"Do Something About It"

March 12, 2020

Kevin: Are you sure everything’s fine?

Hayley’s boyfriend Kevin Holliday sits on a bench with her in an undisclosed, outdoor area somewhere in Australia. Hayley herself, however, sits numb with a copy of the next Riot card in front of her which Kevin takes note of right away.

Kevin: It doesn’t mean anything…

Hayley: You wouldn’t know. You’ve never been where I’m at before. You want my honest feeling?

Kevin: That’s all I can ask for.

Hayley: I want to quit.

Kevin: Nah… you don’t need to do that…

Hayley: Maybe I should. Nothing I do appears to be working. What’s the use of complaining about this latest opening match shenanigan if one, nothing changes and two, I haven’t done anything to warrant anything else.

Kevin: It’s a rough patch… that’s all. You’d be far more seasoned if it wasn’t for…

Hayley: Yeah… I can only blame those other companies that have closed on me over and over again for so long. That excuse is probably past its expiration date now. The way I’m going I might as well be another Carmine Reaper…

Kevin: ...what’s that mean?

Voice: You wouldn’t know…

Hayley is suddenly shocked by the familiar, British accented voice of Shawn Riley… the same trainer back at the Seattle Wrestling Academy that was like a father figure… but who Hayley had last seen in Minnesota when she abandoned him for her own good when they took on Casey Holliday and her (as well as Kevin’s) father.

Mr. Riley: ...you were the only Holliday sane enough to not even bother with professional wrestling.

Hayley: Um… this is awkward…

Mr. Riley: In fact, I’d like to speak with Hayley alone if you don’t mind.

Kevin: Uh… yeah… sure…

Kevin reluctantly gets up and leaves while Hayley continues to process what’s going on at the moment. In a quick moment, she stands up and leaps into the arms of Mr. Riley giving her an immediate shoulder to cry on as all the humiliation and frustration she’s been feeling since her MWE arrival suddenly comes out of her.

Mr. Riley: It’s alright… you’ve been through a lot.

Hayley gently pushes away a little bit, wiping her eyes of the tears that were flooding her face for a moment.

Hayley: What are you doing here?

Mr. Riley: To save your career…

Hayley: ...ugh… and I was so worried that you hated me after what happened in Minnesota… you know… when I abandoned you during that tag match with the Hollidays…

Mr. Riley: There never was…

They both sit down on the bench that Hayley and Kevin were sitting on.

Mr. Riley: In fact… back in my day, given that same situation, I would have done the same thing. Actually… I DID do the same thing. Salvation for yourself isn’t a bad thing at all.

Hayley: Great! Because I need you more than ever and I’d be glad to have you helping me again just like before. I mean… I’ve been so lost without you and I made such a horrible mistake thinking that I didn’t need you anymore when I’ve gone completely off the rails…

Mr. Riley: You’ve turned into a lite-version of Casey when she first broke mainstream and I’m here to stop you from getting any worse and actually becoming her all over again. Do you have any idea how close you’ve been to becoming exactly like her?

Hayley: I haven’t thought of that… but that’s why you’re here right? I can always use an extra hand at ringside and… you know… things can be just like before.

Mr. Riley: That’s not going to happen…

Hayley: What?

Mr. Riley: If you want to pull yourself out of this hole, Hayley… you’re going to have to figure it out on your own. I can’t coddle you and I can’t hold your hand anymore and aside from why I am here… there’s literally nothing else I can do for you otherwise. I don’t know what being a father is like but remembering my own… I remember that there was a point in my life where my father told me that I had to fend for myself… that I had to figure it out on my own.

Hayley: ...wait… so… you’re NOT going to help me?

Mr. Riley: I’m only here to stop you from giving up and to get you back on track but once you do get back on track, you’re on your own. You did the right thing back in Minnesota… but that doesn’t mean I was going to let you off scot-free for that. Every action has a consequence. You’re so tied up in all this useless nonsense that you’re unfocused and you’re losing matches to inferior wrestlers that honest to god, you were routing to your heart’s content back in the Indies. When things reach a point where you’re in opening matches almost all the time and people are saying that you’re “not good at wrestling”... then something is clearly wrong.

Hayley: You… don’t need to say that again…

Hayley lets out a glum sigh.

Hayley: I shouldn’t have abandoned you… wait… you said I did the right thing… so you’re saying…. SO CONFUSED!

Mr. Riley: You cut me loose to figure it out on your own, right? I’m merely acquiescing to that. Hell, despite the outcome of last week, you just did the right thing again.

Hayley: Yeah?

Mr. Riley: Cutting me loose was the right thing to do as I had nothing more to offer you. Then you fucked it up by taking Vianca in as a manager… and that putrid excuse of a wrestling student had no business even being around you. I get that you are… or were… friends with that bloody awful tart… but she was bringing out the worst in you… which safe to say that’s been the cause of these struggles you’ve been dealing with…

Hayley: I understand.

Mr. Riley: Do you?

Hayley: You always kept me on the straight and narrow, every single time. She on the other hand… GOD I had no idea how she enabled… you know… the worst of me.

Mr. Riley: She’s never taken our business seriously, even you know that. Toxic bitch…

Hayley: How was I unable to notice that before?

Mr. Riley: Admittedly, you and Casey doing so well when you were all a trio definitely masked how shit she was. Vianca has no future in this business as far as I can tell and you just said it… she enabled the worst in you. God, did you actually think that trying to get her to wrestle again all while trying to lead some group was going to work? The moment you thought having her in that group was a good idea, the whole thing had already sunk.

Hayley: Yeah… I was desperate…

Hayley sighs, knowing all that to be true.

Mr. Riley: Whenever you try too hard, it sometimes makes things worse. You think you’d have learned that with how Victoria similarly struggled when she first got to MWE. Ever since she started being herself and quit trying to force things… she’s done so much better. She’s even having fun again for fuck’s sake…

Hayley: Mr. Fluffles…

Hayley scoffs and rolls her eyes in reference to Victoria’s segment from Millennium.

Hayley: Never knew Vianca was THAT bad…

Mr. Riley: Why don’t you start taking responsibility for yourself? You’re the one that brought her on board. You’re the one being completely immature over practically everything. You’re the one that’s bordering on lunatic psychotic when things aren’t going your way. This rut that you’re stuck in is your fault more than it is anyone else’s and the sooner you come to grips with that and the sooner you just get the fuck over yourself and the sooner you quit acting like a child when things go wrong… the better off you’ll be.

Hayley just sits there and takes every word that she hears. These are words she normally wouldn’t want to hear, but considering the source she is definitely taking them seriously. It becomes a pain for her to bear and it takes so much of her pride and ego being swallowed, but drying the last of her tears she was crying earlier, she nods in understanding.

Hayley: You’re right… this is my fault. I should be doing so much better than I am and I just get stuck in my own way. I hate that I’m in opening matches seemingly all the time…

Mr. Riley: And what are you going to do to be better? Clearly, Vianca sunk your idea down the toilet… and ironically, it’s probably for the best.

Hayley: Plan C…

Hayley stands up after making her vague reference.

Mr. Riley: ...what’s that?

Hayley: It’s what’s going to get me out of this rut. You’ll know when everyone else knows. Right now? I just have to focus on what’s in front of me… even if it IS Nina. I have to focus on beating her and tuning out all the other noise as well as doing what I have to do beyond my own matches to get ahead. That’s what I’m going to do. No more whining, no more bitching. Instead? I’m going to do right by wrestling and beat down anyone that’s an enemy of the business, that’s what I’m going to do.

Mr. Riley: I’m intrigued… how do you plan on doing something so… brilliant?

Hayley: Give it time… you’ll see.

A more confident Hayley begins to walk away from her father figure but after a bit, she pauses, sighs and turns around to look back at him.

Hayley: Thank you by the way… for being honest with me.

Hayley turns back around and with a more confident, determined and arguably more mature demeanor, she walks out of the darkness she’s put herself in and into the light that’s going to get her career going...