The video begins and we see a painting of a windmill surrounded by tulips. The brushwork is modern and yet with an element of flair to it and overall the painting is truly striking in all the best ways. The camera focuses on the painting a moment long before zooming out, and as we do we see that next to the painting on the table that it’s resting on is a pair of yellow clogs. After a few seconds the camera spins around and Zoe Sperling, better known to the wrestling world by her ring name of Syren, stands holding the camera with a smirk on her face. “Pretty, right?” she asks, beginning to laugh a little. “Ok, so maybe it’s a bit TOO Dutch but c’mon, I don’t get to do the whole European Tour thing very much and I’m determined to make the most of it, because this country is freaking AMAZING! Seriously, I’ve only been here a few days and I’ve done a lot of the ‘touristy’ things while I’ve been here, so maybe I’m a little biased in that regard, but honestly I have had SO MUCH FUN while I’ve been here. I know what people think when they think about the Netherlands – especially when they think about Amsterdam – and it’s not just about the fact that the team did amazing in the soccer. They think about legal prostitution, they think about weed, they think about all these controversial things and I admit that I did too. In fact before this trip if you asked me to pick something that I knew about the Netherlands I’d probably have picked one of those two things, and then been all huffy about it. The truth though is this country is awesome!”

“Ok, so there’s legal prostitution, and I’m not exactly a fan of that – even if they say it is the world’s oldest profession – but at least I guess making it legal helps regulate and it and keeps the girls safer, so that’s a plus, right? But here’s some stuff that you might not have known about this country that I’ve found out that makes me totally love it. Ok, first of all there are the windmills! I bought this painting today from an artist on the street, isn’t it cute? I love it. And this country is famous for sights like this one. It’s totally scenic and beautiful in places, which gives it a crazy difference from its super negative reputation. Secondly, people here are so confident! People know me by now, they know I have a habit of getting in my own head and getting all doubty and I’m working on that, honestly I am, but just being around these people helps me feel more confident,” she says jokingly. “Seriously though, they are confident. And one thing I found out about them as well is that they’re like so unprejudiced. And that is crazy refreshing. I mean how many people in the US are always looking on homosexuality and preaching about how it’s wrong? I mean you can’t go a week without someone telling you that gay people should be locked up until they die out – because, you know, apparently stupid people think that’s how it’ll work but whatever – and in the Netherlands that just doesn’t happen. People here are so relaxed, so understanding. It’s not even ‘tolerant’ because they don’t ‘tolerate’ it, they totally embrace it!”

She nods her head happily. “Um, what else?” she asks before looking at the shoes and laughing. “Oh, and there’s the shoes! Ok, so the Netherlands isn’t the only place to have wooden shoes, but aren’t they the cutest? They’re called ‘klomps’ and they’re totally awesome! Like, seriously, Ravyn had to stop me from buying like twenty pairs. Why am I telling you all this? Well, first off because I want to thank the people here for being so welcoming and so friendly, I want to thank them for helping me have the most fun I’ve had on tour in a long time, and I want to thank them for introducing me to their culture. It’s been such an adventure and I’m so happy to have shared it all with you guys! Dutch FFW fans rock! Ok, so all FFW fans rock but... you get what I’m saying. Secondly, I’m telling you this because a little later tonight I’ll be over in the Amsterdam Arena competing in the Amsterdam leg of the FFW international tour. And thirdly, well I’ve just had fun and isn’t that what this tour is all about? It’s about bringing FFW to the people who get to see it on their television screens but don’t get to experience it in person. It’s about bringing the fun, and the competition, to them, and tonight they’re going to get plenty of both. Tonight we’ve got incredible matches, we’ve got titles on the line, we’ve got everything that anyone could want from an FFW show, and I personally have got one of the most exciting challenges of my FFW run so far, once again teaming with the Infamous.”

She laughs and pouts. “I know, boo, hiss, Maddie is evil, she’s so wrong and despicable and we all hate her, boo, she sucks. Yah, I know, I hear that from you guys all the time, and what’s worse is I hear it from like EVERY opponent. It’s getting kind of boring now. I mean, what happened to ‘if you can’t say something nice’...” she asks before beginning to laugh. “Oh, right, this is professional wrestling, where basically people think their job is to be a giant BITCH to everyone in order to strike fear in to their hearts or whatever. Seriously, what is up with that? I’m not saying that I wish more people would hug it out or whatever, that’s not what this business is about at all, but when even the supposedly GOOD people turn in to giant catty bitches the moment that you go up against them don’t you think there’s something fundamentally wrong? What happened to respect? What happened to showing respect for your competition and for your opponents? Apparently that’s a foreign concept to some people. It’s not a foreign concept to me though, because you know what guys, I’ve been doing this for more than five years now – yep, totally celebrated my fifth year in the business this week – and if there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s that being a total bitch all the time to everyone you face, and given them a whole bunch of reasons why you hate them, doesn’t make you big or tough, it just makes you look like a spiteful bitch. Unfortunately that’s the way this business goes. It’s what it turns even the nicest people in to.”

She rolls her eyes and lets out a sigh. “The truth is this week I hoped I was going up against nice people. Now I know Maddie is basically the polar opposite of nice, I’m pretty sure if you told her what the nice thing to do was she’d do the exact opposite of it just to spite you because, well, she’s Maddie, but when I heard who our opponents were this week, when I heard that we were up against the Shades of the Sun, and up against three former champions, three of the best that FFW have to offer, I thought that this could finally be the week where things were different. I thought that if ever there was going to be a match about mutual respect, about competition, about the pride that comes from competing in that ring, that this would be the one. But what I find myself up against this week isn’t respect, it isn’t the acknowledgement of talent on both sides of the ring, instead it’s the typical bullshit you get from every opponent. It’s people talking down to you. Its a thousand reasons why you suck and they rule. And quite honestly, it’s insulting,” she says before rolling her eyes again. “What’s most insulting though, what REALLY got me more than anything is that it’s not even CREATIVE insulting, it’s just the same old shit from yet more people! Is that what we’re reduced to? Is that what FFW is all about? Is it just about talking shit about people? Because if it is then maybe I was wrong about so many of the things I thought about this company. You see I didn’t come here to talk shit about people. I came here to earn respect!”

“That’s a concept that clearly a lot of people don’t get, but let me break down for you exactly what that means. Respect for your opponents doesn’t mean looking at them as inferior pieces of trash, it means looking at their strengths and their weaknesses together, it means acknowledging the great things they’ve done in their careers, and it means getting in that ring and proving you can be better than they are. Instead what I hear from so many people is in fact just two different people talking down about everything. So instead of rising above the hatred, they sink down to it. Instead of looking at someone like Maddie McTaggert and all the negative things she’s done and vowing NOT to be like her, instead they reduce themselves to her level and think that that makes them special. Newsflash for you girls, it doesn’t. Sinking down to someone’s level doesn’t make you better than them, and is that the kind of example we want to set for the world to follow?” she asks, shaking her head adamantly. “Now I’ve heard everything everyone’s got to say about me. I’ve heard how I’m ‘not the best female wrestler in the world’ – like, seriously, you guys are OBSESSED with telling me that EVERY GODDAMN MATCH, can we not figure out something else to say by now? – or how they think I shamed myself or shamed anyone else by acting CARING about my career and my standing in the company. Now I openly dispute both of those things. Let’s start with the second, shall we? Girls are still getting their panties in a bunch over my reaction to losing.”

She just lets out a sigh. “I’m sorry that I cared. I’m sorry that I wanted to win. I’m sorry that I wanted to make something of myself. I’m sorry that I can’t be like everyone else and I can’t shrug my shoulders and say ‘oh, yeah, well that sucked anyway’ when I failed at something that I wanted to achieve, because it didn’t suck. It mattered. And I’m sorry that ACTUALLY CARING about succeeding in this company is apparently viewed as a negative. I’m sorry about those things, but I’m not about to change. You see I do care. I wear my heart on my sleeve. When I tell you that I care about something you’re damn right I’m not going to be happy if I fail at it, because – and this ties back in to that first bit that people are always going on about – I want to be the best. I compete in this ring EVERY CHANCE I GET because I want to be THE BEST! And every time I lose, every time I fail, every time I suffer a setback it stings. It hurts me. But you know what I do? Every time I suffer a setback I get back up and I fight HARDER because whether people show me respect for the things I’ve done or look down their noses at me won’t change the fact that I’m here to earn my way all the way to the top,” she says proudly. “And this week I get a little chance to do that. This week I get an opportunity to step in to the ring against three former champions, three tough girls, three great competitors, and I get a chance to make them eat every negative thing they’ve had to say about me. It’s a chance I’m not only excited about; it’s a chance I’m dying for.”

“This week the Infamous team up for the second time, and we aim to show the world that individually or collectively we’re looking to prove that we can live up to every little bit of hype that’s come our way. Now if you don’t like the fact that the t-shirt says I’m the Best Female Wrestler in the World then you’re DEFINITELY not going to like the fact that Ravyn and I once considered ourselves the best TAG TEAM in the World, but we did. We did because we were on the road together ever single week, fighting every team we could, proving ourselves against every challenge that came our way, and despite everything I’ve gone on to do since then, despite being able to say that I’m a three-time World Heavyweight Champion, I still look back on those days as some of the best of my life. You see I’ve never looked at tag team wrestling as ‘that thing you do when you can’t get a singles match’. I’ve gone out of my way to establish myself as a top star in the tag team division. I’ve teamed with boyfriends, I’ve teamed with Ravyn – and anyone who knows our history knows how important she is to me – and I’ve even teamed with relative strangers. I’ve competed in Trios Tournaments, I’ve competed in Tag Team Showcases, I have gone above and beyond to prove to the world what tag team wrestling means to me, and honestly there is nothing I want more than to prove myself as a tag team competitor all over again. But unlike other girls I’m not going to say ‘well give me a title match’ because I want someone to GIVE me a match, I want to EARN it!”

“That’s what this week is about. This week the Infamous get a chance to EARN our spot, to EARN our place on the card, and to show the world what the three of us can do as a team. And why wouldn’t we want that? I get to team with my two best friends, two people I trust with my life, against three best friends who have a point to prove themselves. They have a hell of a point to prove as well, because this week the Shades of the Sun have everything to lose but I know that no matter what I say here, the Infamous go in as underdogs, right? Why wouldn’t we? We’re going up against three of the best. I said that before, but it’s so very true. We’re up against The Rocking Kittens, Alysson Gardner and Gabrielle Crimson, two girls who’ve already accomplished so much. I know that Alysson at least, if not all of you, likely want to rip Maddie apart for what she did to the title that Alysson once held with pride as well. Well I’m not exactly a fan of her actions there, and nor am I a fan of Ultraviolence wrestling, but believe it or not I am a fan of Alysson Gardner,” she says with a laugh. “That’s kind of hard to admit as well, considering that she’s been something of a bitch to me, but whatever, I can be the bigger person. I can admit that I’m a fan of yours. I can admit that I’m a fan of your spirit. I can admit that I’m a fan of your determination, and I can admit that the G-Effect is one of my favourite moves in this sport. But as much as I may be a fan of yours Alysson, this week I see you as an obstacle for me to overcome.”

“See I’ve already told you that I want to be the best, and being the best doesn’t just mean showing up for the big matches, it means giving it everything every time you get in to that ring. Now I wish I was in that ring more. I wish I was competing every week. But I’m not. I get to sit on the sidelines and I get to watch a lot of very, very talented competitors compete, and now they’ve given me this chance and Aly, I aim to take it. Because as good as you are sweetie, I need to be better. If I can take on the ‘Goddess of Extreme’ and overcome her then that backs up everything I’ve said since I walked through the door. It not only backs it up though, it also backs up the right that the Blondetourage, Dark Fantasy and Infamous have at getting a chance to raise gold over our heads as a unit because we’re not just against the Shades of the Sun, we’re against the Rocking Kittens too,” she says before nodding. “And the pair of you, you and Gabrielle, are great as individuals and great as a team. Former Ultraviolence Champion, former Future Shock Champion, two incredible competitors with a bond between them stronger than anything! And you think that bond is unbreakable. You think that bond will carry you to any limits. Well I’ve had that bond before, and I know exactly what it means. I know how far you’ll push yourselves for each other, because I’ve pushed myself that far. I know how hard you’ll fight for each other, because I’ve fought that hard. I know the lengths you’ll go to for each other, because I’ve been to those lengths.”

“You see this is what I find funny about girls who talk shit without learning the facts first, they run off at the mouth without any clue who they’re dealing with. Now maybe Ravyn and me aren’t known in FFW as much as we’d like to be, maybe our reputation doesn’t quite proceed us as much as I wish it did, but if you think we’re just a pair of individuals you couldn’t be more wrong. Ravyn and I have been through everything together. We grew up in this business together. We’ve fought against impossible odds together. And whenever I’ve needed anyone to be in my corner, or whenever she’s needed anyone to be in hers, we’ve always known we can turn and find the other one there. We’re more than just a tag team; she’s my world, and Maddie? Well she’s my best friend. I don’t care what it says about me to have someone like Maddie as my best friend because you all choose to see one side of her, and I choose to see another. I choose to see the caring side. I choose to see the side that was there for me when I needed her. But you want to look down on us and think that we’re individuals? Nuh-uh bitches, and this week we’re going to show you how wrong you are,” she says with a grin. “This week we have everything to prove and we’re GOING to prove it. We’re going to prove it to the Rocking Kittens, we’re going to prove it to former champions, and we’re going to prove it to Valerie Lamb, my first former FFW Champion opponent, and someone I’m itching to get in the ring against.”

“You see Val I’m not going to stand here and talk DOWN about you, because the truth is I look UP to you. You’re one of the best there has EVER been in this industry, and you’ve got the résumé to prove it. They call you a LEGEND and they do it for the right reasons, because you ARE a legend. There are only ten women in four years who’ve been able to stand at the top of FFW, and you did that with pride. You cemented your legacy forever with that victory, and a legacy I’ll freely admit I’m incredibly jealous of. But Val, when you make it to the top it may be a defining moment, but it also puts a target on your back. Now you probably think I don’t know much about that, and I wish I knew MORE about it in FFW, but I do, and I know that right now you’ve got a target shining so brightly on your back. You’re a former FFW Champion, and that means for women like me, women who want to prove they can get to that near-impossible goal, women who want to prove themselves as the top competitors in the industry, then you’re one of the ones to beat. I was asked not too long ago who I wanted to face in FFW, and your name was on the list. You see Val, I respect the hell out of you and it will be my honour to fight you tonight, but make no mistake when I get in that ring the respect I have for you and everything you’ve done won’t mean anything when it comes to my desire to beat you,” she says determinedly. “And that’s the difference between us Val, because I don’t need to look down my nose to want to win this match.”

“Facing you – beating you – would be the highlight of my FFW career so far, and it’s something that I want more than I can express. I mean you’re the girl who’s done everything. You’ve been in the biggest matches on the biggest shows, not just in FFW but all over the world. I know Mads has all kinds of issues with you from outside FFW, but sweetie I’ve been an admirer of yours since I first saw you and Jeremiah teaming. I’ve seen you break boundaries. I’ve seen you shatter glass ceilings. I’ve seen you accomplish things that people said were IMPOSSIBLE for a woman in this business before you DID them! That’s why just stepping in to the ring with you will be an honour for me, but like I said sweetie, it just makes me more determined to do whatever it takes to win,” she says before pausing and looking down at the t-shirt she’s wearing. It’s pink, it has her heart-logo on the front, and she looks up again and smiles. “Earlier on I said I wear my heart on my sleeve, and I do, but I also wear a heart on my shirt. It’s what I try to show every time I step in to the ring. Nothing means more to me than competing in this business – NOTHING – and this week I aim to show that and more. This week is the most star-studded match I’ve been a part of, and I’ve already tasted what it’s like to lose in FFW, I don’t intend on having a repeat performance. So this week it’s three girls who haven’t held a title in this company against three who have, and this week it’s about Madelyne McTaggert, Ravyn Taylor and Syren truly proving why we’re INFAMOUS! Now I could have said a lot of spiteful things about my opponents this week but that’s not my style, I will say this though – if it’s our hands being raised, if it’s our music playing loud, do something for me, ok? BE TOTALLY JEALOUS!”

She kisses the lens of the camera before winking at it. The video ends at that point and the replay button flashes up on the screen.