The video begins and we find ourselves in a bedroom, but not one of the ones we’re used to seeing. This room seems more like it belongs to a teenager, but the decoration looks dated. The bed is covered with a pink and white duvet with a large number of pillows and stuffed toys near the top of the bed. On the walls are a few very faded looking posters, the one of which stands out the most seeming to be for the Pussycat Dolls. We hear a familiar laugh for a moment before Zoe Sperling steps in to the shot with an amused look on her face as she looks around the room. “You know I haven’t come back here a whole lot in quite a few years, but whenever I do it always feels like stepping back in time,” she says to the camera before smirking a little and shaking her head slowly. “I guess I should welcome you guys, because this is the room I grew up in. It’s changed a lot over the years, at one point there was NSYNC posters on the wall – I know, I was crazy about them, but then I was like twelve at the time they broke up so give me a little credit – but mostly the colours and the furniture remained pretty consistent for a very long time. I remember getting ready for what felt like the biggest moments of my life at that dresser right there. You know the ones I mean, right? Those dances in high school that felt like the most important things in the universe.”

She laughs and shakes her head slowly as she continues to look around the room. “I know, when I look back at all that stuff it seems so crazy now but there was genuinely a time once that having the right dress to wear to a dance meant more to me than anything else in the world. That’s what happens when you’re young though. The small stuff seems so vital. Being popular means more than anything. The biggest worry you’ve got in the world is whether or not you’ll get a zit before the class photos. Then you grow up and you look back and it all seems so small. There was a lot of unimportant stuff that happened in this room over the years that I thought without which the world would end, but there was some important stuff too. This is where I used to come when I was feeling low. This is where I used to hide out when things didn’t go my way. This is where I used to dream,” she says, a smile slowly spreading across her face as she thinks back. “Obviously I had some pretty lame dreams. I used to dream that Bobby Hampton would ask me to the dance. If you’re watching this then hi Bobby, there was a time when I thought you asking me out mattered more than oxygen. But while there was some lame dreams this is also where the most important dreams of my life, the ones that ended up defining my life, happened as well. Whether I was happy or sad I used to lay on this bed and dream about the future…”

She laughs again, sitting down on the bed and then laying down, looking up at the ceiling and just lying there for a few moments before she starts smiling again. “You know I can’t even count the number of times I lay here and I used to imagine what my future would be like. I used to lay here and I used to dream. I used to imagine where I’d be in the future. I used to imagine the important moments in my life. A lot of them used to follow the same theme. I used to dream about being a star, “ she says, smiling again before shaking her head and sitting up, rolling her eyes at the camera. “Well, here we are, it’s been a long time since high school and I guess that dream has come true in it’s own special way. I’m not the anonymous girl I was in high school anymore, the one that nobody thought was pretty enough, the one that didn’t develop until after all the other girls leaving her feeling inferior to them all, and the one that needed ‘improve’ herself just to feel like she belonged. Instead today I’ve become a star in my own right, I’m one of the most talked about people in the world – most of it really not that good – and I feel like I can’t go anywhere without people talking about me and judging me and… well, I got what I wanted I guess, right? I grew up and I became famous, and I realised that it wasn’t what I really wanted.”

She lets out a sigh and shakes her head slowly before shrugging her shoulders. “You know just recently I got asked if I would do a talk to a bunch of kids as part of an SCW program to reach out to the young fans. It’s a really cool scheme where we go and give positive messages to young people, to help inspire them and to give back. I got to talk to a whole bunch of impressionable young people, like I was impressionable once, but when I actually stood up there to do that, to talk to them, I didn’t know what I was going to say. I mean I couldn’t exactly tell them to work hard and study hard, could I? We all know that I’m not exactly a role model for working hard in school. I hated school. I used to dream about what it would be like to get out of school and start my life. I also couldn’t tell them about the importance of being themselves and being secure in who they are because, as I just said, I spent most of my high school years wishing desperately that I could be anything else and I needed ‘improvements’ on my original self before I felt in any way comfortable,” she says, looking down at her chest for a moment before shrugging her shoulders. “So I stood there at this podium in front of all these kids with this speech in hand and I realised how hypocritical it all was. I couldn’t talk about any of it because I was guilty of all of it when I was their age.”

She shrugs her shoulders again and lets out another sigh. “So, I panicked. For a moment I totally panicked. And then I started talking, and I went totally off script but I told them the truth. I told them that I understood how hard it was to be where they were. I told them that I understood how difficult it was to be judged by everyone around them, and I told them that that wouldn’t necessarily finish when they left high school either. I mean I’m probably one of the most condemned, one of the most hated people in the SCW locker room, and that’s so hard to deal with sometimes. It feels like the whole world is against me, mostly because they kind of are, and a few weeks ago I had to try to fight my way through sixty three others to get an opportunity, this Sunday I’ll have to try to fight my way through twenty nine others for the same opportunity, and I already know that if I fail I have no backup plan, no second chances… if I fail then I have nothing,” she says before laughing again. “And when you put it like that it sounds bad, right? Well you’ll be glad to know I didn’t stand in front of a bunch of kids and tell them they were totally doomed, even if I do feel a lot of the time that I am personally. That probably wouldn’t have gone over well. Like I said, I told them the truth. I told them that whatever they dream, no matter how insane it might be, they could make a reality. I know, because I did.”

She laughs again before smiling at the camera. “I laid right here in this room and I dreamt about standing in the spotlight. I laid right here and I dreamt about being in a room full of people cheering me. I laid right here and I dreamt about being a star, and making a difference, and I didn’t know that it would be professional wrestling that would get me there but I did that. I turned a naïve dream of a little girl wanting to be anywhere but where she was in to a reality, and I did by following my heart, by giving everything I had and by never giving up.  And I told those kids that. I told them that that’s what I did, and I told them that there have been so many times that I’ve wanted to give up. I told them that there were so many times when people told me that I should give up. They tell me on almost a weekly basis that I’m not good enough. They tell me on almost a daily basis that I can’t compare to everyone else. They tell me over and over that I’m done, that I’m going to get destroyed, that they’re going to take everything away from me, and sometimes they’re right but so, so many times they’re not and no matter how many times they tell me to I never, ever give up,” she says with a passion in her voice. “So that’s what I told them. I told them no matter what the bullies of this world say to you, no matter what they try and take from you, and no matter how many times they knock you down the one thing you’ve got to do is get back up, be proud of who you are, and never stop believing.”

“I told them that the most important thing that any of us can do is stand tall and be proud of the things that make us different, because as much as I’m criticised for them I’m proud of the things that make me different. And I’ve lied about them in the past, I’ve hidden them thinking that it was better that I fit in, but I don’t and I never will. That’s not something I should be ashamed about though. That’s not something I should try to hide. That’s what gives us strength, that’s what makes us special, and honestly it’s what makes life worth living, because if everyone was the same life would get really, really boring, right? Yet the truth is that when you take a long look around how many people around you are just the same?” she asks, shaking her head slowly. “I look around SCW every week and I see that I lot. I see the same people saying the same things. I see the same bullies using the same bullshit tactics to get what they want. I see so many interchangeable people that sometimes it’s hard to remember who did what and when because they’re all doing the same things, they’re all trying the same shortcuts, they’re all telling everybody else the way it should be and blaming everyone else for their problems. But see that’s the thing about this Sunday, blaming everyone else won’t make a difference because this Sunday all you can do is stand and fight.”

“That’s the positive thing about this Sunday for sure. Thirty people queue up to enter the Battle Royal and there’s only one who can walk away. There can be no doubt then that that one person has earned it. But that’s the negative side of it as well because there are going to be twenty-nine people doing everything they can to eliminate you, twenty-nine people who all want that spot for themselves and twenty-nine people who know that this is their one shot. When you look at the field it doesn’t exactly favour someone like me either. I mean sure last year the improbable happened and, for the first time in history, we had a female winner, but so much had to go right for that to happen. This year what are the chances of that again when you’ve got alliances entering the match, when you’ve got multiple members of Silas World entering the match, and let’s not forget the fact that this year, amongst the bodies that is going to be in this thing, is nothing less than a true living monster,” she says, taking a deep breath before letting out a long sigh. “Do you guys remember what happened the last time I stood in the ring with that monster? He picked me up like I was nothing and threw me into the Elimination Chamber, knocking me out cold, giving me another in a long list of scars I’ve picked up in this business, and going on to conquer all and win the World title.”

She puts a hand on her head, about where that scar would be, and sits there for a moment before beginning to laugh a little. “So I’d be lying if I said that the thought of Blitzkrieg returning, right in time for Taking Hold of the Flame, wasn’t just a little bit intimidating, because it is. I’d also be lying if I said that the thought that multiple members of Silas World entering this thing wasn’t intimidating as well. That’s probably the best way that a woman could win this thing again as well: team up with someone else and hope to narrow the field. So why don’t I do the same thing? Why don’t I make an alliance with Ravyn Taylor? Maybe I will. But ultimately this Sunday we both want the same thing. Ravyn wants to win this thing just the same way that I do, she wants to go on to Rise to Greatness to prove a point to the world just the same way that I do, and I’ve already promised the world that I’ll go through everyone, including her, to get that opportunity. I meant it. So with everything that’s against me, with everything I’ve already mentioned and so much more on top of it, like chair-wielding sociopaths who’ve already proven they’ll do anything, including injuring people, to get what they want, what chance do I stand?” she asks before smiling at the camera again. “But see, that’s the thing about this room, that’s the thing about a dream: it’s not always realistic.”

“It’s not realistic for me to tell you that a five foot four woman could overcome a ring full of the most dangerous individuals in this business. It’s not realistic for me to tell you that someone who I’ve already told you barely has a friend in the world could hope to eliminate anyone on Sunday, let alone be the last one standing when it’s all over. It’s not realistic for me to tell you that it could happen, but then what about the things I’ve done is, when you really think about it?” she asks before smiling again. “It was a little less than three years ago that I stood in the ring on Friday Night Ammo – remember that show? – and I got told that the Board of Directors was naming me the Interim World Champion. It was one of the greatest moments of my life, topped at that point only possibly by the fact that on the previous Breakdown I’d beaten three World Champions in one night to get the opportunity at the title in the first place. Now tell me, is either one of those things realistic? On paper would anyone have backed me, at that stage, to Katie Steward, Lucas Knight and David Helms on the same night? Would anyone have backed me to beat them at all, for that matter? But I did it. And would anyone have backed me to hold that title the way that I did, to overcome three challengers my very first pay per view holding it by pinning two more former World Champions in the same night, Lucas again and Tommy Valentine? No, they wouldn’t.”

“Nobody would have backed that because nobody would believe that it would happen. The fact is that it’s not even close to realistic. But I did it! Just like nobody would have backed me to win one Trios Tournament, considering the odds against me, let alone win three of them back to back to back. It’s crazy to even think about the odds involved in doing that, right? But I did it! It’s insane when you think what the odds of me winning the World title were, what the odds of me retaining against someone like Brittany Lohan were, what the odds of me pushing myself to the limit for an entire year before finally getting to Rise to Greatness last year, in a Fatal Fourway match, and overcoming once again three World Champions to raise that title high over my head. What are the odds that someone like me, someone my size, could go on to become the longest reigning World Champion in SCW history? They’re astronomical, right? When you think about everyone else who fell short of the record set by a true legend in the business, and another monster in his own right, in Xander Valentine then what were the chances that someone like me could ever hope to overcome that? But I did it,” she says again with passion and pride. “When I laid in this room, when I looked up at that ceiling, and when I used to dream about the future I knew what I was dreaming about was going to be hard, I was told what I was dreaming about was completely unrealistic and likely impossible, and yet I kept dreaming, I kept pursuing it, I kept believing in myself and I accomplished the impossible just by being here today!”

She laughs and nods her head. “See, that’s the thing about dreams. They’re not realistic. If they were we wouldn’t dream them, right? We’d just get up and do them without a problem. Yet here I am, having accomplished the unrealistic, having fulfilled my dreams before, with another dream in front of me right now, and that dream is overcoming twenty-nine others, overcoming the odds again, standing tall in the middle of that ring and winning Taking Hold of the Flame 2015. It won’t be easy. It’ll be damn near impossible, in fact. But I’ve spent six years in this company taking on the impossible week after week and I’ll be damned if I’m stopping now,” she says, only a modicum of confidence in her voice admittedly but a lot of pride there as well. “It was in this room that I dreamt about my future, and it’s in this room that I’m dreaming about it again. This Sunday I’ve got one chance. This Sunday I’ve got one opportunity. This Sunday I’ve got one night to make my dream of headlining Rise to Greatness again a reality, to make my dream of finally – after year after year of trying before – winning this impossible match a reality. This Sunday I’ve got one chance in thirty, and those odds definitely do not look good, but I’ve faced down impossible odds before and I’ve overcome them and one once again.”

“I’m not asking you to believe me. I’m not asking you to back me. I know that you’ve heard it all before. I know that there are twenty-nine others telling you the same thing. I even know that I don’t even know the whole depth of the challenge ahead of me because god, anyone could come out of that curtain this Sunday, right? We’ve got one monster guaranteed, who knows how many more we could have. I know you won’t believe me but that doesn’t worry me. All I know is that this Sunday I’m not going down. This Sunday I’m not giving up. This Sunday I’m going to fight with everything I have, I’m going to scratch and I’m going to claw and I’m going to hold on for dear life when I have to. This Sunday I’m going to put everything on the line because this Sunday there is no plan B, there is no backup, there is no second chance and there are no do overs. This Sunday I win, I conquer another impossible feat, and I go to Rise to Greatness to win back the SCW World Heavyweight Championship and become a four-time World Champion or I get thrown from the ring, I end up with nothing, and I sit on the side-lines watching. Those are the options. That’s the choice I have, so what else am I going to do?” she asks before smiling again. “So don’t tell me it’s impossible. Don’t tell me it’s something I can’t do. Don’t tell me it won’t happen. This Sunday I have a dream to make reality and it’s do or die. I fail and I get nothing, but I overcome the odds one more time and all who doubt me can JUST BE JEALOUS!”

She takes a deep breath again before kissing her fingers and blowing the kiss at the camera. The video ends there and fades out to black before the replay button flashes up on the screen.