Bouncing Back

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September 12^th, 2016

Off Camera

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Tonight is the UWA Sectioned pay per view and the main event of this spectacular wrestling show is nearing its conclusion. The main event is an elimination chamber match featuring every championship on the line.  Every eye in the arena is glued on the ring or to a tv screen backstage to find out who will walk away with the UWA World Championship…

…well, not every eye.  There is one person in particular who doesn’t care at this point. That person sits backstage in her dressing room, still in her wrestling gear after having been eliminated second, ensuring that she would not leave with any of the four singles championships.  This was supposed to be her night.  She was supposed to become UWA World Champion.  At the very least, this was her chance to shine in the spotlight.  She had been handed the opportunity to compete in a pay per view main event.  All she had to do was show up with her A-Game and perform to the best of her abilities; but she failed.  She failed to perform, she did not show up with her A-Game, and she left with nothing.  At this point she could possibly fade away into obscurity and not a damn person would even notice.

Her name is Julia Alexis Noel, better known to the wrestling world as The Kensington Knockout Julia Braddock.  But she doesn’t feel like a Knockout and she damn sure doesn’t feel like a winner.  After having been eliminated second and thus leaving without any gold here tonight, she feels like a complete and utter failure.

At this point she feels as if she is at a fork in the road in her career.  She had been given the ball and given the opportunity to run with it but she immediately stumbled and fell over her own two feet.  She felt humiliated.  She had worked so hard to redeem herself from the days of Queen Julia Noel and then she fought through and overcame a slump with few notable wins to finally win the big one at Olympus to become UWA Hybrid Champion.  She defended that belt proudly until tonight, the night she lost the belt in the elimination chamber.

The chamber match isn’t over.  She isn’t sure who the new Hybrid Champion is, or any of the other title holders are, for that matter.  Julia doesn’t really care.  She’s leaving with nothing and now that leaves her to question her very career.  She isn’t sure if she wants to go on.

A knocking at the door to her dressing room interrupts her thoughts and brings her back into reality.  She sighs and shakes her head.  She isn’t sure if she wants to continue but she damn sure knows that she doesn’t want to be bothered right now.  She just wants to be alone.  Whoever this is can just leave.

“Go away!”

“Not on your life.”

Julia can’t help but smirk as she hears the fiercely insistent voice of her agent Kayla Jones.  Kayla is still fairly new to the managing scene.  Kayla is a wrestler and had even tried her hand at running a promotion as well as training other wrestlers.  She wanted to be able to say she’d done it all in pro-wrestling and so she has jumped into managing.  She has thus far managed Gabriela Austin and Hayley Gold to tag team championships in GCW and, despite being new to the managing game, Julia wanted to take on Kayla as her agent.  The reasons were simple; primarily, Kayla was accepting of the relationship Julia had with Aphrodite Noel.  Julia’s previous agent, Henry Van Stanton, refused to accept the mother-daughter relationship that Aphrodite Noel and Julia Noel wanted to have. Aphrodite, as far as Julia was concerned, is her true mother, and if Henry can’t accept that, then he can find another client.  Kayla, while admittedly finding the relationship unusual, is willing to be open and accepting of it.  After all, Aphrodite has no bearing upon Julia’s wrestling ability.

The other reason Julia is willing to hire Kayla on as her agent is because this isn’t just all business for Kayla.  She considers her clients to be more than just clients on a business level.  She considers them to be friends.  Some agents would say that looking at your clients in that manner is a mistake.  But Julia likes how Kayla thinks.  If Kayla thinks of her as a friend, then she’d be more willing to look out for her best interests than someone who just views her in a business relationship.

“Not now, Kayla.”

“Open up, Julia.  Please.”

And as Julia is quickly learning, Kayla Jones is also very stubborn.

“I really would rather be alone.”

“Being alone is the last thing you need right now.”

Julia realizes that her manager is not going anywhere.  She sighs and rolls her eyes as she stands up and walks towards the door.  She opens it up and Kayla immediately comes barging in past her into the room.

“Thank you.”

Julia shrugs her shoulders.

“Whatever.  I already told you that I’d rather be alone.  I do not see what good this will do.”

“Never underestimate the power of some good company.”

Julia rolls her eyes.

“Right, sure, whatever.”

“Do you want to know who won the world title?”

“Oh did the chamber match end?”

Kayla nods her head.

“Yeah, it’s over.”

“Then sure, go ahead and tell me.  Tell me who David Helms and Drew Bryant will NEVER grant me a title shot against.”

Kayla can understand her client’s frustration.  She just wishes there was a way to make this easier for her.  Unfortunately, there is not.

“Alana Starr.”

“GOOD!  Goodie, goodie, good good for her!”

Kayla smirks.

“Nice sarcasm.”

Julia walks on by Kayla, towards the bench where she had been sitting.  Julia sits back down on the bench, slumps over, and sighs as she props her head up on her hands.

“I failed.”

“You didn’t fail.”

Julia looks up at Kayla incredulously.

“I went out there to that elimination chamber tonight with the highest of hopes as the UWA Hybrid Champion, looking to cash in and maybe even leave with the UWA World Championship.  But I ended up getting my ass kicked and eliminated second!  I now leave with NOTHING!”

Julia sighs and shakes her head.

“So what do you call it if you don’t it failure?”

Kayla walks over and sits down next to her client and friend.

“Failure is if you gave up.  Failure is if you just quit.  You did not quit on me, and you definitely did not give up on your fans, fans who believe in you.”

“Is that supposed to be motivational?  If so, it’s not working.  Never giving up and never quitting doesn’t win championships.”

Kayla chuckles.

“Now you sound like my sister.”

Jones places a hand on Julia’s shoulder.

“Look at me for a second…”

Julia turns and gazes deep into her agent’s eyes.  She can tell that Kayla genuinely cares about her.  This isn’t about just making sure her client is in the right frame of mind for the next big opportunity so that she’ll look as a manager.  Julia can tell that Kayla sincerely wants to help Julia feel better.

“…this business isn’t all about championship gold and glory.”

“Oh really?   You wouldn’t know that from the lows some people will stoop to just to be a champion.”

“Precisely, and usually those individuals are the most miserable of people.  Rachel Lee sold her soul to Silas Mason and for what reason?  So she could be a world champion?”

Julia chuckles and nods her head as she thinks about Rachel.  She was originally going to defend her Hybrid Championship against Rachel.  That won’t happen now.

“Yeah, I know.”

“My only question for you is this; do you want to be like that?”

Kayla points to the door.

“I can leave now.  You can go find Silas Mason, Ba’al, Cindy Todd, or any of the other megalomaniacs with delusions of grandeur running around this place and sell your soul, sell your fans, and sell your friends and loved ones all down the river.  They could take you to a championship, it’d be the cheap and easy way, but hell, it’d be a championship.”

Julia notices an intense fire enter her manager’s eyes.  This must be the intensity that the Jones women are famous for.  Julia is silent as she continues to listen.

“Or you can stick with me.  I’ll take you back to the top.  I’ll get you to where you want to go.  I won’t lie to you, it may take a while.  How long it takes depends partially on you, partially on me, and partially on factors that are outside either of our control, but I can promise I will do everything I can in my power to get you where you want to go in this business and I promise that, with me, you’ll get there the right way.”

Kayla stands up.

“So just give me the word and I’ll leave.  You can find your own way.  It’s your choice, Julia.  I’ll never force you to do something you don’t want to do.”

Julia has to admit, taking the cheap and easy way is tempting, but while legally she may be a Noel, Braddock blood still flows through her veins and she will not take the cheap and easy way.  It’s not her style.  Julia stands up and embraces Kayla in a tight hug.

“You’re going nowhere, Kayla!”

After breaking the embrace, Kayla grins at her client from ear to ear.

“I take it this means you’re willing to keep going?”

Julia nods her head.

“Tonight was difficult for me, very difficult, but I’m not a quitter.  I do not give up on anyone and I’m not about to give up now.  I had my opportunity tonight and came up short.  I’ll get another opportunity.  I just have to keep fighting.”

Julia places her hands on her hips.

“So, any idea what’s next for me?”

Kayla sighs.

“Well I figured that you may not be in the right frame of mind after this, so I spoke with Helms and Bryant and you will have the next show off.”

Julia’s eyes grow wide.

“Wait, what?!  But I want to compete.  I’m ready to go and…”

Kayla shakes her head.

“No, Julia, you’re not.  You need time to relax, rest, and recharge your batteries before you compete again.”

“Who gave you the right to make that kind of decision?!”

Kayla smirks.

“Well, I AM your agent…and besides, your mother agrees with me.  And by mother I mean Aphrodite.”

Her resolve to fight weakens when Julia hears that even Aphrodite thinks that Julia needs a break.  Julia sighs and nods her head.

“Alright, fine, I’ll take next show off.  But you’d better make sure to get me booked for the one after that.   Please?”

Kayla nods her head.

“Fair enough.  I can’t guarantee who Helms and Bryant will put you up against.  It may be top tier competition or it may be a curtain jerker or it may be something in between.”

Julia shrugs her shoulders.

“It doesn’t matter who I fight.  I just want to prove to Helms and Bryant that they didn’t make a mistake by handing me the ball.  I want to prove to my fans that I am still ready to fight for them.  And I want to prove to UWA and its new world champion that I am still coming after my destiny.”

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Present Day

On Camera

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The scene before our camera is a regal, majestic one featuring royal purple draperies on the wall, a regal red carpet that leads up a series of three small steps to a golden throne with red cushions, whose red matches the red of the carpets.  Behind the throne is a changing barrier/wall, one that women step behind and you see their silhouette.  Just then a female silhouette emerges behind the changing wall.  It’s a very shapely, very sexy female figure.  It strikes a pose for just a moment before stepping out from behind the screen and emerging in front of the camera.  We see Julia Braddock herself emerge onto the set wearing a tight, strapless, form fitting, glittery silver dress with a hemline that stops just above the knee and matching silver heeled sandals.  She ascends the steps and sits upon the throne.

“I guess this is the part where I complain about being left out of the title picture?  Yeah, Sectioned didn’t work out the way I had hoped, woe is me, right?  And then I get overlooked as title shot after title shot is handed out to individuals who, arguably, are not worthy.  Gavin Taylor has been on a losing streak, and for that he gets rewarded with a shot at the X Class Title.  Jade is new and beat two jobbers and then GOT beat herself by Gwen Black and she gets rewarded with a Queen of the Ring Title Shot.  Truthfully, the only one who EARNED a title shot was Rachel Lee.”

Julia nods her head.

“Yes, I could use this time to complain from now until kingdom come about my grievances about the decisions that were made.  But doing so will make no difference, will it?  Do Helms and Bryant get drunk before making their booking decisions?  That would explain some of the nonsense they’ve put out there in the squared circle.  And it tells me one thing…”

She holds up one finger.

“…it tells me that I can’t rely on fair play and justice to rule the UWA.   I can no longer rely on opportunities being handed out to those who earned it.  I have to go out to that ring and prove to Helms, Bryant, and everyone else in UWA that I belong in the top-tier and upper-echelon of UWA.  I need to go out there and prove that I belong in the championship picture and that my Hybrid Championship reign, my  appearance in the main event at Sectioned, none of it was a fluke.  I need to prove that I belonged there and that I deserve to go back there again.  And if I have to start from the bottom, then that’s fine by me.”

Julia points a long slender finger at the camera.

“That brings me to you, Lilith.  Lilith Evans, my long suffering opponent for Outbreak.  I have to admit that you, perhaps even more than me, have been undervalued.  Difference here is that people look down on you.  They don’t think you can win anything.  People weren’t even sure you could beat a guy in a mask who says nothing but grrr…”

She waves at the camera.

“…hi Executioner!  How are you, sweetie?”

Julia winks.

“And yet, Lilith, you’ve continued to work hard and you continue to bust your ass.  That’s what this business is all about.  Working hard and busting your ass, looking for that one major victory to kickstart your career.  Or in your case, kickstart it back onto the right path, because after having competed in so many promotions now, you’ve lost sight of your goal.”

She holds up a finger.

“But one major win can mean so much in a career.  And you’re looking for that win, aren’t you?  That one big win because maybe, just maybe, this is the night that you can put your name back on the map?  Maybe you will finally win and win big?”

Julia shakes her head.

“No, no you won’t.  This isn’t the night for your big celebration.  No confetti or streamers for you, Lilith.  Your fans won’t scream in joy, because instead they will be met with more of the same from Lilith Evans…another disappointing loss…”

She pats herself on the chest.

“…because I need this win just as badly as you do!  This is my opportunity to make Helms and Bryant realize that I am the person who you should be investing your time and money in.  I have seen the top of the mountain and it looks glorious.  Now I want to get back there.  And I have to go through you as the first of many obstacles on my way back.  Apparently I have to defeat you in order to show Helms and Bryant that they made a mistake in not offering me an opportunity at Against All Odds.”

She shakes her head.

“This isn’t your opportunity, Lilith.  This is mine.  This is my opportunity to shine.  This is my chance to come back from the brink.  You will give it your all, just as you always do, you will fight, just like you always do, but you will lose…”

Julia smirks.

“…just like you always do.  Oh we’ll have a great match, there is no questioning that, but only one of us will use this great match as a springboard back…and that person is me, The Kensington Knockout, Julia Alexis Braddock, and when I have defeated you, you will have no choice but to Worship Me!”