Ms. Liberty vs. Elektra
The Prelim
It had been a few weeks since I watched Aunt Madeleine beat Flora in a brutal, “No Holds Barred Wrestling Match”, and I hadn’t seen or spoken to her since. But she was constantly in my thoughts and I was wondering how she was doing. The match had been particularly violent but, despite being whacked over the back with a chair and then hung upside down from the ropes and pounded on, Aunt Madeleine nonetheless proved to me once more how courageous she was by coming away with the victory. But as I sat in a restaurant on the Saturday afternoon, having lunch with a friend, I was once again reminded of her.
Sitting on the opposite end of the room, there was her husband Joe, having lunch with a striking woman in a tight, sexy outfit. I was surprised by the sight and suspicious of his activities, so as he and the woman got up to leave, I pretended to walk to the rest room, meeting him by the front door. He seemed a bit nervous to see me, but said hello before turning to the woman and whispering to her.
“Why don’t you wait for me outside Diana, I’ll be right there.”
The tall, glamorous looking brunette nodded in agreement, giving me a quick once over before walking out the door. As she walked away I couldn’t help but think how sexy and glamorous she looked, giving the impression of being a celebrity. After she walked away however, he turned back to me, almost pretending as if the woman wasn’t with him.
“So, you got to see Madeleine wrestle after all these years, eh?” he said.
“Yeah, she was awesome! The way she kept found the courage to not only continue the fight, but then get the victory, she was really impressive!” I replied, unable to hide my enthusiasm.
He smirked, and it was obvious that he didn’t share my enthusiasm as he pulled me aside so that we could talk, out of the way of others.
“Yeah, she was impressive. But just so you know, even though she won the match, it was two days before she could even get out of bed.”
He paused, trying to temper his words, though it was obvious he was still annoyed with his wife.
“I’m sure she told you, but I don’t approve of her wrestling any more. Your Aunt Madeleine was a decent wrestler in her day, but she’s in her 50’s now and her body just can’t take that kind of abuse any more. She’s got to learn to use better judgement, I mean taking a no holds barred match against a woman 20 years younger than her just wasn’t a smart thing to do.”
I listened intently, and couldn’t help but detect the anger in his voice. I then glanced outside, staring at his friend who was sitting on a parked car, just outside the front door. He noticed my stare and nervously moved closer, whispering into my ear.
“Listen, you never saw me today, okay?”
I stared at him, but then reluctantly nodded in agreement before he shook my hand and walked out of the restaurant. A moment later, the two of them walked away and I was left wondering what he was doing with this woman. He had always been a nice guy to me growing up and Aunt Madeleine was such a wonderful woman, but it certainly looked like he wasn’t exactly being faithful to her. But I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt as I walked back inside and finished up my lunch. After lunch I said goodbye to my friend and then began to walk home before my cell phone rang. I picked it up and was delighted to see that it was Aunt Madeleine calling me.
I greeted her cheerfully and we chatted for a few moments before she asked me to do her a favor. I was happy to help, but she said that she wanted to discuss it in person, and asked if I could stop over. Since I didn’t have any plans I agreed, and headed over to her house.
I arrived about a half-hour later and rang the doorbell, wondering what she wanted to ask me. She answered the door smiling and I couldn’t help but draw a comparison to the other woman. Madeleine was decidedly less glamorous, attractive in a much more natural way. As she let me in I gave her a hug, but as I squeezed my arms softly around her back, I could feel her body cringe, my subtle embrace obviously causing her pain.
“Oh, I’m sorry Aunt Madeleine. Are you okay?” I asked.
She tried to smile, nodding her head.
“Oh I’m fine but my back is still a little sore from where that bitch Flora hit me with the chair.”
I remembered back to the match and how Flora had struck her across the back with a folding chair, but was surprised that it still hurt now, a few weeks later. Her husband’s words came to mind, “her body just can’t take that kind of abuse any more”. She then walked me inside and as she did, I looked around to see if her husband had gotten home yet. Aunt Madeleine noticed and assured me that we were alone.
“Don’t worry, there’s no one else here. My husband is away for the weekend on a fishing trip with some friends”, she informed me as she escorted me into her living room.
“Oh he’s on a fishing trip alright!” I thought to myself, my suspicions once again piqued.
We took a seat on the sofa and I immediately told her how impressed I was by her match against Flora. I began to gush, going on and on about how courageous and talented she had been and how impressed I was. Aunt Madeleine smiled, her cheeks growing rosy as she blushed at the compliments.
“I couldn’t have done it without you!” she replied graciously, referring to the way I had tripped Flora at ringside when the two were battling outside of the ring.
There was an awkward pause as the image of her husband walking away from the restaurant with this other woman at the restaurant was stuck in my head, so I decided to try and see what was going on between them, but in as subtle a way as possible.
“So, what did your husband think of the match?” I asked, hoping she would elaborate.
She paused for a moment, trying to temper her words before answering the question. I knew that answer already, not only by my brief conversation with him just an hour ago, but also by his reaction directly after the match. As he and I waited for Aunt Madeleine outside of the locker room that night, it was obvious that he was angry with his wife. He was quiet, but I could feel the tension as she finally emerged from the locker room and the two of them barely spoke.
“He was angry,” she began, deciding not to mince words, “and we’ve been arguing about it ever since. He doesn’t want me to wrestle anymore, and he’s not willing to discuss it. But I don’t agree with him, and since it’s my decision …..”
Aunt Madeleine stopped herself, but it was clear that the two of them were locked in a battle of wills and it began to become even clearer that her husband’s dealings with this other woman were not as innocent as I had hoped they were. But I had got what I had hoped for out of my question, so I decided to change the subject.
“So, you had a favor to ask?”
Aunt Madeleine looked back at me, and struggled to find the right words. But after taking a quick breath, she began to ask me the favor in a round about way.
“I wanted first of all to thank you. Since I told you about my wrestling, you’ve been so good to me. You’ve taken care of me and made me feel good about myself, especially since my husband and I have disagreed on this so much on this subject. So I was hoping you’d help me one more time.”
I smiled, happy that she felt this way and telling her that I’d be delighted to help her however I could.
“When I was wrestling regularly, my husband used to take care of all of my bookings and arrangements. He acted sort of as my agent. But now that he doesn’t want me to wrestle anymore, I could really use your help. The wrestling federation is having a big 35th anniversary show in a month or so, and from what I understand, they are inviting back some of the wrestlers from years ago to participate in it. But they haven’t invited me and I really want to participate.”
I listened intently as she told her tale, anxious to see what she wanted me to do. I was a bit angry that she hadn’t been invited to participate in the show, and sat on the edge of my chair as she continued.
“If I go in there by myself and ask to be invited, I’m afraid it might make me look….well….kind of pathetic. But if I had an agent, and he went in there to negotiate on my behalf… well….maybe that might look a little better.”
She stared at me with her pretty brown eyes, almost as if she was begging me to answer positively.
“So you want me to be your agent Aunt Madeleine?”, I asked, much to her delight.
She nodded immediately, happy that she didn’t have to ask the question directly.
“Yes, that is if you don’t mind. The only thing is that I guess you would have to stop calling me Aunt Madeleine!” she said, chuckling.
“Well, since you’re not REALLY my aunt anyway, I don’t think that would be a big deal!” I replied, laughing.
We spent the next hour or so going over the details and after we were done, I knew exactly what she wanted me to do. We then got up and she moved closer, wanting to thank me for agreeing to do the favor. She was so excited that her eyes were twinkling, and as she leaned in to give me a thank you kiss on the cheek, I was overcome with emotion. So instead of turning my cheek, I abruptly pressed my lips against hers.
I could tell she was surprised by my actions, but she did not resist as our lips intermingled. Her lips were so soft and the kiss felt so good that I didn’t want it to end. She tasted like a chocolate mint, sort of sweet and spicy at the same time, much like her personality. She didn’t resist at all, in fact she readily kissed me back as our tongues wrapped around each other. But after a few seconds I backed my mouth away, trying to gauge her reaction. I was surprised to find her eyes closed and a dreamy expression on her face, not at all upset by my actions.
“Well, that was certainly a …… “
She had started a sentence that she wasn’t sure how to end, so at the risk of pushing my luck, I abruptly thanked her and hurried toward the door, leaving in haste.
As I drove home, her wonderful taste remained in my mouth, but my thoughts raced at a mile a minute. WHAT THE HELL WAS I THIKING?!?!?! Sure, I was attracted to her, but she was old enough to be my mother! In fact, she was a good friend of my own mother! She was also the mother of one of my friends! She was a woman I had called AUNT all of my life, and though she wasn’t a true relative, the thought of the whole thing was creepy! I had just crossed a bridge and had no idea what was on the other side.
But despite the uneasiness I had created between us, I nonetheless made a promise to her and I intended to keep it. So as I arrived home, I placed a call into the wrestling federation and the next day, I found myself sitting in their offices, across the desk from the federation’s owner. I introduced myself as Ms. Liberty’s agent, and was met with skepticism.
“Madeleine’s husband has always been her agent. Where is he?” the owner asked.
I stumbled over my words, but explained that he was too busy at work to continue, so Madeleine had asked me to step in.
“Okay, so what can I do for you?” he asked pointedly.
I went on to ask about the upcoming 35th anniversary show, and why Madeleine wasn’t invited to participate. He took a deep breath before answering, but then leaned forward, stared me in the eye and answered my question.
“Listen, you seem like a nice guy, so let me brutally honest. Madeleine started wrestling for us in 1970, just a few months after we started up, so she was with us right from the beginning and we appreciate that. She worked hard all of those years, and was even the women’s champ for a year or so back in the late 70’s. But the truth of the matter is, for most of the time she wrestled for us, she was nothing more than a jobber. We’re inviting back the federation’s star performers and unfortunately, she just doesn’t fit the bill!”
I was shocked by what he was telling me. Aunt Madeleine … um … Madeleine, had made it sound like she was one of the federation’s star attractions, but I was finding out that she wasn’t nearly the celebrity she thought she was. I began to feel terrible for her, but as I absorbed the revelation, the owner’s secretary interrupted us, asking him to take a phone call. As I sat there, he argued with the person on the other end of the phone, and a few minutes alter, slammed it down. He paused for a moment, but then turned to me with a disgusted look on his face.
“You know kid, your timing is perfect, and in this business, timing is everything. One of the women just backed out, so it turns out that not only do we have an opening on the show after all, it’s in the featured match of the night. The woman who was scheduled to wrestle against Elektra, our woman’s champ for 15 years, just backed out, so Ms. Liberty can take her spot. You go and tell Madeleine that she’ll be facing Diana, and see what she thinks.”
I was delighted, knowing that Madeleine would be excited to hear that she would not only be wrestling, but wrestling in the featured match of the night against Elektra. Though I had no idea who Elektra was, it didn’t matter. I had done my job and would be happy to give Madeleine the good news. I got up, shook his hand and thanked him before walking out and driving directly to Madeleine’s house. As I got there I shuffled nervously as I waited for her to answer the door. This was the first time I had seen her since the kiss and I wasn’t sure how she would react. But with her typical grace she opened the door, gave me a kiss on the cheek and invited me in. I rushed inside and we sat down, Madeleine fidgeting nervously as she waited for me to tell her the result.
“Well, not only will you be wrestling on the 35th anniversary show, but you’ll be wrestling in the featured match of the night!”
Madeleine jumped up and hugged me, unable to contain her excitement. She was extremely grateful, and I was proud to have helped her get what she wanted. But after the celebration, she asked me whom she would be facing. As soon as I mentioned the name Elektra however, her expression changed from a wide smile to a sinister sneer. I had trouble gauging her reaction, but slowly a smile stretched across her face as she sat down, locked in deep thought. I didn’t want to ask her about Elektra, hoping that she would fill me in herself, so I decided to take a different tact.
“So Aunt … um … Madeleine, if I’m going to be your agent, I guess I should know a little bit more about your history in wrestling.”
She looked back at me and smiled, making herself comfortable before starting at the beginning.
“I got married when I was 18 years old, to my high school sweetheart and the only man I’ve ever dated; Joe. We got married right after I graduated high school. He had just started working for the city as a sanitation man and I was planning to go to college, so we moved into my parent’s house and lived in a small apartment in their basement.
It didn’t take long before that situation got difficult, but with me going to school full time and Joe not earning much money, we couldn’t afford to buy a house of our own. I knew that we had to do something, but I really didn’t want to drop out of school, so one day I saw an ad in the newspaper seeking women to train to become wrestlers. I would be able to train at night and go to school during the day, so I went an applied.
The training was tough, every night for 6 months while I went to school during the day, but by the time I turned 19, I had my first match. The next 2 years were pretty tough as well and I wasn’t very good in the beginning. But by the third year I started to improve and by the time I turned 22, I had finally earned my first title match against a woman named Diana.
Diana was 2 years older than I was, but we started wrestling at the same time and trained together. We were never friends though, in fact I guess you could say we were rivals. I was always jealous of the way they seemed to give her the best matches and promote her more than they did for me. But even though I knew that I could beat her, I ended up losing that match. It was a really tough fought battle, but in the end she proved to be too much for me on that night, so much so that I spent the next day in the hospital to recover from my bruises. It took me another few weeks to fully recover, and then Joe suggested that I stop wrestling temporarily so that we could start a family. I agreed, and by the time I turned 23 I gave birth to Joey.
I took the next year off from wrestling, but then returned to the ring when I was 24. I wrestled for 2 more years and really started to do well before I got another title shot. Diana had held the title all that time, but I was ready for her this time and won the match to become the women’s champion. I was so excited and proud of myself, it was one of the best moments of my life! I held the title for about a year before they scheduled a rematch for me against Diana, the third time I would be facing her. I’m not sure what happened; maybe because I was the defending champ I was too overconfident, but she beat my pretty badly, breaking my arm in the process and breaking my heart by taking my title away.
The doctors told me that I had to take 3 months off while my arm heeled, so Joe and I decided to have another baby, and by the time I turned 28, we had Jimmy. I didn’t start wrestling again until just before my 30th birthday, and by that time the federation had decided that all of the women wrestlers should wrestle as a character, so that was when I became Ms. Liberty. I donned a variety of red, white and blue outfits and an “all American” persona and though it was kind of fun to play the character, for the next 2 years they refused to give me good matches. They thought that I was past my prime so I had to argue and fight until finally, they agreed to give me a title shot.
Diana, who had become known as Elektra, had lost the title while I was away but won it back right before my championship match, so I had to face her for the fourth time. It was a big match for me. Not only was it against Diana and for the title, but it was my chance to prove to the management of the federation that I was one of their best wrestlers.”
Madeleine paused and her expression changed noticeably at this point. It was plain to see that a pretty intense rivalry existed between these two women, but I was about to find out just how intense.
“What happened?” I asked, anxious to hear the outcome.
“Elektra was very popular by now and I was really angry that she was getting all of the attention and the best matches. So I trained really hard for the match knowing that if I could beat her and win back the title, it would really change things in my wrestling career.”
Again Madeleine paused, gathering her thoughts.
“SO WHAT HAPPENED?!?!?” I yelled, the suspense killing me.
Her eyes seemed to squint, almost as if she had just received some awful news, and her face dropped, as if she was in pain as she answered my question.
“It was a really long, tough and grueling match and we went back and forth for a long time. But it was a very hot summer day and there was no air conditioning in the arena. Though I was doing great, gradually I began to run out of energy and Elektra was finally able to pin me.”
I could sense by the tone of her voice and the expression on her face that the loss was not only tough for Madeleine to take back then, but still tough for her to take even to this day. But I also got the sense that perhaps there was something more to it that she wasn’t telling me. I felt a lump in my throat seeing how upset Madeleine was as she recalled the devastating loss.
“Things really changed for both of us after that match. Elektra went onto become an icon, wrestling all around the country, doing television commercials, getting modeling assignments and becoming a star while I drifted into obscurity, toiling in the same, local wrestling federation until I finally retired.”
I could see the pain in her eyes and couldn’t help but continue to think that there was more to the story. But Madeleine continued down the timeline anyway as I tried to figure out what had happened behind the scenes.
"A few years later, the show Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling began to air on TV.”
“Oh yeah, GLOW. I remember that show!” I said.
“It was an interesting time because women’s wrestling became more popular than it ever had been before, and Elektra really cashed in on that”, Madeleine continued with more than a hint of jealousy in her voice. It wasn’t hard to detect that she felt slighted by Elektra’s popularity, but still, her hurt seemed to be even deeper than that.
“But you kept wrestling too, right?” I asked.
“Yeah, I kept wrestling. People used to compare me to Americana from the GLOW show, but I never really saw a resemblance, other than we both wore red, white and blue. I continued wrestling for another 10 years after GLOW went off the air, but they started using me as a stepping stone for their up and coming stars and never gave me another shot at the title.”
I could hear the resignation in her voice and detect the bitterness she felt. It was then that I recalled the words that the owner of the federation has said to me earlier, “the truth of the matter is, for most of the time she wrestled for us, she was nothing more than a jobber.”
I felt the need to lift her spirits and decided to encourage her to “right the wrong” by beating Elektra in the upcoming match. The ploy seemed to work as Madeleine perked up, even asking me to wait there while she went down to her basement and retrieved an old poster for the last championship match she had against Elektra. But as she walked back into the room and unrolled the poster, I felt a lump in my throat as I saw, for the first time, a picture of Elektra.
I began to piece it all together, remembering the words Madeleine’s husband had whispered to his lunch date. “Why don’t you wait for me outside Diana, I’ll be right there.” Elektra was that same Diana! Not only had Elektra beaten Madeleine in the ring, broken her arm and taken her title, but now she was screwing around with Madeleine’s husband to boot! I began to grow angry and considered telling Madeleine what I had seen the day before, but decided against it. The best revenge would be for Madeleine to get the last laugh by beating Elektra one last time and I was going to do whatever I could to help her win the match!
ONLY THE BEGINNING !!!!!!
So the stage is set for Madeleine (aka Ms. Liberty) to take on
Diana (aka Elektra). Who will win?
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