Chasing Glory

“We are halfway through the 2020 pro wrestling season and already we’re seeing some major shifts in the industry. Mongoose McQueen finally wins the OWA World Championship, the revival of Masanori Kawada’s career in SSW, Sweet Roxy capturing her second world title. But I have the say the one thing that has impressed me the most was how the “War Queen” Stephanie Matsuda has made a dramatic comeback after several pivotal losses. Despite failing to defeat Tarah Nova, recapture the EWC X-Division Championship, and Claudia Michaels’ American Dream Championship, she has managed to win the WWH Women’s World Championship and defend it twice over. We’ve also seen the War Queen reduce her intense schedule so she can focus on running World’s Finest in Wrestleworld and defend her reign in WWH. But once again, destiny calls. In Pro Wrestling Nova, one of the hottest products to come out in recent years, she has a rare opportunity to become their inaugural unified world champion, making her a double world champion. Now some may say this is just Matsuda repeating the same mistake, but I’m fairly confident that she can get the job done. She’s streamlined her goals and now a second championship to go alongside her WWH one seems well within her reach. But, she has to take on five other “immortals” in what possibly could be the biggest challenge of her career.”





“The odds are in Matsuda’s favor; she’s won three of her biggest accomplishments in multi-person situations. She’s won her JET World Championship in a 16-Woman Tournament; Her EAW Specialist Championship was earned in the first-ever women’s Rampage, consisting of eleven other opponents; and finally, she competed in an “Iconic Gauntlet” match where she overcame seven other women to emerge as the third winner of the cup. It’s evidence like this that makes her a surefire competitor and a dangerous opponent. Matsuda’s endurance in matches was cultivated by Manami Toyama’s “Queen’s Road” philosophy. The War Queen knows how to pace herself, saving her biggest moves for when the time is right. The War Queen is no stranger to high profile bouts, but neither are her opponents. Arata Asakura is a former Wrestleworld Shogun Champion but is the current OWA Spartan Champion. Sweet Roxy is the current Lethal Angel Champion, and Sabin Richards is a former two-time tag champion. Stephanie’s opponents are no strangers to big title matches, but she’s likely the most experienced in these situations. She’ll need to rely on her instincts in the pursuit of glory. And I can imagine after a big win at Wrestleworld where she defeated Underworld, a stable run by Roxanne Vendetta’s own mother, she’ll find a way to persevere.”


Place: Brooklyn, NY
Time: Wednesday, June 24th
3:30 pm
Location: Matsuda Residence

It wasn’t every day that Stephanie got to spend “mother-daughter” time with Jocelyn. To this day Stephanie felt uncomfortable referring to her as such, mostly due to the eleven-year age difference. When she first met and trained with Jocelyn, it was in 2016, in the Sanatorium Hills of Arizona. Stephanie was a different woman then, as was a fifteen-year-old Jocelyn. They were both corrupted by the negativity of Jocelyn’s brother, Joseph, who went by a name either woman refused to utter from their lips. Stephanie was preparing them lunch in the kitchen while Jocelyn was lying on the couch watching Netflix.

“Oh my god!” Jocelyn exclaimed. “They have Avatar: The Last Airbender! We definitely gotta binge on that!”


“Maybe when Serenity’s around,” Stephanie replied. “I have a Zoom interview with someone from Cageside Seats in a few hours. Speaking of Serenity, where is she?”

Jocelyn tried to hide her smile. “She may nor may not be with Jacob…”

Stephanie raised an eyebrow. She wanted to press more, but she promised the daughter of her mentor that she would stay out of her business. The last thing either of them needed was another “Cloudy Freakout” which occurred after Matsuda saw Serenity’s beach pictures. Besides, she had something more important to focus on: the upcoming title match. Stephanie thought about the kind of questions that were going to be asked during the interview. She needed to remain confident. She wasn’t too worried about the match itself, but she had to remain on her toes. For now, Stephanie would enjoy lunch with her daughter and put such worries aside. 


(The scene opens to a webcam interview between Ryan Lopez of Cageside Seats and the “War Queen” Stephanie Matsuda. Stephanie was wearing her signature glasses and dressed in a black tank top.)

Ryan Lopez: Hello everybody, this is Ryan from Cageside Seats and you’re in for quite a treat today. I’m sitting with The War Queen herself, the WWH Women’s World Champion, Stephanie “Cloud” Matsuda. It’s a pleasure to have you in these tough times.

Stephanie Matsuda: The pleasure is all mine, Ryan.

Ryan Lopez: I want to highlight a couple of things so everyone is up to speed. You have a world title match coming up on June 27th at PWN’s Genesis event at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. “The Challenge of the Immortals” they’re calling it’ll be you against Sweet Roxy, Arata Asakura, Sabin Richards, Hale Ceasar, and Jacob Knight. Now several of these figures you’ve crossed paths with and even currently share the same locker room within multiple promotions. With this level of familiarity, how confident are you about your chances?

Stephanie Matsuda: For starters Ryan, I feel pretty damn good. I mean it won’t be a walk in the park, but I’ve faced half of the people in this match before. I fought Arata in a tag match back in Wrestleworld - great talent overall. But he shares a problem I had earlier in my career - he can easily lose focus. That’s why he lost the Shogun Championship to Jacob Senn in that cash-in. You have to be ready for anybody, anywhere. It’s ‘Challenge of the Immortals’ not ‘please, wait for me to take my time’. If Arata wants to reach the next stage of his career, he needs to be on his Ps and freaking Qs! He’s doing a fantastic job as Spartan Champ...but this isn’t the midcard, sweets. It’s the main event, the most important match of his career. This decides whether or not he’s on the road to becoming a bonafide legend. Unfortunately, his path is crossing with mine. The Legend of Arata will have to continue another night because he and everyone else in that match will be in Cloud Country. Saturday night will be Matsuda: The Legend of Cloud. The continuation of the legacy I’ve spent the past eleven years building for myself! Arata will fight hard, but he will fall like the rest.

Ryan Lopez: What about Sweet Roxy?

Stephanie Matsuda: What about her? Sure she’s holding a title in a company I’ve invested in, but during her time in WWH, she’s failed to capture the women’s world championship. Instead, she chose to keep herself locked in some insane asylum. Where was she when I dethroned Renee Jonae, a disciple of the great Jaywalker? Nowhere to be found. Where was she when Samantha Garza tried to strong-arm OWA’s Odyssey brand from Viola DeMarco? On the fucking ground, placed there by yours truly. Sure she’s a young superstar doing her thing, but at the Challenge of the Immortals, GODS EAT FIRST. And just like I destroyed her mother’s aspirations of a Claudia-ruled Wrestleworld, I will breathe fire upon the legacy of the Vendetta name and swallow the ashes WHOLE. I’ve beaten her father with a tire iron, I threw her mama off a cage, and I took her personally to Cloud 9. All that’s left is paying back Ares for leaving my stable and I to fend for ourselves and I’ve successfully kicked the ass of every Vendetta in this industry which is something NOBODY has done. Hell, nobody has even gotten as far as I have! From now on...call me the #VendettaSlayer. So you can trust and believe that I’ll have my sights on Roxanne and she won’t have to call The Police to put on the red light. I’ll do it for her...personally.

Ryan Lopez: Such strong words so far! What do you have to say about Sabin Richards?

Stephanie Matsuda: Sabin? A competent tag team wrestler. Unfortunately for him, this is a solo act, in addition, he’ll have to worry about more than one person in this endeavor.  I know Devon praised him as being trained by one of his rivals, but Sabin Richards never faced anyone like me before. Try as he might make an impression, he will only cause a small tent into my plan of attack, but I’ll succeed just the same.

Ryan Lopez: What about Hale Ceaser? He made a surprise appearance on the last episode’s Defiant. He seems poised that he’ll be the first unified champion.

Stephanie Matsuda: That may be, but like every other Devione in history he will drop the ball. He seems more focused on spouting about his lineage than actually preparing for a title match. I’m here to fight Ryan, not LARP my ass off. He can find a group of bored college kids for such antics. Telling the world how special you are doesn’t win championships; going out there and doing the damn thing is what puts accolades on the fucking board. And like with what my people and I did with his brother Wraith, I will deliver the Ides of March upon Ceasar. Aman like him is too stubborn to see how far behind he really is. Speaking of which…

Ryan Lopez: “Head Strong” Jacob Knight?

Stephanie Matsuda: Bingo. I’ve defeated him back in February without breaking a sweat. He can claim to be world title material, but as per the theme of this PPV, PWN needs a LEGEND. PWN needs an IMMORTAL. It doesn’t need the War Queen proper...but the ICONIC WAR QUEEN who once unified two titles with these very hands, Ryan! Knight’s been around and he’s done well for himself, but ‘doing well’ doesn’t cut it. I had to learn that the hard way when I lost the EWC X-Division Championship. You have to dig deep and pull out something you didn’t know was there! Jacob will need to find the drive in that hard head of his because I will be pulling NO punches whatsoever. Because if he fails to bring the best of him, then it’ll be like the last time, sweets: a one-way ticket to Cloud 9. Am I missing anyone, Ryan?

Ryan Lopez: None at all. In your mind what makes a champion?

Stephanie Matsuda: Determination pure and simple. There are other factors but if there’s no determination, no drive, then you won’t even make it to the dance. You have to be ready to go in with no regrets and do whatever it takes to see things through. A championship bout - a WORLD TITLE MATCH is an ultimate test. You must take everything you’ve learned, the culmination of years of training and experience, and utilize it against the person - or in this case people standing across from you. Sometimes you win...sometimes you lose. But it’s up to you to decide the outcome of that win/loss ratio. I don’t have the best record in the business, but I understand the seriousness of this situation. This isn’t just any title match, Ryan. It’s the tipping point to decide who will lead PWN into the future. I want to be the face of this company, The “Defiant” and “Iconic” “Immortal War Queen” of professional wrestling. And you know what I always say…

Ryan Lopez: Know it, understand it, and believe it?

Stephanie Matsuda: You know it, sweets.

Ryan Lopez: Well thank you for being on with me and best of luck to you Saturday night!

Stephanie Matsuda: Likewise, sweets. Stay safe.

(Ryan nods and the stream ends.)