Reporter Harris: Hello, Miss Rose?
Lexi gives him a look up and down, unsure.
Alexis: Depends who you are, bucko.
Reporter Harris: My name is Jarrell Harris, from Sports Illustrated Kids. We did a piece back in March right before HWA relaunched. We’re just doing a follow-up on some inspirational and strong women in sports and Wisdom Parker advised we could speak to the women of the company. I’ve spoken with a Miss Sarah Callahan already and she was very forthcoming and I’m still trying to get a hold of a Miss Michelle Learning. We’re keen to get some viewpoints and insights to HWA’s aspiring women’s division. Would you be happy to answer some questions? Nothing too intense or labored considering our key demographic.
Lexi takes a moment.
Alexis: How long will it take? I have an appointment with my Realtor soon. There’s a coffee shop down the street. I can spare you half an hour at the most.
The reporter’s eyes light up.
Reporter Harris: Absolutely! I won’t need anymore than that, thank you Miss Rose.
The scene reopens at a table outside Cora’s Coffee Shoppe on Ocean Avenue, not far from Lexi’s hotel. She takes a sip from her caramel iced latte as she adjusts the bobble on her ponytail.
Alexis: So, Mr Harris, what is you wanted to ask me?
Reporter Harris: Well, first of all, I just want to double-check some personal details. I have some basic info here, we like to give our readers a flavor of the person we’re interviewing.
Alexis: Fair enough.
Reporter Harris: I understand you’re from Cincinnati, is that right?
Alexis: Born and raised.
Reporter Harris: And you graduated from college with a degree in Education Studies?
Alexis: Magna cum laude, Bowling Green State.
Reporter Harris: So what was it you wanted to do after college?
Alexis: I wanted to teach. I had the privilege of a fantastic education as a kid and I wanted to make an impact on future kids’ learning journeys.
Reporter Harris: That’s quite the jump from teaching elementary school to bring a professional wrestler. What caused you to have such a drastic change in careers?
Lexi doesn’t respond straightaway. Speaking about Dean wasn’t something she had done a great deal of, especially in public. She missed her brother terribly but if it weren’t for his passing, she wouldn’t be in the situation she was in now and she felt terrible for somehow feeling grateful for it.
Reporter Harris: Miss Rose?
Lexi snaps out of her thoughts.
Alexis: Sorry. Well, my older brother, Dean, passed away not long after I graduated. He was my idol and I hung on every word he said.
Reporter Harris: My goodness, I’m so sorry. That must’ve been difficult.
Alexis: Yeah, it was, it still is to be fair. Anyway, I took it really hard. More so than my younger sister McKenzie, she was only a kid at the time so didn’t really understand what was going on. I suddenly felt like I didn’t want to help anyone. I was angry and frustrated so I joined an amateur football league for women only. As a kid and a teenager, I was raised on sports. All my family are very athletically-inclined. So it wasn’t a drastic shift to start playing football. Turns out though, I took it really easily but it was the bonds I created with the other girls that got me through Dean’s passing.
Reporter Harris: So what led you to professional wrestling then?
Alexis: My coach. He was friends with a promoter that had just started a new promotion not far from where I lived. I went for a try-out and as it turns out, I was a natural. Hitting bumps, running the ropes, all the basics I was picking up and proficient at within the first couple of training sessions and I guess you could say I fell in love with it.
Reporter Harris: That’s great to hear that you were able to turn something that affected you so much into something so positive.
Alexis: I guess you could say that.
Reporter Harris: So, women’s wrestling has really come back to the forefront in the last few years with the emergence of All Elite Wrestling, WWE’s division is stacked, Stardom is getting popular here in the West and now we have multiple divisions across the likes New Japan Pro Wrestling and Ring of Honor. How do you feel HWA’s division measures up?
Alexis: That’s a bit an unfair question. This company is still finding itself after almost a decade of media obscurity. Plus there are only a handful of us, one of which can’t even compete yet because of legal issues. But I think we’re heading in the right direction. The girls are at different stages in their career journeys, some more experienced than others but I have a feeling this could be something special.
Reporter Harris: You had offers from external promotions, didn’t you?
Alexis: I did… I won’t name names out of respect but HWA was the only company to actually come and watch me perform which meant a great deal, that I wasn’t just a roster filler. And obviously the chance to work for one of the GOATs in Wisdom Parker.
Reporter Harris: And being part of the LGBTQ+ community, how has that impacted your career? Have you found you’ve been held back in favor of straight performers?
Lexi’s manner and tone changed instantly. She felt her blood boiling.
Alexis: Excuse me?
Reporter Harris: Well, what I-
Alexis: Who told you that?
Reporter Harris: No one told me per sé, it was on the HWA website, on a recent article about you when you went back home to Ohio.
Alexis: Son-of-a-b*tch!
Reporter Harris: Look, Miss Rose-
Alexis: Don’t “Miss Rose” me, bucko! I have never shared any details of my sexuality to my employers because it is none of their business.
Reporter Harris: I’m sorry, Miss Rose, I didn’t mean to upset-
Alexis: This interview is over. We’re done, I have a match to prepare for.
Lexi gets up, snatching her iced caramel latte from the table and storms off. She takes out her phone and messages Wisdom and Butch in absolute fury, demanding to know what is going on. After sending the message, she angrily puts her phone back in her bag and storms off.
Alexis: Unbelievable!
The scene fades to black.
Message Thread
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