Eve Taylor laid motionless on the hardwood floorboards of her studio apartment. The bright lights shining intensely into her eyes, enough to obscure anyone's vision; yet, Eve stared directly into the light as the spotlight showcased the real Eve Taylor. The Eve Taylor that was behind all the cosmetic products, fancy clothing, and stage persona she put on: the pathetic supermodel who was wild enough to indulge in fantasy. The idiotic little girl who thought that by putting on a belt and saying she wants to be the best she would get be gifted these distinctions on a silver plate. The light shone bright enough to cause searing pain through her head, reminding her that this life wasn't a game of roleplays. You couldn't just look at a superhero and dress up like them to gain their confidence. You are not allowed to revel in their memories and make them your own. You have your own.
But just like the stubborn bratty princess, Eve Taylor didn't want to revel in her own memories. There was nothing for Eve to revel in. No happy memories for her to celebrate. Nothing nostalgic for her to smile about. Everything she had experienced was meant to suppressed, not brought out as the theme of the party... but lo and behold, Eve Taylor didn't have a damn choice. It was the Anniversary show for WZCW where everybody would be recognising the greatest moments in history! Where legends of old come back to soak in the adulation of the fans for one final time. Where new players come to appreciate everything that came before them. Where everybody comes to the show with a smile, looking to entertain the fans. Well, Eve was smiling, but she wasn't doing so in remembrance. She was smiling at how foolish that idea sounded to her. Could you imagine: being thankful for everything that's happened to you? Such a laughable notion!
The people aren't going to be looking at Eve Taylor with great interest. There will be no smiles heading by the way of Eve. She might get a some cat calls by the few incredibly sexist horny pigs in the audience, but most people will look at her with disgust. When they are reminded of the name Eve Taylor, they will not recall the great things that she has achieved. No, not at all. They'll just remember the failures she's accrued over the last year. Over her entire career. Over her entire life. She won't be revered. She'll be hated and detested by the people she looked to win over with her impressive skills. Oh how long that lasted! She spent a year fighting tooth and nail to protect the Elite Openweight championship, calling out every conceivable person on the roster, and beating them. Challengers, friends, foes, World champions, and legends... she beat them all; however, after one or two important losses, the hopes and dreams Eve Taylor instilled in the fans turned to disappointment and pitiful looks as she has to earn her way inside yet ANOTHER contendership (of sorts) match for her to get a World championship opportunity. And to because fate likes to play with their victims, it was against the two most recent Elite Openweight champions. Oh, what a cruel mistress! Batti and Callie Clark. Really? Eve Taylor had to go through these two aspiring young girls to qualify for the King for a Day Elimination Chamber? There were so many horrible layers to this joke that Eve couldn't do anything else but let out a sarcastic chuckle. Shall we list them off for you?
Firstly, let's discuss the story behind all three competitors in this match. This should be very easy to figure out, so there is no point beating around the bush: Eve, Batti and Callie, in that order, have all been the Elite Openweight champion. In fact, Callie still remains as such. The only thing that would make this match more complete is if Kagura was involved, the first ever female Elite champion, but allow us to continue. Eve Taylor has already proven herself to be best champion for this particular title. She holds the record for being the longest reigning in history. Remember how Eve Taylor beat all those people? Yeah, this is when that happened... so to relegate Eve Taylor back down to this level? What is the story here? What is the moral? Is Eve Taylor not good enough to get past the Elite Openweight division, and her dreams of becoming World champion are merely dreams because they'll never come true; a fabrication manifested in her own mind? Or should Eve Taylor go back to her roots where her success really began, revisit the past, and revitalise herself to become the dangerous competitor she used to be?Eve Taylor turned her head to the other side where her dear friend, Senshuken, was staring back at her. Senshuken was not amused with how his old friend had turned out to be. He looked as disgusted with her as everybody else.
Secondly, how about the implications of winning? As much as everybody looks to disregard Eve's ability to win big matches, she undoubtedly contains the fortitude to climb her way to that position. Every time an important match was come before Eve where the fans have rallied behind her, it involved a series of matches - or perhaps, one major match - to propel into that position. "Qualifying matches", if you will. When she looked to win the Lethal Lottery, she came off her historic championship reign. Before she faced Flex Mussel in a number one contenders match to face the World champion, she put her own career on the line against Celeste Crimson in a dream match at Kingdom Come. And right before her most recent defeat to John Constantine, a man she has much difficulty with as a competitor and attempting to find the goodness in his heart, she ploughed through the Gold Rush tournament... one of those matches being against Callie Clark, whom she eliminated in the first round. Why all this mention? Well, consider this: how pissed would you be if the person who eliminated you from the Gold Rush, or defeated your lover for the Elite championship at Kingdom Come, managed to go on and lose the big match you were so ready to win? How do you think Batti and Callie Clark must feel on the inside when Eve Taylor lost? It could have been them in the main event. They could've realised their hopes and dreams, but the selfish nature of Eve Taylor sucked that victory out of their life, and went on to do nothing with those crushed goals. Eve Taylor hasn't changed at all. She just wants the spotlight, no matter what it costs.
And finally, how can the fans truly believe in Eve Taylor? Time and time again, Eve has shown herself to be an unreliable person to place one's faith. Whilst Eve wasn't looking to start her own religion, or be the saviour of the entire company, Eve was looking for the people to know in their minds and their hearts that Eve could get to the top. She could one day hold that championship, and it would be a realistic expectation. All Eve wanted was for people to discuss the possibility of her being in the big picture, and how she could be considered a person to be remembered. That's all she wanted. It wasn't a big ask like Constantine has done by pleading to everyone for some form of forgiveness for his unforgivable actions. It was not like Tyrone Blades who looks to rally everyone behind him in his quest to take down the nasty evil man, a person who he used to be. And it wasn't even as shallow as Justin Cooper taking out every insurance claim to force feed the audience that he is truly the best to ever exist. All Eve Taylor hoped was for her name to be mentioned... and after everything she has done, that was sounding like the greatest ask from any fan. Hell, even if, by some miracle, that Eve Taylor qualified past the rivalry of Batti and Callie, and then managed to defeat five other hungry competitors inside the chamber, there still wasn't a guarantee that Eve could win the World title. If Eve had the briefcase, and she cashed it in like an opportunist, people would call her a hack. If she cashed it in for a proper match with fair warning, then the same problem would arise with the fans not believing in her.
No matter how you wish to analyse this Anniversary evening for Eve Taylor, there is only one memory that will remain: Eve Taylor is the greatest choke artist in the history of WZCW. All these opportunities for the supermodel, and all she could do was show us how to look good whilst choking. For the first time in this models' career, Eve Taylor could talk the talk... but she found it very difficult to walk the walk. A model who couldn't walk down the fashion runway: no wonder the fans saw her as a complete joke! And yet, this wasn't the big joke! Yes, it might sound ridiculous, but there was something even bigger to laugh at.
You want to know what was even funnier than this: Eve Taylor was willing to try again! HAHA! Can you believe that?! This absolutely horrible wrestler who has the speciality of choking at the grandest stages and the biggest matches is going to try again! She's going to try again at the 10th Anniversary show of WZCW - possibly the biggest stage of all time up until this point - and she's going to attempt to win not one, but two matches to win the King for a Day briefcase inside the Elimination Chamber! That sounds hilarious! How does someone like Eve Taylor possess the ability to even conjure up that feeling? Why would she even bother with saying those words when she knows she won't be able to convert in the end? After all this analysis that has no doubt run through her head over and over again? Why the hell would Eve Taylor even dare show up to the event, and give it a try?
"Because no matter what, I must not give up!"
Slowly, Eve Taylor rises from the floorboards into a seated position, almost as if she has breathed new life into her soulless body. She looks around and sees that she is sitting in the middle of her own wardrobe, and possibly the world's largest one at that. Every inch of these clothes racks and dressers are filled to the brim with clothes that Eve Taylor has worn in the past. Every conceivable piece of item imaginable hangs in this wardrobe, and they all stare back at the half-naked Eve Taylor.
"As much as I fight for everybody in the world to believe in Eve Taylor, and view her with high regard, I must not concern myself with what they think. Every negative thought and claim that is thrown my way I must wear with pride. For anyone to believe in me, all of my failures and flaws need to be visible to the world. The people require knowing what makes me human, and they require knowing that I am just like one of them aspiring to be the best. I can't get to the top without defeating my demons, and destroying everything that holds me down. I need to show to the world my problems, and I need to wear them for all to see!"
The reinvigorated Eve Taylor picks herself up from the floor, without any help, and stands on her own two feet. She takes a deep breath, closing her eyes, and smiles. She hopes that this will be with the feeling that will happen at the Anniversary show after the show ends, with the briefcase in her hand. But, before Eve gets ahead of herself, she opens her eyes to set herself back to reality. The dream has crossed over to the real world yet. She needs to earn that moment. To do so, as she said, she must show the world that she is nothing more than a flawed human being. She isn't Wonder Woman like Callie Clark would have you believe when she cosplays. She isn't some whacky weeaboo who is beloved by the crowd for her silly antics. She is a real woman with real aspirations and who wants to prove herself as a real competitor. Eve walks forward to the mirror, and looks at herself in the mirror, to the audience of one.
"This is the only audience I need. The person who stares back at me through the looking glass. I want the person on the other side to smile at me, and know that, despite all my shortcomings, I'm still dedicated to my craft and that I could one day be the best. But, I must not kid that audience who stares at me. They must know that I have failed before."
Eve looks down underneath the mirror where her accessories dresser stands. She opens up one of the drawers, and reveals some black velvet neck apparel. Three of them to be exact. She looks at herself in the mirror one more time, before looking down and grabbing the first one. She wears it on her neck.
"The Lethal Lottery."
She grabs the second, and wears it on her neck
"The number one contenders match at Apocalypse"
She grabs the final one, positioning it on her neck.
"The Gold Rush tournament."
Eve looks once more at herself in the mirror.
"Three times I failed."
Three chokers on her neck.
"Three times I choked."
She rubs her neck as she finds it hard to breath.
"For the three times I have failed, I wear these three chokers. These will act as a reminder to the entire world that I acknowledge my mistakes, and that I know I have let them down. I am not a superhero. I am an average woman. I will make mistakes. I will fail. But unlike a superhero, I am perfectly fine letting the world know that I have made a mistake. I am not a coward who hides behind the power of others like Mark Keaton. I am not lying to you about my own future like Lynx. I am not the person who is living on thin ice like Logan McAllister... I am not anyone else who is in this match: I am Eve Taylor, and I am here to remind the world, on the day of the WZCW Annverisary, just exactly who is the greatest wrestler in the world. She may not be perfect, but at least she is honest. These three chokers I will wear on my neck I shall wear with pride. These three chokers will remain on my neck until I have redeemed myself from the losses I have incurred. These three chokers shall be kept worn over my neck until I have won back the audience."
Eve points to the first one.
"This choke I will remove when I win the qualifying match between Batti and Callie Clark. I remove this when I prove I still belong."
She points to the middle one.
"This choke I will remove when I win the Elimination Chamber, and I defeat someone like Flex Mussel who was awarded his position despite his loss. I remove this when I prove that I could be the best."
She looks at the last one, but does not point.
"This last choke will remain on my neck. This one does not deserve to be removed... not until I become the World champion, and I become a damn good one. It will not be enough to win the title."
Eve Taylor steps back from the mirror. She looks at herself and she knows exactly who she is.
"I am Eve Taylor. I am the Choke Artist. And this Choke Artist is not going to stop until everyone feels what I feel: I will not stop until I choke out everyone on my path to becoming the best. If I have to choke the dreams of Batti, Callie, and the rest of the King for a Day competitors to do it... then so be it."
