Nothing Else Matters

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Off Camera

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Matilda Lorraine comes from wealthy French aristocracy.  She’s used to getting whatever she wants in life, no questions asked.  Things changed drastically for her when she met a young Mexican named Juan Diaz.  Diaz turned out to be a luchador, a professional wrestler out of Mexico City, who competed under the mask and guise of El Tigre; or The Tiger for those English speakers.  Their relationship grew quickly and passionately, right under the nose of Juan’s wife.  He tried to keep the affair a secret but could no longer do so when Matilda found out she was pregnant with Juan’s child.  The pair came out with their relationship and, as a result, Juan’s wife left him.  This allowed Diaz to marry Matilda and raise their daughter, whom they would name Allison.

Allison’s intelligence was her greatest asset.  At a very young age she earned a PhD in psychology.  Matilda was hopeful that her daughter would use her degree to begin her own psychiatric practice but alas her greatest fear would come to fruition when Allison announced that she wanted to finish the work of her father and become the new El Tigre; this would mean she would have to train to become a professional wrestler, a luchador like Juan Diaz.

Matilda was dead set against her daughter becoming a wrestler.  Having been in a relationship with Juan Diaz she saw firsthand what the wrestling business can do to someone.  She was there the night Juan Diaz had his final match, suffering a career injuring crippling neck injury that would confine him to a wheelchair for the rest of his life.  Fearing this could happen to Allison, Matilda refused to grant her blessing to Allison.  Unfortunately, Juan Diaz was more than happy with the idea of his child continuing with his legacy and he not only granted her his blessing but he convinced his brother Carlos, also a wrestler, to train Allison.

Matilda was furious with Juan over his decision to allow Allison to wrestle.  She is used to getting what she wanted and to have someone like Juan do this is unspeakable for her, even if it is her husband.  The fight over Allison’s future grew so intense that Matilda would leave Juan.  She watched as her daughter prepared and trained.  She eventually was forced to watch as her child wrestled in her very first matches with Southeastern Women’s Wrestling Conference, Future Wrestling Alliance, and Global Championship Wrestling.  Matilda could do nothing but watch and pray that her child did not permanently injure herself the way her father Juan Diaz did.

Then a blessing in disguise came in the form of the #GingerNation…

The #GingerNation was a group of redheaded wrestlers in GCW with whom Allison had more than a few run-ins with.  In fact, Allison downright humiliated them by beating each and every member of the #GingerNation in one on one action.  The gingers wanted payback and they got it by tricking Allison into one final match; if their representative won, Allison would have to join the #GingerNation and do as they said, but if Allison won the #GingerNation representative would have to shave her head bald.

Needless to say, Allison had been on a major roll and had beaten them all once already.  Who wouldn’t feel confident with that record?  Allison felt she could get the job done one more time and agreed to the match and the stipulation.  Unfortunately for Allison, the gingers were prepared and they used their less than savory tactics to cheat their way to victory and that victory meant Allison would have to join the #GingerNation.

Matilda was concerned at first.  This was just the kind of thing she was worried about regarding the wrestling business.  But the more she watched, the more she began to realize that this might not be that bad for her daughter after all.  They forced her to dye her naturally beautiful dark hair to a reddish color to match her new ginger teammates and they slowly broke her down mentally and emotionally…

Allison, a formerly proud luchador warrior who did not want to use her body to objectify herself, was forced  to wrestle in a skimpier, sexier attire.  She was forced to participate in sexy photoshoots, displaying her wondrous body for all to see.  They told her to embrace the idea that she was “yummy”…

She had always been a competitor who wanted to win fairly but as a member of the #GingerNation she was forced to cheat to help her teammates win…

…but the greatest slap in the face, and perhaps the final straw that ultimately broke Allison mentally, was when the #GingerNation forced Allison to burn her father’s mask on live television.

Matilda hated seeing her daughter being mentally tortured like that, but after setting that mask on fire Matilda noticed a distinct change in her daughter.  No longer did she take needless risks, she embraced her membership in the #GingerNation as a way of getting what she wanted without having to risk life and limb. Allison also began to realize that using her intelligence to trick her opposition could prove to be yet another safer way to get a victory as opposed to throwing caution to the wind night in and night out.

Yes, Allison was still a wrestler, but at least she wasn’t in as much danger as she had been.  And Matilda could live with that.

Matilda sits on the balcony, on the third floor of her daughter’s San Francisco, California home, overlooking the skyline.  It’s a bright and sunny day in the bay area.  The culture here is slightly different from the French Parisian culture Matilda is used to, but the idea of kicking back and relaxing is definitely something Matilda is used to and she is happy that her daughter Allison has finally embraced it as well.

Allison Lorraine steps into the scene and sets a margarita on the table next to Matilda.  Allison is wearing a fuzzi midi dress in rose print with ruched seams, a wide round neckline, and a sheath silhouette.  Her feet are encased in black strappy high heels and her long red hair is left to flow down freely to past her shoulders.  Allison has a margarita of her own in her hand and sits down in a chair on the other side of the table on the balcony.

“I hope you enjoy that drink, mom.” Allison says with a wink. “I made it especially for you.”

Matilda takes a sip and then looks over at her daughter and smiles warmly. “It’s delicious, thank you my child.”

Allison sighs as she looks out at the San Francisco skyline.  “I am happy that we could spend this time together, mom.”

“I agree.  We do not spend enough time together.”

“We didn’t used to, and we know why that is…”

“Oh?”

Allison pauses as she takes a sip of her margarita.  She sets her drink down on the table and turns to face Matilda, frowning.

“El Tirgre…”

It’s a short, simple, yet meaningful statement made by Allison and Matilda knows exactly what she means.  Allison has indeed been spending more time with her mother lately, a lot more time than she did in the past, when she was spending time with her father Juan Diaz and his brother Carlos.  This was due to the time and effort they were putting into training Allison and making sure she was prepared for each of her matches.  But this new #GingerNation version of Allison Lorraine, or #GingerAllison as she likes to call herself, wants nothing to do with her father’s Hispanic culture.  As wonderful as it is to see her daughter embrace this upscale, aristocratic lifestyle, it also makes Matilda feel guilty because she realizes that her daughter, at the very same time, refuses to acknowledge her own Hispanic heritage.  Allison wants to pretend he doesn’t even exist.

“Allison, I think…”

“No, mom,” Allison interrupts her mother quickly “I don’t want to hear his name.”

Matilda sighs and shakes her head. “Fine, but your father isn’t entirely to blame.”

“Of course he isn’t, I am partially to blame because I bought into his asinine ideas of competition and being a proud warrior, whatever the hell that means.”

“Your father comes from an older generation of luchador.”

Allison rolls her eyes. “Don’t remind me.  I know all about the luchador tradition which he tried to grill into my head from day one in the business.  I even took up his mantle of El Tigre.  I tried to continue his tradition and follow in his footsteps of what he said El Tigre stood for.  But do you know what I realized?”

She reaches over and picks her margarita back up and, perhaps out of frustration, quickly downs a big gulp of it in one swift sitting.  She sets it back down on the table and stares at Matilda.

“I realized that his ways are outdated and that El Tigre was as good as extinct.”

“Ginger Nation taught you that, my child.”

Allison grins from ear to ear.  “You’re right, the #GingerNation taught me that the ways of my father, of El Tigre, were outdated.  This sport isn’t about the thrill of the competition.  Let’s be honest, how thrilling is it to lose?  The only thrill comes when you win.  Winning is the only thing that matters in this sport.  Nothing else matters.”

Matilda isn’t convinced by her daughter’s ranting, not by a long shot.  She senses something is wrong but she cannot put her finger on it.  She definitely does not like the idea of her daughter completely ignoring her father and his heritage.  But at the same time, Matilda is afraid of losing her.  If she upsets her, if she makes her mad, will she quit seeing her too, much as she has quit seeing her father?

That’s a risk Matilda is not willing to take.   And yet she still feels she should do something.  Matilda watches as Allison takes another sip of her margarita.  Matilda takes a sip of her drink as well before taking a deep breath and then sighing.

“Allison…”

“Yes, mom?”

“I just need to know one thing.  Are you happy?”

“Happy?  Of course I am.”

“You don’t understand, my child.  You were happy following in your father’s luchador footsteps before that was taken from you by the Ginger Nation.  Now you claim to be happy with Ginger Nation?  So I ask you…are you truly happy with who you are?”

Allison grins from ear to ear.

“Of course I am, dear mother.”

Matilda sighs.

“Well, I hope you are, I truly do.  And I do wish you the best of luck in FWA.”

“FWA?”

Allison laughs ever so slightly as she takes another sip of her margarita.

“Yes, FWA, my new chosen career path.”

“What made you choose to return to FWA?”

“Various reasons.  One of big selling point is its proximity to home.  I live here in San Francisco, FWA events are held in Los Angeles.  I’m not flying all over creation from event to event.”

“Convenience, then?”

“Not entirely.  But then again,” Allison smirks “it truly is a difficult task being as yummy as I am.  It’s nice to have a convenience every now and then.”

“Right…”

Allison reaches out and places her hand on her mother’s hand.

“Trust me, mom.  I know what I’m doing.  FWA, and Peyton Rice, won’t know what hit them.”

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On Camera

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I have to admit, I almost didn’t sign with Fledgling Wrestling Alliance.  It was clear to me that FWA, as led by that non-ginger Neanderthal Duane Jacobs, needs me a hell of a lot more than I needed them.  But ultimately I decided to sign on the dotted line, because even though Jacobs is a bourgeoisie buffoon, he was smart enough to know a star when he saw it and yours truly is a #gingeriffic superstar of epic proportions!  I am a former FWA World Tag Team Champion!  I was worth a hell of a lot more than what he was willing to offer and I held out until he got it through his thick skull that I deserved every penny of what I wanted.

Besides, I have something I need to prove and what better place to do that than in FWA, a place where I have unfinished business anyway?  It was in FWA where Laurel Anne Hardy and the #GingerStaroftheShow became FWA World Tag Team Champions, the greatest champions this pathetic company has ever seen!  But there was one thing that FWA never got the opportunity to see, because of the shut down…

…my wonderful #GingerFans were denied the opportunity to see their hero, #GingerAllison, be a singles champion in her own right.   Whether it was that loony tune Isis Derrida whose hometown doesn’t exist anywhere on any map, or that fake queen Glory Braddock who currently holds the championship, I could have beaten either of them.  I could have been world champion.

But I never got the opportunity because FWA shut down.  Now is my chance to remedy that situation.  I get to work my way up to the top and take what should have been mine from day one in the fist incarnation of this dump…

…the FWA World Championship.

That begins with Peyton Rice!  The non-ginger rookie with delusions of grandeur.  Well allow me this opportunity to insert some reality into your situation, Peyton.  Allow me to tell you the way it really is in professional wrestling.

You’re so excited about this opportunity.  I was too when I got my first opportunity.

You busted your ass to learn the craft.  What amounts to days and weeks that could have been spent with friends and loved ones were instead spent inside of a wrestling ring getting knocked around or knocking other sweaty assholes around, all just to get yourself ready for your debut, for your big break.

I did all of that myself.

You’re a graduate of the Ante Up Academy, aren’t you?  Did those insipid fatuous clowns tell you about this business?  This sport of ours isn’t all fun and games and it damn sure isn’t all about the competition.  This sport is mean, it is nasty, it is dangerous, and the only ones who get ahead are those who are willing to do anything it takes to win.

Those sanctimonious fools may have preached to you about fair play and competition but none of that exists.  That is the old way and the old way is extinct.  None of that matters.  Nothing matters except winning.

You should know that, assuming you pay attention to some of the other wrestling programs.  Do you think it was FAIR and COMPETITIVE for Amy Chastaine and Syren to double team Regan Helms over in SCW?  Do you think it was FAIR and COMPETITIVE for Abigail Lindsay to injure Victoria Salinas in UWA, damn near putting her on the shelf and definitely costing her the UWA World Championship?

That is the sport we participate in, Peyton.  You do whatever it takes to get ahead.  Anyone who says otherwise is just spouting off outdated vacuous jargon; those people are the type who are just trying to hang onto whatever thread of relevancy they have remaining.

I have now warned you about how this sport really and truly is.  I told you something that I dare say your foolish instructors at the Ante Up Academy never told you before, because they were too pusillanimous to tell you…

…because it’s the truth.

I know it’s the truth because I’ve been in your shoes before.  I was the young rookie who had high hopes and dreams.  Those dreams were shattered when I saw the ugly side of this industry.   When I saw what people were willing to do to get what they wanted, I realized that I had to stoop to their levels if I wanted to advance my own career.

This isn’t just anyone telling you these things, Peyton.  This isn’t just some disgruntled individual talking to you.  I was once a luchador.  Still am, to be perfectly honest.  I have all of the skill even if I don’t have that dumb mask any longer.  And let me ask you one question, sweetheart...

….do you think you can keep up with me?  Do you honestly believe that you can keep up with me?  If you think you can keep up with me then you have another thing coming.  I am faster than you, more agile than you, and I will smoke your ass on Mayhem.

But getting back to my point, yes, I was a luchador, I had the whole tradition and competition garbage drilled into my head and I bought into it hook, line, and sinker.

But I quickly figured out how wrong I was and I straightened my career out.  And if you’re smart, Peyton, you’ll figure it out too and start looking out for yourself.  This whole competition and tradition crap doesn’t matter.  Winning matters.  Winning…nothing else matters.

And that’s as much as I’m going to help you, Peyton.  I look out for number one, I look out for the sexiest, yummiest, #Gingeriffic, #Gingertastic, #GingerSuperstar of the future.  I look out for me and that’s it!

And I will do whatever it takes to defeat you on your debut match, throwing your wrestling dreams into despair, and I will do whatever it takes to advance my own career at the expense of anyone who gets in my way, and right now, YOU happen to be in my way.

You have chosen the FWA as the starting point for your wrestling career.  I am happy for you, despite the fact that I do sound like a bitch right now.  But your career path, Peyton, is running right through my nation, the #GingerNation, and I am #GingerAllison, the future star, the best athlete, and the woman who will own your ass on Mayhem.