Post by Kenzie Rydell on Jul 27, 2016 18:41:09 GMT -5
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"Welcome back to WRVR Boston Radio," a radio personality shouted with excitement into his microphone. "I'm your host Tom Valenhart, and we're here with 'The White Phoenix,' a legend in the wrestling world, Kenzie Rydell!"
"It's great to be here, Tom," she smirked, sitting behind a few microphones of her own. With the words 'The White Phoenix' emblazoned across her chest, and a nondescript championship draped over her petite shoulder, she was brimming with more confidence than ever. With a newly matured face to go along with the new attitude, she held herself with pride, palming the world title over her heart just like she had with the NGW Five Lakes Championship years ago.
"Now, before the break, you've already plugged your upcoming match at the TD Garden, but since we've still got you here, I was wondering if we could ask you a few questions, hm? How's that sound to you?"
"Yeah, sure. I'm game," she chuckled, looking at the broadcaster directly in the eye without any hesitation. "Hit me with your best shot!"
"So, we all know where you ended up. You're one of the most decorated champions to ever step between the ropes, but we all know you've faced plenty of struggles on the way, haven't you? Do you have any moment that immediately comes to mind that turned your career around and brought you closer to the woman you are today?"
Kenzie thought for a moment, looking down at her lap and back at Tom again.
"Oh, yeah. There were plenty of moments like that, and to tell you the truth, the one that immediately stands out would have to be NGW City Of Sin. What was it? 2016, 2017?"
"Refresh my memory. What happened that night?"
"Okay, so. It was in Las Vegas. I just lost the NGW Five Lakes Championship, and it was crazy. Ashleigh just started her incredible record-breaking reign, and the semi-main event had us fighting it out for the gold. To top it all off, Avery Miles needed a partner, and he went through all the effort of asking me to stand in his corner. So, if we won, I would have been officially one-half of the NGW Tag Team Champions and if I beat Ashleigh..."
"Then you would have been a double champion," Valenhart filled in the blank. "And that was definitely 2016."
"Right," the veteran nodded. "And to tell you the truth, that was one of the worst nights of my whole career that I can even remember. I missed my match with Avery, and I felt absolutely awful afterward. Then when it was time to fight Ashleigh, I walked out drunk as hell and made a fool out of myself. She rolled me up, won the match, and it was over."
"I can't even imagine what that must've been like for you once you realized what happened..."
"It might've even been the worst night of my whole career, to tell the truth," she admitted. "But I wouldn't take it back. It put everything into prospective, and when I finally got back on track, I felt stronger than I've ever been, Tom. I was beating opponent after opponent, left right and center, and I finally had the right mentality going for me."
"One thing I remember is, when you did come back, there was definitely something different about you. You looked like you had it all together like you had everything under control. But I think what a lot of people don't understand is, how did that transition even happen?"
"Well, I took some time away from the ring to clear my head. I did a lot of soul-searching, shut out some people from my life for a little while," she nodded firmly. "To tell you the truth, I think it all culminated on the next Vendetta. Atlanta, I think."
"Atlanta? I don't remember you at that show."
"It was after The Power Couple tag team match in the main event. Vendetta went off the air, and I made my way out to the ring and spoke my piece. It was all over the internet; you don't remember that? ESPN 2 covered it."
"For the people like me who don't remember that, paint the story for us. The Power Couple beats AoD, hug in the middle of the ring, and the show goes off the air. Then what happened?"
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[Distorted noises hit the PA system, the lights blinking to darkness. A few red, pink and white spotlights flash against the crowd while their attention moved towards the stage. The camera was focused while the heavy guitar of "Break Out" by The Letter Black flared over the sound system. Once the inspirational vocals joined the heavy guitar riffs and the rhythmic drum beats, the crowd erupted with a mixed reaction given what happened at City Of Sin a couple weeks prior, eyeing the woman as she walked out onto the stage with an unsure look adorn her features.]
[She didn't pander to the crowd like she normally did, instead choosing to stand on the stage, piercing hazel eyes zooming around Phillips Arena at the 18,047 faces in attendance. Basking in the glow of the crowd's opinion, she accepted their reactions with a weary smile. Some were still angry, distraught and disappointed in her actions lately while the minority were happy to see her. They knew she would explain herself, as she strolled down the ramp with a steady gaze on the ring ahead, the opinions continued to fly.]
[Instead of crumbling under the pressure, she reveled in it. The song hung in the air as she made a loud huff, climbing the steel stairs and walking across the apron. Heading towards the corner, she hopped over the top rope without a problem, spinning out of it with a small smile growing on her face. She lifted her left arm once she steadied herself, her fist to the sky. The crowd reacted in turn, watching as she walked to the edge of the ring and reached for a member of the staff to hand her a microphone.]
[With a deep breath, she looked around the whole arena once again, just standing in the middle of the ring, and spoke once the music and the crowd died down.]
Kenzie: I'll make this short and sweet, I promise.
[Walking in a wide circle, she eyed the microphone with those hazel hues. Preparing to choose her words as carefully as she could, she bit her lip and opened her mouth for everyone watching to hear.]
Kenzie: First of all, I wanted to issue a public apology to everyone who faith in me, everyone in the back who I let down, everyone who even wanted me to win a single match in my whole career so far. I especially want to apologize to Avery Miles and his girlfriend, Taylor Devereaux for what happened at City Of Sin, who if I wasn't so selfish by not being there when I should have been, would have been celebrating by now.
[Her voice was serious, sincere. Emotion coated every word, and it was evident to see it pained her even to say those words. A hand reached to scratch the side of her eyebrow, and as she gauged the audience's reaction, she had no choice but to move forward.]
Kenzie: I don't expect any of you to accept my apology on a whim blindly, I'm not that naive. I'm just asking you to hear me out tonight. I'm asking you to keep an open mind and watch the actions I take in the upcoming weeks to define who you think I am. Fair enough?
[Looking across the ocean of humanity, each with their undivided attention on what she had to say, her stomach started to churn. Was this really the best idea? What if she said the wrong thing and only made it worse? Nerves gulped down her throat, swallowing her pride as she continued against her better judgment. It was too late to walk away now; she convinced herself.]
Kenzie: For anyone wondering, I'm the one who told NGW officials not to give me a match this week. I needed time. I've intentionally been staying away from social media to collect myself and assess the situation, to back up and look at everything from a different angle, and I'll tell you something. I got everything wrong.
[Letting out a nervous chuckle at the thought, she shook her head back and forth.]
Kenzie: Almost everyone comes into this sport with the same mentality. They think that they need to compare themselves to everyone else to access their successes here in professional wrestling. They think that they need to value their worth based on what the arbitrary majority think of them, and to tell you the truth? That's what I was doing. I was too consumed with the thought that what I was doing wasn't good enough, that everyone else knew something that I couldn't grasp yet. And maybe this was it.
[With that, she took a deep breath, the corners of her mouth curling up into a smile. She listened to her own suggestion, accepted that the opinions they held true weren't the only thing that mattered.]
Kenzie: Now, I've gotten this advice from plenty of different sources, but when you put it together, it creates a cohesive whole. It creates a greater understanding that I think could be used by anyone, no matter whether you're a professional fighter like us or whether you're any one of you listening to my voice right now. And maybe I've got this all wrong, but just hear me out for a second.
[Walking to the edge of the ring, she clutched the top rope with her right hand and grinned at the camera, lifting the microphone to her lips again.]
Kenzie: It's human nature to be who you think other people expect you to be. It starts at school. You try to act cool, sometimes successfully and sometimes not, so you can fit in with the rest of the crowd. It keeps going when you get a job, trying to fit in with your peers. And it's the same thing with wrestling. I know sometimes it can be hard to distinguish us from the rest of you, but trust me when I say that we're people just like you. We sleep, we eat, we put our pants on two legs at a time. One thing I think most of us have in common is we're all so consumed with trying to prove something to other people, we almost lose sight of who we are.
[Releasing her grip on the rope, she strolls across the ring again, a fist full of microphone. Her confidence was growing by the word, and as she saw some of the people in attendance were eagerly listening to what she had to say, it was enough to push her forward.]
Kenzie: Quick disclaimer, I can't speak for anyone. I can only speak for the people who have similar experiences that I have. The people uncomfortable in their own skin, the people still trying to figure themselves out even if they won't admit it, that's who I'm talking about. And for those people, I figured out that the right mindset isn't that hard to achieve when you really put the effort forward.
[Climbing the turnbuckle, she climbed to the top turnbuckle like it was second nature, draping one leg over the other. With a wide grin, she looked like she was more comfortable than she's ever been. It gave the illusion that she was sitting behind her desk back at school or sitting on her couch back at her apartment. Swinging her foot playfully up and down, she realized that this was where she belonged. This was her unique spot.]
Kenzie: I wasn't gaining anything by trying to fit into the role I thought people wanted me to play. With every friend I earned, I lost myself more and more, and before I knew it, I was acting like someone I couldn't recognize. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with making friends, no. I'm saying the problem lies when you're bending over backward for people you hardly know and end up paying for it. You need to look out for yourself too, y'know? If you don't, nobody else will, and that's the honest truth. And what happened at City Of Sins, I was so consumed with the thoughts of proving everyone wrong, of making everyone happy in that role I thought people wanted me to play, I drowned in it. I lost myself. I drank like my dad used to, tried to numb all the feelings that made me feel trapped and I just—
[She looked down at her lap, rocking back and forth slightly as emotion washed over her face. There were no tears, but the reality of the situation hit her hard just then. Why did she do that? She beat herself up over it inside her own head, and as the crowd watched transfixed to her every word, she shook away the feelings. This wasn't the time. Sniffling, she kept at it, eyes moving across the room like she was the teacher of a kindergarten class, making sure everyone was looking at the pictures in The Cat In The Hat.]
Kenzie: I... I made a fool out of myself. I let a lot of people down. Most of all, I let myself down. And that's how I figured it out. You need to be yourself. You have to live up to your own standards, not the standards of everyone else, okay? And you know what? I have nothing to prove to them. And neither do you. The more important thing is proving to myself that I can be better than I was yesterday, that I could fulfill everything I set out to achieve. I'm relying on myself more than anyone else in the world to get what I want, and I'm not killing myself over trying to act like the picture perfect angel anymore!
[Empowered, she shouted to the crowd with more invigoration and more energy than she's ever showcased thus far in her whole career. Some of the people who booed when she made her entrance had changed their opinions, cheering for the woman along with the rest of the fans in the audience, pleased to see she's gained a backbone.]
Kenzie: I'm taking back what's mine, and I'm living up to the potential everyone's been saying I've always had but never capitalized on! I'm not going to be complacent enough to fight the Axle's and the Blade's of the world and call that an achievement when it's not! I achieved more in this sport as a rookie than most people my age, and I'm one of the most successful people in NGW since its inception, but I'm still not satisfied. I won't be satisfied until I meet my own standards, and I'm not even close, you got that?
[More cheers reigned down on her as she sat perched in the corner, shedding her role completely for a more realistic aggressive approach to everyone's approval.]
Kenzie: I messed up. Nothing I do or say can take back what I did, but I can learn from it. I can capitalize on the mistakes I've made and use it to propel myself forward. I'll start from the bottom and rise my way back to where I belong, and you can cheer, you can boo, it doesn't matter. You pay your hard earned money to see us fight every other week, you can think whatever you want, but I'm not letting that define me anymore. I define me! I define everything I do and nothing, nobody, is going to get in the way of me meeting those standards I plan on living up to every single day!!
[Another chorus of cheers reigned supreme, a few stragglers choosing to boo instead. She wasn't turning her back on the fans, mind you. She was just standing up for herself for the first time she could even remember.]
Kenzie: I'm done with complacency. I'm done with relying on other people to pat me on the back. I'm making my way to becoming one of the best fighters NGW's ever seen, and it's that damn simple! And what happened at City Of Sin? I wouldn't take it back. The truth is, it made me stronger than I've ever been and now that I know what it takes, you'll never see me satisfied with mediocrity ever again.
[With that, she spiked her microphone to the floor from the top of the turnbuckle, hopping to her feet. Stepping over the second rope to the apron, she hopped down to the floor and walked up the ramp from where she came as the crowd erupted with emotion behind her.]
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