The video begins and we find ourselves in what looks like an examination room of a hospital. The camera focuses on a monitor that’s rested against a wall, displaying what seems to be series of CT scan images. The images cycle through one by one as the camera begins to pull back slowly, revealing more of the wall behind it, where we find that there are numerous other scan results hanging up there. Some are CT scan slides, others are x-rays, still more are diagrams marked with notes detailing injury reports. The camera focuses on these as a familiar face walks into shot, that of the former multi-time SCW World Champion, Syren. “So, I had to call in a few favours to be in here today, and to get all this stuff together, but I did it all to prove a point, and I don’t have much time to make it, so just go with me here, ok?” she asks before motioning to the monitor where the slides are continuing to cycle through showing what is now presumably her CT scan results. “This was taken a few months ago. Now I’m not a doctor, I can’t tell you how to read it, but I’m sure most of you have seen these before, right? The lucky ones have only seen them on television. The unlucky ones, like me, have sat in a room while a doctor looks at each of these images one by one and then makes a decision that changes your life. Sometimes they um and ah. Almost every time they ask you how and why it happened, and they advise you against putting yourself back in that position. But on the odd occasion they look at these images and they use them to determine your future.”

She nods her head, looking at the series of images before letting out a sigh. “That’s what they did to me. They looked at these images and then they sat me down and they told me that I’d suffered a serious concussion that had led to swelling in my head and that there was no way they could medically clear me to get back into the ring. They told me that I would be out for an ‘indefinite’ amount of time. They told me that after Josh Hudson attacked me not in a match but in the locker room. They told me that and I told them that they had to be wrong, but they said they weren’t. I’d be gone an ‘indefinite amount of time’, and that there was a chance that I would never get to set foot in the ring again,” she says before taking in a deep breath and letting it out as a long sigh. “Now I have Josh Hudson to thank for that experience, and thank him I will on Sunday night, but it’s not Josh Hudson that I’ve set this up to talk to you about today. Actually, it’s me. Because a few months ago I faced what could possibly have been the end of my career. I refused to accept that of course. I refused to accept that some unknown bitch who jumped me from behind could end my career with a cheap shot. And yet I sat in that chair, I looked at these images and I faced the end of everything I loved. And for four weeks I had to deal with that. For four weeks I had to accept that I may not be getting back into that ring. For four weeks, I had to sit home, watching on TV, away from my wife even as she continued to compete every week, facing what could have been the end for me.”

She takes a deep breath again. “You know, a lot of crazy shit comes into your head in four weeks. You blame all kinds of different things. You make yourself all kinds of stupid promises. You’re even willing to make deals with anyone and everyone in order to get back what you want. In those four weeks I’d have sold my soul, if anyone was buying, just to be fit again. And then, after four weeks of waiting, I came back, I went through another series of tests, and this time they told me that the swelling was gone, that I could start training again, that I could book a date to return to the ring and, as you know, I did. I did at the first opportunity I could. I returned with a ton of pent up frustration after being gone for so damn long and I came back and I competed at Fatal Fortunes and I won a four-person battle royal and that led me to here, that led me to today, that led me to this Sunday…” she says before laughing and looking up and down the wall. “Well, actually all of these led me to this Sunday. They tell a story, don’t they? That one, for example, was especially hard to get. That’s a neck x-ray I had to have done in Australia. That was from when they told me that I couldn’t fly home until they were able to get a better look at it, again because I was attacked from behind. That one, that’s a wrist injury I suffered after being put through the announce table for no other reason than because some bitch was in a bad mood and wanted to ‘make an impact’ and I happened to be in the wrong place. And that one, ooh, that’s one of my favourites. That’s from a concussion I got inside the Elimination Chamber when I was thrown against the support beam.”

She laughs before shaking her head. “Yep, that’s my career right there. That’s the injuries I’ve suffered. And it’s not even half of them. The wall isn’t actually big enough to fit all the different slides and charts onto it. My file is so thick it’s bordering on ridiculous. I’ve spent so many nights in the hospital in different cities that I actually know some of the nurses there by name now. Not even joking. That’s a true story! That’s how many times I have been knocked down. That’s how many times I’ve been thrown about. That’s how many times I’ve been attacked from behind. That’s how many times people have tried to hurt me. And do you want to know something that nobody can quite believe about all of this? Do you want to know one fact that nobody can quite wrap their heads around? I’M STILL HERE,” she says loudly and confidently before nodding her head. “That’s right. In spite of all of it I’m still here. In spite of the knockdowns I’m still here. In spite of a DOZEN DIFFERENT PEOPLE trying at one stage or another to end my career I’m STILL here, I’m STILL fighting, and do you know where most of them are now? No, you don’t? Well isn’t that exactly the point! Some of them didn’t get what they wanted here so they packed up their bags and they ran off somewhere else to ‘dominate’ with their friends. Others couldn’t get what they wanted and they took their balls and they went home. But not me. For eight years, I have been here. For eight years, I have fought EVERYONE there is to fight. For eight years, I have accomplished more than I could ever have POSSIBLY imagined… and I have some of that here too, as well.”

She motions to whoever is behind the camera to follow her and then walks past the camera. The camera spins around and we see on the opposite wall a bench completely cleared of its normal clutter with that clutter replaced by five identical looking championship titles. “In eight years, this is what I have to show for it,” she says, running her hand along each title as she walks past it, stopping at the first. “And each of these belts has a story. You recognise the design, of course. And you probably know the stories, but let me tell you them again anyway. This one I was handed by Mr D himself after Shilo Valiant was injured while champion. He handed it to me because I was the number one contender, and I was the number one contender because I won an eight person tournament in one night, I won three matches in one night, and I beat Hall of Famers to do that. And this one? This one came about after I won the Trios Tournament and I cashed in my opportunity for a shot at Jake Starr… but I didn’t actually get Jake Starr. Long story. Then there’s this one. This one also came about as a result of a Trios Contract, and this one I won on the biggest show of the year, at Rise to Greatness, winning a Fatal Four way match for the belt against three of the toughest champions this company has known. Shall we keep going? This one I won after I won Triple Jeopardy to earn my shot. THIS one I won after winning a Triple Threat match LAST year at Rise to Greatness, becoming the first woman in history to hold the title twice in the same year by doing so.”

She runs her hand along the belts again before looking up at the camera and smiling. “Every single one of these has a story, just like every single one of those charts and scan results, and I am damn proud of every one of those stories. But do you want to know what they’ve all got in common? None of them begin with ‘well, Mr D said…’ or ‘one day I was at home and the phone rang’. No, every single one of those opportunities was EARNED because I didn’t have another choice. I didn’t get the phone ringing when I was at home. Mr D hasn’t ever just ‘said’ I get a chance. For eight years I have busted my ass and I have EARNED that title five different times, but there’s one title missing from this collection, and one story that still has to be told. That story begins this Sunday,” she says, a smile spreading wider on her face. “Shall I tell you how that story goes in advance? Ok. It begins at Fatal Fortunes, where I returned after serious injury, I overcome four people and I went to Taking Hold of the Flame as the final entrant. And at Taking Hold of the Flame I entered after kicking the unholy crap out of Josh Hudson earlier in the night, I took on everyone left in that ring, and when the final bell rang at the end I was the LAST BITCH STANDING! After that, in spite of so many whiners and haters, I went to Rise to Greatness 2017, I fought in the main event, I WON the SCW World Heavyweight Championship for the sixth time, making history as a result and standing alone as the second most winningest champion in SCW history, and then I raised that belt over my head day after day, week after week, month after month, and I showed EVERYONE the champion I am.”

She laughs a little before shrugging her shoulders. “What, you don’t believe that that’s the story I’ll be telling? That’s cool. I hope you don’t. That’ll make it more fun then in two-month time when I walk into the first post-Rise to Greatness Breakdown with that title on my shoulder for a sixth time, won’t it? Because it’s going to happen, you guys. It’s GOING to happen,” she says confidently before walking past the camera and back to the opposite wall, where we again see the slides, x-rays and charts. “This is what I’ve endured to get here. This is my history in this company. This is every time some asshole has told me I’m not good enough. This is every time someone new has decided to make ME their target to ‘make an impact’ and yet it’s STILL ME standing here today, not them, bragging about how they broke my arm or my leg or my neck. But make no mistake about it, I’m not deluding myself. I know what I’m in for this Sunday. I know it’s going to be tough. Hell, it’s going to be worse than tough. Taking Hold of the Flame is, after all, the single hardest match to win. That’s why it’s had as many different winners as it has. That’s why nobody’s won it twice. That’s why there’s no history of back-to-back-to-back winners. Because every year it’s a new challenge, every year it’s new competition from around the world, and this year there’s FORTY different people competing in it. That’s an insane statistic to think about. You want to know what’s even crazier? The fact that tomorrow night thirty-nine people will be sitting in the locker room angry they’re not the one.”

She laughs again. “Now I know all about this match because I’ve got history in this match. I’ve been in six of them. Now that’s not close to a record, I know there are people who’ve shown up for more, and I know that a whole bunch of them will be returning this Sunday HOPING to make it to Rise to Greatness, and be gone just as fast when they fail. It’s a yearly tradition. Bookmakers take bets on how long most of them will last. But I’ll tell you about my history in this match, shall I? Six entries. Six top ten finishes. Three top five finishes, consisting of two third places and one time when I came second. So for those of you who use the logic about this match that you need the experience then baby, I have the experience. I’ve also got every kind of experience there is to have. I’ve been eliminated while trying to help a boyfriend. I’ve been eliminated while battling a friend. I’ve been eliminated while battling an arch-rival. Oh, and my favourite one? I got thrown out by my wife,” she recalls before laughing happily. “You’d think I’d hold a grudge, right? But nope. She did what she had to do just like I will this Sunday. Because when I come out to that ring I may not be one hundred percent, I may be carrying injuries from what I did with Josh Hudson earlier in the night, but you BETTER BELIEVE that I’ll CRAWL out to that ring if I need to, that I’ll fight with one arm in a sling if I need to, that I’ll do WHATEVER IT TAKES this Sunday to turn the chance I have earned into the one victory I have never had, not just so I can go to Rise to Greatness but so that I can say with PRIDE that in 2017 I won Taking Hold of the Flame!”

She nods her head before cracking her knuckles and looking back up at the wall behind her. “Now I want you to remember this, ok? I want you to remember this wall. I want you to take note of every injury, because I’m not hiding any of this stuff. I don’t need to. I don’t come out here on camera pretending to be Supergirl, thinking only rocks from another world can harm me. I know what I am. I’m a five-foot-four blonde girl who has to bust her ass to be in the shape she’s in, and who isn’t afraid to tell you that she’s had her ass handed to her on occasion, but that she’s ALWAYS come back,” she says, the smile growing on her face again. “Now maybe there will be a day when these finally catch up to me. Maybe there will be a day when someone finally gets that shot in that takes me out for good. But it’s not today. It won’t be this Sunday. And it won’t be any time soon. I know what I’m doing. I know where I’m going. I’ve already done the whole ‘third place’ thing. I’ve ‘runner up’. But there’s no silver medal in wrestling. There’s no ‘being content with bronze’. This Sunday there are forty of us competing for ONE spot, and as bad as that makes my odds I’m not worried about it. I don’t shy away from fights. I don’t run and hide. I’ve been doing this eight years, week in and week out, whenever I’m able, and this Sunday I’m going to prove to every single one of you watching that it doesn’t matter how many times you knock me down, in the end I’ll come back, I’ll overcome, and I’ll EARN what I want. And this wall behind me tells you that I’m not unbeatable, I’m not unbreakable, but I am UNSTOPPABLE!”

She takes in a deep breath before beginning to laugh. “So, as my final thought, I’d like to send out a few happy thoughts to all those people responsible for all these injuries I’ve suffered, because while you may have gloated, you may have enjoyed seeing me hurt, this Sunday when I overcome once again, when I walk out as the 2017 Taking Hold of the Flame WINNER, there won’t be anything more for you to gloat about, instead all you’ll be able to do is BE TOTALLY JEALOUS,” she says before grinning widely at the camera and shrugging her shoulders once again. “Oh man, it feels like forever since I got to say that. See you Sunday, guys.”

And with that the camera focuses in on the wall again before slowly fading out to black and once it does the video comes to an end with the replay button flashing up on the screen.