fishy as fuck, especially after Mexican drug soldiers came into my house and tried to murder me, but Brandon didn’t like talking about it and I figured I was better off not knowing anyways.
Brandon and I were never really that close friends. I had drunkenly hooked up with him and his wife one night on the IWF World Tour. I didn’t regret it, but we were never really that close before it or after it. Although we were close enough that I almost fucking died because of it. But I’d rather not think about that ever again. But I guess if I was going to ask him to be my head trainer for mixed martial arts, it was good that we weren’t best friends.
I turned the last corner and walked up to their gym. It was so massive, it took up basically the entire block. I was pretty sure that they had to tear down a ton of buildings to build up. But once you went inside, it was like a whole different world. Anna had sunk a shit ton of money into it. She figured it was a good way for her and Brandon to spend the rest of their lives, or at least the near future. But all the machines were brand new, there was a ton of shit that I didn’t even know what it did. This was top of the line. I’d be amazed if there were any other gyms in the world this advanced.
Brandon: Molly! Good to see ya.
I turned around and saw Brandon walking towards me. Fuck he was so god damn hot. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, as if to just taunt me with his perfect abs. He was wearing fight shorts and fight gloves, and his entire body was glistening with sweat. God dammit. Resist Molly, just think of someone else. He’s got a girlfriend, you don’t want it.
Molly: Hey Brandon. How’s the day going?
Brandon grabbed some water and a shirt. He quickly threw it on and took a drink of water, before pouring some in his hair and on his face. That was a little better, at least now I could look at him.
Brandon: Oh you know, it’s going great. Class this morning was pretty packed, although that’s generally how it goes on Saturday’s. Now I’ve got a quick meeting with the team in a bit, then I’ve got to do a demonstration with one of the guys from Black House. Busy busy, but I’m free right now. What’s up?
Molly: Well I wanted to run something by you. I guess needed your advice more than anything.
Brandon: Sure, what’s up Molls?
Molly: You know MLC?
Brandon: For sure. Love what those guys are doing. I missed heading to the first show but I really want to check it out in the future.
Molly: ...I have a contract with the next show.
Brandon: ...what?
Brandon turned around and looked at me. It was almost as if he was quickly studying me, trying to see if he had not only heard me right, but also if I was joking around or not. But this was no joke.
Molly: Like I haven’t signed it yet. But I have it. And I’m seriously considering it, but I wanted to come talk to you about it first.
Brandon: What do you need my advice for? Sounds like you’ve got your mind made up on this Molly.
Molly: No, I don’t. I wanted to come to you too because...well...I wanted to see if you’d train me. If I could run a camp here.
Brandon turned around so he was facing me now. We had walked onto the mat in the middle of the gym. He stood there with his arms folded across his chest as he looked at me. It seemed like he was trying to stare a hole in my soul.
Brandon: Take me down
Molly: What?
Brandon: You want to do mixed martial arts, this is part of it. Take me down.
I looked at Brandon quizzically, sure he was joking around. But he stood there, arms crossed, with an extremely serious look on his face. I shrugged and leaned down and ran at him. I wrapped my arms around his waist and tried to get my back leg around his to trip him. When I couldn’t do that, I just tried to power lift him into the air. But his stance was too strong, and then I felt his knee drive hard into my gut.
Molly: Fuck!
I fell to the mat holding my stomach in pain. It didn’t really hurt as much as it caught me off guard. I was not expecting Brandon to fight back like that. I looked up at him as I caught my breath on the mat.
Molly: What the hell was that for?
Brandon: I told you to take me down. This is what happens when you try to take someone down in MMA. If you can’t handle that then why even bother?
Molly: I just wasn’t expecting it, that’s all.
Brandon: Well, try again.
Brandon stood in front of me again, arms still crossed around his chest. I slowly got to my feet and once again shot around his waist. I tried to bring him to the ground, but once again his base was too strong. I felt him go for a knee, so I brought one arm up to block the strike. As soon as I did that he threw me off of him and onto the ground.
Brandon: Why do you want to do MMA?
Molly: What?
I frustratingly picked myself up off the ground and looked at Brandon, getting angrier by the second as he stood there looking at me, with no hint of a smile on his face. Some of the people still in the gym had gathered around and were now watching him throw me around like I was nothing.
Brandon: You’ve never done any MMA training in your life. You have no amatueur wrestling background, you have no jiu-jitsu skills, you have average kickboxing, you’re basically greener than some of my ten year old students. Why should I take you on and train you for a fight when I don’t even know why you want to do this?
Molly: I’ve wrestled for two years now…
Brandon: Wrestling, ha! You think that will help you in that cage? A wrestling ring is forgiving, it’s big, you can escape serious punishment if you need to. There’s nowhere to run in a cage, nowhere to hide. It’s just you and your opponent, and they are gunning to end you. So, again. Try to take me down, and tell me why you suddenly want to train in MMA.
Molly: Because I thought it looked like fun when I went to watch MLC 1.
I ran at Brandon again, trying to tackle him and wrap my leg around the back of his leg. He blocked the takedown attempt and instead wrapped his arms around my head and dragged me to the ground onto my stomach hard. He got up and walked away.
Brandon: Wrong. Tell me why Molly
I got up slowly. I was starting to get angry now.
Molly: I thought it would be fun, and a good challenge for me!
I ran at Brandon again. This time he didn’t even let me grab onto him. As soon as I bent down to reach for him, he moved out of the way and pushed me onto the ground. I smacked my fists into the mat as I slowly got to one knee and looked at him.
Brandon: Wrong again. I’m not going to train you unless you tell me why Molly. Now, one more time. Why do you want to do mixed martial arts?
All of my anger boiled over at that point as I got to my feet and stared at Brandon. Usually I was really good at controlling my temper, but Brandon had frustrated me so much that I couldn’t contain myself anymore.
Molly: Because I want to be taken fucking seriously!
I ran at Brandon again, but this time instead of immediately shooting for a takedown, I threw a kick to the side of his leg. He instinctively lifted it up and as soon as he did, I shot in for a takedown. I wrapped my arms around his waist, and this time was able to wrap my leg around the back of his. I drove forward, and because he was off balance, I was able to push him down to the ground and land on top of him. I immediately postured up but stopped when I saw that he was laughing.
Brandon: See, now that’s the right answer.
He held his hand out and grinned at me. I let out an exasperated but somewhat relieved sigh. I got to my feet and grabbed his hand and helped him stand up. I let out a nervous laugh as the rest of the gym slowly went back to what they were doing. Brandon motioned for me to follow him into his office. I walked inside and closed the door behind me. Inside the office was a regular office set up, but on the other side was a small bed, a fridge, and a table and chair. Clearly Brandon never left the gym.
Brandon: So, care to expand on what you just said?
I sat down across from him and laughed again. I really didn’t want to admit it to myself, but that really was why I wanted to do this. Figures Brandon knew how to piss me off enough that I couldn’t control what I said. I looked up at him sheepishly.
Molly: I don’t know. I mean I was a champion in IWF for over half a year. I rarely lost. I know I’m as tough as they come. But I just feel like nobody takes me seriously. I’m just that cute little girl who loves to party and also wrestles, but she’s not a threat to anyone. I feel like when Marissa, or Dom or Brytain or Gordon, or even Annie talk to me about wrestling, they almost talk down to me. Like they don’t really respect how I am in the ring. Every time people post who they’d love to fight one match against in the future, I’m never on the list. Nobody wants to fight Molly because nobody cares about Molly. Nobody thinks Molly is worth their time. So I want to fight in the MLC because I want to show the world that I’m not just some cute little girl who talks a big game. I want to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that I’m one of the toughest bitches in the world.
Brandon: Well, I think I can help you with that Molly
I looked up at him and smiled.
Molly: Really?!
Brandon: Sure. You’ve got more drive and heart than most people who fight. When I started fighting MMA, I was like you, zero experience. If it weren’t for my coach taking me in and starting me from the basics and working me hard every day, I would have never made it to where I did. It was hard, sometimes it felt impossible. But I never gave up. You’re like me Molly. A natural fighter. You get knocked down and you will do whatever it takes to not only get up, but climb higher. I’ve got faith in you Molly. You’ll be fine. Come on, let’s go get that contract signed and we can start training right away. You have a TON to learn.
I got up and ran over to Brandon, and hugged him as tight as I could. He laughed as he hugged me back, albeit not as tightly as I was squeezing him. I heard the door to the office open.
Voice: Hey babe, I brought some lunch...oh I see you’re busy. I’ll be outside talking to Anna.
Wait a second. I recognized that voice. I let go of Brandon and turned around, looking at the young girl in the doorway. It was exactly who I thought it was.
Molly: Tiffani!??!
Tiffani: Molly?!
I hadn’t seen Tiffani in like a year. We had been best friends for a long time, then sort of drifted apart when she married a guy named Darrin, who didn’t like me. He was a shitty fucking husband so I was glad that was clearly over. I turned back towards Brandon as I stood up.
Molly: I’ve been training here for months and you don’t once tell me that your girlfriend is Tiffani?!
Tiffani: And you don’t tell me that Molly’s been training here for months?!
Brandon just grinned sheepishly at both of us and shrugged. I jokingly punched him in the shoulder before turning to Tiffani to start blabbing on about my life like I was a fifteen year old coming back from summer vacation. I was in such a good mood. Seeing my friend again, getting to train with someone as amazing as Brandon. I was about to take the MLC by storm. And once I did, I wouldn’t have to be worried about being taken seriously ever again.
+++Scene II+++
+++Molly Reid’s Video Blog: The Final IWF Entry+++
+++My House, Santa Monica, LA+++
+++Saturday, March 7th+++
Molly Reid
Can you believe that this is it for the IWF? Cause I sure can’t. I haven’t been around as long as a lot of people fighting on this show have, but I still feel like I’m a part of everything. IWF is all I’ve ever known when it comes to wrestling. They gave me a chance when I wasn’t even ever thinking about it. When IWF found me, I was just some lazy drunk girl almost finished college. I got into a fight with someone at a club, and I kicked her in the face and knocked her the fuck out. It made it’s way onto youtube, and wouldn’t you know it, IWF called me up. They told me that they’d give me a try-out match, if I wanted it. Said they were impressed by my knockout and that anyone who could do that in high heels could be a great wrestler some day.
Molly Reid
So I said sure. I was in a pretty bad place at the time. I was an alcoholic, I was a horrible person living a horrible life. I thought wrestling would give me something to get better for. Deep down I thought maybe if I had wrestling and that went well, it would inspire me to try to fix my life. It didn’t really, but I did find out that I was naturally great at wrestling. I immediately won a title from my future friend Tiffani Michaels. I lost that title to my friend and now partner Blyss Lockhart. But that match was basically two on one so looking back it wasn’t that bad. And then, it led me to a chance to fight for the IWF Championship. And not only did I impress the world and show that I belonged on the biggest stage, I actually came away as IWF Champion.
Molly Reid
I was the only female IWF Champion in IWF history. And now that it’s over, that’s something that only I can say. Forever. I will have something that will be mine and only mine for the rest of my life. It’s a pretty cool feeling. IWF gave me that opportunity. Without IWF, I’d never have had that chance. In fact, without IWF I’d probably be dead. If not dead, then definitely not involved in wrestling. I owe everything to IWF. While this chapter of my career may be closing, the book that is my life will push on.
Molly Reid
And now, I get to fight in a final match on the IWF Farewell Show. A show that represents everything that ever made IWF great. I’m so honored that I was asked to participate. I’m even more excited to go out there and put on one last show for the fans. The IWF fans, what more can I say about them? The best fans in the entire world. They deserve the best, and when they tune in to One Last Stand, they are going to get the best. The greatest wrestlers in IWF history will be there. It will be fun. It will be sad. All the feels. But what I can guarantee you, is that from top to bottom, it will feature wrestlers who genuinely love IWF and everything it ever was. They will be ready to put on the biggest wrestling show that the world has ever seen. Nobody deserves it more than IWF and it’s loyal fans do.
Molly Reid
I personally guarantee that my match will be one of the best matches you’ll ever see. I get to team with my best friend Blyss. A girl who made the top ten IWF Wrestlers of all time! She’s amazing, she’s incredible, she’s, in my opinion, the best female wrestler in IWF history! And I get to team with her. I’m so excited. Blyss and I have been training together a bunch. She’s just like me too. She got her start in IWF, she had very little wrestling experience before. And she quickly became one of the best of all time. She’s amazing. Plus we’ve got that team chemistry down pat. Nothing is going to stop us from walking out of that match with the victory in our final IWF match ever.
Molly Reid
Our opponents are awesome too. Cynthia, I know we’ve had our differences. I took you lightly in the past and you kicked my motherfucking ass. Then I took you lightly again, and you kicked my ass for a second time. No more will I ever take you lightly. You’re a phenomenal wrestler and I absolutely respect the hell out of you. I don’t know much about Beth, but I do know she was another great IWF wrestler when she was wrestling in the company. I’ve watched a lot of her matches, and I definitely know that I need to always keep an eye on her. Otherwise I’ll be seeing stars by the end of the night
Molly Reid
The biggest wildcard in this match is the stipulation I think. I mean none of us are really experienced hardcore match style wrestlers. Sure we’ve all been in violent matches. Blyss and I were on opposite teams of one pretty violent match two years ago. Though none of us are hardcore enthusiasts. So this last match stipulation was a bit of a surprise. But you know what, this is IWF at it’s finest! This is how everything used to be. It was violence, it was chaos, it was an Insurgency. I couldn’t think of a better way to close IWF’s life than with a bunch of chaotic violent and just downright nasty matches for no reason other than to honor everything that IWF was.
Molly Reid
I would like nothing more than to end my IWF career on a high note. It gave me my start in this business. I owe it to IWF to give it the best finish I possibly can. So I’m going all out. Leaving absolutely nothing behind. When that match is over, someone is going to have to carry me out of the ring. I’m not losing. Blyss and I are not losing. IWF means too much to us to lose. We’re going to do it right. We’re going to give it the sendoff that it deserves for giving us the best time of our lives.
Subject: New Chapter 
Tue Mar 17, 2015 2:22 am
