"I know many of you don't want to hear from me. But if you'll allow me a moment to speak..." She looked weary. Her clothes were baggy. A black windbreaker and a pair of black jeans ripped at the knees. Her left arm was in a sling, suspended at chest level. Her hair was pulled back and away from her face by a hairband. And it was only by the brilliant shine of her golden eyes that she was identifiable.
Spoiler
"But that's exactly why I have come out here to speak to you. To speak on behalf of those you don't want to hear from. Those you wish would just... Go away." This provoked more boos. "I know it's easy to look at me and think that I was raised privileged. Or evil." She looked down at her black and white converse sneakers.
"But the reality is that I'm no different from most of you. And like you, this sport means everything to me!" She looked back to the crowd now... She looked pale without make-up. Without the flair of her pink highlights or seductively cut attire. She looked small.
"Twenty-one years ago, in 2001. I'm six years old and I am -terrified-." She shudders at the memory. "Terrified because it's my first day in a Japanese Catholic Private school in Okinawa. Neither of my parents was Japanese. They were both American Service Members stationed in the city. And before I left the house that day, my mom kissed me on the forehead and told me I'd be the most beautiful girl in school. To not be scared, because I'd meet lots of kids like me and I'd make lots of friends!" The shuddering stopped and she gave a soft smile before adjusting the sling that held her arm in place.
"A few of my upperclassmen, my senpai; offered to walk with me to Lunch. I was so excited. Mom was right! I already had new friends!" She bit her lip as she recalled the cruelty of that September morning. "But I didn't make it to lunch that day... And those new friends of mine... They pushed me down."
The corner of her eyes grew wet with tears. Tears that she blinked away as she began to speak again. "And they kicked me and kicked me and kicked me! Until I stopped trying to get up. And as I cried and cried and cried, they poured handfuls of mud on my hair! They rubbed it into my scalp and laughed about how they'd fix my hair! How it shouldn't be so big or so bright! How I'd be better if I was Japanese!"
"We have a saying here in Japan, don't we? The nail that sticks out gets hammered down!" She spat the words out disdainfully, squeezing the microphone so tight that it creaked. "They made sure I knew. They made sure I understood that I was different! That I was hammered down!" She closed her eyes. Recentered herself. And let out a sigh.
"And that afternoon my mom and dad took me to a dojo and they enrolled me in Judo classes. So that I could protect myself. Because they knew I'd always be different. I'd always be small. I'd always be looked down upon!" She stood up emphatically. " And from that day forward, combat sports became my life!"
She began to pace as she talked. "No matter how depressed I was. How anxious I felt! No matter how they looked at me; when I put on that gi I was undeniable! Sport was the great equalizer! And at 15 I was the youngest national champion judoka Japan has ever known!" She beamed, pride shining through her reddened, wet cheeks. "Even though they hated me. I represented them. I became their champion!"
"They couldn't deny me now!" She began to pace, her anxiety foreshadowing the turn. "I was so excited when I met with my coaches, medal in hand! I couldn't wait to show the world who I'd become! I wasn't that small girl with mud in her hair anymore! I was beautiful and strong! And I'd meet lots of girls like me! And make lots of friends! And do you know what they told me?"
"They told me that they wouldn't have a Gaijin representing them in Rio! And they tore that medal off of my neck!" She bit her lip again, nearly drawing blood.
"So I left Judo behind! The only thing that ever made me feel human, I left it behind! And I finished high school sad and alone and afraid! I gave up on my Olympic dreams and I studied and I went to college. I took up psychology, because I thought, maybe, if I understood why people were so cruel. That maybe I could change them." A tear rolled down her cheek. "Maybe I could make them like me!"
She sniffled and took in a shuddering breath before continuing. "And that was where I discovered Pro Wrestling. Where I met coach Takemi. And where she helped shape me into the wrestler I am now. She gave me my name. Rose Gold. She put it around my neck like that medal I'd wanted to earn! She told me to wear it with pride! And to fight with everything I had! Even if I was small. Even if I wasn't Japanese. To fight until they couldn't look down on me. Until the world had to look UP at me! And I did!" She brushed away one side of her face with her microphone hand. "I fought tooth and nail to this very day! I put my Blood! Sweat! And Tears into this business!"
"And four years later, after throwing Bianca Valentine off of that very titantron!" She pointed at the big screen that was showing her at the same time. "I became the only Lightweight to ever win the Last Woman Standing Tournament!" She looked at the crowd. "In that same year I made former Hentai Champion Eirina Makishima cum until she quit! And later that year I beat the inaugural Lightweight Champion Aoi Fukiwara in the middle of this ring to become YOUR Lightweight Champion!" She declared it proudly, placing a sneaker upon the seat of the chair like a conqueror upon the head of their enemy!
"That was two years ago now." She kicked the chair away, letting it clatter onto it's side until it came to a stop against one of the turnbuckles. "And since then I've defeated Heavyweight contender Amazon Alaina Sanders! I've defended my title nearly twenty times! I made tag title contender Harmonia Edelstein beg! And yes, much to the chagrin of the whole world, I put Heavyweight Champion Astrid Ostberg to sleep! Even after she dislocated my shoulder I didn't quit! And after she beat me from ring post to ring post, I didn't quit. I fought with everything I had!" She made a mock pillow with one of her hands and laid her still wet cheek against it. "And I put her to sleep!"
"You can make excuses for your heroes! You can say you hate me! That I'm a cheater! That I'm cruel! But you -can't- stop talking about me! Because I won't let you!" She climbed onto one of the turnbuckles, standing boldly upon it, elevating herself! "Disparage me all you want! But I know that each and every one of you will be watching my next match! And the one after that! And the one after that!" She sneered and jumped off of the turnbuckle!
"And in two weeks, when I face Aurora Estrella I'm going to shock the world yet again!" She leaned over the ropes then, practically screaming into the hard camera! "And I won't stop there! I'll keep on fighting for every single little girl out there who was told they were too small! Or too different! Or who can't fight for themself! And I'll keep pulling out all the stops! Relying on every move in my arsenal and every trick in the book to shut the world up and change it! To show Estrella and her Kats! Defranco! And the whole world that we won't just go away! It can't just Hammer Us Down!" And with that, she slipped out of the ring onto the arena floor.
"And all of you cowards clinging to your status quo will still be watching! Hiding behind your excuses and your social media! You'll disparage me as I tear your world down and crush your champions! And I know you hypocrites will do it with your thighs spread wide or your cocks in your hand! Because you can hide from me! You can hate me! But you can't DENY ME!" And with that, she threw the microphone over her shoulder and back into the center of the ring. Leaving it there in symbolic solitude as she vanished behind the curtains.