I Can Do This

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Off Camera

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Marie Annabelle Jones made her debut in Supreme Championship Wrestling on the European Tour in front of a crowd of thousands upon thousands of cheering Parisians.  It was a victorious, successful debut as she planted Hannah Warr head first into the mat with Ave Maria and picked up the pin fall victory.  SCW and its roster of superstars had been put on notice; The Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling had arrived.

Her goal here in SCW is a simple one; she just wants to create a singles career for herself.  She truly hoped that she could get that in UWA, the Uprising Wrestling Alliance, and it appeared as if they were going to give her a legitimate shot.  She had qualified for the Pyramid Match at Olympus, their signature event, in which she won the UWA World Championship.  Jones, quite literally, was on top of the UWA world being the World Heavyweight Champion and World Tag Team Champion simultaneously.

It is the tag team title that would end up complicating things for young Marie.  No one is champion forever and, eventually, Marie would lose the title.  And when she did lose the world championship, she was booked almost exclusively in the tag team division.

She understands that rematch clauses are not honored in UWA, but at the same time Jones had been a former world champion.  She was the winner of the first ever Pyramid Match.  Jones felt that, even if she didn’t get a world title shot automatically, and despite the fact that she was a very dominant world tag team champion with Sophie James, that she should at least continue to be allowed to show off her skills as an individual athlete.

Yet it didn’t happen.  UWA and its management, Drew Bryant and David Helms, felt it was necessary to keep her in the tag team division.  Marie gave them every opportunity to change their mind but it didn’t happen.  She was even left off of the card of the next UWA pay per view Sectioned.  She was not only disallowed from competing in the elimination chamber match for the world title, whereas some people who didn’t even deserve to compete for the world title were allowed into the chamber, but she was also disallowed from being booked altogether.

Marie felt betrayed by the UWA.  She felt betrayed by Helms and Bryant.  And thus she felt she had no other alternative than to seek out greener pastures.

Thus Supreme Championship Wrestling entered the equation.  Here Marie could show off her individual wrestling talents and skills. Here she can be a singles competitor and not pigeonholed into the tag team division.  And she’s already shown that she can get the job done with her one on one victory over Hannah Warr.  Now she’s ready for next Breakdown and Kara Abheri live from Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Hannah Warr was another wrestler making her debut the same night as Marie when they fought.  Kara is still fairly new to SCW and still looking to make her mark in Supreme Championship Wrestling.  Turning back the challenge she faces will be quite a challenge for The Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling, but it is one she must do if she wants to continue her successful run and prove to any and all of her doubters that she can get the job done in SCW…

…and she definitely plenty of doubters.

“I really don’t like this idea at all.”

Marie Jones sighs as she lies down in her bed, staring up at her iPhone.  On the screen is her agent, Tabitha Silverstone.  They are apparently engaging in a FaceTime chat of some sort.  The live feed chat is definitely convenient for young Marie.  Family is very important to her, just as it is with all Jones women.  A mere text message isn’t always enough.  Hearing their voices isn’t always enough at times.  There are times Marie wants to see the faces of her mother, the legendary Angelica Jones, her aunt Kayla Jones, and her sisters and cousins.  That is what makes FaceTime a great tool for Marie.

It can also be used to help her stay in close contact with Tabitha Silverstone, her agent.  That’s normally a good thing.  Tabitha has been an excellent agent for Marie and she trusts her judgment, not just as an agent but as a friend.  But this is one lecture from Silverstone that she does not want to hear right now.  Unfortunately, Tabitha isn’t going to let her off the hook.  She is going to let her hear every bit of what she has to say.

“You’re spreading yourself too thin.”

Marie has heard that line before.  She rolls her eyes.  Tabitha doesn’t like that very much.

“Quit rolling your eyes.   You know I’m right.  Isn’t UWA enough for you?  Why overextend yourself by placing yourself in SCW as well?”

“You know damn well why I had to, Tabs.”

The intense fire that every Jones woman seems to have enters Marie’s eyes.

“I want to compete on my own.”

“So  you want to get rid of Sophie James?”

Marie shakes her head.

“I didn’t say that, I fully intend to continue my obligation in UWA as its World Tag Team Champion, but at the same time I refuse to be pigeonholed as just a tag team wrestler when I know I am so much more than that.”

Marie glares angrily at the phone.

“I beat Vanilla Skyy, Willow Wilkes, and Victoria Salinas to become World Champion in the first ever Pyramid Match.  Yeah, granted, I lost it, but every champion loses their title eventually.  But I did prove that I belonged in the singles division.  And yet Helms and Bryant felt it was necessary to pigeonhole me in the tag division?”

Tabitha sighs.

“I understand what you mean and I understand why you’re upset.  But they do have a tag team division to think about as well.”

“And I said I would fulfill my obligation to that.  Hell, I had been World AND Tag Team Champion simultaneously, Tabs.”

“I recall, but maybe they don’t want you to split your focus?  Maybe they wanted you to focus on one or the other?”

Marie shakes her head vehemently.

“That’s not fair!  I earned BOTH belts, they have no right to make me choose!”

“Life isn’t fair, Marie.  But again, I see where you are coming from.  I just feel that there were better ways you could have handled this.”

Jones sighs.

“How?”

“If you really wanted to be a singles competitor, you could have just vacated your tag title, given it to Sophie, let her pick a new partner.  That puts you exclusively in the singles division.”

That angry intense glare returns to Marie’s face.

“I shouldn’t have to make that call.”

“Or…you could have just quit UWA altogether and signed with SCW.”

“Again, I shouldn’t have to make that call.”

“And you think going to Mr. Drachewych and signing a contract to wrestle in Supreme Championship Wrestling without notifying ANYONE…not Helms, not Bryant, not even your own tag team partner Sophie, was the right call?”

Marie winces.  Tabitha had a good point there.  She hadn’t notified Sophie about the decision to sign with SCW.  In fact, the only person who knew about it was Arthur, Marie’s husband.  He was the one who suggested that Marie come up with a compromise.  And yet, Marie somehow thinks he would have been more in agreement with Tabitha’s proposals rather than the one Marie ultimately went with.

Then there’s Sophie herself.  Sophie was there for Marie when she needed her.  Sophie was a friend when Marie had none.  Sophie helped Marie get back on track and helped Marie in her road to redemption.  Now Marie feels rotten for making Sophie feel like a second class citizen.

“Well…maybe not…”

“Definitely not.”

Tabitha sighs.

“I’ve done my best to calm her down.  You two are still tag team champions in UWA and you need to be a cohesive unit if you expect to stay that way.  So you need to talk to her and get back on the same page.  And while I am not exactly thrilled with this SCW prospect of yours, what’s done is done, so I will support you every step of the way.”

Marie grins.

“Thanks, Tabs.”

“So, you defeated Hannah Warr.  And you are now facing Kara Abheri, correct?”

Marie nods her head.

“Yeah…”

“Excellent.  Just focus on defeating her.  She signed her SCW contract before you did but she is still fairly new and looking to make a good impression with SCW management and the SCW fans.  You need to make a good impression with the SCW management and the fans and you also have the added pressure of proving to the world that you can do this.”

“You mean, I have to prove it to you?”

Tabitha shakes her head.

“No, of course not.  I believe in you.  But there are those who question the decision that you made, and I don’t just mean Sophie James.  If not a win but at least a good performance against Kara Abheri will go a long way to silencing those critics.”

Marie nods her head.  Then out of the corner of her eye she sees her bedroom window opening.  She gasps as she stares towards the window.  Tabitha, who is on FaceTime, cannot see what is going on; though she can see the distressed look on her client’s face.

“What is it?  What’s wrong?”

Just then Marie breathes a sigh of relief as she watches her twin sister Kimberly Williams climb in through the window.

“It’s no one, Tabs.”

“Hey!”

Kimberly places her hands on her hips and stares incredulously at Marie.

“I AM someone!”

Marie snickers as she turns to face Tabitha.

“I better go.”

“Ok, talk to you later, Marie.”

And with that, the two hang up. Marie sets her iPhone to the side and then turns to face Kimberly.

“You know, I gave you a key to the front door for a reason.”

“Front doors are so boring.  Windows are where it’s at!”

Marie Jones stands up and greets her twin with a hug.  Standing side by side it is virtually impossible to tell them apart; only the clothes differentiate between the two.  Marie is wearing a black skirt that falls to just below the knee, simple black flats, and a red long sleeved sweater.   Her sister Kimberly is dressed in…well…

…nothing.

That’s right, Marie’s sociopathic twin is standing in this bedroom wearing nothing but a lacy bra and panty number.  Marie scans her up and down and frowns.

“Where are your clothes?”

“Clothes are also not necessary, sweetie.  We were born naked, after all.”

“I doubt you got all the way to my house in your underwear, Kim.”

Kim snickers.

“True enough.”

She points to the window.

“I left my clothes on the ground before I started climbing up.”

Marie can’t help but throw her head back and laugh.

“Kim, I don’t know if I will ever understand you.”

“I can help you understand me.”

Marie rolls her eyes.

“I’m not sure I want to understand you.”

She motions to Kim’s nearly naked form.

“I mean, look at you!  You’re near naked…”

“It feels liberating!”

“Liberating wasn’t the exactly the word I was going to use.”

“That’s because you are a bit of a prude, darling sister.”

Marie frowns.

“Excuse me?”

Kimberly nods her head as she takes Marie by the arm and guides her back over to the bed where they sit down side by side.

“You look at me now in my underwear and you think less of me.  You thought less of me when I posted scantily clad photos of myself for that dweeb’s twitter tournament…which I nearly won, by the way…and you think less of me because I indulge myself upon chaos, I thrive upon chaos.”

“I don’t look down on you.”

Kimberly nods her head.

“Yes you do.  Don’t lie, just admit that you do.  You and everyone else except for Abi and a select few others look down on me and why is that?  Because I don’t fit their mold for what I should be.”

She picks up the iPhone Marie cast aside.

“The iPhone lady looked down on you for what you did, by signing with Supreme Championship Wrestling.”

“Her name is Tabitha Silverstone.”

“I heard her on that iPhone, so she’s now iPhone Lady to me.”

Kimberly throws it to the side.

“Point is, she looks down upon you because you did what made you happy, even though it didn’t fit into the mold of what everyone else thinks you should be doing.  But my question is this…”

Kimberly grins nastily.

“What business is it of iPhone Lady’s what you do?”

“Umm…”

Marie honestly has no idea of how to answer Kimberly.  She raises a good point.  Before Marie can answer, Kim holds up her hand to silence her.

“Look, before you say anything, let me ask you this.  Do you recall when I kidnapped you and replaced you?”

Marie rolls her eyes.

“How could I forget?”

“Right, and do you remember why I did it?”

“Because of some crazy notion that I was the favorite…”

“It wasn’t a crazy notion, Marie.  It’s the truth.  You ARE the favorite child.  You always have been mother’s favorite.  Corey may deny it, but between you and her, she knows deep down you are the favorite.  And little Kelly, the youngest, she’ll learn it soon enough.  But you being the favorite child IS a fact and I wanted so badly to be the favorite, to be you.”

Kim sighs.

“But there was more to it than that.  You had so much to offer in terms of sex appeal and influence within pro-wrestling and yet you didn’t any of it.  You lived a boring, dull life by following the rules.  You were the good girl.  You wasted your life, Marie, and at the time I felt you didn’t deserve to live that life.  So I wanted to live it for you.”

Williams shakes her head.

“But I was wrong, not in my assessment of the problem but in finding the solution to the problem.”

Marie sneers.

“If you’re suggesting I start acting as crazy as you then forget it!”

“I’m not suggesting that at all.  Everyone is unique, everyone does what they want.  We are all individuals, after all.  What I am suggesting is that you quit following the rules.”

Kimberly wraps an arm around Marie’s shoulder.

“Look at what following the rules has got you.  UWA won’t give you a world title rematch.  You go to SCW so you can be a singles competitor and you get nothing but doubters and critics.  What I’m suggesting, sister, is that you do what you want, do not worry what other people think.”

Marie shakes her head.

“I’m not that person anymore, Kim.”

“What person?  The person who at times sided with Ethan Von Aaron and Silas Mason all with the goal of trying to take a shortcut to becoming World Champion?  I am not asking you to become that comic book villain again.  Be the hero that you want to be.  But sometimes even heroes have to bend the rules.”

She winks.

“Just ask Frank Castle.”

Marie shakes her head and then sighs.  She runs a hand through her long red hair.

“I don’t know.  I just want people to believe in me and I want to have a chance, an opportunity, to show what I can do.  That’s all.  Is that so much to ask?”

“No, it isn’t.  But there does come a time when you’ll have to ask yourself, how much longer are you going to remain loyal to those who refuse to support you and yet they wish for you to  follow THEIR rules?”

Marie sighs and shakes her head.  She wishes to follow the rules.  She wants to do the right thing.   And yet, Kimberly is right about one thing; she does feel as if the world is against her.  And if the world is against her, how long will she continue to do things by the book?

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On Camera

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People said I was crazy for trying to wrestle in both Supreme Championship Wrestling and Uprising Wrestling Alliance at the same time.  My mom and aunt, you know them as The Sisterhood, do that and yet they don’t get called crazy.  They get called gutsy.  They get called dream seekers.  But I get called crazy for thinking that I can be a tag team wrestler in UWA and a singles wrestler in SCW.

Then my SCW debut came and I did exactly what I said I would do.  I walked in and I performed to the best of my ability.  Better than that, I excelled.  I planted Hannah Warr headfirst into the mat with Ave Maria and I walked out a winner.   I won my debut match in SCW.  I thought that maybe, just maybe, that victory would change some minds. I thought that perhaps I would have won over some supporters.

I wasn’t so lucky, I guess.  My critics and doubters are still there, shouting as loud as ever that I’m crazy to think that I can be a star in both SCW and UWA.

And yet, being a star isn’t even my goal.  I just want to be able to wrestle as a singles competitor.  I want to show off what I can do on my own and if UWA won’t give me that opportunity, then maybe SCW will?  I’d like to shut these critics and doubters up.  I certainly would like their support.  But I realize that I will always have them, telling me that I can’t do it.

That means I’ll have to always be better than just good.  I have to be great.  Each and every night I step into an SCW ring I have to be great in order to continue to prove them wrong and prove that I belong here in SCW.

That brings me to you, Kara Abheri.

You are relatively new to SCW as well.  You made your debut before I did, granted, and you have a few more SCW matches under your belt than I do, but that doesn’t change the fact that we both find ourselves in similar situations having to prove that we belong here in this great company with all of this tremendous talent.

The difference is that I have a hell of a lot of pressure on my shoulders to perform, not only to prove these critics and doubters wrong, but also to live up to my family name.

I am a Jones.  I am a daughter of Angelica Jones, to be precise.  The name Jones bring with it a certain level of expectation.  You are expected to be great.

You may have heard me call myself The Crown Jewel o f Professional  Wrestling.  I admit, that certainly sounds like something someone who is quite arrogant and full of themselves would say, but I assure you that I am neither arrogant nor am I full of myself.  The Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling is a name others have given me.  And it stuck.  I have to live up to that high and mighty moniker.

If you lose on Breakdown, it’s not as big a deal.  One minor slip up on your SCW career is not that big of a deal.  You can always pick yourself back up, dust yourself off, learn from your mistakes, and be on your way.  Besides, losing to a former UWA World Champion is nothing to be ashamed of.

But if I lose it will be like confirming everything that my critics have said about me is true.  It will be a form of confirmation that, yes, I have bitten off more than I can chew.

That’s why I HAVE to beat you, Kara.  I cannot afford minor bumpbs in the road like some can.  I have to keep up the momentum I started after defeating Hannah Warr.  I have to defeat you and then keep going forward from there to prove that I belong in this company and that I can do this.

I will do this.

I will do this because I am Marie Annabelle Jones, The Crown Jewel of Professional Wrestling, and I belong in SCW.  To prove it I have to go through you.  We’ll have a hell of a match, babe.  No doubting that.  But it won’t be your arm raised in victory at the end of the match.

It will be mine.