Be Brave

Rise to Greatness 2025

{{ Saturday, May 24
Harvey, LA – Amy’s home }}

For the last several weeks, Amy had been attending Breakdown to be at Simon’s side – the real Simon, not the imposter Ryan who had taken over Simon’s identity and ruined several lives for over a year. That’s the reason Amy made sure she was there to back Simon up. Not only had he actually not been in ring shape all this time, he was also recovering from being held hostage and the lingering effects of the stroke years ago. But, he is a hardheaded individual and he insisted on getting some training in and handling his twin brother himself. Amy didn’t think that was a good idea, and neither did Simon’s son Spencer… who had come to New Orleans as soon as he found out what had happened.

Today, Amy is resting at home after having been attacked at Breakdown, for the simple offense of standing next to Simon as he went back and forth with Ryan. It hadn’t been Ryan who made the attack though… no. It was members of the Fall of Man, James Evans’ new faction of followers. Amy couldn’t remember exactly who grabbed and threw her off the stage into some equipment cases, but she’d watch the footage and now knew it had been Waylon Creek who did the damage. She’d not crossed paths with him before that she could remember, so she can only assume Creek did so at James’ behest. That would prove to be an unfortunate miscalculation on James’ part, if Amy had her way. Taking Hold of the Flame was coming up, and the deadline to enter hadn’t passed yet. James Evans was the World Champion. If he retained… and Amy managed to win the Flame… she could get back at him for orchestrating yet another trip into equipment and concern about concussions. Luckily, this time she had not suffered one, only a few bruises.

Sitting at the desk in her office, Amy stares at the email she has prepared to send to SCW’s Board, with her intent to enter the Flame. It’s all written out with the proper form attached and ready to go…. Yet she hovers over the send button. She hadn’t spoken about her decision to do this with anyone, not even Wyatt. Deciding she can’t do this without talking to him first, she saves the email in Drafts and pushes her chair away from the desk.

A light knock on the ajar door makes Amy turn. Assuming it’s Wyatt, she thinks he has good timing.
“Come in.”
The door pushes open and rather than Wyatt, Loki walks in. “Hey Mom. Are you busy?”
“No, not really.”
“Okay, good. I wanna talk to you about something.” Loki sits on the couch under the bay window that has been seen in many of Amy’s video promos. Amy turns in her chair following him to face him.
“Alright, I’m listening.”
“Okay.” Loki hesitates, taking a deep breath. “So, you know I’m gonna be eighteen in January.”
“Gods, don’t remind me.” Amy grins. Loki chuckles.
“Yeah, we’re both getting old, huh?”
“Watch it.” Another grin.
“Anyway… so there’s a lot of things that open up once that happens. Like, suddenly a lot of things are legal for me. A lot of opportunities.”
“Loki… where are you going with this?” He was being the opposite of Wyatt’s directness, which wasn’t normal for her son. Amy hasn’t the slightest idea what he could possibly be talking about. He hadn’t expressed any interest in the military, so it can’t be that. Maybe he’s decided on a college? Amy would have never with a dozen guesses come up with the next words out of her son’s mouth.
“Right. Okay, I’ll just say it. I want to train with you. At the Academy.”
Amy blinks, trying to process what she just heard. “Train… like to get stronger for your MMA, or—”
Loki sighs, in that frustrated teenager way. “No, Mom. For wrestling.”
“What….”
“Look, I’ve been doing BJJ for a few years, and it’s great. But I’m not gonna get anywhere as an adult with that. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get into things like UFC?” Amy starts to speak but Loki keeps going. “Super fu—freaking hard. I looked into it, a few of us at the dojo did. It’s just not realistic. But for me at least, wrestling is.”
Amy sits back in her chair, in amazement. “I… have to admit I didn’t see this coming at all. You’ve never given any indication at all that you were interested.”
Loki shrugs. “You never asked. But I’ve kinda been thinking about it for a while.”
“I didn’t ask because you seemed happy at the dojo.”
“I was. I mean, I am! But… I want to do more. Be more. And I can’t do that with this discipline. With wrestling, I believe I can. But I have to be trained in it.”
The day Amy had been dreading for years had come. The fact that Loki was now coming to her with this, showing how much he had thought about his own future and made a thought-out and mature decision, solidifies the moment. Amy is no longer speaking to the boy she birthed and raised; she is speaking with a grown man.
“Mom… why are you looking at me like that? Do you not want me to—”
“No, no. It’s not that. It’s just… it hit me that you’re not a little boy anymore. You became all grown up when I wasn’t looking.”
Loki grins, somewhat shyly. He had always been the quiet, reserved type.
“Mom, come on.”
“No, I mean it. I have to accept that I’m not talking to a child.”
“So…. Does that mean you’re okay with it?”
“Okay with you being grown? I don’t think so.” Amy shakes her head with an amused scoff.
“Not that…” Loki scoffs back. “With me training at the academy.”
“Oh. You wrestling. I… I don’t know. Have you talked to anyone else about this?”
“Jaina. She’s all for it. And Professor Luke at the dojo. He thinks I’d adapt to it well.”
“Of course Jaina would back you up… she’s done it herself. She went behind my back though and asked Aunt Bree to help her. At least you’re asking me, so that’s a point in your favor.”
“She told me you’d say that.” Loki smirks.
“I bet she did.”
“She went over a few moves with me too, just to see if I could pick it up quick. She said I did, for whatever that’s worth.”
“No offense to your sister, but she isn’t really the best one to judge that.” Sure, Jaina had trained with Bree, and eventually Amy and everyone else at the Academy, but she didn’t train often enough to be especially skilled.
“She said you’d say that, too. But that’s why I’m coming to you with it. You might see me as grown, and that means a lot, it really does. But the fact is I’m still seventeen and I can’t train anywhere without your approval. There’s waivers.”
Amy nods, she had to sign a new one every year for Loki to continue with the dojo.
“And Jaina was of age when she did it,” Amy says, mostly to herself.
“That’s right.”
Amy crosses her arms, more of a self-hug than any kind of indignation. She has a good look at her son, really seeing him for the person he is and not just an extension of herself. Loki looks back, expectantly. Finally, Amy gives a small nod.
“Okay. I’ll sign off on it. If you’re sure it’s what you want to do.”
“I’m sure.”
“Okay.” Nodding again, Amy forces a smile. It’s not what she ever thought Loki would want to do, but who was she to deny him going into the very thing she does and lives for? Loki gets up and leans in to hug her.
“Thanks, Mom. I promise you won’t regret it.”
Hugging back, Amy laughs. “I hope not.”
Loki pulls away and sits back on the couch. “So, when do I start?”
“I don’t know. Let’s wait until after the Flame for me to figure it out.”
“Are you entering?”
“I think so, yeah.” Oops... she wasn't supposed to admit that...
“Does Dad know?”
Amy glances sideways. “…. No.”
“Oh.”
“Does he know you want to wrestle?”
“…. No.” Loki shakes his head.
“Then we have an understanding, right?”
“We’re both gonna tell him ourselves.”
“Exactly.”
They stare at each other a second, then both laugh.
“You do realize, son, that this means you’re going to have to listen to me far more strictly than you ever did growing up?” Not that he was a bad child, but every kid pushes their parents boundaries at some point.
“I know. Coach is very different from Mom.”
“You’re starting to learn already.”
Loki stands up with a smile. “I’m gonna go call Jaina.” He then leaves Amy’s office without a backwards glance.

“Shit. What did I just agree to?” Amy shakes her head as she spins around and opens her laptop. She has an email to send.

* * * * * * * * * *

Later that night, Amy and Wyatt are in the kitchen after dinner, cleaning up. Loki had already gone up to his room.
“So, are you gonna tell me what Loki’s all excited about?”
Amy glances up from the dishes at her husband. Since when did he become so observant?
“Was he?”
“Oh come on, the kid could barely sit still.” Wyatt snaps the lid of a food storage container shut as an exclamation point.
“He’s not a kid anymore, you know.”
“You think I haven’t noticed? He’s as tall as you.”
“He is, but that’s not what I meant.”
“I know it isn’t.” Wyatt grins, halfway, in the way that had always been Amy’s weakness. She smiles back. “Just makes me more curious. You have any idea what’s going on?”
“Maybe. But it’s not up to me to talk about it.”
Wyatt eyes her suspiciously as he leans backwards against the counter, arms folded.
“I see. Can I expect to be approached later?”
“Maybe.” Amy starts moving the dishes around harder, to make more noise, splashing water all around the sink. Wyatt chuckles.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
Amy says nothing as she finishes rinsing a skillet, and sets it aside in the drainpan. Turning off the water, she then turns and leans sideways against the counter, stepping forward a little to avoid the water she’d splashed. She grabs a towel and dries her hands as she speaks.
“Maybe it was about me, did you consider that?” Misdirection, taught in wrestling schools across the country, often work in marital relations.
“What about you?”
“The Flame is coming up.”
Wyatt looks at her a moment, then his eyes widen as it clicks. “Did you enter it?” Amy simply nods. “And you didn’t say anything?”
“Would you have tried to talk me out of it?”
“Considering what happened a few days ago? Possibly.”
“That’s why.”
Wyatt shakes his head in disbelief. “Why you did it, or why you didn’t say anything?”
“Both.”
“I guess I should know by now I can’t talk you out of anything that has to do with that ring if you’ve made your mind up.”
“Exactly. I didn’t see the point in wasting time with a conversation that wouldn’t have changed anything. The sign up deadline is Monday morning.”
Shaking his head again Wyatt pushes off the counter and reaches to hug his wife. She steps into it. “Alright. I’m behind you, you know that.”
“I do know.”
Wyatt gives her one tighter squeeze, then steps back. “You’re not doing this to win it, are you? You have a plan after this week.”
“You know me too well.”
“That plan doesn’t happen to include Asshole, does it?” Amy didn’t have to ask what asshole Wyatt was referring to, that was their conversational name for Ryan Lyman, to avoid needing to speak his name.
“No… not my plan. Maybe someone else’s.” Amy smirks. Wyatt nods, catching on. A certain previously fired SCW star had recently come back to New Orleans, and Amy was one of a handful of people who knew what he was planning.
“Understood.”
“Will you come to the show?”
“You don’t even have to ask.” They kiss. “Now, I’m gonna go upstairs and see what has our son bursting at the seams. Because no matter what your misdirection tried to do, I’m positive it’s not about you and the Flame.” Wyatt smirks as he walks backwards a few steps, then turns to head towards the stairs. Amy just shakes her head. So fucking observant all of a sudden.

July 26

Greetings, Dear Readers, and welcome to Rise to Greatness!

At the beginning of the year, I had no idea that I would be heading into this show as an active participant rather than a spectator. I had planned on taking an extended break, following the handful of consecutive concussions and other… complications that demanded my attention. But as I’ve often been the recipient of… life doesn’t always agree with our plans.

A certain imposter made it necessary for me to be at my good friend’s side in support, not only to just be there for him, but to show to everyone who the real Simon Lyman is. It still blows my mind that for all that time…. I didn’t know the difference, but now with them both around? The difference is so striking, that it makes me sick how much time I spent with the imposter.

But… in the process of standing by my friend, I was dragged, literally, into the fray by James Evans’ men in Fall of Man. Giovanni and Waylon both played a role, and Gio will get what’s coming to him in that ladder match for all of his transgressions, but he is not the one who threw me off that stage, through a table and into a pile of equipment. I can – and do – blame James for orchestrating the whole thing, and if he hadn’t found himself on the wrong end of some very angry people… I’d still be coming after him to take him to task for it.

That leaves me where we are Sunday night at Rise to Greatness. Waylon Creek, the man who did the deed with his own hands. Clearly James never explained to his henchmen exactly who I am or how determined I can be when I’ve been wronged. It sems to me like Waylon vastly underestimated me and the lengths I will go to, the depths I can dive to… when I deem it necessary.

He found out, though. When I let him know firsthand that if I couldn’t get James back for what was done to me, I would just have to settle for his skin instead.

Let me make an aside here to make it clear that I fully understand that James and Fall of Man only did what they did because they made some kind of deal with the imposter. He will get what’s coming to him, all in good time. That’s a promise, and I don’t invoke that word lightly.

----

Waylon Creek. You sure seemed surprised when I sneak attacked you, just like was done to me. If you thought I was just going to let things go, you truly had no idea who you’re dealing with. It seems you caught on quickly though… perhaps you’re still in contact with James and got a little history lesson. It didn’t take long for you and your mouthpiece William Heavan to figure out some way to try to catch me off guard. But I’ve forgotten more wrestling and schemes than you have ever learned, and it’s gonna take a lot more than an attempted sneak attack and some badly veiled plan to get me out of the way, just so you can get the opponent you really wanted.

Ryan LeCavalier…. I’m not even going to blame you. I’m not gonna come for your head, because you just got suckered into Waylon’s games. You thought you had an easy way out of facing Glory Braddock by giving Waylon what he wanted – me out of the way, because he’d rather face you again. Look, I get it… it sounded like a good deal at the time. The one thing you didn’t take into consideration is just how hard it is to keep me down. You found out the hard way… which seems to be the only way anyone around this company seems to learn.

I’ve been in SCW for ten years. I’ve been wrestling for twenty years. That’s longer than some of the people on this roster have known how to ride a bike, much less wrestle, and these new young talents walk in here thinking they’re the gods’ gift to the business and they can just push me out of the way because I’m the “old guard.” They forget that I’ve done it all, I’ve seen it all, and I’ve overcome it all. So Ryan… again, I don’t blame you. You fell victim to believing things around here could be as easy as making that deal you made with Waylon Creek. I hope you learned something, and you’ll think a little harder next time.

As for you, Waylon? Maybe you fooled Ryan into thinking you had some ounce of respect for her as a competitor by wanting to face her again instead of me at Rise to Greatness, but I see right through that, clear as crystal. It has nothing to do with wanting to face Ryan one more time, and everything to do with the fact that you are afraid of facing me.

Yes, I said it. You are afraid.

You saw how I didn’t fade away after you threw me off the stage, foolishly thinking that would end my career. Bigger, stronger, and more dangerous men than you have tried, and come a lot closer to succeeding, yet I’m still here. I made damn sure you knew it too, and couldn’t forget it when I kept and kept after you, making you need to respond. That was my game, Waylon… and you walked right into it when you came after me and locked in the Canary. I’m not gonna pretend it didn’t hurt, because it certainly the fuck did. But it was worth it to know that I can still get inside the head of anyone I so choose, and easily too. Take some notes from a real master of mindgames kid, maybe next time you’ll succeed.

In the meantime, and despite your best efforts to duck out of it… you and I are going to meet at Rise to Greatness. You are going to find out first hand what so many others before you learned the hard way. I cannot be manipulated. I will not be taken out as easily as you think. And once the bell rings and you’re standing across the ring from a pissed off me, the only way out…

… is tap out or BlackOut.

The Thorn in your Side,
~ Amy Chastaine