Post by April Song on Dec 6, 2019 4:52:46 GMT
[April is sitting alone inside a small gym in Colorado that she has been refurbishing ever since she took charge of it. The new equipment, the fresh paint, and newly constructed wrestling ring belie just how old the building is.]
Sometimes I have to pinch myself and ask: Is this real? Can life really be this damn sweet?
This has been an amazing journey. People seem to think that I’ve been involved in pro wrestling all my life but this is coming up on the third anniversary of my debut. In rings like this, I have gone against legends, upstarts, no-names and perennial contenders. I’ve held championships everywhere I’ve been so far and I’m proud of everything I’ve done, good and bad. I’ve made it farther than anyone starting out in their thirties should. But there is one thing that I can’t escape, one thing that I can’t shake out of my mind:
I’ve never been a world champion. I’ve had two chances and been so damn close...but it’s not worked out. And it fucking hurts.
[Clips of April coming dangerously close to winning a major title are shown, only with Stephanie Matsuda and Azumi Goto holding titles in the end with a distraught April making her way to the back.]
It eats at me. It’s the biggest knock everyone has on me. “You’re so good, but not good enough.” I think that’s one reason I took my Specialists Championship reign so seriously. I was proud to hold that championship for nearly a whole year. I was proud to have classic matches with the likes of Revy and Celes Dumont and so on, but it was almost like a security blanket, a pacifier. It’s rare to have someone be a double champion in a company so even though I was racking up the wins, I knew that my big chance would have to wait until I lost the Specialists title. It’s why I treated every defense, every press conference, every public appearance so seriously. It wasn’t just holding the “midcard” title here in LAW: I used it to PREPARE for holding the LAW World Championship.
[Clips of Revy celebrating with fans after defeating April in a Last Woman Standing match are shown, with April again slowly making her way to the back...but this time with her head held high.]
Losing that title was in a way the most relieving experience I’ve had in wrestling. I could refocus on getting to my ultimate goal. I wasn’t expecting to be thrown into a match with so many moving parts. Former champions, former tag team partners, a new person that I’ve only met through a Sanada Driver. For the first time in a while, it feels like I’m being treated like an afterthought. And guess what, I’m absolutely comfortable with that. It makes me incredibly happy knowing that Kayla and Roxy are more intent on proving that they were the one who “carried” their tag team. It’s good to know that Sanada doesn’t hold me in high enough esteem to be concerned about facing me. The former champs don’t seem too worried about me either. Everyone seems so intent on brawling with each other or proving their womanhood that they don’t realize what they’re going against when they see me in this Scramble Match.
I didn’t get put in this match just to fill out the numbers. I didn’t get in this match to be a lackey for Vega. I’m involved because I deserve to be here! I’m involved because I was by far the most dominant champion to hold any title in LAW since its inception. I’m here because everyone knows that I have what it takes to be a World Champion.
Ever since I left “That place” and the Crowe’s Nest, I’ve flown solo. No hype machine, no company backing me, no family or dojo reputation to keep me afloat. And here I am, almost a year to the fucking day of my biggest triumph in a wrestling ring...and I have a chance to top it. This means more to me than any of you going against me could understand. This isn’t about putting a bow on a career or enhancing a legacy...it’s about my own deliverance. Before I became a wrestler, I was lost. Drinking all the time, doing nothing but speeding towards death. Winning this Championship will prove that I made the best decision I possibly could have when I picked up the phone to go train with Carlos Rosso and give this life a try.
Every win.
Every loss.
Every injury.
Every fan.
Every tense interview.
Every press conference.
Every fucking long day traveling on the road to sleep in a crappy motel.
It’s all brought me here, back to the place that I never thought would be my second home. The last time I was in Las Vegas, I left with a FAKE Lethal Specialists title and a Nintendo Switch. This time, I plan on leaving with the LAW World Championship. Then, I’ll finally have the deliverance that I’ve struggled for the last three years. It won’t ease my rage when I see certain people….it won’t completely heal the wounds of this life I’ve chosen.
But it will make me feel pretty damn good about my first three years of work.
This gym, it’s a good analogy for my life. Before wrestling, my life was a mess and broken. But the sport has given me focus, a purpose. It’s given me my life back.
Now it’s time for me to give back to wrestling, starting with my Deliverance and ascension to the top of LAW...where I belonged all along.
[The video ends with April quietly tending to the gym, cleaning the floors and equipment before cutting to a locker in the back with her wrestling gear, a special all-blue attire ...and a Vacant trophy case spot just above with a gold plate with the following engraving: LAW World Championship]