The Price of Victory, a Jane Coughlin Special Commentary

There are times in any professional sport, that define a team, a player, moments that echo in history forever, to the point that even years later, people look on with pride and say "I was there."  These moments are too few and too far in between.  Moments when everything is riding on one moment.  When a game, a series, a season, a career comes down to one moment.  For those tens of thousands that sold out and packed into WMW Arena, and those who watched it on TV, they saw one of those moments.

Valora Salinas is known for many things.  Since day one, she has said she was a future legend.  She said she would be the best.  She said her name would be recorded in the annals of Wrestling history, mentioned with the greats and the legends of our business.  But unlike most newcomers, she acknowledged those who came before her, gave respect to the older generation that paved the way for her.  Then she dared herself to do more then they had.  She is WMW's version of Joe Namath.  She spoke out against Kronin, saying he had dropped the ball and failed WMW.  She butted heads with Sault St. Marie over those comments, and told him and everyone that if she had a chance, she'd bring wins to the WMW.  She and her tag team partner, Umbrage, tore through Jade and Hecate as well as Kronin and Ryven to earn their shot at history.  Valora wasted no time talking about the match, boldly stepping out from the crowd to answer Pollaski's and my call for a hero, a leader, someone to lead WWA against Defiance and the threat they represented by them.  She went up to the best team Defiance said.  A team no one said they could beat and said.  "I beat you, and I'll go ahead and be the heroine and leader that WWA needs while I'm at it."

That Damn Awesome! is often criticized for their words, their actions.  But after this Thursday night, the stable truly lived up to it's name thanks to two Gladiators.  Two Warriors.  Two Icons.  They walked out onto the big stage, in the biggest clutch moment possible, and with a crowd of fervent WMW fans chanting "WMW! WMW! WMW!" They did the unthinkable.

They won.

In the span of three seconds, the entire scope of the World Wrestling Alliance changed, and a team thought nearly unbeatable fell.  Through a trial of blood and fire, the Hardcore Icons lived up to their name and one more time, David beat Goliath.  It was a night everyone associated with WMW, whether backstage, wrestler, or fan will forever be able to look back on with pride.  Like her or not, Valora did everything she said she was going to do and Umbrage's presence is clearly limiting Valora's only real glaring weakness, that being lack of experience.  Umbrage has been going on ever since they formed their team that he was taking the mantle of Valora's mentor.  Valora had been named Umbrage's chosen successor.  He claimed he would make her a Goddess, a legend in this business.  He too, seems to be delivering everything he promised.  Valora herself, has just shy of 2 years experience in professional wrestling, a big part of what has made her meteoric rise so amazing.  Umbrage looked at the fiery, passionate newcomer and in a moment right out of Doctor Frankenstein thought to himself, 'She's awesome now, but imagine what she will be if I add my experience to all that raw talent.'  And in true Motor City industrial spirit, he set about forging himself a Wrestling legend.

But victory comes with a price, and both of the Hardcore Icons paid dearly for their victory.  First, Stephen Greer grabbed a lead pipe and nearly crushed Valora's skull, Valora's trademark quickness literally saving her life.  Next, Valora followed in her mentor's footstep's a bit too close for Umbrage's comfort when Johnny Lightning trapped Valora between two beds of nails and hit a 450 splash on them, driving the nails on both beds deep into Valora's trapped body.  That would have been a match ended for both people but Valora, like Umbrage before her, got up and kept fighting, despite the blood pouring from all over her body.  Later in the match, Umbrage hit the Detroit Breakdown, driving Johnny Lightning through a burning table.  One has to wonder if there wasn't a degree of payback in that move for Lightning nearly impaling Umbrage's protege in a crude Iron Maiden.  At least twice in the match, Valora sacrificed her own body to help her team out.  Her running Shooting Star Press up and off the top of the ladder, with a chair pressed tight to chest, taking out Team Danger and her mentor Umbrage.  Another time, she hit her Aztec Moonsault on Greer with a barbed wire 2×4 clutched to her chest and pinned him right after, pressing her own body onto the barbed wire to drive it further into Greer's body as well.  Later Greer would take that same barbed wire 2×4 and break it in half as he nailed Valora in the midsection with it.  Through it all, Valora refused to quit, refused to lay down and die, she forced herself to get up and keep fighting and in the end, it was a basic move, it was going back to wrestling 101 that saved the damn and sent a shockwave through the Alliance when a stunned and very excited crowd watched Valora roll up Greer in an inside cradle, using his size and weight against him and held him 1….2…3.

Valora was not the only hero in this match, however.  Umbrage more then lived up to his reputation and showed he is not nearly as washed up as people would like to believe he is.   He fought a young lion in Johnny Lightning and taught the kid a few things.  He and Valora teamed up on that same Johnny Lightning, as Umbrage hit the Riot Act from the top rope and Valora hit the Aztec Moonsault from the top of the ladder, a move that would have brought them victory, had Stephen Greer not broken up the pin.  It was Umbrage who rushed to Valora's side and dropped Lightning with a boot to the head and properly removed the nails from her before Valora, blinded by pain and anger, ripped them from her flesh, making the wounds worse.  It was Umbrage who removed Johnny Lightning from the match, brawling with him backstage before finally putting him through a burning table with the Detroit Breakdown, leaving Valora battling with Greer for the soul of the Alliance, and the fate of the WWA Tag Team Championships.  It was Umbrage's veteran experience to known when his partner was hurt and needed a breather and thus knowing when to step up and take the heat off her.  It was Umbrage who nearly destroyed a Steel Chair over Stephen Greer's head, and most importantly, it was Umbrage who laid the foundation for this, when he questioned Stephen Greer's hardcore.  An insult that seemed to really get under the skin of Greer and his partner and allowed Valora and Umbrage to lure Team Danger into a Hardcore Match, which then set the stage for the epic match we saw last night, a match that showcased how much these two teams have already come to hate each other and which some in the Alliance whisper just might be the match of the year.  Valora may have a big spotlight for her individual accomplishments and the press she gets, but Umbrage is far from a silent partner, delivering on his promise to bring tag team gold to Valora.

But Victory, as I said, comes with a price.  Valora alone, stepped out and said she would be the Heroine the Alliance needed and at Graveyard Shift 110, she learned the price a Hero pays.  After the match, and the post match beat down Stephen Greer gave her, Valora was carried from the WMW Arena unconscious, only the third time she had to be carried out on a stretcher and only the second time she left unconscious.  I have a preliminary medical report.  Severe Concussion.  Traumatic injury and blood loss.  Numerous unspecified internal injuries.  Valora will not be competing at Graveyard Shift 111, that is known.  What is known is just how long she will be out injured.  When she recovers, she has new challenges for her.  Stolen belts to retrieve.  A Defiance team that will be out for her blood.  Eric Dane will recognize Valora and Umbrage as a threat, maybe even WMW as a threat.  After everything Valora put herself through for WMW, for the Alliance, for herself, for the fans….

Her work has only just started, and from here the road only gets harder.

Still, Valora has proven time and time again that she thrives under pressure, thrives in the clutch moment.  She is cut from the same cloth as a Derek Jeter, Drew Brees, or any one of the elite few professional athletes who go out there night in and night out and deliver greatness, deliver moments.  Deliver memories.  An entire generation of Clevelanders will be able to look back at Thursday, February 25th, 2010 and say with pride:  "I was there when Valora and Umbrage beat Team Danger for the WWA Tag Team titles.  I was there when WMW drew the line against Defiance."

I was there.  I witnessed history.

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