Post by April Song on Mar 29, 2020 3:56:21 GMT
One in A Million
[The scene opens in an older gym in April’s native Colorado Springs that she typically visits when she’s in preparations for significant matches. The walls are patchy and in dire need of new coats of red and blue paint, but the equipment is in near-flawless condition, especially the boxing ring that April had rebuilt. She sits inside the ring in solitude, looking around the walls.]
Familiarity is a hell of a thing. In this profession, it’s good to have something familiar, something routine that you can go back to when things get crazy. We live in troubling times, uncertain times. Honestly, I’m just grateful for the fact that I can come here and recalibrate because the routines of so many are gone askew.
You’re not here to listen to me ramble about the state of the planet though. You’re here to talk to me about the match that I’ve wanted for so long, the match that is literally going to be only once in a lifetime: April Song vs Tarah Nova.
How did we get here? Why are we here?
Well, honestly it’s because I’ve run out of chances to ask for it. Tarah is retiring, off to live a life of luxury with her superstar husband, beautiful kids, wrestling promotion side hustle, graphic design empire, free from a world of constant wear and tear on the body and all the other pitfalls of being a professional wrestler. We have been teammates, we have been friends ever since a sullen old bitch like me arrived in that other place. We didn’t always travel together, but we built a friendship that I’m happy to say that will not end regardless of the result of our match.
When we did travel together, I was honored to be a part of Ronin with you. It wasn’t the longest run or anything, but to work with you and all our other friends is a treasured memory. Now, I’m aware that this is NOT your last match ever. This is only your last appearance in a LAW ring. I get that you have a match with Stephanie Matsuda soon as well as some other things I’m sure you’re crossing off your career’s bucket list.
This is on mine. Not because I have some obsession with sending you out “on your shield” unlike someone I’m sure you’re familiar with. Not because I see you as a hero, because I don’t. Not because I have any vendetta against you whatsoever. It’s because I adore competition and I know you do too. One doesn’t win all the titles that you have, do all the things that you have done, and not have a certain joy when competing. It’s so weird to me that I’m older than you yet you’re retiring first. Granted your career started earlier than mine, but I am curious: is the hunger still there? I have certainly seen that the skill is. You may not be aware, but every match that you’ve had over the past few months I’ve watched very carefully since you announced you were intending to retire. The same sting of the Shock Collar is there from when I first met you.
I just want to know, can I rise up to that level myself? Can I find it in me to take you on and win? You’re a former World Champion, not just WOMEN’S World Champion, a World Champion that is good enough to defeat the best men walking the wrestling world. If I can beat you, that tells me all that I need to know about my progress in this sport and how far I can potentially reach.
You’re a friend, but one night, you’re going to be the measuring stick. You’re the focus of all my energy, and you will get everything I have. This is the only time we’ll ever see each other in the ring, and as one of LAW’s top stars, I can’t simply allow you to walk into a ring where I have bled, sweat, laughed and cried in and leave your final impression on the LAW fans by standing over me.
That cannot happen.
I’ve waited a long time for this and my expectations are high. I hope that you have the same expectations of me because I plan on living up to them and then some. It took you a long time to respond to me, but I’m glad you did. We can reminisce on all the fun times and all the road stories another day. You can pester me about finally settling down and when I’m going to retire another time. I can make fun of your tweets with your hubby later.
At Lethal Hearts, we’re gonna fight...and I’m gonna win. You’re a one in a million when it comes to talent, legacy, and grace. But at Lethal Hearts, that one night, will be my one night out of a million others to come through and show you everything that I have.
And that’s that.