CUT!

 

 

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA

October 21st, 2022

 

 

Stepping into a crowded gym, Alex, dressed in workout attire, takes up an energy drink from an icy cooler. “When I need a refresher from a busy day at the gym or in the ring, I reach for Bear Blood Energy, it’s got the proven formula crafted by world-renown sports nutritionists to give you that extra jolt to get you back in action like a bear on the hunt!” She smiles, holding up the can.

 

 

“Cut!” The director yells, from behind her camera setup. The handful of the crew by her side went over notes, and the key grip lowers his boom mic. The director stands, stepping over to Alex. “Ms. Steel, we really loved that take, but the company spokesperson came through and said for this shot he wants you to take a drink after you pick up the can.”

 

 

Alex nods as the woman spoke, then pat her on the arm with a smile. “Sure, uh, no problem mate, I can do that.”

 

 

“Back to one!” The director yells. The crew took up their positions, and Alex steps off the frame and waits. “Action!”

 

The scene repeats. Extras exercise, and Alex steps in, walking up to the cooler and snatching a can. Taking a drink, she gags and grimaces immediately, before excusing herself in a hurry to spit in a sink in the bathroom. The director calls ‘Cut!’ and the crew grumbles. Returning, Alex shakes her head. “Oh, god, that’s the worst-tasting drink I’ve ever tried. I’m going to have to call my agent, this isn’t what I signed up for. What is this,” She inspects the can. “Grape? That was NOT grape! Who would make this?!”

 

 

The director sighs. “The company PR guy is like, right over there.” The woman points to a scowling man who was previously smiling at Alex from the catering table. The man menacingly takes a bite of his bagel. “It’s Hollywood, sister, sometimes you just gotta..”

 

Alex offers the can for the director to smell. The director pulls her hair back and gave the mouth of the bottle a sniff and turns green, stepping away. “This drink is going into people’s bodies? That’s pure deer poison! What on Earth are we trying to sell to people?”

 

The company spokesman, a bald man with a goatee, storms over, taking the bottle from Alex. “Our product is not ‘deer poison’. We’ve taken great strides over the last few years to improve the taste. The energy boost of this drink is the reason it’s the number one sports drink of the National Football Team of Belarus.”

 

Alex looks at him for a moment, before offering him the can to smell. The spokesman takes the bottle, smells the drink, and shakes his head with repulsed horror after his hard facade slowly fractures. “We have nine million bottles of this stuff heading to markets.” He says with tears welling in his eyes.

 

Another director calls ‘CUT!’ and steps up to the three. This one, a slightly squat man in his early 60’s, adjusts a headset and grins at them. “Okay, that’s perfect. The streaming company is really gonna like this. I think we’re gonna call it a day here, uh, maybe do some reshoots tomorrow to make this punchier with the humor.”

Alex gave a nod, pulling on a coat offered to her by a production assistant. She steps off of a busy movie set and steps outside into a Hollywood studio’s lot, taking in the cool autumn air. She shuts her eyes, listening to the busy street.

 

The Home of Alex Schaefer

St. Louis, Missouri

October 26th, 2022

 

Four days of a television shoot and a late flight home had been a long week. Acting was less physical than wrestling, but the mental exhaustion it put upon Alex was something else. Reshoots, rewrites, wardrobe testing, dinners, schmoozing, and makeup ate away at days.

 

It was so much simpler in the ring.

 

Alex sleeps alone in her bed, face down, snoring quietly, her mop of black hair blanketing her head. It was half past nine in the morning. The woman rolled into her back, draping a forearm across her eyes.

 

A young black cat climbs onto her bed and onto her chest, expecting her to wake. The woman gets a paw to the face, then a slap from the cat, stirring her slightly. The cat yowled, pawing at Alex’s mouth.

 

“I’m awake, I’m awake, Medusa. No, no, I know, breakfast time.” She mutters, crawling out of bed in a daze, cradling the cat to her chest like an infant. “Must you slap mummy awake? Is that what my kids are going to do?”

 

Stepping into her laundry room with a bag of cat food, Alex pours the cat her breakfast, before sauntering back to bed.

Only she can’t sleep. The sun peeking through her curtains gently served as a warning; Her fight coming up was just days away.

 

In moments, she’s watching footage on her phone of Shawn Warstein. The man had fast knees and elbows, but despite Alex’s size, she knew her history in powerlifting would give her an edge he didn’t have. Nobody expects to be body slammed by someone smaller than you.

 

Alex had a flight back to Las Vegas in two days. Depriving herself of the comfort of her mattress, she took a deep breath, making her way to her home gym. She wasn’t going to lose this time. Ria was an anomaly, and Shawn was going to be how Alex made her mark. She knew it from a fire in her gut.

 

 

Heavy metal music pounds the walls. Alex snatches 200 lbs, wearing a belt around her torso, before setting the bar down and waiting before snatching it again. A full set of reps. Jogging as fast as she can down a simulated trail on a treadmill, the woman curls hand weights, gazing at a pinned photo of Shawn Warstein on the wall all the while with a stirring sense of determination setting her on edge.

 

Alex knew she could beat him; He looked barely heavier than two bucks. She’d fought men like him in the past, only with a male tag team partner. This wasn’t much different solo. She knew she could beat him. She had to. Washing out of wrestling after all her pain and drive and living out her day as a C list actor on TV was a nightmare.

 

His promos sold to her that he was the arrogant type, he could be baited into making a mistake. After her run, Alex takes the pinned photo off the wall and rips it up. Wiping the sweat from her brow with a towel, she steps out of her gym. The day had research and planning ahead. Maybe not so different from acting, after all.

 

 

 

——————————-

 

 

Backstage at PRIME, Alex nods to herself before speaking into a microphone. She wore a backwards cap, her ring attire, and a sleeveless jacket adorned with numerous pins, from pride flags to the logos of various wrestling companies she’d fought at in the past.

 

 

“Shawn, you’re going to be the biggest challenge I’ve had so far in PRIME, and I’ve gotta say, reading up on you, seeing the things you can do in the ring, it’s no wonder you think so highly of yourself. You’re fast, you hit hard, you hit often, but mate, I’m here to set you back in reality. I may have lost to Ria in my first match here, but I don’t make a habit of repeating mistakes. I don’t like to be reminded of failures I’ve had in the past, mate. Eyes forward, heart full of confidence, that’s me. I don’t have any doubts that when ReVival 18 comes around, I’m going to beat you, sure as the sun rises.”

 

 

She took a breath, before speaking back into the microphone. “Wrestling is the greatest passion I’ve had in life. I’ve given up a great deal to get as far as I have, and maybe you don’t understand how hard it is for a woman like me in this industry, but we don’t get the easy pass that some bloke who thinks he’s God’s gift to wrestling does. Everything you see in me, the muscles, the flags and pins of places I’ve been and fights I’ve had, I’ve clawed to get. I’ve fought hard to get all I want in life and I want more, mate. I want more, so I’m gonna have to make a harder show at it and do what other people say is impossible. Facing down a man over a hundred pounds my size, who can knock me out with one lucky blow? Look at me, Shawn.” She lures the camera in. “I’m not afraid in the slightest. I don’t think you’re ready for me. I don’t think you know how hot my fighting spirit burns, mate, but come ReVival 18, YOU’RE GONNA FIND OUT!”