vs. Helena Merriman

==========

Off Camera

==========

Sun Tzu says….

夫兵形象水，水之形，避高而趨下：兵之形，避實而擊虛；水因地而制流，兵因敵而制勝。故兵無常勢，水無常形；能因敵變化而取勝，謂之神。故五行無常勝，四時無常位，日有短長，月有死生。

 “Military tactics are like unto water; for water in its natural course runs away from high places and hastens downwards. So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong and to strike at what is weak. Water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows; the soldier works out his victory in relation to the foe whom he is facing. Therefore, just as water retains no constant shape, so in warfare there are no constant conditions. He who can modify his tactics in relation to his opponent and thereby succeed in winning, may be called a heaven-born captain. The five elements (water, fire, wood, metal, earth) are not always equally predominant; the four seasons make way for each other in turn. There are short days and long; the moon has its periods of waning and waxing.”

Warfare takes many shapes as it goes along.  To win a war, one must be able to adapt to an ever changing environment in the war.  A warrior must be able to adapt to the ever changing environment, to the flowing stream of warfare.  Sun Tzu warned future generations that warfare was fluid.  He compared warfare to a flowing stream of water in that it retains no constant shape.  It’s always changing.  In other words, according to the great Chinese military philosopher, the best laid plans go to shit rather quickly.

For the longest time I have proclaiming to the ends of earth, to anyone and everyone who will listen, that there is none pure, none holy.  To put it perfectly blunt, I went a step further and declared that within everyone is the stain of a sociopath, just like me.  And those that pretend otherwise, the heroes of the world, are but merely lying to themselves and lying to those who look up to them and idolize them.

I found a great deal of experimental subjects within Supreme Championship Wrestling who proved my point.  Mr. D is either corrupt or stupid, proven when Bree Mason, a woman who while unpopular did rightfully earn a world title shot but had to share that title shot in a triple threat match with a “hero” in Syren and why?  Because Syren was involved in an “automobile accident”, an accident of her friend’s devising?  And Syren, the hero, selfishly took the opportunity and the title, all the while framing Kennedy Street.

Yeah, they are the heroes.

I was right, right all along, and I should be boasting right now, boasting about how I was right about the filth and corruption within SCW.  I should be gloating about how I was right about how each and every one of the heroes are, in actuality, a sociopath just like me.  I should be happy.

Yet what was accomplished?  What have I gotten out of this and indeed what will I get out of gloating over this perceived victory?  This is what makes it difficult to brag.  Knowledge is only half the battle.  While Sun Tzu did speak highly of knowledge and strategy before the physical fighting itself, ultimately there must be some form of physical fighting in order for true victory to be obtained.  And I fear that what I have learned with my time in SCW may impact elsewhere, it may impact other parts of professional wrestling.

It’s a secret I must share, even with those who I never thought I would entertain a visit with, not in my lifetime at least.

We open at a small café on the outskirts of Belfast, Northern Ireland.  The yellow sundress that I am sporting on this day features criss cross straps, along the empire waist, smocking at the back and a hidden side zipper. This sundress conveys fun and has a feminine touch.  My long dark hair hangs down straight and unrestrained to just below my shoulders.

I am sitting at a table.  A cup of coffee is sitting in front of me but it has barely been touched.  I am too anxious to drink it, too excited to touch it.  The nerves and stress of the upcoming situation are getting the best of me.

“Do you want a refill?”

“Hmm?”  Startled I turn to see the waitress standing there with a coffee cup in hand.  I smile pleasantly as proceed to shoo her away.  “No thanks, love, I’m fine.”

She nods and walks away.  I regret ordering this coffee.  I will regret even coming here if Glory Braddock doesn’t soon show herself.  She is the one I am supposed to meet.  She reluctantly agreed to meet me here, and I suspect that it’s because her father asked her to come.  I have made somewhat of an uneasy peace with Glenn Braddock.  He was willing to forgive me because he spent so much time and energy training me.  His daughter Glory Braddock, who competed in the End of the Year Battle Royal, were trained together, side by side.  We both received the same lessons from her great father and yet we seem to have vastly different outlooks on life and the sport of professional wrestling.

Glory Braddock always held back.  She never did whatever it took to obtain ultimate victory.  Don’t get me wrong, she’s extremely good at what she does and has a killer instinct, but she lacked the willingness to actually go that extra distance all for the sake of victory.  I am the darkness to her light, I am the yin to her yang.  I am and always have been willing to do whatever was necessary to get what I wanted.

That just never sat well with Glory and eventually we went out separate ways in the sport.  But perhaps it is time to bury the hatchet?

I begin to get more discouraged until I hear a familiar voice behind me.

“Sorry I’m late.”  I turn my head in time to see Glory Braddock approaching.  “I got caught up in traffic.”

I let out a sigh of relief, hoping mother didn’t notice.  “Ah, it’s ok, mate. I barely noticed you weren’t here.”

“You always were a bad liar, Sophie.”  She says, grinning as she sits down at the table with me.

“Am I that obvious?”

“Yes, but it doesn’t matter.” The self-described British Bombshell folds her arms over her chest and stares at me with an intensity that few get to see, but I know it all too well.  She’s on guard, ready for a fight.  I can tell that she doesn’t trust me. She has no reason to. “I take it we’re not here for a friendly chat anyway, am I right Sophie?”

“Yes, you’re right.  But before we get to why I called you here…” I make a waving motion with my hand to flag down the waitress, she comes over with a pen and notepad and I motion to Glory “…get her whatever she wants.”

“Just a water will be fine.  I don’t plan to stay long.”

The waitress nods and walks off to fill the order.  Glory turns and looks back at me intensely. “Yes, Sophie?”

“For what it’s worth, Glory, I apologize for any grief I’ve caused you.”

“Apologize?” Glory’s eyes grow wide with shock. “That’s what you wanted me here for?  To apologize?  That just…” she chuckles “…that just doesn’t seem like the Sophie I know.”

“The apology is part of why I wanted you here.” I respond, watching as the waitress returns with a glass of water, placing it in front of Glory. “We’ve been through a great deal you and I, some good times and some bad, and it is my belief that some troubling times for all of us may be coming up.  It may behoove us if we, at the very least, buried the hatchet.”

Glory thanks the waitress as she walks off.  Glory then takes a sip of her water and then shakes her head in disbelief.

“Sorry, Sophie, I just find it difficult that you’re making this sudden one hundred and eighty degree turn on me.  You must have an ulterior motive.”

“Yes, and I told you what it is.  I believe troubling times are on the horizon and we should be prepared for it; and besides, I…” my voice trails off as I simply shake my head “…just forget it.”

“What?  What is it?”

“It’s nothing.”

“It was something.” Glory smirks. “Now what was it?”

“I…miss you.”

“You miss me?” Glory snickers. “The so-called sociopath misses me?”

“Don’t gloat.” I snap back at my English friend. “I will admit when I am wrong and I was wrong to ruin the friendship we had.  I’d like to get it back, if possible.  I’d like to rebuild that bridge I burned.”

“Hypothetically speaking, if this is true, when did you finally realize that your “brilliant mind” led you to making  some stupid mistakes that destroyed our friendship, Sophie?”

“The End of the Year Bash.  I was there, I wasn’t competing but I was there, watching you the entire time.  You had been through hell since we went our separate ways, enough that would’ve broken a normal person.  I thought this entire time you’ve just been putting on a brave face and I sincerely expected to see pain in those eyes.  And yet at End of the Year Bash, and even here tonight as I look into your eyes, I see something that I never expected to see…”

“What’s that?” Glory asks, now genuinely curious.

“Happiness.  You were happy and I never expected that.  But then, that’s something I can never be an expert on.  I have studied the military experts of history from Sun Tzu, Alexander the Great, and Julius Caesar to William Tecumseh Sherman and Patton, I have studied philosophy and politics.  You name the academics and I know it like the back of my hand.”

“Ever so humble, are we Sophie?” Glory says mockingly.  I ignore her.

“But you were feeling happy, happy in a way that I will never feel because I am just not wired that way.  I am not a feeling person, Glory, you know this better than anyone else alive other than my own brother Mark.  I realized at the End of the Year Special that we went our separate ways because of my jealousy.”

“Jealousy?” Glory asks, arching her brow.

“Yes, I envied you, Glory, because you have something I never had and never will have.  But that’s not a reason to destroy our friendship.” A sly grin forms upon my face. “You, Mark, and I were quite the trio are your father’s wrestling school.  You do remember what they called us, don’t you?”

“How could I forget?” Glory says with a laugh. “Trinity!”

“We were the best in that school and we even dominated professional wrestling for a couple of years until my jealousy destroyed everything.   We could have it again, Glory.  We could recreate Trinity.”

“So that’s what this is all about.” Glory chuckles lightly. “What’s the problem, Sophie?  Are you having difficulties within SCW?”

“Whether you believe me or not is irrelevant, trouble is brewing and there’s nothing better or stronger than the alliance we had to prepare ourselves.”

“Yeah, you’ve said that already a few times now.  What are you babbling about?”

“It isn’t babbling.  It’s fact.  It’s something I’ve observed during the entirety of my wrestling career but has now been proven fact in Supreme Championship Wrestling.  Each and every superstar we wrestle, who we work with, in any and every company we work for, all of them has a dark side, all of them has an inner sociopath just waiting to get out.  Even the heroes.”

“Oh, the Dark Fantasy controversy you mean?” Glory chuckles. “You know, I expected that would get a rise out of you.  A couple of fan favorites prove to be involved in a complex automobile frame-up all in order to get the world championship.  You can say you were right about them all along.  So now what?  I know Ravyn Taylor beat your ass a few times. Are you going after her, is that it?”

Glory shakes her head. “Well let me stop you while you’re ahead and just tell you that I’m not interested in helping you this time, Sophie.  Besides, if you think you’re going to jump that far ahead of the line and face the likes of them you’re delusional.”

“I don’t care about Dark Fantasy!” I bang a fist on the table. This gets Glory’s attention. “What worries me is what I learned.  A theory is nothing until right or wrong.  I was hoping that my theory about the inner darkness of humanity would be proven false but I was proven right, Glory.  In other words, what I’m getting at is that if Syren would do something like that, then what could ANYONE do to either of us, Glory?”

“So this isn’t some crazy mission of yours?”

“No, it isn’t.” I answer while shaking my head. “Trinity was originally created not to dominate the sport but to watch each other’s back.  That’s why I want Trinity back together. I think we should go back to its original purpose of watching each other’s back.”

I extend a hand across the table. “So what do you say, Glory?”

I watch Glory as she pauses to consider my proposal.  I feel anxious as I await her response, hoping that it will be a positive one.  She takes a sip of her water and puts the glass back down.  She sighs and, to my disappointment, she shakes her head.

“Sorry, mate, but there’s been so much done already by you, things that I cannot just forget.  I cannot just forget all of that and reform Trinity.  I don’t trust you yet.  But…” much to my surprise she reaches out and accepts the handshake “…I do believe in second chances, even if you don’t.”

“So does this mean we’re…”

“Yeah…” she winks at me “…we’re friends again.”

It is true, I always envied Glory Braddock due to her ability to feel whereas I was always the thinker.  While I never have been labeled as such, I have self-diagnosed myself as a sociopath due to my seeming inability to feel emotions.  But that isn’t entirely the case.  Every so often, in rare occasions, my emotions come out unexpectedly.  Glory no doubt would have to be blind in order to miss this one.  Tears are flowing the cheeks of this sociopath.

Who would have imagined?

==========

On Camera

==========

Expecting another rousing quote from “The Art of War” as written by the great Sun Tzu?  Not this time.  Helena Merriman, as your mentor should have informed you, and as you should know if you’ve done your homework, I am a student of military strategy and military history.  Sun Tzu may be my favorite but there are other military geniuses from history and one, in particular, who has made an observation about you.

Julius Caesar says, “Men in general are quick to believe that which they wish to be true.”

I would dare say you are on cloud nine, are you not Helena?  You have a few wins under your belt here in SCW; Scarlet Grey.  Mr. Money Maker.  And you even took out your own mentor, Brittany Lohan.  The once feared War Machine is gone thanks to you.

I applaud you for that, all of it.  Even the destruction of Brittany Lohan.  I mean, let’s face facts, I would be a hypocrite myself if I were not to applaud you for what you’ve done up until now.  As another military genius, William Tecumseh Sherman, once said “War is cruelty. There is no use trying to reform it; the crueler it is, the sooner it will be over.”

If only the rest of your SCW career could continue to be that easy, right Helena?  It won’t, though, and I’m not entirely sure you are aware of it.  I believe that you are falling into the trap that Julius Caesar alluded to.  Men, or women in your case, are quick to believe that which they wish to be true.

I call it buying into your own hype.  You so fervently believe that you are the next War Machine, that you are carrying on Brittany Lohan’s legacy and that you truly did her a favor by taking her out.  You believe that you are capable now of taking anyone out, of beating anyone.

This is where your world come crashing down around you, Helena, because I am here to inform you that I am not a Mr. Money Maker and I am not a Scarlet Grey.  No, I’m not even Brittany Lohan, and that’s not a knock on her, because I recall how good she was in this squared circle.

I am Sophie O’Brian.  You want a fight, Helena?  You’re going to get one but it will be a fight on my terms, not yours.  It will be a fight where I dictate the pace, where I dictate the rules of engagement.  After all, it is according to Sun Tzu’s teaching “this the expert in battle moves the enemy, and is not moved by him.”

Oops, I apologize, I lied a teensy little bit there.  I did use a Sun Tzu quote.

You want a straight up fight.  No tricks and none of my mind games.  But you are not in any position to dictate the terms of this battle which we are about to engage.  Do you have something I want?  Hardly.  You are but merely new to this game.  You may have done well in development companies but I’ve competed all over the world winning world championships.

But my championship accolades isn’t what brings you to me, is it Helena?  You’re not stupid.  You’ve heard the stories from Lohan and her associates, many of whom I have fought in the past. They have told you about what I am capable of.  For you this presents a unique opportunity, an opportunity to truly test yourself.

Thus you need me and you need this fight.  Thus I dictate the terms of engagement, not you.

You knew all along that there was nothing you had that I wanted, Helena.  If you thought there was then you are truly delusional and I’m happy to have opened your eyes.  But don’t get me wrong, I do want to defeat you.  I want this victory.  While you have been handed softball matches early on in your SCW career I have been from the outset facing the toughest of the tough.

Torsten Voigt, a former SCW Television Champion.

Angelica Jones, two time former SCW World Tag Team Champion and the current SCW Television Champion.

Ravyn Taylor, her resume speaks for itself.

Those are just a few of the names I’ve been facing off against since my arrival in SCW.  Needless to say, I never got a softball start like you. I’ve been fighting tooth and nail since the beginning and it’s been like a roller coaster, up and down, wins and losses left and right.

Well it’s time to accumulate some wins and forget all about those bloody losses and Helena, you’re the first; the first in a series of victims.  I don’t care about proving myself right any longer about the nature of man.  I believe Dark Fantasy already did a pretty damn good job of proving me right. The philosophical debates and experiments end.  Now I want success of my own.

You stand in my way, Helena, and that is just not a good place to be, especially for a very green rookie who has never been challenged and does not know what it is like to taste defeat in SCW yet.

But that’s where I come in.

Here’s a spoiler alert for the upcoming edition of Breakdown, so cover your ears if you plan to tune in…Helena Merriman, I will hand you your first defeat in Supreme Championship Wrestling.  And with that defeat you will be brought kicking and screaming into reality.  And when you get over the shock of it all, you will realize that making a career of it all here in SCW will not be as easy as you perhaps thought it would be.

It won’t be as easy as it was when you took out Brittany Lohan.  It sure as hell won’t be as easy for you when you defeated Money Maker and Scarlet Grey.  You will realize that you will run into opponents like me, sometimes tougher than me, and you will have to figure out how to deal with it.

I may have quoted Julius Caesar but he isn’t exactly the best example of a warrior due to the simple fact that he never lost.  Few true warriors ever are that lucky and I guarantee you won’t be as lucky as Julius Caesar because I will defeat you on Breakdown.

A true warrior, Helena, is determined based upon how they handle adversity, and specifically how they handle defeat.

You call yourself a warrior; so the world will be watching with great interest to see how you handle defeat.  We’re all about to find out very soon, my dear.