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December 11th, 2020
Miami, Florida
Off Camera
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Reputation is something very important to the Braddock family. It is a value instilled into her from her father, the late Glenn Braddock. He prided himself on the reputation he built as a workaholic wrestler on the European circuits. It is a reputation that his daughter, Glory Braddock, carried with her when she decided to follow in his footsteps. Just as an example of her extreme work ethic, consider she is competing all over the world, holds the MWE Riot Championship, SCW Adrenaline Championship, owns her father’s wrestling school, and owns her own company, all of this done to promote her vision of professional wrestling: pure, undefiled, traditional.
It is a reputation that she fiercely guards and fights to protect. So would she back down from the challenge of Asher Hayes right before a World Championship match in SCW? No she didn’t. But she did get disqualified to end the match early, so she challenged him yet again, this time with both the Adrenaline and Television Titles on the line. Unfortunately this match, too, would end up in disarray thanks to outside interference from Tommy Valentine.
Glory has been SCW Adrenaline Champion since Rise To Greatness and she wants to be remembered as one of the great champions in SCW Adrenaline history. Endings such as the previous two against Asher Hayes just wouldn’t cut it. Needless to say Braddock was definitely interested in the outcome of the Adrenaline battle royal. And she sat at ringside to watch just who would success, to find out just who would earn the title opportunity…of course it was Asher Hayes.
Their third encounter was set up and The British Bombshell now could look forward to defending her championship and defending her reputation as one of the best Adrenaline Champions in recent memory. That championship match, set to take place on the December 20th edition of Breakdown, will be one of many challenges to the reputation of Glory Braddock.
Other challenges to her reputation have been brought about due to her own negligence and her own past coming back to haunt her. For over a year Braddock had been manipulating, bribing, and blackmailing her way to control the Board of Directors within her company, so that she would have no one to question her authority. These are not the actions of the woman fans around the world have grown to know and love. These actions have also made an enemy out of Jennifer Alan, who wants to intimidate her into selling the company. When three attempts on her life did not pan out, Jennifer would hire Glory’s arch rival, Mason Van Stanton, to finish the job.
Van Stanton now is threatening to run Braddock’s reputation into the ground by telling the world all about her shady business practices. He also claims to have a sex tape of Glory’s daughter Melinda Braddock which he will release to the media. And to prove that he can and will act on all of this he dropped the biggest bombshell of them all right in front of Glory’s own husband Kurt Logan…
...Mason knows all about the affair between Glory Braddock and Matthew Taylor.
Braddock has been struggling to rebuild the trust within her fanbase, she has struggled to maintain her reputation within the wrestling world at large, and now all of that is at risk of being destroyed at the hands of Mason Van Stanton and Jennifer Alan, unless they get what they want and what they want is for Glory Braddock to sell her company to Jennifer Alan.
What can Glory do? Even someone who prides herself on being the Best in the World needs advice from time to time, but her main source of advice, Kurt Logan, isn’t speaking to her right now. As a matter of fact, she is alone this very moment in the dining room of her Miami, Florida home. Kurt Logan is nowhere to be seen.
The dining room was elegant in a minimalist sort of way, yet still echoed the natural world outside the Miami home of The British Bombshell. It was a grand space, to say the least. The huge mahogany table took up most of the vast space the dark, romantic room offered. The walls were covered with a shimmering gold paper and in the middle of the ceiling above the carved mahogany table was a candelabra. Down the center of the table was a runner with Celtic design woven in gold and green into the fabric itself. At the end of the table were floor to ceiling french doors, left slightly ajar to allow a slight breeze to enter the room.
Braddock is seated at the table, picking away at some eggs on a plate with her fork. She is lost in thought, thinking about what is to come in a little over a week with her title defense against Asher Hayes, their third match this year and one that she hopes will put a definitive end to this rivalry. But most of all she is concerned about the issues going on in her personal life. Her daughter stands to be embarrassed if this sex tape gets released, the entire family stands to have their reputation ruined by the scandals Van Stanton very well could unleash. But the worst part is not having her husband Kurt here to help her with this. And for that she blames herself, not Van Stanton.
“Good morning…” the soft voice comes from Glory’s mother, Mary Ford, who enters the dining room area. Glory is still too distracted to notice her mother entering the room. Mary walks over to a cupboard and produces a coffee mug. The side of the mug says “Mom” and she waves it at her daughter, smiling “...I hope you don’t mind me using your mug, do you?”
The British Bombshell still doesn’t take note of her mother. Mary furrows her brow in curiosity, studying her daughter. Mary then turns to the coffee on the table. She pours some into the mug and starts sipping. Mary sits down next to Glory and then waves a hand in front her face to get her attention.
“Gloria? Are you ok?”
“Yeah, I’m just a little distracted right now.” Glory admits with a groggy sigh. She nods over at the mug in Mary’s hand. “Is that my mug?”
“Yes, the one Melinda got you for Christmas last year.”
“I remember. We were having some problems back then, I was being a little hard on her, but she still cared for me, she still loved me enough to get me something for Christmas. It felt good knowing that despite any differences we may have had at the time she still cared.”
“The bond between a mother and her child is one of the strongest bonds in existence. It is very difficult to break.”
“What makes you think that?” Glory reaches over and finds her glass of orange juice and takes a sip.
“We are a living example of that unbreakable bond, Gloria.” Mary says, smiling warmly at her daughter. “You can’t deny the rocky relationship you and I have had and yet here we are.”
“I know and that is one of many things I am ashamed of, mum. I was angry at you for leaving dad, and I held onto that anger for so long, and I let it fester. I went so far as to acknowledge another woman [Aphrodite Noel] as my mother. I even changed my name and briefly went by Gloria Noel just to hurt you.” Braddock sighs and shakes her head. “I’m sorry for that, mum…”
“Don’t worry about it, Gloria. It’s just water under the bridge as far as I’m concerned. Besides, it isn’t like I’m completely innocent in all of this. Like you said, I left your father and you idolized him. He was your hero.”
Glory nods her head acknowledging the closeness she felt towards Glenn Braddock. She starts picking at her food again, slowly contemplating what her mother has just said. Then Braddock looks over at Mary. “Tell me again how you and dad broke up.”
“How or why?”
“Does it matter?”
“I suppose it doesn’t. Your father had three great loves in his life: Me, you, and wrestling. Now I should have known that marrying a wrestler would mean time away from him. I also should have known that marrying a wrestler would mean many nights crying rivers of tears worrying myself to death about possibly injuring himself.”
“But you stayed with him.”
Mary nods her head. “For a long time I did. I came from a family who believed strongly in traditional gender roles. So I believed it was my role to stay loyal to him, because I loved him. But that belief would fade away with each injury, with each concussion and each broken bone. And then he began talking about the Olympics. Do you remember the knock down drag out argument we had over that?”
“Oh yes, I tried to sleep through it but you two were so bloody loud you probably woke the whole damn town.”
“I didn’t want him to risk himself for this; but he refused to give up on his dream. I gave in and let him pursue it but only on the promise that after competing in the Olympics he would retire from wrestling. He agreed and I thought that everything would be fine. But then a week later, in a wrestling match against Thomas Van Stanton, your father suffered the back injury that forced him to end his career.”
Glory recalls that moment vividly. It was arguably the moment that sparked the long running feud between the Braddock family and Mason Van Stanton. Thomas Van Stanton is the father of Mason Van Stanton. Thomas ended Glenn’s wrestling career with a wrestling move but Mason now wants to end Glory’s via scandal and blackmail.
“I begged your father to just accept that his wrestling career was over but he wouldn’t accept it. No one would medically clear him to wrestle again but it didn’t matter. Your father decided to continue his wrestling career by training the next generation of wrestlers. It was that decision that made me believe that your father loved wrestling more than you and me. That is why I decided to leave.”
Glory can see a hint of regret in her mother’s eyes. Mary takes a sip of her coffee and shrugs her shoulders. “If I had it to do over again, I would have tried to talk it out. I would have expressed my feelings better. And maybe I didn’t understand just how much your father did love wrestling. But I was wrong to believe that he loved it more than you and me.”
Tears form in Mary’s eyes. “Your father loved me and when I left it hurt him terribly. It was evident in how angry and bitter he seemed after I left. He just turned off his emotions because they were too painful. And you, Gloria...you were his entire world. He wanted custody of you because your presence would remind him of me.”
“I had no idea…”
Mary smiles warmly. She reaches over and grasps her daughter’s hands tightly. “This is about Kurt, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.” Glory nods her head slowly. “I need help, mum. I need comforting, strength, and advice. And he has always been my rock, my counselor. Whenever I had doubts he would strengthen my resolve. But he is spending less and less time with me.”
“Where is he now?”
“The same motel room he’s been staying lately. He doesn’t trust me, not anymore, and I can’t blame him. I cheated on him with my best friend Matthew.”
“Do you love Matthew?”
“No!” Glory exclaims, shaking her head. “At least not in that way. I love him as a friend, my best friend, but nothing more. Kurt is the one I love and want to spend the rest of my life with.”
“Then why did you cheat on him?”
Glory sighs and points to her head. “It’s my mind, mum. It isn’t right, it hasn’t been right for quite some time. I’m still seeing a psychiatrist and I’m nearly there, but things snapped briefly. I had a lapse in judgment, a bad lapse. I just want a second chance to prove to him that all I want is him.”
“Then go tell him that.”
“Do you honestly believe he’ll listen to me?” Glory scoffs.
“You will never know unless you try. I live to this day regretting my decision not to talk to your father and I know your father had the same regrets about not talking to me. Had we just talked then maybe we could have saved our marriage. But we both were too damn prideful to be the first to open up and talk.”
Mary kisses her daughter on the forehead. “I know you want to be tough, never give in...it’s just like your father...but you have to let go of that tough exterior. You have to humble yourself and be the first to reach out, go talk to Kurt. It’s the only way you will save your marriage.”
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December 11th, 2020
Miami, Florida
Off Camera
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Kurt Logan and Glory Braddock have been happily married for quite some time now. Sure, there have been times when they did not always get along or had disagreements, but what couple doesn’t go through a rough patch from time to time? What Glory and Kurt are experiencing right now is beyond any normal rough patch. This amounts to an affair that threatens the very existence of the marriage itself. The British Bombshell has cheated on Kurt with her best friend Matthew Taylor and that has prompted Kurt to semi-move out of the Miami, Florida home to a nearby motel.
Despite agreeing that they needed to see a marriage counselor, the couple would not take that first step. For the longest time neither Braddock nor Kurt would reach out to the other and try to talk it out. You can’t blame Kurt. He was the one who was cheated on. But Glory? Perhaps it is pride? Maybe she is simply too prideful to give in? A part of it may also be guilt. She knows that she is the responsible party, she was the one who was too weak and allowed herself to fall prey to the lust. Being weak isn’t in her nature, it isn’t in the blood of the Braddock family. She was bred to be strong and courageous in the face of any challenge.
It is that motivation that partially drives her today. Glory Braddock is wearing denim jeans, white tennis shoes, and a black t-shirt with the “SCW” logo on the front.
The motel was one of those seedy places men with beer guts went to engage in wild sex with a mistress; the place where hookers brought their clientele there and paid for rooms by the hour. Weeds grew through the cracks in the concrete path and the litter from cheap take-out meals were strewn across it. There were external wooden stairs that lead to a second floor, a second row of doors, that looked like the building inspector was either bribed to pass it or drunk on the job. There were at least two screaming matches going on in separate rooms, and the cars in the lot wouldn't have been out of place in a wrecker's yard. This is definitely an unusual place for her to be. This is far from the luxury she has been used to as of late. It is definitely a far cry from the luxury her husband, Kurt Logan, is used to. This only adds to the already overwhelming sense of guilt Glory has; she is the one who put him here. Her act of betrayal made him feel the need to move out and into a dump like this.
To the poor, to those who have nowhere else to go, this is luxury. But Kurt Logan certainly has a place to go. He could come home with Glory. But he doesn’t feel welcome there. He doesn’t feel safe there and it is all Glory’s fault. Glory realizes that only she can fix this. It is quite difficult for The British Bombshell to ignore what’s going on around her; from the shouting in the rooms she passes by on her way to the drug deals and prostitution that goes on nearby, all of it makes Glory nervous about her husband’s condition. How could he stay in a place like this?
Braddock makes her way to the final door on her right. She knocks but doesn’t get an answer. She waits a few moments and knocks again, this time speaking as well. “Kurt? Are you in there? It’s me….”
The British Bombshell stands there and waits for a few moments before she finally hears the door unlocking and unlatching. The door creaks open just slightly, just enough to allow Braddock room to push it open the rest of the way. She steps inside and finds Kurt standing there in front of her. But the place she finds Kurt staying in, this room, it shocks her. If she painted the walls black the room couldn't be any darker. The net curtains at the window are thick with over a decade of grime. The light that struggles through fails to reflect from the once beige carpet that is more like a forest floor in both colour and texture. The walls could be any shade at all, it really is hard to tell.
“Hi, Kurt.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong. I just wanted to visit. Do I need a reason to visit?”
“Well you haven’t stopped by for a visit in the last several days since I’ve been staying here.”
Braddock sighs deeply. Kurt’s words sting because he is accurate. Glory hasn’t been visiting him but this is out of her own shame. She is too ashamed to look him in the eyes and even now she finds it difficult. Only her mother’s words of encouragement made her strong enough to attempt this.
“You’re right, love, but you could have visited me. You know?”
“This is true.” Kurt nods his head and steps to the side, allowing his wife entrance into his motel room. She watches as her beloved husband walks slowly over to the edge of the bed. She notices on the nightstand next to the bed is an empty beer bottle. Glory sighs with a sense of depression realizing that she brought this on. She works up the courage to follow him over to the bed. Kurt sits down first and then Glory sits next to him on the edge of the bed.
“This isn’t exactly the Ritz, love.”
“No, but it gets the job done.”
Glory sighs with frustration as she looks deep into his eyes. “Come home. Seriously, look at this dump. You deserve better. You should come home with me.”
“You know why I can’t do that.”
“Yes, I know. It’s my fault and I should be the one here. Everything this past year has been my fault. I made powerful enemies that have tried to kill us, I betrayed our marriage vows, and all of that is threatening to come out to the public, all because of me. I should be here and you should be at home.”
“Do you think that will make it better? Because it won’t. It will take a lot of time to undo the damage you did, Glory.” He turns his gaze away from her eyes. “This may be a fight you can’t win.”
“You should know me better than that, love. I do not give up on anything and I am damn sure not giving up on us.” The blonde beauty reaches out and guides Kurt’s head back so that he is again looking at her. “We have been through a lot, Kurt. We have been through hell and we have withstood it all by sticking together. I know we can overcome this too.”
“You definitely sound confident.”
“Yeah, I’m confident because I know what we have is real. I believe in what we have together and you’re right, I am a fighter. And I will always fight for what I believe in. So I am here to fight for our marriage.”
“I’m still not sure this is a fight you can win.”
“If I can’t win then so be it, at least I can live with myself knowing I did everything within my power to save this marriage.”
Kurt stares deep into his wife’s eyes. He is studying her intently. “Ok...then tell me, why did you cheat on me?”
“I won’t make excuses, it was an act of lust and animalistic passion. It was also my mind…” she sighs and shakes her head “...I pretend that I’ve been getting better, I’ve told everyone within my company and even my own family that the psychiatric sessions have worked but those were lies. My mind is still not fully healed yet. The PTSD is not fully gone. Part of what happened with me and Matt was due to a psychotic break.”
Kurt rubs his forehead as he tries to take in what Glory just told him. “So you lied to everyone, and me, about your PTSD?”
“Yes, and I’m sorry.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t want to appear weak.”
“You were never weak to me, and you wouldn’t have been weak to me had you just told me the truth. Fighting through mental issues such as that is what makes you strong. And Glory, like it or not, the PTSD is probably never going away. Most live with it their entire lives.”
“But I’m Glory Braddock. I can beat anything.”
“Yeah, and that’s your problem. You cannot accept that sometimes even The Best in the World needs help.” Kurt reaches out and clasps her hands tightly. “That’s what I’m here for, I’m here to help you whenever you need it. The fact that you didn’t trust me enough to help you is why in turn I am having trouble trusting you back.”
Tears are forming in Glory’s eyes. “I nearly lost my company, I am on the verge of possibly losing it again, I lost my identity, and even after getting it back it left me broken mentally and caused me to nearly lose my mind. But the one that kept me going, that kept me from going completely insane, was our marriage. The fact that you would always be there for me is what kept me from completely breaking down.”
“I hear the words and they are beautiful words but do you mean it?” Kurt asks rather coldly.
“That’s a fair question, so how is this for an answer? I’ll sell my company to Jennifer Alan. Hell, I’ll even quit professional wrestling entirely and that’ll make Van Stanton happy as a bloody lark.”
“You don’t mean that, do you?” Kurt asks quizzically. Glory nods her head emphatically.
“I mean it. I am not going to make the same mistakes my own mum and dad made that tore them apart. I know my priorities and our family is top priority for me. Just give me one more chance, Kurt, just one chance and I swear to you that I will never again put anything else in priority over us.”
There is a long, tense pause as the two stare into one another’s eyes. Glory braces herself for what may be coming next. Kurt then leans over and kisses her on the lips. “How’s this for an answer?”
“I like it…”
Kurt and Glory come in close and begin kissing. Slowly Glory’s clothes are worked off of her body, as are Kurt’s, as they continue to make out passionately. They fall onto the bed and begin to make love for a long time...
One crisis has been averted. The most important problem has been dealt with; The British Bombshell has managed to salvage her marriage. She did not make the same mistake her father made in putting wrestling in a higher priority over her relationships. She did not make the same mistake her mother made of not expressing her true feelings for Kurt. She has reached out and made things right with her husband. And now, with this renewed courage, The British Bombshell looks forward to her next two challenges, one of which is an SCW Adrenaline Championship defense against Asher Hayes, another is a MWE Riot Championship defense against Henri Black.
Braddock, however, knows her priorities and her priorities must lie with her family. She must protect her family and that means she has to take of the problem that is Mason Van Stanton who threatens to destroy her family with blackmail and scandal if she doesn’t bend and sell her company to his new associate, Glory’s business rival Jennifer Alan.
Glory knows exactly what she must do...
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December 13th, 2020
Raleigh, NC
Off Camera
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The past couple of years Glory Braddock has grown from an amateur at business to a cold hearted corporate businesswoman who would utilize any cutthroat strategy to get what she wanted. She would meticulously plan out ways to manipulate her business rivals so that she would always get what she wanted. This wasn’t done out of malice or hate, but rather because she truly believed that her way was best. Her corporate knowledge did not come from either her father or mother, instead her knowledge came from Aphrodite Noel, a woman who was once as close as a second mother to her. Aphrodite taught Glory everything she knew about the business world. Glory credits Aphrodite’s wisdom with her regaining control over her company. But now she must reach back into that treasure trove of wisdom in order to tackle the next problem ahead of her; Mason Van Stanton and Jennifer Alan.
Mason and Glory are no strangers to one another; they have always been enemies. Jennifer, however, has just been a business rival. Things escalated between the two and now Jennifer looks to eliminate Glory Braddock by using Mason Van Stanton. Mason claims to have knowledge of Glory Braddock, knowledge and secrets that, if exposed, would destroy Glory’s family. The price of his silence is Glory’s company. Braddock knows what she must and it requires taking a risk. Sometimes in business you must take a risk; it is something she learned from Aphrodite.
This is what brings her to the offices of Mason Van Stanton in Raleigh, North Carolina. She is sitting at the front of the long rectangular table inside the conference room. The beautiful blonde is wearing a black pencil skirt that flatters her curves, a matching black suit coat over a white silky blouse. Her feet are encased in black peep-toe high heeled pumps. Her long golden locks of hair hang to just below the shoulders. Braddock anxiously checks the watch on her wrist. She looks frustrated, and understandably so; she has been waiting here for nearly thirty minutes on the arrival of Jennifer Alan and Mason Van Stanton. They’ve kept her waiting and she doesn’t like it. She doesn’t like being kept waiting like this.
She doesn’t even want to be here. This is Van Stanton’s home turf. Everything in her nature tells her that this is not the place to be, that this is not safe, unfortunately she has to let him call the shots...for now. Mason and Jennifer want to have this meeting here and that’s the way it will be. They think that today Glory will sign over the company to Jennifer to get them off of her back. But Glory has plans of her own…
A few moments later the door to the conference room opens and Mason Van Stanton emerges, followed in kind by Jennifer Alan. The sleazy con man is wearing his typical all black suit with a black button up silk shirt. Jennifer is wearing a floral print orange sun dress and high heels. Both are sporting confident, smug grins as they truly believe that they have The British Bombshell right where they want her. Glory, for her part, is putting on a great poker face. She doesn’t want them to know what is going on in her mind.
“Took you two long enough.” Glory complains. Mason snickers nastily.
“I’m sorry about that, Glory, but Jennifer and I were just going over the fine details of this contract our attorneys drew up.” Mason remarks. Jennifer waves the contract in the air almost as if it were a trophy. She puts on the desk and slides it across to Glory.
“Read through it if you want.” Jennifer chimes in.
“No need, I know exactly what’s in it.”
“Of course you do.” Mason says with a sneer. “It is a contract that sells your company, Global Wrestling Enterprise, and even that damned school of yours, to Jennifer Alan.”
“As it should have been from the start.” Jennifer pipes in with a nasty tone in her voice. Both she and Mason walk around the table. Jennifer sits down on one side of Glory while Mason sits on the other side. This feels like being surrounded but Glory tries not to let it bother her. Instead she stares defiantly at Jennifer as she begins to speak.
“You know, Jennifer, I never once meant to disrespect your family’s legacy. This company wouldn’t be around were it not for your brother and I understand that. He built this company and everyone here appreciates it. But his mistakes caused him to lose the company, just as my own mistakes caused me to lose it. But the difference between your brother and I is that I learned from my mistakes and that allowed me to regain the company. He never learned from his mistakes and now where is he?” Braddock smirks knowingly. “He’s been convicted of federal crimes for tax fraud, embezzlement, among other things.”
“My brother did build this company! All you did was pick up the pieces.”
“Never denied that, Jennifer. And I never claimed I was a better owner than he was. But this company is mine now, Jennifer. You should accept that.”
“For now it is yours.” Jennifer smirks. “After you sign that contract it becomes mine.”
Glory chuckles. “There you go again, making the same mistakes as your brother. Speaking of your brother, I wonder if he’ll make any new friends in prison?”
Jennifer rears back and slaps Glory hard across her right cheek. Braddock resists the urge to strike her back, for everything is falling into place exactly as she hoped it would. Van Stanton then chimes in.
“That’s funny coming from a woman who hired an assassin to try and kill Jennifer.”
“That was Meagan Collins, not me. Had I known she would have done that I never would have hired her. But when I did find out I did the right thing and turned her into the authorities. She’s also in a jail cell right now.”
Van Stanton points a finger at Glory. “And you know where you will be if you don’t sign this contract? You’ll be on the front page of every newspaper. Your affair, cheating on your husband Kurt Logan, that’ll be on the talk of the wrestling world. And the raunchy acts your whore of a daughter did with my client Clyde Sutter will be available for any perverse set of eyes to gaze upon. And your family name will be in the dumpster. It will be garbage. All of that happens if you don’t sign this contract. Do you want that?”
“Of course not.”
“Then sign!” Mason says in a commanding, domineering voice. Glory sighs as she looks at the contract and then up at Mason.
“I could sign it, that would be the easiest way out of this situation. Plus it would leave me time to focus on what’s really important...my family. Because God knows I have been putting them on the back burner for far too long because of my obsession with keeping this company away from the likes of you. But if I did sign, how am I to know that you won’t continue to hold all of that damning information over my head as a blackmail?”
“You will just have to trust me.” Van Stanton says with a sly smile.
“Trust? It’s funny that you use that word, because there are many people in my life whom I trust. My fans? They were disappointed in me when I began to act like a total bitch, but they welcomed me back with open arms when I began to change my ways. They trusted me. If all of this were to come out then I am confident that they would still support me and trust me. You know who else trusts me? Kurt.”
“Kurt Logan? The man you cheated on?” Mason rolls his eyes. “You’re joking.”
“Oh the trust between us was rocked. Our marriage was challenged like it had never been challenged before. But we had a heart to heart, soul to soul, conversation and he still trusts me and will always be there to support me. And he is prepared to weather this scandalous storm you are prepared to unleash if it comes to pass.”
Mason stares Glory down for a tense period of time. He sneers. “What are you saying?”
“Haven’t you figured it out yet, Mason? I know you too well by now. Whatever you’re threatening to do to me if I don’t sign that contract is what you’re going to do to me anyway, even if I sign the contract. You’re going to do it because you are a spiteful little bastard who hates my family and me in particular. So whatever secrets you have about me, feel free to tell the whole laughing world. Because I am not going to sign that contract, I am not going to sell this company.”
“NO!” This time it’s Jennifer Alan who is shrieking in anger. She spins Glory around and shakes her. “Sign the damn contract!”
Braddock shoves Jennifer away. “Get your hands off me, brasser.”
Jennifer prepares to strike back but Mason Van Stanton rises from his chair and stands in between the two of them. Glory rises up as well, staring her rival eye to eye. “So you’re not going to sign the contract?”
“No.”
“Well you and your husband may be ready to weather the storm I will unleash but what about your daughter? Is little Melinda prepared to become the most viewed slut when that sex tape is released to the world?”
“Melinda is prepared, but…” Braddock smirks, for she is ready to drop a bombshell of her own “...I bet that there isn’t any sex tape.”
Mason stares stoic, cold, with a poker face of his own. He doesn’t say a word but Jennifer Alan does. “There is a tape, Braddock! And he’ll release it to the world, embarrassing you and your daughter!”
“There isn’t any tape. And this contract, as far as I’m concerned, is null and void.” Braddock takes the contract and proceeds to tear it apart into pieces. Jennifer glares angrily at Braddock as she does this.
“You do not get to deny me, Braddock! That company is mine!”
“You and your family did a great service for my company, Jennifer, and I am forever grateful. But you bet on the wrong horse.” She stares a hole right through Mason. “That man lies, and that’s why I’m confident that there is no sex tape to humiliate my daughter.”
“What about the rest?” Mason asks, finally breaking his silence. Braddock shrugs.
“Bring it on, Mason. I’m prepared to answer for my crimes.” With that, Glory begins to walk away from the pair. A smile creeps across her face as she walks away. For a long time she has been struggling with what she wanted to represent. For the better part of a year she had represented the worst of humanity; arguably, she was at times as bad as Mason and Jennifer. But now she finally feels free of that burden.
Will it be easy from here? Of course not. Mason Van Stanton may very well deliver on his threats and despite Glory believing otherwise, he may very well have a sex tape to humiliate Melinda. But she and her family are prepared to face the coming storm together, united.
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December 19th, 2020
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
On Camera
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It is dark at night with just a few lone spotlights shining down, including the natural spotlight of the moon, which in reality is just a reflection of the suns rays off of the moon’s surface itself. Still creates for a brilliant spectacle outside of the FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, the arena that will play host for the final Breakdown of the year. It is still and silent out here, eerily silent; but that all is put to an end when the clicking of heels across the hard pavement are heard. A few moments later the source of the clicking presents itself; it is none other than Glory Braddock, who steps into view from stage right. The British Bombshell is wearing denim jeans, black high heel boots, and a purple silk blouse. Her long blonde hair is left straight and unrestrained to past the shoulders. Her SCW Adrenaline Championship title belt is draped over her right shoulder. A confident grin is etched across her lovely features.
“All I want for Christmas is to beat Asher Hayes, clean, in the center of the ring, without any bloody shenanigans.” Braddock says as a slight chuckle escapes her lips.
“It seems that our paths constantly cross, just like ships in the night, problem is there’s always an annoying little sea serpent that keeps getting between us in some way. That was the problem Captain Ahab faced, an obsession with killing that white whale Moby Dick. He wanted to kill that bloody whale but he never could finish the task. He never could get the job done. And in a funny way, that story of the mad Captain and the White Whale describes you and me. We both want a definitive end but something has always gotten in the way.” Braddock pats her Adrenaline Championship title belt that rests over her shoulder. “Remember our first encounter? This little baby certainly remembers it, because on that night you beat me, but it was by disqualification when I cracked your skull open with it.”
Braddock nods her head. “I’ll be the first to admit my faults and I will own that one. That was part of why I wanted to have the rematch with you, one on one, this time for the Adrenaline Championship I possessed AND for the Television title that you held near and dear. It was one of the biggest main events in Breakdown history, Glory Braddock versus Asher Hayes in a winner take all match.” The British Bombshell sighs deeply and shakes her head.
“Unfortunately it was not to be, because once again selfishness and greed got in the way. Not my selfishness and certainly not your greed, but instead the selfishness and greed of Tommy Valentine got in the way of a clean finish. He ambushed me, leading to a disqualification victory for yours truly.” A smirk, almost smug grin forms on Braddock’s face. “And yet deep down in your heart and sole you know that you have Tommy Valentine to thank for your continued Television Title reign. Were it not for him I would be standing here today as not only the Adrenaline Champion but as the Television Champion as well because I had you dead to rights. I had you beaten.”
She shrugs her shoulders. “Then again we’ll never know if you would have actually kicked out of Gloria In Excelsis Deo, will we? Just like we will never know if you would have beaten me a few weeks prior. And that pisses me off, Asher. Hell, it should piss off any competitor, but it really pisses me off because I pride myself on getting into the ring and proving myself as one of the best if not THE very best to ever wrestle. But you can’t do that with these cheap endings. So yeah, ever since that cheap disqualification victory I earned over you on Breakdown I have been counting down the days to match number three; which you could say is the rubber match because we each own a disqualification win over the other. Knowing this business the way that I do I knew that a third match would almost certainly take place, it was just a matter of when. I just resigned myself to defending the Adrenaline Championship against whomever Sasha could come up with, whoever she found worthy to try and take this belt away from me.” Braddock chuckles lightly.
“Imagine my surprise when I found out that there would be a battle royal at Last Laugh to determine my next challenger and that you would be a part of that battle royal. Now you are already the Television Champion and we had two matches already end in controversy, you could have made a good case for getting the match without jumping through any hoops but that’s not your style. You wanted to earn your shot and I respect that. Needless to say I wasn’t at all surprised when you managed to earn your shot against me in that battle royal. And I was definitely pleased that you were my new challenger. I wasn’t exactly pleased with another pesky little insect getting involved in our business, but I’ll get to Shilo Valiant in a moment. Right now my entire focus is on you, Asher.” She points a finger at the camera, as if pointing directly at Asher himself.
“Captain Ahab and that White Whale are set to meet for round three. And this time there will be a definitive winner, this time our own variant of Moby Dick will come to its ultimate conclusion. The real question is which one of us is the whale and which of us is Captain Ahab? That question is the most important question when it comes to you and me, Asher. Anyone who has ever read that Herman Melville classic will tell you that there is a definitive outcome to the clash between the white whale and Captain Ahab. And allow me to spell it out for you, just in case you’ve been too busy to catch up on classic literature. Nearly all of Ahab’s men were gone, his ship was gone, but the mad captain was perched atop the whale and was ready to stab the beast to death with his menacing spear. But Ahab took his eye off the ball. Ahab lost focus. As a result the rope that was tied around the spear got wrapped around Ahab’s neck. The whale then swam off, dragging Ahab out to sea with him, and most likely causing Ahab’s death.”
The reigning Adrenaline Champion pats herself on the chest. “In case you haven’t noticed, I have been more focused than ever. And this Adrenaline Championship is evidence of that. The fact that I had you beaten on the October 28th edition of Breakdown is evidence of that fact. And you can believe that I will be better than I have ever been before in my entire career heading into this match against you on Breakdown with my Adrenaline Championship on the line, because this isn’t an obsession to me like it was with Ahab. For me this is simply me doing what I do better than almost everyone else; wrestle. That’s what you will have to do to take this title away from me...you are going to have to outwrestle the Best in the World. I guarantee that I will not lose focus on Breakdown. But what about you, Asher? Are you focused entirely on me? Sure, you dropped the Television Championship and that is an admirable move, but I still have my doubts about your focus. Seriously, mate, your mind has always been running in a million different directions. That’s just how you operate and that’s why you have rarely been able to grasp that brass ring. That’s why you typically come up short when the chips are down, especially against me. You lack focus. So tell me, where will your focus be, Asher? Will you focus on the tag team series with Cid Turner as part of AC Unit? Oh, or maybe you’re worried about more outside interference, perhaps from Shilo Valiant or maybe from Tommy and Kandis? You do seem to enjoy provoking them on social media quite a bit, mate. You also have Matt Hodges and Chad Evans to focus on.”
Braddock sighs deeply and shakes her head. “Sad to say, Asher, I think you are the Captain Ahab of this story. But that shouldn’t be a surprise, because that has been the story of your career. You start to gain momentum, you reach up to that brass ring, but then you start to lose focus just as you always do and you fail. And that’s why I am so confident of beating you and retaining my SCW Adrenaline Championship. When the pressure is on you always lose focus and that’s simply not a mistake you can afford to make against me. You will lose focus and I will put an end to you…” she snaps her fingers “...just like that! Your head will be in a noose of your own creation and you will be drug out to sea, just like Captain Ahab.”
The British Bombshell narrows her gaze as she stares coldly into the camera. “As far as Shilo goes, I am giving you one warning and one warning only, mate. Stay out of this. You may think you are all that and maybe in SCW you are a legend, but I’m not going to stand there in awe of your presence. If you think I’m some green flower who will be fooled by your games then you are deeply mistaken. I am Glory Braddock and I am not someone you want as an enemy. If you want to fight me, then you can just sit on your happy ass and wait. I will beat Asher, retain the championship, and then I’ll defend against you if that’s what you deranged mind wants. But this title match on Breakdown is between me and Asher, it doesn’t involve you. If you stick your nose where it doesn’t belong, then I swear to God that when we do meet in the ring, I will choke your ass out. And that is no laughing matter.” She shuts her eyes.
“Sic Semper Tyrannis…”
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