@xwf1999 WHAT IN THE HELL IS THIS?!!!

THIS IS NOT OKAY!!!

— Sidney Grey (@sidneygreyctn) April 10, 2023

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SIDNEY GREY'S RESIDENCE

Sidney had been frantically trying to reach anyone in XWF Headquarters who could tell her why the match stipulation for her very first title defense was a ladder match. Sid insisted she’d exercised her ‘Champion’s Prerogative’ to select a match of her choosing, but The XWF wouldn’t budge as they informed her that her match choice had been confirmed, via FAX.

“It’s me again. Can you please call me back? It’s about the FAX we sent…I think something happened with the machine.” Sid chewed her nails as she left Gina Van Zyl a seventh message. She paced frantically back and forth pausing briefly to stare at Dani Chow. “Well, what did you find?”

Dani looked up at Sid as she sat at her desk with the FAX machine completely disassembled in front of her. “Miss Grey, I already tell you, there no problem with FAX machine. Gina Van Zyl send wrong match on purpose.”

Sid shook her head angrily. “NO! Don’t you dare try to put this on my Gina!” She stormed over to the desk and picked up pieces of the FAX. “This machine did something screwy or you programed it wrong!”

Dani took a deep breath to calm herself before replying. “Gina Van Zyl is not you friend! I tell you this, over and over! Why you still not listen?”

Sid stood there for a moment in silence, her eyes welling with tears. When she spoke, her voice was small and cracked with emotion. “…she wouldn’t do that to me…” The pieces of the FAX dropped from her hands, hitting the floor with a clatter.

“Miss Grey…”

Sid turned and walked away without saying a word.

“MISS GREY!”

---

“Gina is an evil piece of shit!” Dani yelled out before the Producer could ask her a single question.

“To be fair, Sid did and said horrible things to her and her girlfriend. Some might say that this is Sid getting what she has coming to her.”

Dani relented, but only a little. “Okay, Sid might have gotten a little carried away at first, but Gina is responsible for a lot of that as well. She could have left well enough alone after their match, but she followed her into the LFL.” Dani shrugged. “In a weird way, Gina was just begging for Sid to cave her head in with that helmet!”

“Let’s agree to disagree on that.” The Producer changed the subject. “Regardless of fault, it looks like Sid isn’t getting out of this ladder match with Raion Kido. It’s pretty obvious that she has a severe problem with heights, we saw that play out in her match with Noah Jackson. Has she talked to you about it?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “All I know is that she took a bad fall early in her career and she’s never gotten over it.” Dani scowled. “Gina knew what she was doing. She saw where Sidney was vulnerable and she took advantage…after Sidney gave her more exposure than she could handle. Gina picked the perfect moment to throw this at her.”

“Where is Sid now? She should be preparing to face Kido.”

Dani shook her head in disgust. “She’s probably somewhere crying her eyes out over Gina.”

---

HARD ROCK CAFÉ

The thunderous beat of the music blasted through the building as bodies stood shoulder to shoulder swaying to the rhythm. The odor of alcohol and musk hung heavy in the air that was filled with flashing strobe lights. A siren sounded followed by a familiar, if not slightly slurred voice.




“LISTEN UP YOU FUCKERS! IF YOU’RE NOT DRINKING, GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!” The crowd roared as Sid hit the siren again and turned up her glass, downing a stinging amber liquid. She tossed the empty glass behind her without a care where it landed before putting the headphones back on as she stood behind the DJ’s turntable. “WELCOME TO THE HARD ROCK CAFÉ, UNIVERSAL ‘LADY’ KING EDITION!” She swayed drunkenly as she cued up her next music selection. “I want you all to bear with me, it’s been a while since I did this…16 September 2010, Season 2, Episode 8 to be exact! Who’s ready to hear…THE REAL SLIM GREYDY?!”

The siren sounded again and the crowd roared in response. A needle scratch preceded a tempo change and the crowd was ready for what followed, as Sid began her drunken rap.


































The siren blared again and Sid grabbed two bottles and screamed. “YEAH, DRINK UP BITCHES! STILL GONNA BE THE CHAMP, FUCK RAION KI-”

Before she could finish, she was tackled by two uniformed police officers and bodily dragged off stage.

---

SEVERAL HOURS LATER

Sid scowled as she held her still spinning head and the police desk sergeant slid her belongings to her, urging her to check them. Sid didn’t bother as she snatched them off the counter and turned around to face the person who had posted her bail. “I didn’t think you’d come.”


Gina Van Zyl folded her arms across her chest, narrowing her eyes. “I almost didn’t. Obviously, Penelope didn’t want me to.  I think she said something about letting you rot.” Gina stared at Sid, her expression softening. “Are you okay?”

Sid clutched the plastic bag to her chest and nodded. “I could use a drink.”

"I think you've had enough."  Gina rolled her eyes, gesturing for Sid to follow her. The two walked in silence to Gina’s SUV and for most of the drive. Finally, it was Gina that broke the long and uncomfortable silence. “Aren’t you going to ask me why I did it?”

Sid wiped at her eyes, shaking her head. “…no…”

A few minutes of silence passed before Gina turned at looked at Sid. “SO, THAT’S IT? I sabotage your match against Kido and…nothing? You’re not mad…NOTHING?!”

Sid took a breath. “I know…I put you through a lot.” She swallowed hard, searching for the words. “It’s a running theme…terrible mother…terrible friend…” Her eyes welled with tears, but she wiped them away, as if stopping them from falling would stem the pain that had spawned them. “…you deserved better…everybody did...does.” Sid covered her face, not wanting Gina to see her.

Gina pursed her lips, swearing under her breath. “…goddamnit…” She turned into an empty parking lot and parked the car. She turned to Sid. “Look, I just wanted to teach you a lesson for all the shit you put me through.”

Sid just sat there in the seat, holding her face.

Gina sighed. “Hey…if it means anything to you…I’m sorry. I mean, I could see that you were scared of heights…so…I changed the match. I thought it would teach you a lesson.”

“Yeah…I’m taught.” Sid managed to reply.

“I’ll go with you to Warfare and I’ll talk to management and tell them I sent the FAX.”

Sid swallowed as she looked at Gina through reddened and hopeful eyes. “Really?”

Gina put her hand on Sis’s shoulder. “We’re friends. Of course, I’ll fix this. You sweated it out. That’s enough.”

Sid lit up, her voice honest and earnest. “Thank you, Gina!” She wrung her hands, breathing out a sigh of deep relief.

Gina sat back in her seat. “I have to admit, you’re the first wrestler I’ve met with such an intense fear of heights.”

Sid shook her head. “I wasn’t…I mean, not always.” She looked at Gina. “A lifetime ago…I was a different person.” She chuckled. “Not quite a Raion Kido…but, I had support like him…fans…drive.” She gave a wave of her hand. “You don’t care about any of that.”

Gina settled back in her seat. “No. Tell me…I’d like to hear it.”

“Yeah?” Sid turned to her. “Okay!”

---

MEMORY LANE


A long time ago…in a defunct wrestling federation far, far away…there was a bright eyed and fresh-faced girl who was new to the wrestling scene, and new to the country. I was so idealistic! Wanting to right every wrong and doing my best to make sure the fans were on my side. It was hard at first, especially coming from South Africa. There was a…stigma, you probably don’t know, but trust me, it was so much worse back then. So many disadvantages, but I never gave up…I never stopped being who I was, but it was hard…especially when you saw how so many others were getting ahead, dirty tactics…sleeping with whomever said they’d put them over.

Most men will never know the humiliation of being objectified instead of being used for your talent. When you’re young…when you’re hungry…you’ll do things to get ahead, not because you want to, but because you feel you have to. I was determined not to…and it hurt me. I didn’t get opportunities and I thought that might be it for me, so…I wanted to go out with a bang and show them what I could really do, even if I was just jerking the curtain. I was determined to be seen, so I started doing the high flying moves that most of the American girls weren’t doing. Then I started getting noticed for something other than how I looked…well, maybe just not especially that.

Things picked up and I had the crowd behind me. I started to creep higher and higher on the card. God! I had so much momentum! Before you knew it, I was getting booked over the big titted Barbies and the blowjob queens because the fans wanted to see me…and cash was more important. Every night, the fans were in my corner and they wanted to see the big moves…they wanted to see me fly. I was so fucking young…I could do anything…except, I couldn’t.

The moves had to be bigger and more breathtaking the bigger the matches got. I was so close…that title was right there! To be honest, I don’t remember a lot of the match. I have the tape…and I’ve never been able to bring myself to watch it. All I can recall was being on the top rope…and the roar of the crowd…it was so big! It was so loud! I wanted the move to be bigger…I wanted everyone to remember it, like jumping off the top of the cage at the Garden…something iconic. But…it wasn’t.

I don’t know…I slipped, maybe? I got hit? I don’t know. I tumbled off the top rope and my leg got caught under me. I heard it pop…it was so loud. I thought someone had shot me. At first it was nothing…and then it was like fire, like I was literally burning. There were faces around me…they were all talking to me, but I couldn’t hear anything except for the fans…booing…so loud. Screaming for them to get me up…get me out of the ring. It took so long to get me out of there…and I had to listen to it all, all the way to the exit.

I was out of action for so long. I wanted to come back…I wanted to turn that crowd around. I just…couldn’t. I didn’t have it anymore…not without going to the top. No one wanted to see mat wrestling…not even me, the one trying to do it! I quit…I was out.

---

Gina looked at Sid. “You lost your nerve.”

Sid looked away, trying to find a thread of memory that would help to explain it. “I think…I lost whoever that person was. I don’t know who was worse…the ones trying to sleep their way to the top…or me…whoring myself out to the fans who didn’t give a fuck about me when I couldn’t give them what they wanted.” Sid gave a shrug of her shoulders. “I never told anyone that story…not even Mackenzie." She turned back to Gina.  "Funny…right?”

Gina shook her head. “No…it’s not.”

Sid swallowed and nodded in agreement. “It’s not.”

Gina brightened, changing the subject. “Hey! You won the Anarchy Title…and now the Universal Title! Some consolation prize!”

She laughed, and it was real for the first time since being picked up. “Yeah…my first ones.” Her mood darkened. “I lost the first one almost without ever getting to touch it.  Ruby is going to pay for that…and now…”

Gina leaned forward. “I told you. Don’t worry about it. I’ll talk to management. They’ll change the match…no ladders.”

Sid was quiet, her hands fidgeting in her lap. Finally, she spoke up. “…thank you...friend...”

Gina patted Sid on her leg. “Let’s get you home.”

---

Raion, the ladder match is going to be cancelled!  So, if you got your hopes up about something as stupid as climbing up a ladder and taking what belongs to me, you'd best think again!  No, you're going to have to fight me for this championship title...and trust me when I tell you, you will not win!

Now, when I came into this company I saw the way you carried yourself and I saw you on social media and I was reminded of all the classic good guys and gals who had come into the business and put their stamp on the industry...like I tried to do. I won’t lie, it was a bit intimidating to see someone that was so obviously talented, with all that righteousness behind them. I can tell you from experience, that combination will always be the toughest out you will ever come up against. When I entered March Madness and I saw that you were on the other side of the playing field…and not only that, but management was positively pissing themselves over you, I wondered what I had gotten myself into. If by some miracle I managed to get to the finals…how in the hell would I ever stand a chance in hell against a force of nature like you? The crown had slipped through your fingers once, and you had vowed that it wouldn’t do so again.

Of course, just like a one-night stand that you’re eager to get home and screw, as soon as it’s over and they actually want to talk to you, you realize that they aren’t someone you’d actually bother to spend time with. That’s you Raion, the hot guy in the dark club that you take home for a disappointing 3-minute pump and dump. When you turn on the lights, you find out that you were better off staying in home and reading the ingredients label on the back of a box of Ruby-O’s!

I don’t want you to think that I'm shitting on you for promotional purposes, because I’m not. You are great in the ring, but you’re not all that well liked compared to actual stand-up guys and gals in this company. Yeah…I know, the Peter Vaughn’s and Noah Jackson’s of the world would shit on Mother Teresa to get a leg up, but I promise you…I didn’t rely on what they or anyone else had to say about you, all I had to do open up my ears and listen to you drone on and on about facts at March Madness that you, of all people should have known and gotten right, but some how you managed to get completely wrong.

Yes, I went into March Madness with a goal, but it wasn’t to walk out of AT&T Stadium as the Anarchy and Universal Champion. You need only ask Bobby Bourbon or…God forbid, watch a bit of tape from that night to see that I never had designs on being this coveted ‘double champion’ that you keep droning on and on about. I walked into shitty, smelly Texas to face three of the best wrestlers that the XWF had to throw my way that night.

…and I’m sorry, that didn’t include you…

As you said, with so much more imagined slight after you failed to reach the heights I attained; I went into March Madness to win an ‘empty crown’ and to retain the championship of a brand that I lifted up! Unlike you or anyone else on the show that night, I was hellbent on wrestling three times and I was determined to win them all! No, I didn’t have Universal Title aspirations on my mind…I just wanted to leave the same way I walked in…with an XWF title around my waist and a Kingly title that no one can take away from me for an entire year…just like you attempted to do...twice.

‘An empty crown’ is what you called it. Tell me, would it have been so had that crown been perched atop the head of The Lion? I think not Raion. We both know what that dirty little jab is all about, don’t we? You can never be greater than me, so long as I have an accomplishment that you can’t equal or take away from me…like being the King of the XWF. Let me tell you something…in fact, let me tell the entire XWF something…I’m the fucking King of the company and NO ONE is going to forget it for an entire fucking year! I will print 10,000 goddamn shirts with me wearing a crown and you on the back crying your eyes out about coming up short two years in a row, just to make sure that you never again in your life ever dare to think that you’re better than me or that what I accomplished was empty or insignificant!

That’s why people hate your fucking guts Raion…you’re a disingenuous piece of shit that has to cloak himself in the armor or made-up righteousness in order to puff out your chest and put on this façade of being above everyone else! Well, unlike some others in this company who want to kiss your ass and thank you for the life-giving rain when you piss in their faces, just know…Sidney Grey isn’t now and will never ever be one of them! Coming from someone who’s been labeled a bitch for a long time, trust me when I say that I certainly see the bitch in you! Shitting on my crown because you were a two-time loser? Calling me a failure because I didn’t realize ‘my goal’ of being a double champion?

BITCH, PLEASE!!

Being a double champion is YOUR fantasy, because you believe if you can take the Universal Championship away from me…that will erase what I did at March Madness…which is something you couldn’t do two years running!

Since we are on the topic of the coveted Universal Championship…let’s talk about how ‘my dastardly plan’ to hold that belt came together, shall we? I wrestled three of the best wrestlers on the planet that night and the ONLY reason I didn’t beat all three was because I had an unfortunate meeting with a fourth wielding a baseball bat! I know Raion, you won’t talk about that, especially since that doesn’t fit your narrative…and it’s the truth, something you’re allergic to! It’s much easier for you to crow to the masses that you are going ‘to do the impossible’ after you beat me and hold two championships…because that’s the moving goal post, isn’t it? Well, that ‘impossible’ goal that you’ve been crowing about was already done, and it was done by ME! Close your eyes and kick and scream to the heavens all you like, but the fact of the matter is that I went through one of the largest fields of wrestling greats, that included you, and I won the TITLE of King! Oh, but my night wasn’t finished yet!

Your words; “Sidney Grey tried to be a double Champion and could not get it done.”

I was halfway into the showers when I got the call that The Universal Champion was calling me out…not the other way around. I get it…you need me to be the desperate thief, so you can be the valiant and conquering hero. The story doesn’t work if Sid was called out, weary from three hard-fought battles to fight in a fourth. Unfortunately, for the sake of your made up horseshit, that is just how it happened!

Now Raion, I want you to listen real close to what I say next and take some fucking notes. If you don’t have any paper handy, you feel free to scribble this shit down on one of those little comic books of yours and send me the bill. Are you ready?  This is blast from the past...some retro Sidney Grey, if you will.  Check this out…

Bobby Bourbon…you wrestled in the main event of March Madness and you realized what very few in this business can lay claim to; you took home the top prize in our industry and you took it from one of the greats! I don’t know if you did it for yourself or you did it for the thousands in attendance and the millions at home watching, but you saw fit to wrestle just one more match…and you wanted to have that match against me. Yeah, I wrestled three matches earlier in the night! Yeah, I took a ball bat to the skull! But you saw in me…someone who was worthy to share the ring against you…on the biggest night of the company, to date. Thank you! Thank you for sharing that moment with me. Thank you for giving me an opportunity unlike any other. Thank you for allowing me the chance to earn this title!

Okay! That's enough of that!  Time to get real!

Lastly…thank you Bobby for not being a fucking dickhead and lying to the world and saying that I didn’t do the impossible! Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to leave March Madness with two titles!

TWO Raion, count them…one, two!  If you are unfamiliar with that number, it's the number of times you've failed to become King!  I’d tell you to go cry in your beer, but we all know that you handle your liquor about as well as you handle the truth! Sidney Grey did what you could not…and she didn’t even have to ask or beg for the opportunity to achieve what you are hoping to…after the fact.

No, that doesn’t fit your narrative because Raion Kido must be the all-conquering Saint of Athena, shrouded in the impenetrable cloak of righteous fury! Is that what you want Raion? Is that what you need in order to get it up for our one-night stand on Warfare? That’s fine by me…just like I showed you how to be the ‘good guy’ now I’m going to give you what you need, not just a villain…but the biggest bitch you’ve ever had the misfortune of crossing paths with!

Are you ready?

Raion, I didn’t win March Madness because you weren’t there, I won March Madness because the men I faced in the finals were all just plain better than you. Ned Kaye might be a self-righteous son-of-a-bitch, but he’s twice the man you are, so I guess that just makes you a plain old BITCH! Noah Jackson would have been King Cunt if it wasn’t for my superior intellect, but as the rightful King, I will name Noah the Duke of Cunts and grant him lordship over all the cunts who weren’t good enough to become the fucking King!  That makes you a double cunt!

Oh…yes, your fancy little briefcase says that you get a shot at MY title, but let’s not lie to ourselves about the outcome, like Ryleigh undoubtably lies to you about your lack of staying power. I’m sure that you have to lie to her about how you’re going to ‘beat that thing up’ before the inevitable let down of poor performance. Just like you can't get it up for her, you won’t get it up for me either when performance matters most! You lost at March Madness IV because you weren’t good enough to be the King! You lost at March Madness V because you STILL weren’t good enough to be the King! You’re going to lose to someone who did what you couldn’t and carries a weight that you can’t bear! You lived with the regret of failing to be the King for an entire year…now you get to live with the regret that you carried that stupid fucking briefcase around for months on end…FOR NIOTHING!

What was that you called me? Vapid? That’s tame Kido…that’s incredibly tame. You see, the next time you address me…your KING…you’ll do it with a mouthful of bile and hatred in your heart because of what I do to you at Warfare. I’m going to take your hard-earned opportunity and I’m going to show you what you wasted before I take it away and rub your face in your failure like a poorly trained house pet! Just like I’m never letting anyone forget who the King of the XWF is…I’m never letting you forget who embarrassed and humbled you! Oh…and not just you, I’m going to rub Olive Oyl’s face in it too!

“But Sidney, Ryleigh isn’t part of this!”

Fuck you, I’m the bad guy you needed and wanted, remember? Unlike you, I can carry a grudge far longer than you can carry a briefcase or the shame of losing out on being King, two years running! You’re goddamn right, I’m going to shit on you on social media, I’m going to go on talk shows and shit on you on daytime television, I’m going to go down to Anarchy…where you claim I belong, and I’m going to shit on you there! Trust me…it’s going to be bad…it’s going to be so bad. Management will probably pull me aside and tell me to stop…hell, they may take the Universal Championship away from me…but you know who won’t…YOU!

For all your lies…and all your ignorant posturing, the boys and girls in the back are secretly going to be on my side. They might give you a consoling pat on the shoulder and tell you that everything is going to be okay…Sid just got lucky but know this…just like you lied to the world and yourself, they’ll be lying to you as well. Hey, don’t feel bad…they don’t want me to be the Universal ‘Lady’ King either…but they couldn’t stop it and NO ONE wanted to be in your goddamn shoes! They are all glad that the biggest double-talking piece of shit got his shit pushed in courtesy of the biggest bitch the XWF has ever had the misfortune of meeting!

Then, after I'm done with you, since you're so infatuated with high places, you can take up skydiving fulltime...and the parachute will be optional!