Post by Kathleen Conway on Aug 27, 2017 19:30:51 GMT
Legacy.
It means so many different things to so many different people.
In the context of the Imperial Wrestling Federation, it is an annual summertime spectacular that has traditionally played host to two of the most important professional wrestling tournaments in the world, and not for the first time I am proud to say that I have earned my chance once again to compete alongside some of the finest and some of the youngest female athletes in the business today.
I have never considered myself to be a veteran of professional wrestling because honestly the weight of expectation that came with such a lofty title always terrified me. For the longest time I felt I didn't deserve the stature or the honour that others would bestow upon me more out of respect than sincerity, and so rather than accept it, I fought against the notion, I dismissed it and there were times that I even outright denied it, but now - now I see things a little differently.
I will be the first to admit that it hasn't been easy learning exactly what I needed to about myself and my position in this business, but if the last few years of recovery and the last few weeks of my return to in ring competition has taught me anything, it s that when I accept things for what they are, I can achieve more, and I can be more than I've ever been prepared to give myself credit for.
It is through that acceptance that I can and I do stand here today, right now, in this year's tournament embracing - rather than shunning - the fact that compared to the rest of my younger, hungrier and more athletic competition, I am indeed the in ring veteran.
At forty, I am the oldest competitor left standing in this tournament, and with that age comes not only a wealth of valuable experience both inside and outside the ring but also the undeniable wisdom that whilst I may have to acknowledge the hunger of women like Brooklyn Madrox, Astrid Hall, Sara Garcia, Helena Sawyer, Shea O'Hara and Keira Hunter, I also don't have to be the one to satiate it any longer.
You see ladies, I have already done more than enough to satisfy your hunger as your Head of Diamonds, a fact some of you know well because a few of you have even thanked me for it personally, but even I have to draw the line in the sand somewhere. At some point in time, I have to stop concerning myself with what is in each of your best interests and start to think about my own - and now that I have come this far, that time - my time - is now.
Throughout this tournament, the Shepard has lived and breathed as one of her flock, and in doing so she has rediscovered not only who she once was but who she could be in the future. I have battled through some of the fiercest warriors and some of the most malevolent monsters in this company to be here, and through each of those battles I have discovered a part of myself that I never realised I had lost, and though the journey is still far from over - the destination has never been clearer to me.
The Final Showdown will be the first step in my three match journey towards putting a definitive stamp on not only my wrestling career as the Heiress to the Throne but also to exemplify everything I have worked towards these last few years in making the Diamonds Division the one and only absolute pinnacle of women's wrestling today.
Kathy Conway sat in the Japanese hotel room, her head full of doubts and insecurity.
She had made it this far in the Heiress to the Throne, a notable accomplishment perhaps, but here in her most private moments, she couldn't deny that her advancement to this stage had been anything but truly definitive, derailed most by Helena Sawyer - a woman who had qualified comfortably for the semi finals, whilst she was left still fighting for her place against three women who were at least a decade younger than her - and even if she survived them, there was still every possibility that she would meet Helena Sawyer again - and that terrified her.
She was supposed to be the veteran here, but women like Eternity, Helena and Rowan never made her feel like it.
They didn't care about her reputation, they simply saw her as a victim at best or a plaything at worst.
Kathy sighed as she looked down at the old photo of her father in his police uniform, she cradled in her lap. Through it she was transported back in time to the moment of embracing him, cheek to cheek, the widest smile on her face.
"Smile," said Mommy, and so she did.
The smile was now mirrored, albeit in a face that was thirty-five years older, and oh so much more world weary.
"What is it you always say? It's never easy, sweetheart..."
"No journey worth taking ever is," came a warm familiar voice, completing her thought for her.
Kathy looked up and saw her father, her husband and her mother, standing in the hotel room doorway.
"Daddy?!" she exclaimed, half in question and half in excitement.
Kathy jumps up immediately to embrace her parents.
"What are you guys doing here?"
"Did you really think we'd miss the chance to see you become the Heiress to the Throne live and in person?" said her mother.
"Especially not when my favourite son in law is picking up the tab for our whole trip," said her father, winking at Jake.
"Oh Jake, what a wonderful surprise. Thank you," said Kathy, overcome with emotion, she kisses him passionately.
"Get a room, you two!" said her mother.
Her father coughs rather violently, immediately causing Kathy to break away from her husband's embrace and rush to his side as he steadies himself against the bed. Her mother is already at his side, and together mother and daughter help lower him to sit onto the bed.
"Bob?" said her mother, the worry evident in her face.
"Dad? Are you okay?"
The coughing fit subsides as quickly as it started.
"I'm...fine. I'm fine. Just got a little jealous of all the attention the boy was getting, that's all," said her father, smiling.
Kathy felt more than a little uneasy, but for her father's sake she let the incident pass as he reached across the bed and picked up the photograph Kathy had abandoned in her excitement.
*I remember this," he said, obviously trying to change the subject, "Probably one of my favourite photos of you. You were so young, my Kitty Kat, so innocent. Before you discovered boys and went around kissing them." Her father chuckled.
He then locked eyes with Jake, who was still standing in the door way, 119 keyed into his cellphone.
"Come on boy, don't just stand there, you're part of the family too."
Jake smiles, relieved as he hits cancel, wiping out the emergency number. He pockets the phone and joins his wife and in laws, closing the hotel room door behind him. As Jake sits down, Robert pats him on the shoulder, and Jake silently seems to be pleading with him, but the proud husband and father simply shakes his head, before whispering in his ear.
"This is her moment, that's what we're here for. I won't spoil it for her, and neither will you. Not yet, so everything stays as we agreed for now."
Jake reluctantly nods, as he looks over at his wife.
She deserved the world, he just hoped it wouldn't be taken from her too soon.
The simple fact of the matter is that I have already demonstrated the qualities that I expect from my division and my champions. I have done so throughout my tenure as Head of the Diamonds Division. I have been representing the best interests of this business and championing the spirit of female wrestling for a good few years now. I have done it in every board room and corporate luncheon, and I have been the best possible representative of each of you, especially when the Board expressed some of its deepest reservations about how some of you choose to conduct and carry yourselves in this business. I've even saved some of you your jobs by accepting the liabilities that some of you represent.
I took responsibility when the Board had their reservations about Helena's mental health.
I took responsibility when the Board had their reservations about Shea's physical well being.
I took responsibility when questions were raised about Crystal's commitment, Rowan's reputation and Eternity's sanity, and through all of that I became the only person that the Board felt comfortable with placing in the direct line of fire of a man like Spike Kane when his anger and grief became too much of a problem.
The point I'm making here is that winning the Heiress to the Throne this year is about so much more than that one last opportunity to redefine my professional wrestling legacy to me. It's my last and best chance to cut out the middle woman I've allowed myself to become over the last few years entirely and instead become the best representative of a Division I've already been guiding for so long - and what better way for me to make my point to all of you who still don't live up to my expectations than to take the one thing you covet most - the Diamonds Championship - and really put myself into a position to punctuate the one quality I have above all others, the one quality that has made me damned good at my job and one of the Board's most entrusted representatives - the ability to lead by example.
It is said that if you want a job done right, you have to do it yourself - and as it stands I am only four matches away from that reality, so you see girls, as much as I respect what most of you do week in and week out in between those ropes, I've come too far along in my personal road to rediscovery to turn back now.
I have already said that Legacy means so many things to so many different people, to me it is simply a point of no return.
I started down this road and now I'm committed to seeing this journey through. Make no mistake, I take no pleasure from taking this opportunity from any of you, but your youth means that you have more years left ahead of you than I do to inherit MY crown - and I don't doubt that some of you will do it one day.
Just not this Sunday.
Just not at my expense.
I've come too far to let the rest of you go any further.
I've given you far too many opportunities not to take one for myself.
I've been far too selfless not to be selfish - if only for a moment.
My moment, my legacy, my throne and my crown awaits a worthy head, and there is no more worthy a head in the Imperial Wrestling Federation than the Head of the Diamonds Division. Not so long ago I would have felt more than a little guilty about skipping to the head of the line like this, but now I realise that you can't skip to the head of a line that you've been leading all along.
It's been a long and arduous journey getting here, but I'm finally at a point in my career where I see my own worth in this business, and soon so will all of you, my Diamonds. The value of the Queen of Diamonds has always been as a face card, now it's time for me to realise that value as not only the next Heiress, but also as the next face of not only my Division but of women's professional wrestling.
It means so many different things to so many different people.
In the context of the Imperial Wrestling Federation, it is an annual summertime spectacular that has traditionally played host to two of the most important professional wrestling tournaments in the world, and not for the first time I am proud to say that I have earned my chance once again to compete alongside some of the finest and some of the youngest female athletes in the business today.
I have never considered myself to be a veteran of professional wrestling because honestly the weight of expectation that came with such a lofty title always terrified me. For the longest time I felt I didn't deserve the stature or the honour that others would bestow upon me more out of respect than sincerity, and so rather than accept it, I fought against the notion, I dismissed it and there were times that I even outright denied it, but now - now I see things a little differently.
I will be the first to admit that it hasn't been easy learning exactly what I needed to about myself and my position in this business, but if the last few years of recovery and the last few weeks of my return to in ring competition has taught me anything, it s that when I accept things for what they are, I can achieve more, and I can be more than I've ever been prepared to give myself credit for.
It is through that acceptance that I can and I do stand here today, right now, in this year's tournament embracing - rather than shunning - the fact that compared to the rest of my younger, hungrier and more athletic competition, I am indeed the in ring veteran.
At forty, I am the oldest competitor left standing in this tournament, and with that age comes not only a wealth of valuable experience both inside and outside the ring but also the undeniable wisdom that whilst I may have to acknowledge the hunger of women like Brooklyn Madrox, Astrid Hall, Sara Garcia, Helena Sawyer, Shea O'Hara and Keira Hunter, I also don't have to be the one to satiate it any longer.
You see ladies, I have already done more than enough to satisfy your hunger as your Head of Diamonds, a fact some of you know well because a few of you have even thanked me for it personally, but even I have to draw the line in the sand somewhere. At some point in time, I have to stop concerning myself with what is in each of your best interests and start to think about my own - and now that I have come this far, that time - my time - is now.
Throughout this tournament, the Shepard has lived and breathed as one of her flock, and in doing so she has rediscovered not only who she once was but who she could be in the future. I have battled through some of the fiercest warriors and some of the most malevolent monsters in this company to be here, and through each of those battles I have discovered a part of myself that I never realised I had lost, and though the journey is still far from over - the destination has never been clearer to me.
The Final Showdown will be the first step in my three match journey towards putting a definitive stamp on not only my wrestling career as the Heiress to the Throne but also to exemplify everything I have worked towards these last few years in making the Diamonds Division the one and only absolute pinnacle of women's wrestling today.
Kathy Conway sat in the Japanese hotel room, her head full of doubts and insecurity.
She had made it this far in the Heiress to the Throne, a notable accomplishment perhaps, but here in her most private moments, she couldn't deny that her advancement to this stage had been anything but truly definitive, derailed most by Helena Sawyer - a woman who had qualified comfortably for the semi finals, whilst she was left still fighting for her place against three women who were at least a decade younger than her - and even if she survived them, there was still every possibility that she would meet Helena Sawyer again - and that terrified her.
She was supposed to be the veteran here, but women like Eternity, Helena and Rowan never made her feel like it.
They didn't care about her reputation, they simply saw her as a victim at best or a plaything at worst.
Kathy sighed as she looked down at the old photo of her father in his police uniform, she cradled in her lap. Through it she was transported back in time to the moment of embracing him, cheek to cheek, the widest smile on her face.
"Smile," said Mommy, and so she did.
The smile was now mirrored, albeit in a face that was thirty-five years older, and oh so much more world weary.
"What is it you always say? It's never easy, sweetheart..."
"No journey worth taking ever is," came a warm familiar voice, completing her thought for her.
Kathy looked up and saw her father, her husband and her mother, standing in the hotel room doorway.
"Daddy?!" she exclaimed, half in question and half in excitement.
Kathy jumps up immediately to embrace her parents.
"What are you guys doing here?"
"Did you really think we'd miss the chance to see you become the Heiress to the Throne live and in person?" said her mother.
"Especially not when my favourite son in law is picking up the tab for our whole trip," said her father, winking at Jake.
"Oh Jake, what a wonderful surprise. Thank you," said Kathy, overcome with emotion, she kisses him passionately.
"Get a room, you two!" said her mother.
Her father coughs rather violently, immediately causing Kathy to break away from her husband's embrace and rush to his side as he steadies himself against the bed. Her mother is already at his side, and together mother and daughter help lower him to sit onto the bed.
"Bob?" said her mother, the worry evident in her face.
"Dad? Are you okay?"
The coughing fit subsides as quickly as it started.
"I'm...fine. I'm fine. Just got a little jealous of all the attention the boy was getting, that's all," said her father, smiling.
Kathy felt more than a little uneasy, but for her father's sake she let the incident pass as he reached across the bed and picked up the photograph Kathy had abandoned in her excitement.
*I remember this," he said, obviously trying to change the subject, "Probably one of my favourite photos of you. You were so young, my Kitty Kat, so innocent. Before you discovered boys and went around kissing them." Her father chuckled.
He then locked eyes with Jake, who was still standing in the door way, 119 keyed into his cellphone.
"Come on boy, don't just stand there, you're part of the family too."
Jake smiles, relieved as he hits cancel, wiping out the emergency number. He pockets the phone and joins his wife and in laws, closing the hotel room door behind him. As Jake sits down, Robert pats him on the shoulder, and Jake silently seems to be pleading with him, but the proud husband and father simply shakes his head, before whispering in his ear.
"This is her moment, that's what we're here for. I won't spoil it for her, and neither will you. Not yet, so everything stays as we agreed for now."
Jake reluctantly nods, as he looks over at his wife.
She deserved the world, he just hoped it wouldn't be taken from her too soon.
The simple fact of the matter is that I have already demonstrated the qualities that I expect from my division and my champions. I have done so throughout my tenure as Head of the Diamonds Division. I have been representing the best interests of this business and championing the spirit of female wrestling for a good few years now. I have done it in every board room and corporate luncheon, and I have been the best possible representative of each of you, especially when the Board expressed some of its deepest reservations about how some of you choose to conduct and carry yourselves in this business. I've even saved some of you your jobs by accepting the liabilities that some of you represent.
I took responsibility when the Board had their reservations about Helena's mental health.
I took responsibility when the Board had their reservations about Shea's physical well being.
I took responsibility when questions were raised about Crystal's commitment, Rowan's reputation and Eternity's sanity, and through all of that I became the only person that the Board felt comfortable with placing in the direct line of fire of a man like Spike Kane when his anger and grief became too much of a problem.
The point I'm making here is that winning the Heiress to the Throne this year is about so much more than that one last opportunity to redefine my professional wrestling legacy to me. It's my last and best chance to cut out the middle woman I've allowed myself to become over the last few years entirely and instead become the best representative of a Division I've already been guiding for so long - and what better way for me to make my point to all of you who still don't live up to my expectations than to take the one thing you covet most - the Diamonds Championship - and really put myself into a position to punctuate the one quality I have above all others, the one quality that has made me damned good at my job and one of the Board's most entrusted representatives - the ability to lead by example.
It is said that if you want a job done right, you have to do it yourself - and as it stands I am only four matches away from that reality, so you see girls, as much as I respect what most of you do week in and week out in between those ropes, I've come too far along in my personal road to rediscovery to turn back now.
I have already said that Legacy means so many things to so many different people, to me it is simply a point of no return.
I started down this road and now I'm committed to seeing this journey through. Make no mistake, I take no pleasure from taking this opportunity from any of you, but your youth means that you have more years left ahead of you than I do to inherit MY crown - and I don't doubt that some of you will do it one day.
Just not this Sunday.
Just not at my expense.
I've come too far to let the rest of you go any further.
I've given you far too many opportunities not to take one for myself.
I've been far too selfless not to be selfish - if only for a moment.
My moment, my legacy, my throne and my crown awaits a worthy head, and there is no more worthy a head in the Imperial Wrestling Federation than the Head of the Diamonds Division. Not so long ago I would have felt more than a little guilty about skipping to the head of the line like this, but now I realise that you can't skip to the head of a line that you've been leading all along.
It's been a long and arduous journey getting here, but I'm finally at a point in my career where I see my own worth in this business, and soon so will all of you, my Diamonds. The value of the Queen of Diamonds has always been as a face card, now it's time for me to realise that value as not only the next Heiress, but also as the next face of not only my Division but of women's professional wrestling.
Well howdy there pardner.