Glory’s Road
Glory vs Kayla OPW Title Match; Rachel Apache will serve as the special guest referee
Everybody wants to know how I got my title back? It’s funny because I really don’t remember losing it. My name is Glory Maria Ramirez and I am a warrior. I am now a three time OPW World champion and at present, I am only a week away from defending my title against what many people believe will be my toughest opponent ever, Rachel Apache. But the story of how I won my title back from Kayla, well, I guess I can tell you that much. First, let me tell you about me. While Glory Ramirez is my name, in the ring, I go only by Glory. I was born on the 4th of July in 1985 in Brooklyn, New York. My mother died giving birth to me and my father killed himself not too long after. I don’t want to get into too many details about my childhood but it wasn’t a good experience. I had to survive being homeless in Harlem and I went through many, many things. I was partially raised by prostitutes, but I’m 21 and I’m still a virgin and holding it until I get married. My life was hell until I started fighting at age fifteen, won my 1st OPW championship and defended it for five years until I got screwed out of it. Now, I own three businesses, write several columns, I am the lead singer of the band, Steel Windows, I am an advocate for women and children’s rights, and I have three houses and one penthouse. I am a true success story and I was self-educated, but I take online courses and I am seeking a dual Master’s in Journalism and Mass Communications at Notre Dame. So, where does the whole being a warrior thing fit into all that success stuff? Well, in OPW, I am regarded as the fiercest, most aggressive competitor who has EVER entered the ring.
While I sit here telling this story, I’m wearing a red shirt, brown pants, and brown shoes and I have my curly long black hair down. I’m sipping a mocha late’ (sp; Howard Cosell/ the author of this story is NOT a coffee drinker and I am not familiar with all the flavors and such) I have vision problems so I wear glasses; they come from teaching myself how to read by reading newspapers I found in dumpsters when I was a child. In the ring, however, I wear contacts. I put my hair up into a Mohawk and I wear a pretty nice looking costume, I wear blood red lipstick, and some black thigh high boots that are size thirteen even though my feet are just size nines. I’m 6’2” and last time I checked, I was still right around 170 and my father was Black and my mother was Puerto Rican, so my skin is a nice mocha color. I’m beautiful; but when I’m in the ring, I try not to be. Everything is different about me in the ring. While Glory Ramirez is a humble friendly gregarious educated woman who drinks coffee, loves watching the sun set, Disney movies, and is an amateur wine connoisseur, Glory the fighter is a confident, vicious, fierce, strong woman who, as Marie B. so eloquently put it “gladly takes punishment to willfully inflict it.” I have to keep Glory and Glory Ramirez separate; I don’t take my personal life into the ring with me and vice versa, even though the two are dependent on one another. Funny, very funny… they say Rachel is the best ever, Jasmine is the toughest ever, Siena is the greatest ever, and I am the fiercest ever… fans, you just have to love them. By the time I’m done fighting, I’d like to be considered the best, toughest, greatest, and fiercest ever, but that’s going to be hard considering the accomplishments of the women who hold those other three labels. Now that you know who I am, let me bring you back a few weeks to OPW Armageddon in my hometown, New York City… the night I won my title.
Kayla was both the OPW World champion and the OPW People’s champion at the time of our match according to the programs being sold at the arena, but I was still the real champion. I had my title handed to Marie B. months ago, and then after I won it back, I was stripped of it after a steroid accusation that was retracted as quickly as it was issued. In my six years in OPW, I have NEVER lost a match; so coming into this match with Kayla, all the momentum was with me. You couldn’t tell her that, though. Kayla exuded a confidence in front of the camera that made me respect her, on some level. But deep down, she knew she was going to lose this one; Kayla knew better than anyone that I was on a completely different level than her. But Kayla wanted to fight me; she wanted to face the best fighter and prove that she was a credible champion. So far, her reign had been okay; two matches with Alicia Christmas that were very good, but Alicia Christmas could wrestle a grapefruit and make a good match of it. Kayla would also face Samantha at the Jessika Tribute show; Samantha isn’t an experienced wrestler, but they put on a good match. It wasn’t as good as the match I had with Marie B. on that same card, but it was good enough to stand on its own. I knew that Kayla couldn’t beat me; Kayla knew that Kayla couldn’t beat me, but there was the wildcard… Rachel Apache was the special guest referee.
Rachel is only twenty-six, but she’s a legendary fighter and also the number one contender for the title. She is one of the most accomplished fighters in the world and is regarded by many as the best female fighter of all time. Whoever won out of Kayla and I would go to the next event in Las Vegas and defend the championship against Rachel. And Rachel, well, let’s just say that she wasn’t getting along with Kayla or I coming into this match. Don’t get me wrong; I have NOTHING but respect for Rachel as a fighter and as a humanitarian, but I’ll never tell her that. Glory Ramirez grew up loving OPW and loving to see Rachel fight and win… Glory Ramirez was a big Rachel fan and I have patterned myself after Rachel in a lot of ways… but I’ll never tell her that. Glory the fighter thinks Rachel is egotistical; she thinks Rachel is too much in love with Rachel and she can’t wait to pound Rachel into sawdust… and I’ve told Rachel that. Rachel is an intimidating woman outside of the ring because she’s Rachel Apache; you can feel her aura the same way you can feel Siena Blaze’s. When I see people like them on the elevator, at the airport, at the hotel, or see them at functions, I do feel a bit humbled by their presences, but in the ring, I’m not humbled because I know I can compete with them, know I can beat them. I wasn’t humbled when I beat Siena Blaze in Puerto Rico earlier this year and I won’t be humbled when I face Rachel in Las Vegas. That still doesn’t erase seeing them outside of the ring and feeling like a kid wanting an autograph… but I’ll never tell her that.
I got to Madison Square Garden relatively early. We had been in New York for a week and a half now; I’d been going on every radio show and television show and I did some chat room sessions to promote the fight. Armageddon is OPW’s biggest event, and we had a very stacked card, as we usually do. One thing about me that I pride myself on is being available to the fans; I don’t really care if someone is a Kayla fan or a Death fan or a Siena fan. I talk to people regardless of whether they like Glory or hate Glory, and I haven’t had a lot of incidents outside of the ring with fans… though the Blaze fans can be very mean sometimes. I am the same way with my fellow wrestlers; I interact with them because there’s no point in being a snob, title or no title. We are in this business to entertain people and to make money. Kayla helps me make money, so why should I not name drop and put her over for this match in my interviews… we have to do that to promote the fight. Personally, I don’t really know the woman, but if she’s helping me make money and helping the company make money, then there can’t be that much wrong with her, in that sense… but I’ll never tell her that.
The locker room was pretty full with wrestlers changing and talking as I came in. Samantha and I had some ruby red grapefruit juice together and we talked about stuff that you guys wouldn’t want to know about… just stuff that women talk about, ha, HA!… sorry. Tito Blaze and Justine Credible were jawing off at each other about soccer for the umpteenth time… those two, they should have their own sitcom. Both of them were star soccer players in high school while being wrestlers, and they love to argue about who was better. Siena’s daughter Pamela Jean slipped Alicia Christmas a chocolate laxative and Alicia hadn’t come out of the bathroom yet. PJ also played my theme music, the problem was that Jolene Rictor was the one coming out, ha ha ha. Jolene’s facial expression was very very funny to see. The card progressed as it would, I guess. Rachel defeated Death in a bloody match. Once Rachel got focused, it was over for Elizabeth… well, Death. I call her Elizabeth. Serenity, the OPW Television Champion, defeated both Alicia Christmas and Justine Credible in a triple threat ladder match. Justine and Alicia are both really entertaining to watch and Serenity is one of the best; the match was a very hard act to follow, but Marie B. and Too Sexxxy did just that with their little tussle… Marie won. I realize something about Marie B.; people talk about her and how she loses, but the girl wins when it counts. Marie B. is UNDEFEATED at OPW pay per views; she’s lost a lot of fights and matches at our regular events and our big nationally televised events, but at our pay per views, she’s won every time she’s been on the card… well, except once to Siena Blaze, but that was a no contest. I would know; I’m the one who caused it to be a no contest. I see Marie backstage and greet her, but she sort of shudders when she sees me. As I peer around her, I realize why she got so uncomfortable… Kayla. The OPW World Champion gets her own private locker room. I don’t use mine because I want to be with my co-workers and friends, but Kayla’s been using hers. What was she doing here? Congratulating Marie on her victory and inviting her to come hang out while she gets ready. Kayla and I make eye contact and then I smile at Marie and make my way to the bathroom to change. Kayla and I could have gotten into it right there, but like I said, it’s not about that. Plus, I was in a good mood and she was in a good mood and it wasn’t anything that she wanted to do. I needed my belt back and Kayla vs Glory was going to happen, so a fight with Kayla in the locker room an hour before our match didn’t make any sense. Not to mention that I respect the locker room and try to keep order back there. I saw Serenity also; she was talking to Roxy Powers. Serenity is an interesting girl; she was here before I was and she’s another wrestler with a lot of accomplishments and the distinction of never being beaten cleanly, but she doesn’t like me. She’s mad at me because I never defended my title against her during my five year reign as champion; she’s called me a suck up and Siena’s pet and a company woman. She feels unappreciated and disrespected by me and she’s gone as far as to say that I’m afraid of her. I haven’t responded to her statements because they are flat out ridiculous. I am sooo afraid of Serenity that I took a match with Inoki Aki, the undefeated Japanese wrestling legend. I’m sooo afraid of Serenity that I am going to fight Rachel Apache. I don’t want to ever fight Serenity and I’m ducking her, so I’m negotiating to fight the #1 ranked cagefighter, boxer, and female mixed martial artist in the US, Allison Payne. Yes, I am sooo afraid of Serenity, that’s why I’m taking all of these super-challenging matches to duck Serenity because she is so good. Can you see me rolling my eyes? Serenity’s day will come, but Serenity needs a big career-defining match in order to put her on Glory’s radar. After the whole Jessika story fiasco, if Serenity does indeed fight Jessika and wins, I may consider giving her a shot at my title. But until then, I don’t need her, and calling me a coward isn’t helping her get a title shot either.
So, back to that night in New York City. I slipped off my clothes and put on a red one piece. I usually wear silver, but I knew I was going to win tonight, so I went with red since we are in the Big Apple. I put my hair up in the Mohawk and put on my blood red lipstick… it’s actually not blood red, but that’s what the commentators say and I won’t argue with them. When I walk out of the bathroom, everyone in the locker room is looking at me and I have to smile. But my smile quickly disappears as I shift my mind to war mode. I get myself away from everyone and I bounce around and throw punches and kicks and really work myself up. I move to the small wall with the red background facing a camera. Time for one more go around.
“Finally, Glory has come back… home. New York City, Madison Square Garden, I love you all! But you’re gonna have to excuse the way I put this. Freddy, you asked what do I have to do to win the OPW World Championship, well, I have to beat the sh.it out of this b.itch. I have to hurt her and break her so that she understands that I AM the WARRIOR; I AM THE REAL CHAMPION. I am Glory; this is what I do… crush, kill, destroy. Pearl Jam has a song called ‘Do The Evolution,’ well, tonight I’m gonna do the execution to Kayla’s skanky fake sore loser pus.sy catfighting butt all over this place. Kayla, when I beat you, it won’t be a dream; it’ll be a nightmare. You want to kingdom the power and the glory… well, you’ve got to go through Glory to get it. B.itch.”
So, the HRs call me over as I hear the Gregorian chant lead in to “Silence;” Rachel’s theme music. I can’t see her, but I know Rachel is making her way to the ring. Knots, butterflies… at this point I’m feeling like I’ve got the whole continent of Asia in my stomach. I am so nervous; I’m from New York City but this is big for me. I fight off my feelings as “Search And Destroy” by Metallica plays, my theme music. I wait a little bit, and then I make my way through the curtains as pyrotechnics go off. I can hear thousands of people chanting my name as I take it all in. I have to live this up; this is what it’s all about. This match is basically over and Kayla hasn’t even made her way out here yet. Rachel stands in ring center with her arms folded and doesn’t budge when I enter the ring. She’s 5’11” 150 lbs with long curly black hair and blue eyes, she looks like Wonder Woman, but with darker skin. I walk right passed her and climb the turnbuckle, raising my fist as the crowd chants my name then I do it again at the opposite turnbuckle. It seems like my entrance is lasting longer than usual and I am laughing, laughing at all of this. Usually, I like to wait for my opponent in the center of the ring; this hasn’t happened often because I’ve been the champion or have come out last. But I stand in the corner, ala Siena Blaze because Rachel is still frozen at ring center, the wounds from her match with Death already healing right before my eyes. I don’t understand Rachel; if you look at Rachel too much, you lose focus on the task at hand because Rachel is so… I don’t know. “Simply The Best” one of my favorite Tina Turner songs plays and here comes Kayla to loud boos. This is something that a lot of people would think that Kayla isn’t used to, but I’m smarter than that. Kayla is an olympic athlete; she’s had to deal with a lot of boos and had to compete in some hostile territory. Even my dear friend Nikky Smalls has been booed and she’s the nicest person in the world.
Kayla is wearing a black one piece and slick silver shoes. Kayla gets into the ring while Rachel is still in the middle and does a strip tease in front of Rachel, but she doesn’t take off her clothes. The crowd boos her to death, but Kayla just smiles and blows my hometown fans a kiss. Kayla isn’t stupid; if she fights me in a bikini, then that’s more flesh for me to damage. Rachel steps aside as Kayla and I meet at ring center and stare into each other’s eyes. I can hear the deafening sound of my name being chanted, and I look around one more time then focus my eyes back on the 5’9” 140 lb black haired green eyed South African opponent in front of me. I give her my ‘sinister grin’ and she smiles back and nods. No more talk, Kayla; now, you get your ass kicked. Rachel calls for the bell to be rang and Kayla and I circle each other. We lock up, and I shove her halfway across the ring right on her butt. I love doing that; no one has ever been able to outpower me and I don’t know why people try to lock up with me. So, Kayla gets up as I pose and she gets in my face yelling “C’mon you big b*tch!!” Then she gets really close to me and stares at me. I honestly think this is funny, so I smile at her… then she kisses me on my lips. It catches me COMPLETELY off guard, but when she cracks me with a hard slap to the side of my face, it ticks me off. It was a pimp slap; she twisted her hand as she was coming across my face, so I got the palm, the side, and the knuckles. Like I said, I grew up around prostitutes and I’ve been pimp slapped before. Kayla backs up and grins at be, doing a little dance. So, I get mad and chase her. She slides out of the ring, and as I follow, I notice that she’s on a collision course with the steel barricade; she’s running right at it. I’ve seen her hurdle the barricade during her matches with Alicia Christmas and Marie B., so I figure she’s going to do that. I don’t feel like chasing this girl, so I stop, but instead of jumping over the barricade, she jumps on it, balances herself, and then backflips on me. She got a lot of good momentum with that move and she manages to knock me down. Rachel is still in the ring with her arms folded; she’s going to let this go. Kayla mounts me and gets in two shots to my face, then she jumps from her knees to her feet. The problem is that when she lands on her feet, they are burying themselves in my stomach and I feel a very bad pain down there. She said she would jump on my stomach, and she just did. I’ll never take anything away from Kayla as an athlete; you have to be pretty good to jump such a short distance from a squat to a stand on someone’s body.
Kayla begins to stomp on my stomach; each stomp takes air from me and my fans begin to stomp and clap. I grab Kayla’s ankles and yank her down on her butt, but she kicks me with both feet right in the face and I go down on my back. Kayla easily gets to her feet and stands over me and I sit up and grab her throat. She doesn’t like it very much because I’m squeezing and smiling right in her face as I pull myself up.
“C’mon Kayla. You wanna kick me between the legs, don’t you? You wanna see if you can hurt me down there… DO IT!”
But as I see her leg start to come up, I chokethrow her into the barricade. I move in, but she kicks me in the stomach; this one hurts bad and it doubles me over. It’s always the ones that you don’t see coming that get you. Kayla moves in on me and I grab her around the waist and ram her back into the barricade, but she hooks me head under her left arm and rams it into the barricade also. While I am stunned, I hold the bars and keep her pinned against the barricade while I try to get my air, but she starts hammering me with submarine punches to my stomach and each one takes it’s toll. And she’s not hitting me in the upper part of my stomach; she’s hitting me just below my bellybutton, where it’s soft and sensitive. I smoke and if there’s a place that a fighter would want to target on me, it would be somewhere in that area. I can hear myself grunt and oofing and oohing and just really taking a beating; it’s very embarrassing. Eventually, I just go down on my side holding my stomach. I didn’t realize she could hit that hard or that her punches could dig into my tummy like that… I have to lay off the Doritos and Butter Lover’s Act II Popcorn. While I’m down, she starts kicking me in the stomach and I feel helpless, but I know I have to get up. She yelling at me and telling me that she told me she would ‘beat my big ass.’ Right now, I can’t say that she isn’t doing just that. Rachel is telling Kayla to get me back in the ring; apparently Rachel has had enough of the outfighting. Kayla gets in the ring and says a few unpleasant things to Rachel, but the Persian woman doesn’t respond, she just rolls her eyes. I pull myself up and rest on my head on the ring apron; that was a really stupid mistake. Kayla bounces off the ropes and nails me with a baseball slide. I hear myself scream in pain. I should’ve screamed in frustration; Kayla always uses that move and I scouted it and said to myself over and over that she wouldn’t be able to get me with it… but here I am, on the floor having just taken two feet to the head. I manage to get to my feet and Kayla exits the ring and slides me back in, before reentering. Kayla taunts my fans as I slowly get to my knees.
As I am on my knees, Kayla measures me and blows a kiss, then she unleashes a sweeping kick that hits me in the side of the neck and knocks me down. My groans are getting louder, but that’s not unusual for me; I am a groaner. She covers me, 1, I kick out. I probably needed to take that extra second, but I wanted to kick out at a count of 1 to send a message. Kayla is up and in Rachel’s face; she thinks Rachel was slow to count… Rachel ignores her and points at me. I am now on my hands and knees and Kayla turns and kicks me hard in the ribs; the shots sends me rolling in pain, but something seems to be happening because I get up and charge her. I miss my clothesline as Kayla ducks under it and Rachel sidesteps me as I bounce off the ropes only to have Kayla nail me with a flying forearm. 1,2, I kick out again and Kayla is at Rachel again. I didn’t expect to be taking a beating like this, but my fans are still chanting my name. I need to shake the cobwebs and get my head into this match. I get to my feet and Kayla starts bouncing around me. I swing and I miss, and she hits me with a left to my jaw. I miss my own left hook and she nails me under the ribs; she knows she got me because I start to choke a bit and she smashes me with a right to my stomach and follows up with a knee to the same spot.
