Raquel Diaz was standing in front of a solid black backdrop. Her shining silver dress popped against the flat background. The EBWF Women’s Championship hung around her waist. She smiled at the camera.
November sixteenth, more than a year ago now. That’s the date I declared my return to in ring action in the closing moments of Warfare live from Minneapolis, Minnesota. I had been sitting at home for the months leading up to the event, caring for my newborn daughter and watching the EBWF Women’s Division slide into obscurity. The glow I had given the title the year before had waned and all that was left was a glimmer of the title’s former glory. These thoughts of how much better Women’s division could be wouldn’t let me rest. I knew that someone had to step up, take the reins, and build a better women’s division from the ground up. I knew that the right woman could take the helm and lead this division to be the best women’s wrestling in the world. The EBWF Universe just had to find the right woman, that one woman who could put the good of the division before herself. That one woman who could put on spectacular performance after spectacular performance. A woman who could win night in and night out to stabilize the division. A swath of the Universe thought they had found that woman in Tam Nakano. She was running rough shot through the division, winning with ease against opponent after opponent. She seemed to be on a collision course with the EBWF Women’s Champion, Trish Stratus. And then, she became the number one contender. The stage was set for the new era of Women’s Wrestling to jumpstart at the Royal Rumble. Put a pin in that event, we’re going to come back around to it. You see something happened before that fateful night. Before Tam Nakano could make it to the Royal Rumble with her undefeated streak intact, another woman came along. A woman who would eventually become the saving grace of Women’s Wrestling, spoiler warning, the Diosa de la Lucha Libre. Tam and I shared the ring together for the first time on the first episode of Warfare in twenty twenty-one. A night I’m sure that she will never forget. The night her undefeated winning streak not only stalled, it straight died.
Raquel pulled her hand across her throat in a cutting motion.
Face to face with the generational talent that is Raquel Diaz, Tam Nakano crumbled. She stumbled. She failed. Exposed, it became clear to the EBWF Universe that Nakano wasn’t the light at the end of the tunnel. The Universe was shown a better path, a brighter light, a new star in the sky. As my husband might say, another member of the EBWF Pantheon of Greatness. That’s not to say there were no doubters. Many in the Universe still cried out for Tam. They claimed that Trish is the reason I won. They claimed distraction, and not talent caused Nakano to fall from grace. They clung to the one they had labeled savior with everything in their power. Unpin. When the Royal Rumble came around, they were given another glimmer of hope because Tam Nakano beat Trish Stratus and made herself the EBWF Women’s Champion. No one can take that away from her. But something else took place at the Final Royal Rumble in EBWF history. Something that was setting the stage for something bigger, something greater. Something that would change the face of the EBWF for years to come.
She pointed to herself, her grin growing wider.
The stage was set for what we didn’t know to be the last Women’s Royal Rumble match that would ever be broadcast. Everyone gave it their all. Everyone wanted to punch that ticked to Mania. Everyone wanted to be the Last Survivor of that historic match. It was me. Raquel Diaz walked out of that match with a shot at the woman whose streak she had shattered. Then, at Wrestlemania, Tam Nakano suffered her second loss to yours truly. A loss that cost her the EBWF Women’s Title and sent her packing from the EBWF Universe. She had toiled undefeated against the bottom of the barrel but with the cream of the crop returned she realized she wasn’t on bar with the future of Women’s Wrestling. She tucked her tail, took her toys and went home. Tam Nakano, never to be seen again. There was a dark period that we’re not going to talk about after that match. But in that darkness there was a light. Tres Etapas Locas. Two of the best female wrestlers to ever lace boots met in the center of the ring for the first ever special edition of Warfare. Royal Pain.
Raquel nodded slowly, shifting her weight from side to side. She considered her words carefully. Her right hand ran across the top of the title.
Because, getting to that point had been a pain. And we went. It was a main event like none that had ever come before. Leva Bates and I put on a clinic in that ring. We left it all on the mat and I showed my superiority. Now the year is coming to a close and fate has seen it worth while to put Leva Bates back on my plate. To serve her up another time to la Diosa de la Lucha Libre. To walk her into the Lasso and force her to submit. I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate the holiday. The Raquel Diaz that Leva Bates faced was one who had something to prove to the Universe. One that was fighting for the sovereignty of her reign. To clear a blemish left by another. It was a Raquel that was tied to her fight to drag the Women’s division from obscurity kicking and screaming if she had to. That’s not the woman she finds herself against this time. I’ve cleared the blemish. I’ve erased any doubt that I am the true EBWF Women’s Champion. This time she faces a focused force of formidable fury. The Women’s Champion that always should have been! So when we enter this Library of Violence I need you to understand something. You're going to need to pull out all the stops, you're going to need to give it your all. You're going to need to throw the book at me. And Leva, it's not going to be enough. In a library of books there's one that's the most important. Pain, and how to inflict it by Raquel Diaz. We're going to have a reading, you're not going to love it.
Raquel pulled the EBWF Women’s Championship from around her waist and hoisted it over her head. She stared into the camera with a piercing gaze and a wicked half smile. Her eyes darted to the title as she pulled it down into a kiss. The scene faded on a shot of her with the title over her shoulder turned away from the camera.