The video begins and we find ourselves at the home of Zoe Sperling, better known to the wrestling world as four-time SCW World Champion, Syren. She sits in front of the camera in a pink t-shirt and blue jeans, with rainbow bands around each of her wrists, and looks into the camera with a smile. “What’s happening guys? So, um… I’m not even sure where to start right now. You know part of me wants to focus on what I used to think was all important. Part of me wants to focus on the SCW World Championship, to talk about Ace Marshall, to talk about Rachel Foxx, to talk about James Evans, to talk about Taking Hold of the Flame, and to talk about everything that’s happened in the last few weeks. And that stuff’s important, you know? It should be talked about. But talking about the World Championship, and rematches, and all that stuff… well, it kind of seems pretty petty to me right now,” she admits before nodding her head slowly. “Then I could talk about Rise to Greatness, I could give the speech about ‘being on the road to Rise to Greatness’ and all that stuff, I could talk about Breakdown and the huge match that was announced for Rise to Greatness, a thirty-minute Ironwoman match between three of the best in the world, but that… well, that seems kind of far off and also… you know, not petty but not the most important thing in the world either, right? Because the most important thing in the world to me right now isn’t the World title, it isn’t Rise to Greatness, it isn’t Selena Frost this week on Breakdown, but I’ll get to that. It’s…”

She looks down at her wrists before looking up at the camera and shrugging her shoulders. “Yah, it’s Orlando, it’s what happened, it’s… I mean god, can we just stop for a moment and think about what happened? Forty-nine innocent people lost their lives. It was the worst terror attack since 9/11, and this one wasn’t foreign nationals who hate America coming over here and attacking us, this wasn’t part of a war against us, this was committed by one guy – one American guy – against a community that he may or may not have been a part of. And I know you guys tuned into this expecting me to be all like ‘Best Female Wrestler in the World’ and ‘four-time World Champion’ and all that but the thing that I want to talk about the most, the thing that shocked me to my very core, has nothing to do with wrestling. It has to do with evil. It has to do with hate. And that’s personal for me because it’s hatred against a community that I’m a big part of,” she says before pausing and nodding her head slowly. “And I know I don’t talk about that much. I know some of you think I should talk about it more. Some of you think I should talk about it less. I’ve always been kind of conflicted when it comes to that side of things as well. I mean I married Ravyn almost six years ago, we were a tag team back then, we were the first dual-female duo to really be a major tag team, to be the Tag Team Champions of the World, and we considered ourselves something of pioneers for the women’s division and women’s wrestling and women in this business, but we were more than that…”

She pauses again and puts her hands together before unclasping them and holding her left hand straight, looking down at it for a moment before turning it and holding it up to the camera. On her ring finger we can clearly see two rings, both her engagement and wedding rings that she’s been wearing on and off for the past five and a half years. “I love her,” she says finally before shrugging her shoulders. “That’s always been a weird topic to discuss with you guys, both because of who I am and who she is. You know, she’s not always been ‘Miss Popular’. When Dawn Lohan got attacked, even in spite of everything Ravyn has done, there were still plenty of people that pointed their finger and accused her of being the one behind it and that sucked, but it was kind of indicative of what you guys think about her. But I knew she didn’t do it. I knew she didn’t not because she was with me the whole time – although she WAS with me the whole time, so, you know, I knew she didn’t – but because I believed in her. I knew she had NOTHING to do with it because I believed in her. And I believe in her with so many other things as well, because she’s my WIFE and I love her. And we’re part of that community. We’re part of that lifestyle. And we’re perhaps even more controversial than that because of Alexander, because we’re ‘poly’, and for the longest time I’ve felt like an outsider because of that, I’ve felt like I needed to keep it quiet, not to rock the boat, that I needed to HIDE who I was so people would accept me, but now…? No, now I don’t want to hide it anymore.”

“So yah, I’m married to a woman, we’ve been ‘different’ for a long time, we’ve fought for equality and we’ve been victimised by a lot of people who told us that we were wrong to be what we are, who told us that we’re wrong to feel the way we feel, that told us that we’re not equal to them, that we don’t deserve the same rights as them, who told us that we shouldn’t be married, and I’ve kept quiet, and I’ve tried to deal with that, and I’ve tried to find ways to repress the ANGER at the way I was treated by some people, and you know what guys? I’m not going to do that anymore. So if you guys have a problem with who I am then… that’s too bad, really. And I know most of you don’t. Most of you are AMAZINGLY open minded. Most of you respect me, respect Ravyn, respect what we do in that ring and everything we’ve accomplished, but there are some of you who don’t, some of you who think we’re wrong, and… fuck you, quite frankly. Fuck you,” she says before shrugging her shoulders again and smiling. “You know I’m going to be a mom later this year? Yah, I told you guys that before. I’m not going into the full story, it’s long and complicated, but I’m going to be a mom and I’m not going to ashamed of who I am anymore, and who I am isn’t just a weird poly girl who has claimed in the past that she is the best in the world – something that I still believe, something that I’m going to prove over and over and over again – but who I am is someone who’s tired of letting evil be evil. Evil comes in a lot of forms… and I’m sick of all of them.”

She stops again for a moment before scoffing. “I thought I could inspire by becoming World Champion. That was my intention. I wanted to inspire change. I wanted to inspire this company to change. I wanted to inspire people within this company to fight for it, to fight against the monsters and the evil bitches and the self-promoting douche-canoes. I wanted to light a beacon in the darkness, turn to the world and tell them that EVIL doesn’t win, that GOOD can triumph, and then something like that happens, innocent people lose their lives, good people lose their lives, people who’ve done nothing wrong get killed simply for being WHO THEY ARE and it makes me realise that I wasn’t doing nearly enough. Maybe there’s some evil you can’t inspire people to rally against, because it makes the evil go that much deeper. Maybe there’s some things you’ve just got to stand up and FIGHT against. And no, we don’t have any mass murderers here, but we do have intolerance, we do have hatred, we do have bigotry, and ALL these things need to be stamped out. Somebody needs to fight for that, and I’m going to be the one who does that. And when you look at me I don’t know what you see. Do you see these?” she asks, pointing at her bracelets. “Do you see a poly girl, a bi-sexual, a ‘lesbian’ – whatever label you want to give me, because I’ve been given them all because none of you get that it’s not about any of that shit, it’s about LOVE, plain and simple – or do you see something else? Do you see four-time World Champion, two-time World Tag Team and Women’s Champion, four-time Female of the Year and three-time Trios Tournament winner?”

“I don’t care about the accomplishments. This isn’t about the accomplishments. HERE’S what you should see: you should see a woman who doesn’t sell out on her entire belief system for the approval of anyone. You should see a woman who fights for the right thing, even when it means she has to rally people who don’t even like her to her side to overcome. And you should see someone who’s sick and tired of the double-standards and the hypocrites and everything else, and is going to do something about that,” she says before nodding her head. “And that starts this week. Now this week is an interesting week, because I’m scheduled to go up against Selena Frost. And you guys know Selena Frost. She’s another girl in a high profile ‘different’ relationship. Unlike me she’s not tried to hide that. In fact, unlike me, she tends to thrust that in people’s faces a lot. I get the feeling like she’s the kind of girl who grew up wanting her entire high school to burst into song about how much in love she was in the cafeteria like in an eighties movie. And I’ll be honest with you guys, I kind of like that about her… sort of. It’s complicated, but I’ll get to that. The fact is that I like a LOT about Selena. I like her positivity. I like her determination. And back last year I liked the fact that, while others wouldn’t, Selena stood with Ravyn and me against the Monarchy. Selena worked with us to bring them down, even if it was just for one night. And on that one night Selena sacrificed herself for me. I’ll always be grateful for that. I’ll always be thankful to her.”

“So, you know, given what she’s about, given the kind of relationship she’s in, given how high profile she tries to make that, and given that she’s always trying to be so positive and ‘belief’ inspiring, you’d think that Selena and I would be the best of friends, right? Except that we’re not. We’re not the best of friends. In fact, we’re not even friends. And that might seem weird to you at first given how much it seems like, on the surface, we’ve got in common… but let’s take a look a little deeper, shall we? Because on the surface it does seem like we have a TON in common… but as soon as you start looking deeper you realise how different we are. Let’s take last year, as an example. Let’s take the war against the Monarchy as an example. And hell, let’s go further back than that. Let’s go back to Tactical Warfare, let’s go back to 2014, and David Helms’ poor, POOR decision making that left my team one person down, and let’s talk about who the final member of our team ended up being. You got it, Selena Frost! And that should make her a hero, right? She came out in my hour of need, when I’d risked EVERYTHING against the worst people to EVER be a part of this company – not even an exaggeration either – and she fought for us. That makes her a hero, right? Except no. It doesn’t. Because she didn’t fight for us. She fought for her,” she says, nodding her head. “That’s the truth. That’s the difference between us on both occasions. 2014 I put a potential World title shot, my wife’s safety, a rematch against a woman I hated, and maybe even a place on the fucking BOARD OF DIRECTORS on the line, to do the RIGHT THING and fight against evil. Selena? She did none of that. She put NOTHING on the line. She showed up at the last minute. And the she left again.”

“This is the part where you say ‘but Syren, she did the right thing, she fought for the cause, she helped you, why would you say that was nothing’? And I wouldn’t. It wasn’t nothing. I appreciated it a lot. I respected her a huge amount. But I got to thinking and… where was she before? Where was she after? She didn’t get involved because it was the right thing to do. David Helms did. Christy Matthews did. Ravyn Taylor did. You know, the one you guys all don’t trust. We covered that already. SHE stood up for the company. SHE did the right thing. Selena? She never stood up. She showed up when it suited her, got her payback, and left again. And against the Monarchy? Same thing again. She didn’t stand up against what they were doing. She didn’t want to fight the HORRIBLE things they did to GOOD people. She was pissed off that they went after her wife. She wasn’t honourably standing up against injustice. It was vengeance to her, and when she was done she fucked off again and she left us picking up the pieces,” she says before shaking her head. “And guys, I don’t want to have to say this, because the truth is that I WANT to like her. I WANT to respect her. I WANT all her positive messages to actually MEAN something. But they don’t. The only change she wants is for people to ‘bow to the queen’. And that’s my problem with Selena Frost. She wants people to ‘believe’, but not believe in making a difference, not believe in standing for something bigger than herself, but believe in her, focus on her, because where Selena is concerned she’s what matters most to her.”

She pauses for a moment, looking a little saddened. “And that’s pretty sad, you guys. Because I want her to be more. I want her to stand for more. But she’s so wrapped up in her own stuff that I don’t think she cares about anything else. She cares about rematches for the Adrenaline Championship, because they’re about her. She cares about Best of the Best, and proving herself there, because it’s about her. And full credit where credit is due, she is a FANTASTIC athlete, she is an INCREDIBLE performer, but at the end of the day she’s about her and her alone. And the worst part? I don’t think she even cares about SCW. I don’t. I know she cares about being on TV. I get that. I used to be like that. I know she cares about high profile contracts, and high profile matches, and jumping on planes to head to another company to get those, to get shots at other titles, to get on other pay per views, to get on other television shows, and while I’m here trying to fight for what I believe in, she’s on a plane to Germany or Egypt or wherever the next company is holding a show that she can try to make herself a star in,” she says before shaking her head. “Credit where credit is due, if you can handle all those trips, if you can handle those travel arrangements, then good for you, I guess. But what about the fans who pay for the Saturday night live events? I’m there every week. Selena? Well, it’s not on TV, is it? So I guess she’s not. So again, you want to know the difference between Syren and Selena Frost? There you have it. I’m about standing up for what’s right, fighting for what I believe in, and fighting for SCW. Selena… is about Selena. No wonder she wants to be Regan’s bestie, right?”

She laughs and shakes her head, looking a little guilty for the cheap shot. “What? C’mon guys, you know the history between me and Regan, and what I think about her as well. Regan is about Regan. Selena is about Selena. If they can actually get on for long enough to think about each other – and I mean genuinely think about each other, not say one nice thing to each other via tweet and follow it up with fourteen subtweets disrespecting each other – then good for them. But if that’s what you call friendship then there’s something wrong with you. If that’s what you call loyalty then maybe you need to look again at what loyalty really is. But if you want to talk motivation then this week I’ll tell you my motivation. My motivation is to step into the ring with one of the top performers on the roster, one of the top athletes in the world, a multi-time champion even if she’s a woman I have little respect for, and put on a show. And not just put on a show either, but win. My motivation this week is to take on one of the best and make a statement, and that statement is that this match isn’t about Syren, it isn’t about the World title, it isn’t about the Adrenaline title, it isn’t about who’s a contender for what or who’s getting what rematch. My motivation this week is to step into the ring, to leave everything there, and to make a difference. My motivation is to entertain, to fight, and to prove to the world you can be a good person, you can be a positive person, and you can still win without slaps to the face, cheap shots or demands,” she says positively. “And maybe those things aren’t what Selena Frost is all about… but she seems to have no problem with her ‘bestie’ doing them, does she?”

She pauses again, looking at her bracelets for a second longer before letting out a sigh. “I’m sorry, Selena. Considering everything that’s happened lately, considering the way the world looks at people like us, I feel like we should be working together to improve things, rather than trying to tear each other down. And like I said earlier, there’s part of me that likes the way you handle your relationship… but there’s another part that thinks you’re giving so many of us a bad name. Throwing it in people’s faces, wanting to sing and dance about how in love you are, using it as a publicity stunt, maybe that’s good for you, maybe that works for you, maybe you mean every word and maybe that’s just who you are, happy to be where you are, happy to be with the person you love and wanting to express that… but there are a lot of people who don’t like it, and I often wonder how it is that you block out all the hate. Do you even notice it? Do you even notice the negativity? Do you even feel that, or are you so wrapped up in being ‘Princess Selena’ that the struggles of people like us, the difficulties with acceptances that people like Ravyn, me and others have fought for over such a long period just go unnoticed to you?” she asks before shrugging her shoulders. “I don’t know the answer to that. I don’t know the answer to how you are. I just know this: Thursday night, Breakdown Special Edition, Selena Frost versus Syren, I won’t be ‘bowing to the Queen’. I won’t be on my knees. I’ll be STANDING TALL, and sweetie? You’ll be BEING TOTALLY JEALOUS!”

She shrugs her shoulders before smirking and blowing a kiss at the camera. “See you guys tomorrow night. We’re going to rock Lexington just the way we should.”