Minka Pressler, for the lack of a better way to say it is a traveling nomad whenever it’s possible. It’s a lifestyle that she chose to have for a couple of reasons. The first and the obvious reason was her love of fighting she would hope planes to get to the next fight as soon as the last one ended, but the lesser known yet more serious one was that she was running away from possessive, abusive, ex-boyfriend. However, that’s a story that has already been told. Usually, when people turn out like this it’s because of a poor upbringing, a bad home life, or a family that didn't provide support.

Through her childhood though, Minka’s home life was warm and loving despite the fact that she didn’t know her father real well due to the fact that he was often on the road wrestling. Needless to say that Minka started showing signs of having an addictive personality it was a great relief to her mother that it was competition (how her mother classified it even though it wasn’t the competition as much as it was just the fighting). Despite the fact that it's her obsession with fighting would put a strain on her relationship with her mother all the way up until her passing.

In a rare and often never seen interview that Minka’s mother took part in with her daughter even said as much, but that she was just thankful that “competition” was her addiction and not sex, drugs, or alcohol. Needless to say that when it comes to her family she isn’t really close to anyone other than her father and step-mother, Faith De Luca, but that’s only because they were in the business at the time that she was breaking in it to it. Her father, Chris Pressler, helped in part with her wrestling training. Then her step-mother was a member of Hidden Desires, a group that Minka had been a part of during its entire run in GDW.

What does that have to do with anything? Well, it’s because, after her Fatal Fortunes loss to Kennedy Street, she’d gotten a call from her father. Which normally wasn’t anything out of the blue, because he often calls her to congratulate her on a win or just to tell her that she’ll get ‘em next time if she lost. However, this call was different no words of encouragement were spoken, because he’d call to pass the news on her to that her grandfather, Michael Pressler Sr., had passed away. Obviously, the news came as a total shock, because one of the last time she’d spoken to him… he sounded well and fine to her. Which of course, brought back the recent memory of Dan Jablowme… he’d sounded well and fine up until his heart attack during a podcast interview she was giving him.

As the tears started to form in her eyes, she started to realize that with all the time that she has been traveling wrestling the world, training with her father, and even the motion caption work that she did while on her hiatus from the ring… she’s maybe talked to her grandfather a handful of times. After she ended the call with her father, the waves of emotions threatened to drown her, because she started to realize just how much time she had missed spending with her grandfather. After all, he was the man that introduced her to mix martial arts fighting, because she would often find herself staying at his home watching him train his MMA fighters when her mother had to work late. The environment was one that Minka’s mother didn’t want for her daughter, but she didn’t have much of a choice as her own parents, Minka’s grandparents on her side of the family, had disowned the pair. As they held very traditional views about childbirth and marriage with their Korean heritage.

They were devastated by their daughter when they learned that not only had she became pregnant out of wedlock after sleeping with Minka’s father on Senior Prom night, but also with a man that they never approved of since the beginning of the relationship. So Minka’s mother turned to the only family that her daughter had left, even though Minka’s father and she never officially married because he was always on the road, but the rest of the Pressler family was more than willing to help the single mother out. As Minka changed from her ring gear into her street clothes, in between the tidal waves of emotions and guilt that she didn’t she didn’t make more of an effort to see her grandfather. To show him the woman that she grew up to be, because of the things that he taught her out in that rickety old barn where taught all of his students.

- A Few Days Later –

Even though she had a few days to come to terms with what happened… it didn’t stop everything that she had thought and felt when the news was broke to her from rushing back to her while she stood among the gathered loved ones, former students, and colleagues as her grandfather was laid to rest on his property. South Bend, Indiana was usually a beautiful sight, but it just seemed to have lost all the color to it in Minka’s eyes and it didn’t help that the weather didn't help to deter the onslaught of saddened nostalgia.

The sky was grey and it was drizzling, but just about everyone knew in attendance of the funeral that it would turn into a full-on downpour later. It was a simple ceremony, but beautiful nonetheless. After he was laid to rest, everyone retreated to his home which was within shouting distance of where he was laid to rest. Minka couldn’t bring herself to go inside right away and found herself sitting on the porch by herself. She was sitting there staring over to where her grandfather had been laid to rest with a White Oak sapling that was planted in place of a headstone. She envisioned what it would look like someday as it would stand as the only tree within eyeshot of the residence.

“Hey Minka, honey.” Minka was startled slightly even though the sound of her step mother’s voice floated lightly on the air. Minka didn’t turn to look at the older woman, because her eyes haven’t recovered from the last bout of tears and she felt another fresh batch coming on. Faith knew that Minka more than likely wanted to be alone by her choice to stay outside, but in Faith’s experiences in times like this is when the person that wants to be left alone needs someone the most. Faith reached out with her hand to place it on Minka’s shoulder. “Thanks for coming today. I know it meant a lot to your father and…”

Faith doesn’t finish what she saying as she’s caught a little off guard when Minka reaches up and places her right hand over her hand.

“I’m fine, Faith,” Minka says as she glanced out the corner of her eye at the older woman. Both women knew that was a lie, but Faith wasn’t going to push her stepdaughter to admit other ways. As even though their relationship since her marriage to Minka’s father has been solid compared to most stepparent-stepchildren relationships it still has its moments considering that Minka was already an adult at the time. Unlike Minka’s step-sisters who are several years younger.

“I just wanted to let you know I’m here for you.” Faith said and for a moment that seemed like that was going to be the end of the conversation. However, Minka stood up from windowsill that she was sitting on. She straightened and dusted off the back of her dress that she was wearing before turning towards Faith and wrapped her arms around her for a hug. Faith again was taken a little off guard by Minka’s action which just further proved to her that she was right about what was going on with the young woman.

“Thanks, Faith,” Minka said as she knew sooner or later she was going to have to open up about what she’s feeling, but it could wait. “Where’s dad?”

Faith says, “Oh, you know…”

As they finally broke the embrace which allowed Faith to reach up to dry her eyes with a wad of tissues that she’s been holding in her left hand. Minka does the same, but with the sleeve of her leather jacket that she’s wearing. Which considering the fact that they were gathered today to lay to rest a member of their family it shouldn’t matter what she was wearing. So what if she wanted to wear a black dress and her leather jacket, but some of her other family members were little put off by her choice of attire.

However, Minka couldn’t see herself making it through without some kind of safety blanket to wrap herself up in. Not to mention the fact the day that Minka broke the news to her grandfather that she had been signed to GDW’s child company, SWC he had given her a similar jacket as a congratulation gift.

Faith adds, “He’s probably lost about a couple hundred dollars to Alexis and Serafina playing Spades. I keep telling that loveable idiot of your father that he can’t beat them, but he never listens.”

Minka couldn’t help, but smile slightly through the threatening tears, because she knew that all too well. He was the same way with her when they finally started to spend time together and she could probably still clean him out if she wanted too. So needless to say she knows what she is talking about when she says, “You know it doesn’t take much. All they have to do is call him a wuss and he’ll fight you over it. They probably told him he was whipped or something.”

As if right on cue a loud burst came from inside the house that drew the attention of everyone, including that of Minka and Faith. “God damn it, F- this game! You two are F-ing impossible! Why do I always let you goad me into this?”

The muffled laughter of the two teenagers came afterward from inside the home, which only served to trigger laughter from Minka as Faith was already chuckling a little bit at her husband’s futile attempt at censoring his language in front of her daughter’s still. A moment later that is a burst of thunder that echoed over the property.

“See, even your grandfather still thinks it’s funny.” Faith said and Minka could only nod in agreement even though she knew the Thunder had no connection with her grandfather, but it was still a little soothing to think that he was watching them at the moment.

“I’m sorry that I don’t come and visit with Riley much,” Minka said as her thoughts turned to the youngest member of her family. Her half-brother, who unfortunately couldn’t make the trip for the funeral due to coming down with the chicken pox.

“Don’t be ridiculous. You know that you’re welcome to visit anytime you like, but we understand that you are a grown woman that has a life of her own to live and as long as you’re happy, we’re happy.” Faith says before she pauses for a moment. “You are happy with what you are doing, right?”

Minka just stood there and looked at the older woman before releasing a heavy sigh and stuffed her hands into the pockets of her jacket. She finally turned away from her step-mother as a smile started to form on her face as she glanced out over the side field of the property. She loved the fighting portion of her job, but there were so many things that she disliked about it. However, she didn't want her negative feelings with her career souring the time she’s spending with the people she loves.

As this might be the way that she is feeling about her job in the exact moment, but eventually she knew that she was going to get over it, because she often does. It’s just the love-hate relationship that she has with the world of professional wrestling. She loves the fighting aspect, but she hates how much importance her peers put on the number of matches that someone wins or loses, or what championship that they hold at the moment. After a moment, her attention returned to her step-mother. Minka says, “Yeah, I’m happy.”

Minka didn’t know if her choice of words did a good job of hiding how she was currently feeling, but she knew there was no pulling them from the air and putting them away. Faith just nodded, neither tipping her hand if she could read how Minka really felt in the moment or not. However, Faith as a former professional wrestler herself, she knew better than most the ups and downs of the business.

“Speaking of work, where’s Ash was it? I thought she was following you everywhere you go.” Faith asked and for those of you that don’t know who that is, "Ash" is Ashlyn Harte, is one of Woody Hoyt’s students, but also is Patience Young’s personal assistant. That is trying her hardest to break into the business to the point that she has been shadowing Minka everywhere she goes. She has even begged Minka allow her to come to the ring with her. So, for the most part, they're usually connected at the hip.

“She wanted to… trust me, but Patience gave her a bunch of work to do at the school.” Minka said with a smirk on her face just thinking about how Ashlyn is probably feeling overwhelmed at the moment or maybe even a little lonely with her to follow behind. “Which I’m grateful for because having her here would have made this even more uncomfortable than it is with how most everyone is looking at me for how I dressed. I hate to see how they’d react to an “outsider” coming to the funeral.”

A look around would show you a family that was close-knit. People were laughing, eating, crying, playing games. Some saw each other two days ago and some hadn't seen each other in years, and it wasn't even like anything ever skipped a beat. As much as Minka could hope that they'd welcome Ashlyn into the fold… she just couldn’t take the risk.

Suddenly, a black car pulled up onto the property, and out of it came a well-dressed man. Even with this being a funeral, he was probably looked the most like someone who'd be at such an event. The only thing that could come to Minka’s mind at the moment that it was time to read the will.

- An Hour Later -

The quaint family room had been converted from just a room to seat a single family to a room that looked more like an assembly room with rows of steel folding chairs lined up and facing a single way. Everyone was already seated and the lawyer had already listed off several pieces of the estate that was left behind by Minka’s grandfather and whom they belong to now. If anyone was to look at Minka they could tell right away that she didn’t want to be there for this borderline macabre ritual. She watched as an uncle, Michael Pressler Jr., returned to his seat with tears in his eyes, but a half smile on his face. As he was carrying the title to her grandfather’s 1957 Chevy truck that surprisingly still runs today despite it getting harder to find replacement parts for. As he takes his seat, the lawyer finishes reading what had been written out by her grandfather prior to his passing.

“…And I hope that you put her to work as hard as I did and cherish her with the best of care.” The lawyer at that moment paused to take a moment to take a drink from his glass of water. In that brief moment, Minka stared at her uncle and wondered what he was actually going to do with the truck. Cause if she was honest about it she feared for the truck, because while Junior was a gifted MMA fighter when they were younger, but from what she’s heard from her father he’s changed. He’s given up fighting in the ring to drive demolition derby races, which makes her wonder if that is going to be in the future Chevy’s future.

“He’s probably going to sell it… I heard that his youngest was just diagnosed with leukemia.” Minka heard one of her distant relatives whispering behind her. For a moment it allowed her a sense of peace that the truck wasn’t going to be wrecked to pieces in a demolition derby, but then the realization that one of her cousins, one of her younger cousins, was slowly dying. Which in turn meant that it probably wouldn’t be long before they were all gathered like this again for her funeral. Minka knew that she shouldn’t be thinking like that at a time like this, but maybe the fact that she so disconnected with her family is the reason why she’s thinking like that.

“My most prized possession has always been my home. I bought it for just a dollar back in nineteen forty-seven from Buck Laski, after he lost a bet to me over who could tip the most cows. He might have been an arrogant bastard with a big mouth, but he was always my best friend and a man of his word.” The lawyer read but he had to stop for a moment as most of the room chuckled at the brief retelling of how Michael Pressler Sr. came in possession of the house. “This land and house over the years have allowed me to build, foster, and even lose connections with my family, friends, students, and the community. I met my beloved wife, Connie, god rest her soul; raised my children: Brad, Michael Jr., Chad, and Christopher; taught many students.”

Minka was on verge of tears again, because the mention of her grandmother’s name reminded her that she never came home for her funeral. Her dad, much like this time contacted her about coming home for it, but at the same time, she was the reigning Undisputed SWC/GCW tag team champions with Patience “Ember” Young and were halfway around the world in Japan for a title defense against Damage Inc. A defense that they would end up losing because obviously there was a lack of focus on Minka’s part as she was filled with sadness, regret, and guiltiness over not flying home at the time.

“I know that my entire family loved spending their summers here doing everything that they couldn’t do back in the big cities they all moved to and I know how much it meant to my students being able to come back to refocus themselves when they lost their way. However, with all that being said, I know that is one person that this old house was like a second home too. I know that this home meant the world to her because she found her purpose here and that’s my granddaughter, Minnie.” The lawyer read and at the moment that her “name” was said, her mind went blank for several moments as all eyes fell on her.

“Wait, what?” Minka thought to herself because she hadn’t completely composed herself yet. As she was caught off guard by one of her first memories of this house and the first time she really met her grandfather. Because for the first couple of years she that came here he was always training a class morning, noon, and night. However, just after she turned six years old and summer was just starting, her mother was dropping her off like usual, but he was sitting on the very front porch that she was just on lounging around for the first time. Due to advancing age and declining health the doctors finally got home to cut down on the number of classes he was teaching due to his high blood pressure. It was on this day that her mother introduced them for the first time that and he scoffed at them saying that ‘Minka’ sounding like an exotic dancer’s name and while she’s in this house her name would be ‘Minnie’. At the time Minka didn’t understand what was going on, but she could remember the furious look on her mother’s face about her grandfather’s stance on her daughter’s name. Yet, that she did nothing, said nothing, but forced a smile on her face and nodded before leaving the property to go to work.

It wasn’t until years later that her mother revealed to her that she so wanted to pick her up from the porch and storm off, but that she had to swallow her pride at that moment. As she couldn’t afford to alienate Minka from her grandparents on her father’s side, because then she would have had no one else to turn to when she needed help. “And that’s why I’ve decided to leave the land, the barn, and my home to her. And, so there is no confusion I mean my granddaughter, Minka.”

At that moment Minka felt something that she doesn’t feel very often legitimate surprise. As when it comes to fighting sure she loses a match that she thinks she has no chance to lose on a regular basis, but at the same time she taught by many of her teachers that anyone can be beaten on any given today. Which is something that is taught all the way back in grade school when the lessons turn to the Revolutionary war and home farmers and hunters were able to beat the British armies using guerilla warfare. So this was a rare occasion for her because she wasn’t there to “get something” like she had a feeling about a few of her other family members were. However, she could’ve cared less about getting something for showing up to her grandfather’s funeral. This though was a magnanimous thing for her grandfather to just drop into her lap. When Minka finally had enough her of mental facilities back about her she noticed that the lawyer was beckoning her to step forward.

“Ms. Minka Pressler, this is the paperwork for the transference of the deed of ownership of the property.” The lawyer said as he handed her thick envelope that had his firm’s business card clipped to the front of it. “Call my office at your earliest convenience to get this paperwork filed.”

“Okay…” That’s all that Minka could muster at the moment as she looked at the envelope in her hand and then back at the lawyer. She gave a small smile and a nod before she turned on the ball of her left foot to return to her seat. The lawyer finished up reading the will and reminding everyone to get in touch with his office at their earliest conveniences to finalize everything. Though, at that point, it had all became just background noise to Minka as she just stared at the envelope in her hands. With a deep breath, she opened it out of sheer curiosity to see if this was just a joke that he was trying to play on her in a weak attempt to rationalize what just happened. Inside the envelope, she found the deed with her listed as the recipient of the land. However, that wasn’t the only thing in the envelop as it had a personal letter among the aforementioned paperwork.

[Minnie,

Just as much as I know your mother hated me calling you that I know that you probably feel like you shouldn’t have this, but you deserve it. I watched you flourish into the woman and competitor right here and knowing that I even had a small hand in that is the best thing I could ever ask for.

Out of everyone that has come through those front doors be it family, friend, or student… you are the one that put just as much blood, sweat, and tears in this land if not more than me.

I know you think I didn’t notice, but I did. When my boys and students were out trying to hook up you were in the barn killing yourself working on your footwork. Just as I know that while they were trying to sneak in after curfew you were out there working on your strikes when you couldn’t sleep.

Which we both know was quite often, because you always missed your mother. Just like I know that you never went to your prom instead you were in the barn fighting… oh, I forget his name now over his remarks that you’d never be a better fighter than a man.

This house is as much yours is it is mine. So I know that you are going to love living her just as much as did when you were visiting. Though, please remember to keep the noise down, because I’ll be sleeping over there by that tree.

Love,
Grandpa

P.S. I don’t know who it will be or when it will be, but the next time you step into the ring… punch the next guy right in the mouth for me. ]

Minka finished reading the letter, folded it back up, and then slid it and the rest of the paperwork back into the envelope. There wasn’t much that she could do at the moment as the flood of silent tears were now running down cheeks, but it wasn’t like she was trying to stop them either.

She looked down the row she was seated at the end of to her father, her step-mother, stepsisters, and briefly thought about her half-brother in his absence. Her thoughts quickly went to her cousin and what must be weighing on the shoulders of her uncle. As suddenly Minka stomach felt like it was just about to drop out of her at the thought of something happening to any of one them. She started to wonder if this was her grandfather’s and maybe even the universe’s way of trying to tell her that it was time strike a balance between her professional and personal lives and that maybe she was finally ready to listen to the message.

Minka Pressler wasn’t the only one missing from the second night of Fatal Fortunes as Samantha Raine was also not in attendance. Sam had a prior commitment to make with the blessing of the SCW at another company’s show. She wasn’t there to compete in a match or even speak to the fans that were their live in person for the show. She was simply at the show to show her support for her husband as he looked to finally hammer down a nail that had been sticking out for too long. The main event, had just ended as Sam stands be the curtain in the guerilla position with both hands clasped in from of her mouth. She knows that no one in the SCW will truly care about this moment and she’s not going to be gloating about it, because it isn’t her moment to shine. Just on the side of that curtain is her husband, Chase Hawkins, but right now for screaming five thousand fans in arena he is “Chance Fortune” and is the new World Heavyweight champion after defeating Tommy Cornell in a match made famous by the likes of Angelica Jones… a Last Respect match.

A match where it doesn’t matter if you win or lose, because both competitors retire after the match. Now there is nothing against either of the competitors returning from retirement at a later date, but generally both have to stop wrestling for a certain amount of time. In the meantime the championship that her husband is holding up in the air at the moment will be vacated tomorrow morning, but for next twelve hours or so her man is the World Champion! When Chase finally walks behind the curtain into the gorilla position the first person that he sees is Samantha. Even though he is on the verge of collapsing after the exhausting match he had walked up to and into her arms. She’s content just hugging and kissing her husband, but with what little strength he has left lifts her up off her feet and does a celebratory twirl with her in his arms.

“I finally did it,” Chase said as he placed her back down on to her feet. The both of them were shedding tears of joys as the number of emotions that were running through the both of them was mind-blowing.

“I’m just glad that I don’t have to see you carry this burden anymore,” Sam replied as Chase let out a weak laugh as his wife just keeps clutching on to him in their embrace. He wasn’t going to complain about it though, because the match had taken everything that he had and then some and if he was honest, she was the only thing holding him up at the moment. So taking a moment to get a little bit of his own strength back. “And of course you did it… you were always supposed to be the future of this company.”

Upon hearing that flashes of memories on his path ran through his mind. When he signed with the company the agents, producers, and all of the creative team were behind him as the next big break out stars, but it wasn’t meant to be all those years ago. Even though he was being groomed to become a future World champion there was one person that wasn’t sold on him. Tommy Cornell Sr., who was not only the reigning champion at the time, but the boss man as well and he felt that his son was the future to replace him at the top. To make sure that happened he fired his staff’s shiny new toy to make them focus on his son.

Normally, that would’ve been a dark time for someone in the business, but Chase turned that negative into a positive. He stayed a couple days longer in Toronto after the last show that he worked. In those couple of days he met the woman is standing in front of him as his wife, they had a beautiful daughter, he was signed to GDW’s child company, won some titles there, moved to the main roster won the tag team championships with his wife, and that lead him to this moment.

“I love you,” Chase said before kissing her on the top of her head. As they slowly break the embrace for a more passionate kiss it is during this time that they notice all the applause going on around them. They were surrounded by all of the company’s management team, the locker room, and even Tommy Cornell Jr. was there applauding her husband. For about twenty minutes there were handshakes and pats on the back galore for her husband that culminated in a face-off nearly ten years late.

“I was wrong about you, kid.” Tommy Cornell Sr. said as he reached his left hand out towards Chase and Sam. Sam was about to reach up and knock the hand away because the last thing she wanted was for her to bring down her husband’s moment. However, Chase is a little faster than her as he reached up to shake his hand.

“Nice to know some people can admit when they are wrong.” Chase chided the older man because he loved working for the company and it might still be a big draw if hadn’t been for his nepotism.

“Now no need to get hostile,” Cornell Sr. says, “…as I know what the rules of the match are supposed to be, but I’d really like to nullify your retirement. As I rather have a champion come show-time instead of starting from scratch.”

“Babe, what are you going to do?” Sam wondered to herself as she knew in the lead up to the match that he was unhappy with the fact that he was finally getting his title match, but that even if won the match and the title that he was going to have to retire. Sam just stared at her husband, because she didn’t want to push him into making a decision that he was going to regret later. However, she would love to see him take Cornell Sr. up on the offer as he deserved to have a title reign that was longer than a few hours. Yet, she knew that there was bad blood between the both of them making it a catch .22 for him no matter which way he decided to go.

“Mr. Cornell,” Chase started to say and it was obvious to Sam that he was choosing his words wisely. At least that’s what Sam hoped that he was doing, but a second later she watches with a slightly horrified look on her face as he thrust the title into the older man’s chest. Chase held the title against the man’s chest until he reached up to take a hold of it. Once Mr. Cornell’s hands were on the title belt, Chase let go of it and pulled his hand back towards himself. “Take the title and shove it.”

“You just made the biggest mistake of your life!” Mr. Cornell said as his face was starting to turn red as his blood pressure was raising from the anger that he was feeling towards Chase Hawkins at the moment.

“You made the mistake first years ago when you fired my husband.” Sam quipped and Mr. Cornell turned his attention towards her and was going to let her have it. As if how dare someone that doesn’t know anything about the business speak to him in a manner like that? Though, he stops in his tracks, because when he finally takes a good look at her, he recognizes her. Mr. Cornell ended up fumbling his words into a nonsensical gibberish before he turns away from the couple and storms away. Once, Mr. Cornell was out of the picture with his son following right behind him, the next thirty minutes were kind of a blur. As Chase was again getting showered with congratulations and handshakes from the rest of the locker room, but a few of them even tried to strike up a conversation with Samantha about getting them a job with the SCW. When things finally calm down and it’s just down to Sam and Chase walking towards the locker room. Sam has her right arm wrapped behind his back and he has left arm wrapped around her shoulders. He turns and kisses the top of her head again.

“Let’s go get our daughter and go home,” Chase said as he felt that was the greatest idea he ever had.

“Not yet, you need to be checked out by the trainers first,” Sam says with a worried look on her face as she knows that he will be fine, but at the same time he knows that he went through a lot during that match. “You look pretty banged up.”

“But, I promised Alaska that I’d get her a sundae before he went to bed,” Chase said reminding Sam of the promise that he made their daughter when they dropped her off with her step-grandmother.

“See the trainer first, then we’ll get Alaska, I’ll make her the biggest sundae ever, and you can tell her she can stay up late tonight,” Sam said with a smirk, because even though she didn’t have a problem with the promise he made their daughter… it just didn’t make sense for him to buy her one when she could make a better one at home. Which obviously isn’t much of a “treat”, but that’s where the staying up late comes in, because tonight, after all, is a school night after all.

“You drive a hard bargain, Mrs. Hawkins… deal.” Chase said with a smirk of his own. “Though I promise you that I’m fine. I’m so fine I’ll blow your mind later.”

Sam’s face turns a deep shade of red over the comment as she couldn’t believe that he would say something like that in public. When they first met he was very gentlemen like and would have never said anything like that. So the only thing that Sam can think about at the moment is that she must be rubbing off on him.

“I’ll wait and hear what the trainer has to say first,” Sam says as she turns to look at her husband with a devilish smirk on her face. “… As to the other… I’ll be the judge of that.”

Sam without any warning just took her right hand and grabbed a handful of his ass through his wrestling trunks.

- Later That Night –

It’s about a quarter to two in the morning inside of the Hawkins family home and Samantha is just lounging on the couch in the living room. She’s in her favorite oversized Kakashi Hatake sweatshirt and gray sweatpants. Laying in her lap happily asleep is a white tabby cat with reddish-orange and plain orange markings named Asuna that she is petting absentmindedly. She doesn’t even notice her husband coming down the stairs from the second floor wearing not more than a pair of simple white shorts with his ribs wrapped with ace bandages as well as his left forearm.

“Babe, I thought you going to get one of the shows on the DVR dubbed up?” She hears as her, Chase moves closer to the couch, looking a little confused as the flat screen television wasn’t even turned on. The two of them were going to watch something off the device before bed as they were starting to run out of memory on it. Which is easy for them to do considering that how much time, Samantha spends away from home, and they are unable to watch anything as a family. At the moment it was supposed to be one of the shows that they watch, but that their daughter doesn’t watch considering she crashed soon after they got home and she had her sundae thanks in part to sugar crash from sugar overload.

“Sorry, got to thinking about something,” She replied, as she just continued to stroke the sleeping cat.

“You’re not worrying about Under Attack are you?” Chase asked, thinking that it was something to do with the pending Eliminator Chamber match for a shot at the SCW Tag team championship.

“No,” She answered, as while it might look like she was just starring off into blank space she really wasn’t. She was looking at the wall in the living room they dubbed “The Wall of Memories”. Where on it was several pictures of her family through the years. There is a picture of the first time she meant not only her real father Rick Young, but her uncle when she got to meet them backstage at an XWL show they were defending the tag team championships at as the Young Guns. There are various photos of her with Faith De Luca, Brittany Lohan, Marie Jones, Minka, and even Patience through the various incarnations of Hidden Desires. Of course, there was one of him and her from just after they dethroned Total War for the GDW tag team titles as Chance of Raine. Realizing where it is that she is starring he gives her a look and she finally corrects herself. “Well, not entirely.”

“Alright, so what’s on your mind then?” Chase asks and while he awaits her response, he lifts her legs up momentarily, which the sudden movement and the new angle of Sam’s legs is enough to wake Asuna, who yawns before jumping down on to the floor to scurry away.

“It’s really nothing…” Sam said because in her mind it was nothing, but knowing his wife well enough Chase knows that if she’s thinking about it about it… it’s something.

“Samantha,” That’s all Chase says as he takes a seat on the couch and lays her feet down in his lap.

“Really it’s nothing…” Sam said again trying to put more conviction behind her words, but she could tell that he wasn’t buying it. “Fine, I was just thinking about how all the teams in the match have a fancy team name.”

“Wow, that really is nothing,” Chase said with a smirk on his face, but Samantha didn’t find it all that funny. She lifted her left foot up and was about to nudge him in the ribs with it, but she stops herself remembering the beating that his ribs took in his last match.

“Wiseguy… you’re lucky you’re hurt.” She pouted before sticking her tongue out at him.

“Not having a team name doesn’t mean that you can’t win,” Chase says and then he chuckles a little bit before he adds… “And even then ya’ll do have a team name if I remember right, Law and Disorder or if you’re not feeling that you have Hidden Desires.”

“Why didn’t I think of those?” Sam said sarcastically enough that even her husband could tell that she was being sarcastic as he often misreads her sarcastic-ness as seriousness.

Chase just shrugs his shoulders. “I don’t know, why?”

“I did think about them, but there are reasons why we can’t use them,” Sam said with a heavy sigh.

“I don’t see why you couldn’t because you came up with both names didn’t you?” Chase said and he was right of course. When it came to Law and Disorder, she came up with after a two-day binge of Law and Order re-runs while she was recovering from having her appendix removed. Hidden Desires was just a playful idea to make a pun of the “Everything looks better in HD” taglines the commercials use to use.

“Hidden Desires is a no go because there is a legacy there,” Sam says as Chase just nods his head because it made sense. Hidden Desires did a lot in the GDW as a success unit. So Chase could tell where his wife’s head was at in what she was thinking. That it wouldn’t be right for her and Minka to revive the brand name without the rest of the members involved for fear of tarnishing its reputation. “The other one… just bad memories.”

Chase raises an eyebrow because he feels that there might be a story or two in there about it. However, he wasn’t going to push Samantha to tell him the stories, because it might actually be something painful. Unlike what his “demons” with his old company. “Well then here’s an off the wall idea, why not call yourselves… Chance of Pain.”

Sam couldn’t help but just look at her husband intrigued by the idea. Yeah, it was a play on their old tag team name, but it works. As she thinks about it with her last name of “Raine” and the fact that Minka brings the “Pain” it’s perfect. Sam couldn’t help, but be happy at the input she got from Chase as she swings her feet off his lap to reposition herself to where she is snuggling with him, but not before giving him a kiss. Chase can’t help but smile as he reaches for the remote control from behind Sam’s back and uses it to turn on the television.

Just two days before the big Elimination Chamber match and it was time to get some training in before the big night. However, the old saying… best laid plans and all that jazz. Samantha climbs out of the passenger seat of her husband’s Dodge Ram truck while he gets out of the driver side. Just from a glance by anyone not just Sam you can tell that he’s still feeling the effects of his last match, but he’s putting on a brave face for his wife. Considering that Minka is currently in Indiana still dealing with family business, Woody and Patience are busy running the wrestling, and Ashlyn is just busy just about doing everything at the moment.

So as they walk up to the doors of her father’s wrestling school that Woody and Patience are running when they aren’t on the road with Sam and Minka for the SCW. They notice that a fan has been waiting outside of the building despite the fact that it’s looked like it’s going to a rain at any moment.

“Excuse me, Ms. Raine.” The fan said the moment that they got close enough. Chase gives his wife a quick peck on the lips before continuing on inside.

“I’ll be waiting inside.” He says and Sam just watches as he goes for a moment before turning her attention to the fan with a smile on her face.

“What can I do for you?” Sam said even though she really didn’t want to stay outside longer than she had to, because of how the sky looks, but also because the chance of rain is sixty percent.

“First of all, let me say that you were robbed on Breakdown.” The fan said and Sam couldn’t argue with that statement. Sure, it looked like she and Minka were getting their asses by Har Megiddo, but it was a war of attrition. At least until The Truelove twins inserted themselves into the match.

“Thanks,” Sam said because it was nice to know that a fan thought that way about the match on Breakdown, but still. In the back of her mind, she knows there were just as many fans and peers to this one fan that feels The Truelove twins did them a favor by getting involved in the match. Ending the match early definitely lowered their chance of getting hurt before the big match at Under Attack, but at the same time gave the twins more of an advantage.

“This is an odd question, but was there a moment that you felt that you and Crissy were going to lose that match?” The Fan asked and she was right that it was an odd question.

“It’s never wise to go into a match thinking that you’re going to lose,” Sam said which was very true because the moment that you think you are going to lose you are going to lose. It’s just the way that it seems to go most of the time. “So Crissy and I went into the match thinking that we were just going to do the best that we could and get a good sense of what they could do for the Elimination Chamber match.”

“Even with what you could have learned from that match there are still so many variables in the chamber match.” The fan said as she shifted her cell phone to her other hand.

“There are, but we can’t let that deter us in any way. Sure, there are other teams in the chamber, but that will only help us take down Har Megiddo in the long run.” Sam said as by sheer size and power Har Megiddo was the biggest threat, but having just Redemption in the match with their experience would turn the tide of the match just a little bit. Add in Gigi and Maddy, Red Empire, and even the Truelove Twins were all good things in her mind. “Crissy and I know we aren’t the favorites to win the match, because just look at how many times they have counted us out, but we continue to come back until things turn around in our favor.”

“And the both of you are ready to carry that on having your first shot at the tag team titles.” The fan added, “Which speaking of the champions… who would you rather challenge for the titles? Lohan Country or Bree-MZ?”

Sam couldn’t help, but chuckle a little bit, because she knows that Bree Mason doesn’t like that team in the slightest. Then again she isn’t really fond of her tag team partner either. Sam just stood there for a minute thinking about how to answer the question. Weighting the pros and the cons of wrestling each team.

“Both teams would be a challenge, but which would I prefer?” Sam paused for another moment. “I don’t really know, because on both sides I have someone that I have wrestled against in a match that wasn’t a clusterfuck in Abigail and Bree, but at the same time each team has someone that I have losses to that I need to “avenge” in Jason and Dawn.”

“Okay, who do you think that Crissy would want to wrestle against for the titles?” The fan asked and Sam didn’t have to think about it at all. She knew that Minka would rather have the match be against Bree-MZ considering the past twitter exchanges between the Classy one and the beater of asses. Though Sam doesn’t get a chance to answer the question as it just starts down pouring on them an instance and the both of them run for cover.

Visitors to the SCW’s main site today were treated to their first treat of the newly christened team of Samantha Raine and Chrissy Gardner, Chance of Pain. There a few photographs of them modeling their new ring gear, but more than that there is the promotional video they shot for the Eliminator Chamber match. As visitors to the site click play on the video, the loading icon appears directly in the center of the center especially for those that choose to play the video in full screen. The video buffers for a moment before a logo with a rain cloud appears on the screen as the video starts to play.

Raine Drop Entertainment.

The cloud logo fades away to the words “With” before another logo that looks like the sound effect graphic from the 1966 Batman series with a fist in the center of it.

Serial Thrilla Productions.

That logo fades away and into the words “In Conjunction with” which gives way to the SCW logo. Which then fades away to the words “Presents: Samantha Raine and Crissy Gardner in” before it fades into several different clips of both women wrestling in various matches. Finally, the video fades into a logo for Under Attack with the words “Elimination Chamber” under it.

When the video finally gets to the “never before seen” footage of Sam and Crissy of their promo they are standing next to one another in their matching ring attire and right behind them is blown up of the graphic of the Elimination Chamber. Just looking at the both of them you can tell that they are focused on the upcoming match.

“Crissy do you know they are saying about us?” Sam asked as she turned towards her friend and tag team partner.

“That you can cross off another title that we’ve tried for and failed to win?” Crissy said referencing the fact that she’s had a TV Eliminator match for the Television title and of course there was a pair of matches for the now-retired SCW Women’s championship. Which, Sam in her own right has had a pair of matches for along with the Adrenaline championship.

“You’re probably right about that,” Sam says “… but I’m talking about how we don’t stand a chance to survive this match let alone win it.”

“It’s a free country it’s their right to think that way,” Crissy said, obviously taking the high road in this instance considering that it would only be natural to attack their critics heading into the match.

“Sure is, but we’ve been taught two valuable lessons in our years in this business,” Sam said continuing on without right out attacking the critics. “The first and foremost is that the only easy day was yesterday.”

Sam recited which was not only something that her father drilled into most of his wrestling students over the years, but it’s also the motto of the US Navy SEALS.

“The second?” Crissy asks even though she already knows the answer to it.

“That anyone can be beaten on any given day.” This lesson came less from their training, but the hard reality of the business that they choose to work in, but also for all the underdog stories from other sports professions.

“So… you’re saying we have a chance?” Crissy says in a mocking tone because she knows that they have more than just a chance that all the teams have like a “16.6666%” chance of winning the match.

“Yes, we do. One could say that we have a slightly better chance of winning.” Sam said even though the percentage to their chance of victory isn’t higher or lower than anyone else in the match, but when you put your mind to it you can rationalize just about anything. “We’ve already beaten Red Empire in a tag team match. So you could say that our chance of winning is actually thirty-three point three, three, three, two percent.”

“That’s fascinating, but…” Crissy paused for a moment as she didn’t want to say something too insensitive. “Red Empire is a like a doorknob… everyone’s taken a turn beating them.”

Sam is stumped for a moment because Crissy did have a point there as every team in this match seems to have beaten the Red Empire in one way or another since they showed up in the SCW. “True, but Gigi and Maddy they can’t seem to win without Katie or TJ getting involved in the match. There is almost literally no chance of that happening this time around.”

“Touché, but you’re like fifty-fifty at best when you’re in the ring against Angelica Jones,” Crissy said bringing up a very good point. However, there isn’t much to base that one considering the fact that Sam and Angelica have only been in the ring against one another two times with it not being a cluster fuck. The singles match that happened here in the SCW Angelica took the victory, but the tag team match in GDW went to Sam and her husband, Chance Fortune.

“Very true and James Evans could be a wild card in the match,” Sam said as she recalled a brief moment in time when James Evans offered to be her chef. It was a weird exchange on Twitter that nothing ever came of it.

“Of course, we also have Har Megiddo to worry about too,” Crissy added as she thought about how much the monsters were able to manhandle them in their tag team match before it was thrown out thanks to the Truelove twins getting involved in the match.

“They will be a tall order to take down, but Crissy I know we can do it,” Sam said trying to take the conversation back into a positive way.

“Of course we can, because we don’t give up easily,” Crissy smirked a little bit. “Though we can still hope that one of the other teams take them down first.”

“We sure can, because that’s the glorious nature of this match,” Sam said, but now it was time for the funny back and forth banter to be put to the side.

“Which just leaves the terrible twosome,” Crissy said and even though this promo was recorded much earlier in the day the amount of disdain for the Truelove Twins is still palpable from the video.

“Paris, London… you both might feel like you winning this match and the tag team titles is a foregone conclusion,” Sam said. “However, nothing is that cut and dry, because if it was then there would be no point for the fans to watch the product if they already knew who was going to win?”

“Predictable isn’t fun, but girls I have a prediction for you,” Crissy said before she paused for a moment to crack her knuckles for the camera. “I predict that I’m going to pulverize your bones to dust, that I’m going to take those “beautiful” faces of yours use the chamber to grate them like cheese. Then when you are begging to get out of the chamber away from me… I’m going to force your both mouths to eat the chamber. Chew through the metal or end up looking like Andrea from the Walking Dead… your choice.”

“Wow. Tell ‘em how you really feel Crissy.” Sam said looking both amazed, but also terrified of her own partner at the moment.

“I just did… either way when it comes to the tag Elimination Chamber match the only certainty is that there is a hundred percent chance of pain!” Crissy said as she punched her left hand with her right fist. Which seemed to be the cue for the filming of the video to end as seconds later it faded to black. A few seconds later a disclaimer faded on to the scene saying that SCW does don’t condone the violence that was described in the video and that kids should NOT true it at home.