~•Raquel Diaz•~
I’ve thrown around a lot of words over the last two weeks about Leva Bates and the match the EBWF Universe is going to bear witness to at Royal Pain. I’ve talked about my desire to rebuild this division into something to be respected. Where the champion and the title is seen on television week in and week out. Something different than the champions of the past who used this as a prop and an excuse to focus on meet and greets and comic conventions. To escape the grind of putting their bodies on the line in the ring like a true competitor. To show the Universe that with Raquel Diaz at the helm, this division becomes a rival to any other division. Not a backseat, not an afterthought. THE MAIN EVENT! That’s what we’re going to prove when Leva and I go one on one this Monday.
Raquel shifted her weight and uncrossed her legs as she stood up. With her hand still resting on the arm of the chair she focused in on the camera for the first time. Staring into the eyes of those watching. Her intensity was on display for the EBWF Universe. Her other hand dropped from her cheek and instead rested on her hip giving a bit of sass to her pose.
~•Raquel Diaz•~
I’ve talked about showing respect to the other women of the EBWF who have earned it. The women who put in the work and earn the shots they’re given. The women who come out to the ring and prove that women’s wrestling isn’t just the tits and ass show of a bygone age. The women who respect themselves, respect this business, and respect my position in this industry. Which is why I’ve talked about my anger at the actions of Becky Lynch. I’ve talked at length about how those actions furthered the agenda of past champions. About how those actions were taken to make a mockery of the EBWF Women’s Championship that should be shown the upmost respect. How those actions follow the theme of Becky’s career in the EBWF parading around with a false title claiming herself the true champion for months on end. I’ve talked about how I respect Leva Bates and her attitude toward the Women’s Championship. Because, Leva showed a respect for the title that few in this industry have. She understood what Becky Lynch holding the title captive meant to the Universe. What it did to the industry, the company and the prestige of that title. Bates showed that she could compete at WrestleMania when she earned her shot at MY title.
Raquel walked around to the back of the throne, running her hand along painted gold features. She flicked her wrist and the throne slid from the shot only to be replaced by a table. The transition was smooth and flawless, the work of rigging or a dolly system. The wooden table now before her wasn’t the flimsy kind used in wrestling spots. It was comprised of thick squared legs and a raw wooden top. It too had seen some use in old promos in the EBWF. It had history tied to it. Raquel ran her hand across the table.
~•Raquel Diaz•~
She competed against three other women in Bayley, Taya Valkyrie, and Torrie Wilson. Wilson, an icon of that bygone era that deserved to be thrown from her high horse. Toppled from her ivory pedestal by Leva on her way to a fateful encounter with yours truly. She showed that she wasn’t going to just lay down and die when she decided to stand up to the authority and demand she be given her shot. When a lesser woman would have been happy to be placed in the Queen of the Ring, Leva demanded she be presented opportunity before it. Which was both prudent and cunning. Now when Leva fails to capture the EBWF Women’s Championship she can earn a second chance at facing me when SummerSlam rolls around. There was only one obstacle standing in her way. The obstacle I’ve been battling to overcome for what feels like months. Ever since that coward hit me with a chair and made off with MY title. Last week Leva Bates showed just how committed she was to rebuilding the EBWF Women’s Division. She showed that she was willing to do the work to make this division great again. She showed that she could get her hands dirty if it came down to it. That nothing would stand in her way. She showed a darker, meaner, and more cunning side. A side I’m proud of. A side that I’m excited to see her foster and nourish. A side that I’d be willing to accept into the halls of Kingdom when all is said and done.
Diaz came around to the front of the table and lifted herself up onto the corner. She crossed her leg back over and held onto either side. There was still a jolt as the table started to move on the rigging once again. It would have slid out of shot from the same direction it had came but this time the camera followed it. There were two chairs waiting for the table to return. Raquel glanced back at them without moving. The chairs had Leva Bates and Raquel Diaz carved into the highest parts of the back.
~•Raquel Diaz•~
But first Leva Bates and I find ourselves at an impasse. Respect, admiration, and all the other heaps of nice words I could bury Leva Bates in all go out the window this Monday at Warfare Royal Pain. They dissolve into a sea of nothing that leaves two things in the ring. Leva Bates and la Diosa de la Lucha libre, Raquel Diaz. It leaves a clean slate for a challenger and the rightful champion. It leaves a battleground unlike anything that the EBWF has ever seen before. A main event that requires they rebrand the show. It leaves a lasting image in the annals of history for the EBWF, the Women’s Division and all of Professional Wrestling. It leaves everything open for a War worthy of the show’s name. Worthy of the attention of everyone around the world. A war that deserves to be contested under the rules of Tres Etapas Locas.
Raquel slid off the table and walked toward the chair marked with her name. She pulled it away from the table slightly making sure it stayed on a spot marked on the floor. She sat down, folded her arms on the table and smiled. She held up a closed fist that she would use for counting as she continued to talk. Holding up her pointer finger as she started back.
~•Raquel Diaz•~
La etapa uno, only a pinfall will be counted for victory. This adherence to a thriving tradition that goes back for generations is important to myself and all the luchadoras who came before me and all those that will come after me. There is an honor, a glory, and a power that comes with holding your opponent down to the mat while a referee counts uno, dos, tres. Even when those counts are being disputed, demonized, and vilified by the most hated woman in wrestling we will show them the respect they deserve. Either I will pin Leva Bates or she will pin me. Then and only then will we carry on.
Raquel extended her middle finger.
~•Raquel Diaz•~
La etapa dos, the stakes grow. No longer will the idle pin, the sneaky roll up or the pulled tights have a place in deciding the outcome. Those methods deployed by luchadoras since the invention of wrestling shall be ignored because in this stage we will battle until one of us can force the other to submit. The thrill of overpowering you opponent and forcing them to admit that you are better, stronger, and more skilled than they are. The rush of having your opponent not only defeated but admitting to the defeat. It leaves no room for second guessing. No errors, no misjudgments, no disputes. The woman who wins is the one who forces the other to admit that she wins. The match could end here. I pin Leva Bates, wrap her up in the Lasso from El Paso and we call it a night. It could happen that fast, that easily. But, Leva is a fighter. Leva wants this shot. Leva wants MY title. And so perhaps she does sneak in the roll up. Perhaps she does pull the tights. She’s shown she’s willing to fight dirty for this shot so I don’t put it past her. Leva Bates steals the pin in la etapa uno. Then, I wrap her up in the Lasso from El Paso and make her admit that I am better than she is. Make her concede to my greatness. It is then that we move on to the final stage.
Raquel extended her ring finger, holding her pinky down with her thumb. She rotated her open hand so that she could look at her palm. Diaz shook her head before turning her focus back to the camera.
~•Raquel Diaz•~
La etapa tres. The most loco of all. From that point on the war becomes less about winning and more about staying alive, surviving the beating that the other woman brings to the ring, and making sure that she doesn’t. Last. Woman. Standing. You beat your opponent by knocking her off her feet and making sure that she doesn’t flinch, doesn’t move, doesn’t climb back to her feet before the referee can count to ten. Diez segundos while the referee screams the count into the abyss of the EBWF arena. Diez segundos while you can’t touch the opponent, or you reset the count. The ultimate test of security as you allow that opponent to rest in hopes that they aren’t playing possum. In hopes that they won’t get up. In hopes that she doesn’t take eight seconds to catch her breath and prepare for another wave of assault. Diez segundos between you and the EBWF Women’s Championship. Diez segundos. Diez.
Raquel placed her hands on her lap, crossed. She lowered her head to look at the ground and her chair started to slowly slide backwards. The camera wasn’t following. She vanished into the abyss of darkness surrounding the set. The shot lingered on the empty table and single chair for an uncomfortable amount of time. Long enough to evoke that feeling that a jump scare is on its way. Then the shot dissolved to Raquel in the same attire sitting in a similar chair. Instead of having her name carved into the back of it, this chair simply read ‘Champion’. The lighting was coming from a different direction but little else changed. She unfolded her arms and brought her head back up to stare into the camera.
~•Raquel Diaz•~
If it comes to that the EBWF Universe is going to be surprised at how much of a beating the human body can endure. Surprised about how far two women are willing to go to be crowned as the best in the business. Surprised by what we will do to one another to secure the win. To secure a future defending the title in matches against women who will pull out the same stops and batter down the same walls. That’s it, we fight for the opportunity to keep fighting. We fight to be the one called the champion at SummerSlam when we meet again. And I have no doubt that we will meet again at SummerSlam as Champion and Queen of the Ring. We fight and one of us wins. One of us stays standing. The other is left lying. The other is relegated back to the first round of the Queen of the Ring. Relegated back to the heap of women all wanting the next shot at MY title. One of us earns the title and the other earns the right to battle our way back to the top of the ladder. Back to the main event. Back into the title picture.
Raquel stood up and walked toward the camera and it backed away in equal meter. A wooden podium came into view. Raquel approached it with an open palm. She caressed another piece of her history in the EBWF. It was from this podium that Raquel Diaz had declared herself. From this podium that she made her first remarks about the EBWF Women’s Division. Raquel gripped both sides of the podium and leaned on it slightly.
~•Raquel Diaz•~
Monday at Warfare Royal Pain, Leva Bates and I are going to put on a showcase of Women’s Wrestling. We’re going to show the EBWF Universe that we deserve to be treated with the same respect as the EBWF World Champion. We’re going to show that we’re not willing to be second fiddle anymore! We’re no longer content to be a secondary thought. We’re no longer happy with pre-show matches. No longer happy with one match a show. We’re no longer content. We’re no longer going to accept our plot in life. We’re going to change the face of the industry and one of us is going to be at the forefront of that. Leva Bates wants that to be her. I want that to be me. We’re not going to get there as friends.
Diaz stepped on around the podium, continuing to move in the same direction she had been. She continued to talk, not breaking her stride forward.
~•Raquel Diaz•~
We’re going to get there as embattled rivals. So, I would like to do what I’m going to do Monday. Set aside the kind words and high praise. Set aside the respect and honor. Set aside concern for my personal well being and hers. Set aside everything that has happened since WrestleMania and be excruciating in my methodology. Before I tear Leva Bates down physically in that ring I need to get some things off my chest. While, normally, it would be a concentrated attack on her character. I don’t have time for that, and I won’t debase the EBWF Women’s Division by going there. I don’t care about her deficiencies, her weaknesses. I don’t care who trained her, how long she’s been wrestling or where she got her breaks. I don’t care.
Finally Raquel arrived at a banner that was split down the middle by the metal rod holding it up. One side depicted Raquel Diaz with the title over her shoulder. The other depicted Leva Bates. The top of the banner had a crown shape to it. This was one of many that would be spread out across the Wells Fargo Center to hype the card for Warfare: Royal Pain. Raquel stood beside it with pride visible in her expression and her stance.
~•Raquel Diaz•~
I care about her talent. I’m preparing for her ability. I’m honed in on her tactics. I’m coming at this match with the determination I learned from watching my father Eddie in the ring. I’m training with a tenacity that I’ve developed working alongside my cousin Chavo for countless hours in the gym. I’m preparing, planning and reviewing with a focus I gleaned from my husband Aiden’s obsessive need to be the best. I’m learning from the three men most important to me so that I can become a better woman. So that I can be the torch bearer for a new generation.
Raquel turned and faced the banner. She was talking over her shoulder but loud and clear enough to be understood.
~•Raquel Diaz•~
So instead of verbally assaulting the woman I’m going to decimate Monday I’m going to focus on what truly matters. ME! Because after I win this match, I’m going to have to build an empire on the shoulders of my achievements. I’m going to have to lay the foundation of this new division I’ve spoken so much about. I’m going to have to put in the work and so I need to make the case on why I’m best suited for the role. Normally we would start right from the beginning. From genetics, the Guerrero Family name, and being born into the world of professional wrestling. It’s a good song. Hits all the right notes and makes for a compelling article in the trades. The issue with the classics is that everyone has covered them. That mindset is going to hold me back. That mindset is going to lead to me losing my title. I have to be forward thinking not lingering in the past. I have to prove that I’m not going to fall back on the accomplishments of my father Eddie, his father Gory, my uncles, my cousin, or my husband. I have to be the new beacon of Los Guerreros de la lucha libre!
Raquel turned on her heels and walked toward the camera with a much quicker pace than before. She was silent, striding into the darkness and leaving all the props and anchors behind her. Eventually she was alone in the spotlight.
~•Raquel Diaz•~
When I signed my contract with EBWF there were doubts about my talent. I can’t count the number of people who disparaged me with remarks about my lineage. Those who wanted to claim that I only got a contract because of my father. Or, that it was a requirement for Aiden to stay with the company. No one wanted to believe that I had earned my spot on my own merits. That I had went into a tryout and shown that I could compete at this level. When I announced my first match would be the Royal Rumble, they laughed. The women in the division overlooked me and focused on their bitter rivalries. They focused on one another. They focused on the Champion that was being fed to the wolves. The EBWF Women’s Title was going to be on the line in a Royal Rumble and I was barely noticed. Then I drew number one. Whatever hope I had of winning was written off. The announcers, interviewers, fans, wrestlers. Every one of them wanted to know what I was going to do after the Royal Rumble. Would I stick around and work my way to the top? Would I return to managing Aiden and avoid in ring competition? Would I complain that everything was stacked against me? When Aiden drew number one in his Rumble that year, the world let out a collective chuckle. The Universe rallied behind cries of karma. They thought this was the two of us getting what we deserved. They didn’t even have the decorum to hide the laughter behind hands or stifle it in my presence. And that laughter turned into rage in the pit of my stomach. It fueled me as it darkened my heart against the fans. Motivated me to be better than everyone who snickered and smiled when I passed them in the halls. When energy waned in the middle of a workout, that anger pushed me to reach a new level. That rage drove me to the arena that night with blinders on. Then, I surprised the EBWF Universe, the Women’s Division and the former Champion by outlasting every other woman to win the Royal Rumble and claim my first reign as EBWF Women’s Champion. It wasn’t hard to see that everyone was stunned. The laughter died. The snickers ceased. The whispers of doubt faded and suddenly a target was painted on my back. I had proven what I could do and it scared the hell out of the locker room. Unfortunately, I let my ego get the better of me. That rage blinded me, my victory made me arrogant, and I lost sight of what was important. I lost the title at WrestleMania. After that reign events conspired that lead to an injury and I was forced to take some time off. The rage started to build as I sat at home watching my division crumble into obscurity. But there was a blessing coming because that time off turned into my daughter. Nothing could have made me happier. The rage was gone and replaced with something greater. Pride. To be honest, there was a time when I didn’t know if I would come back and fulfill the rest of my contract. I thought perhaps being a mother was going to be enough for me. But then, I caught an episode of Warfare and saw what had become of my once great division. The foundation I had laid was so crumbled that it was no longer recognizable. With each passing day it grated on me until I couldn’t stand it. I had to make a return to the ring. Nakano was running rampant, beating this woman and that one. Becky Lynch was running around with a fake title claiming to be something she isn’t. Everything was falling apart, and the Women’s Champion wasn’t even showing up for television regularly. It had to change. I had to change it. When I made my return debut, it was an instant splash just like my entrance into the Royal Rumble. In only a handful of weeks I dashed the hopes of every woman in the race for the title. I beat anyone the EBWF would feed me and that includes the woman who would become the Women’s Champion at the Royal Rumble. The woman who maintained that status quo and kept the title off of television for a majority of her run with it. To back track a moment, I threw my hat into the Royal Rumble for a second time and for a second time I punched my ticket to WrestleMania. Two Royal Rumbles and two wins. If that doesn’t show you the kind of effort I put into this business, nothing will.
Raquel stopped and caught her breath. She sighed. Her tone changed from excited to exasperated in a moment.
~•Raquel Diaz•~
Then, in a classic twist of fate, a third person was added to the match I earned by winning the Royal Rumble. What a shit show that all turned out to be. You would think the title Royal Pain comes from the match designed to push two women PAST their breaking point. It doesn’t. The title of this week’s Warfare comes from the royal pain in the ass that is Becky Lynch. And, while I’m sure the Women’s Division isn’t done with her, for now I am. She’s in the past. I put her their when I beat her and Tam Nakano at WrestleMania to become a two-time EBWF Women’s Champion. There is no dispute beyond one woman wishing she had done better.
Her tone shifted back and the smile returned to her face.
~•Raquel Diaz•~
I’ve spent weeks on end trying to make sure that the status quo in women’s wrestling was busted, destroyed, and thrown away. I’ve continued what I started when I made my return, laying waste to anyone and everyone to make sure that women’s wrestling was elevated. Monday night at Warfare Royal Pain, I’m going to continue my project. I’m going to make sure that the EBWF Women’s Division is shown the respect it deserves. The respect that it has earned. I’m going to make sure that all eyes are on us and that we show the Universe that we’re not second fiddle. That the women of this division aren’t an afterthought. That we can perform with the same ferocidad as our male counterparts. The women of EBWF are going to take over and I am going to lead the charge. I’m going to lead because I have earned this. I am going to lead because I was bread for this. I’m going to lead because I’m willing to do the dirty work. I’m going to lead because I’m the best WOMAN for the job. I’m going to lead because I’m the one true Queen of the EBWF. Leva Bates is talented. She is hungry. And, Bates is willing to do the work. But, if she wants to call herself a Queen, she needs to focus in on Queen of the Ring. She needs to start preparing to earn another shot. She’s cashed this one in and I am all too happy to have it done. The Kingdom I built alongside my husband is ruled by a Queen. And long shall I reign!
Raquel put her hands on her hips, pursed her lips and made a loud kissing sound. It was followed up by a wink to the camera.