FFW Future Shock - Episode 40 (Glasgow Invasion)

[Adam Grant]

Recorded from the SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland
June 5, 2018

A stick of dynamite is plunged into a stone wall with a fissure. The fuse burns down to the end before the wall blows apart. Covering her face from the blast is Mara Werth dressed in what looks like a tomb raider outfit. “Bringing Down the Giant” by Saving Abel begins to play. She heads inside the opening in the wall, shining a flashlight on one wall showing the FFW logo and then the Future Shock logo. As she moves ahead, she comes across a platform overlooking a pit. Upon looking inside, she sees Lacey surrounded by dead flowers blowing red mist towards her.

Oh. I hit the wall I got back up and dusted off.
I’m past the pain and I’m taking back all that I lost,
I’m going to kick you off the throne hang your crown up on the wall

We then cut to quick takes showing Lydia Charisma delivering her Ocean’s Eleven finisher. Celeste is then shown hitting her Heaven’s Cloud ace crusher to a pop from the crowd. Then we see a large bubble being blown before it pops to reveal the smiling face of Nora Harris. Bianca Reed takes off her sunglasses, and throws them into the crowd. Mila is shown with her surfboard dragon sleeper locked in before we cut back to the tomb.

Yeah your glory days are gone gone gone.
Yeah I’m bringing down the giant
I won’t sit here undecided.

Mara extends her arms to both sides, and walks carefully across the platform before she makes it to the other side. She reaches the other side, finding a hall of mirrors as she steps into another entrance. She glances at the various mirrors around her as she walks past them, while Tara Cortez passes her twice in one mirror after Mara moves away. She comes upon two stone statues that look like guardians to a door. She retrieves two gems from her pocket, placing them in the stone hands of the statues before the door starts to move.

When your world comes crashing down I’ll remind you
I’m the one who’s laughing loud in your face
Yeah yeah your karma’s coming back here to find you this is going to get a little violent
Yeah I’m bringing down bringing down the giant.

We cut away from there to see Gemma Pierce and Kaya Crimson staring across at one another. Gillie Barnes thrusts the Future Shock Championship over her head with a smile, and Harley Shannon has the Harley Headlock locked in next. Cassandra Steen is shown counting her money as Kyle stands over her shoulder. “Poison” is shown next as Rose is dressed like Harley Quinn, and slams a giant mallet onto the camera before it cuts back to the tomb.

When your world comes crashing down I’ll remind you
I’m the one who’s laughing loud in your face
Yeah yeah your karma’s coming back here to find you this is going to get a little violent
Yeah I’m bringing down bringing down the giant.

The doors finally open as Mara carefully steps forward, looking around as a row of lights come up all the way to a throne. And there sat on the throne with two lions sat in front of her is Elizabeth Lannister. She points towards Mara as the two lions roar and launch towards the camera before we cut to the live broadcast to see a roaring crowd full of Future Shock fans.

Zack: Over 12,000 people have sold out the SSE Hydro for one of the biggest nights of the year for Future Shock! Our third Invasion is here in Glasgow, Scotland on a night that will see titles defended, rivalries settled, and one Prospect is going to the main roster, thanks to YOU! Zack here, and I’m joined by none other than Scotland’s own Erica Horton! Erica, welcome home!

Erica: Thanks, Zack! Or at least as close to home as I’m ever going to get, it feels! Glasgow has been buzzing - quite literally - for days in the build up to this, not that you can blame them! This place isn’t known for getting events that will be shown to the world!

Zack: It’s a two hour special event with six matches, and I can’t think of a more fitting way to celebrate FFW’s 8th birthday than by showing the future of FFW as the Prospects take center stage!

Erica: Eight years to the day FFW opened its doors, which is a terrifying thought! A good one, but a terrifying one all the same! But what better way to have the anniversary than to celebrate its future!

Zack: The main event will see Gillie Barnes make the first defense of her Future Shock Championship when she goes one on one with the FFW Hall of Famer Andi Takata! Gillie gives up loads of experience, but has plenty of heart! I suspect the fans here in the Hydro are going to be split down the middle for this one!

Erica: I don’t see a situation where that won’t be the case! Gillie’s as close to the hometown as she’s going to get tonight, but getting anone to have a negative reaction to Andi Takata is one hell of a tall order! ...Though it has been managed.

Zack: A rivalry that began last October finally comes to a head tonight in the Hydro! The Aspire Ring is on the line as Lacey makes her first defense against Celeste! These two have been spoiling for this fight for months, and tonight we’ll settle it once and for all!

Erica: I don’t remember how it started, but I know it’s been one hell of a ride for all this time, and I really, really can’t wait to see what happens now that it’s all about to boil over!

Zack: Two matches will serve to line up the next challengers for that Ring as well. You’ll see Kaya Crimson and Gemma Pierce in a rematch! Both women have already earned a shot, but they have some unfinished business to settle on top of that. Plus there’s the triple threat that was supposed to be between Lydia Charisma and Lilliana Leucrotta, but Mara Werth went and ended that streak and got herself into this match for a shot at the Ring!

Erica: One match to determine who gets it first, and the other match was made more interesting the second it became a triple threat! Lacey and Celeste both better be watching these closely, because their future depends on it!

Zack: The last time Tracey Murdock faced Tara Cortez, it was hardly a match thanks to a sickening assault before the match on Tracey. Tonight, they’ll meet again! And Tracey will be looking for that first win against the undefeated “10 Star” Prospect!

Erica: It’s polar opposites in this match, and not just from their match records, be they official or not...and I don’t take much of Tara’s record as official, to be honest. By the same token though, it’d be a hell of a first win for Tracey!

Zack: All that, and we’ve got a dual debut to kick things off! Gaby, take it away!







The show immediately heads to the ring, where the Glasgow crowd finds Gabrielle Crimson standing by with her microphone.

Gaby: Tonight’s opening contest is scheduled for one fall!

Zack: We’re gonna kick things off with a dual debut tonight, fans. Not often do you get to debut in Future Shock on a show like this, but there’s plenty of animosity within Stacey Sky towards Nora Harris.

Erica: There certainly is! It’s not often you come into a company and instantl find that one person who makes your blood boil, but apparently we’re being treated to such a thing right now!

As the opening of ‘Pour Some Sugar on Me’ by Def Leppard starts to play, Kyle Kilmeade steps through the curtain and holds it open. Stacey Sky steps out onto the stage wearing her ring gear which consists of a black bra-style top, with gold trim. A black and gold cheerleader style skirt, and black boots with a gold trim. 

Pour some sugar on me
Ooh, in the name of love
Pour some sugar on me
C'mon, fire me up
Pour your sugar on me
I can't get enough

She stops at the start of the ramp and runs her hands down her sides until she reaches her hips and then stands with her hands on hips for a moment, before she starts moving towards the ring with Kyle walking slightly behind her.

I'm hot, sticky sweet
From my head to my feet, yeah

As the line hot, sticky sweet plays, she raises her finger to her mouth and tilts her head to one side. Then she sways her hips, lowering herself down at the same time, before popping back up and blowing a kiss from one side to the other.

Gaby: Making her way to the ring, hailing from Anaheim, California and accompanied by Kyle Kilmeade…………….“Sensational” Stacey Sky

Listen! red light, yellow light, green-a-light go!
Crazy little woman in a one man show
Mirror queen, mannequine, rhythm of love
Sweet dream, saccharine, loosen up
Loosen up

She takes off at a run towards the ring and then jumps up onto the apron, where she immediately drops down into the splits. She leans forwards and grabs hold of her foot, lowering her head so she can roll under the bottom rope, still in the splits. Once in the ring, she moves up to her knees, throwing her head back as she does. She licks her lips and gives a devilish smile out to the crowd.

You gotta squeeze a little, squeeze a little
Tease a little more
Easy operator come a knockin' on my door
Sometime, anytime, sugar me sweet
Little miss innocent sugar me, yeah, yeah
Give a little more.

As her music starts to fade she gets to her feet and goes to her corner, climbing up, she sits on the top turnbuckle with her legs crossed and shares a few last minute words with her manager on the apron as she awaits the start of the match. 

Zack: Erica, we’ve seen what Stacey can do to innocent victims, such as former referee Angela Keanan as well as Sara Wilkins. Tonight, she has someone who is more than capable of fighting back.

Erica: It’s going to be interesting to see what happens when you do things like this, but recent;y we’ve seen anyone who thinks they’re anyone take out people must because they can and that’s worrying. Almost like people stopped caring about those around them.

I won’t give up, no I won’t give in
Till I reach the end
And then I’ll start again
No I won't leave
I wanna try everything
I wanna try even though I could fail

Gaby: From Chicago Illinois, weighing in tonight at 103 pounds... she is Nora Harris!

The bouncy music of Shakira's Try Anything plays and out comes Nora, bouncing on the toes of her boots as she waves to the fans and then she cartwheels into the aisle before she sprints down to the ring, slides under the bottom rope and pops up to wave at the fans again.

I won’t give up, no I won’t give in
Till I reach the end
And then I’ll start again
No I won't leave
I wanna try everything
I wanna try even though I could fail

She smiles at the referee and respectfully waits for the start of the match.

Zack: Future Shock’s first would-be Pixie is set to make her debut! We got a glimpse of these when she stopped Stacey from further disabling Angela Keanan. Let’s see how the blonde does against an actual wrestler.

Erica: An idiot would bet on “not very well”, but you don’t get into Future Shock without being at least somewhat talented, so this might actually be more interesting than what we might originally think.

Referee Stephen Wilson checks both women as Gaby leaves the ring. He calls for the bell as Nora heads towards the center with her hands up ready to go. Stacey remains in her corner, and makes the mistake of charging towards her. Harris catches her with a drop toe hold as she gets close, causing Sky to get back to her feet and go for a discus punch to Nora’s head. All she gets is another drop toe hold to the mat, popping back to her feet with growing irritation on her face. She looks over to Kyle, and Nora takes full advantage of that as she bolts towards her. Harris leaves her feet, and snaps Stacey down with a flying headscissors right into a side headlock. Stacey pounded the mat in irritation.

Zack: Stacey may have been trained by some fine people, but there’s a big difference in training and being in there with someone who is out to beat you. And she’s finding that out firsthand as Nora is outclassing her to start this match.

Erica: It’s kinda ridiculous what just happened, really. I appreciate rookie mistakes and all that, but what I don’t understand is when you get incidents like this. If it’s already happened once, don’t give your opponent a chance to do it again, and neveeeeeer take your eyes off the opponent. It’s one of the first things we get taught.

Stacey didn’t stay on the mat long, and began to get back to her feet still trapped in Nora’s side headlock. She lifted her up for a back suplex, but Harris countered and landed on her feet behind her. Before the blonde could turn around, Nora used a  leg sweep to knock her to the mat before she took off towards the ropes. Stacey had barely gotten back up before Nora caught her with a running bulldog to the mat, and then...right back into the side headlock with a smile on her face.

Zack: I think we can see which one of these two has the most in-ring experience here, and the Future Shock Pixie is showing up Kyle’s newest protege!

Erica: Credit to Stacey for living the “get knocked down seven times, get up eight” thing, but at this point that’s about all you can give her. Nora’s wrecking it right now!

Once again, Stacey gets back to her feet still stuck in the hold. She reaches up, and grabs a handful of Nora’s long hair and pulls it back before the referee makes her let go. This time instead of trying to suplex her, Stacey shoves her off into the ropes. But Sky doesn’t give her a chance to rebound hardly before she delivers a running forearm to her jaw. A look of anger formed on her face as she rained closed fists into the side of Nora’s head before she planted her with a DDT. Stacey’s face showed nothing but anger as she sat up on her knees, and resumed wailing away with forearms to the back of Nora’s head until she rose back to her feet. Harris started to do the same before Stacey scooped her up around the waist to drive her into the mat again with a wheelbarrow suplex.

Zack: You can really tell how much Nora’s gotten under Stacey’s skin, can’t you? Her face tells you the whole story, she looks incensed and Nora hasn’t done anything to deserve it other than competing fair and square against her.

Erica: It’s almost like she blames her opponent for the fact that in the first minute of the match, she acted like she still belongs in the training camp...

She dragged Nora towards the ropes, and draped her neck across the bottom before she stood on her back to choke her. The referee counted to four before she shoved him backwards, stepped off and right back on to do it again. Once more, the referee started counting her before she stepped off and got in his face to back him down. The official reminded her he was in charge of the match, and before she knew it, Nora rolled Stacey up from behind for a cover! Wilson dove to count it!

Erica: Stacey would do damn well right now to remember that she’s in a match and shouldn’t really be arguing with anyone about anything! And it’s possibly about to cost her!

ONE!!!

TW-NOPE!!

Stacey kicked out without much trouble, and rose back to her feet. Nora was up quickly too, catching her with a kick to the abdomen. Harris used the middle rope for a springboard into a moonsault when Stacey stood up, and put her right back down again. She popped back to her feet with the crowd now solidly behind her.

Zack: Stacey needs to keep her eyes on the match, and not try to intimidate the referee. She definitely has some anger issues.

Harris moved to the corner, setting herself for something as she crouched down watching Stacey. The blonde began to get back to her feet and turned to find her opponent, when Nora bolted towards her with what looked like a bicycle kick. But Sky grabbed her leg, and countered with a dragon screw leg whip that snapped Nora to the mat. She immediately grabbed her knee before Stacey seized her ankle. She began to pull Nora up by the leg and drive her knee into the mat repeatedly. She then put her foot behind it, and stomped Nora’s knee into the mat.

Zack: Stacey’s found her opening, and she’s trying to take Nora’s knee off before this match is over. Nora may have given her too much time to recover before the bicycle kick.

Erica: She might well have done, but for the first time in this match, Stacey has done something that works in her favour! About time, too!

Harris grabbed the rope as Stacey was about to do it again, causing the referee to stop her. She didn’t listen though, and was pulled backwards by the official. Sky spun towards the referee, and grabbed him by the shirt to tell him to shut his mouth. Wilson reminded her again he was the referee in charge of the match. Sky shoved him down to the canvas, and when she turned back, Nora was up! She grabbed Stacey’s head, and connected with her double knee facebreaker that popped the crowd! Sky bounced off the mat, and ended up rolling out of the ring to the floor. Nora sat up on the canvas, rubbing her knee.

Zack: She calls that HELLO, PATELLA! Stacey hit the mat, and then the floor out here ringside off the impact! Nora’s knee is in some pain though, and that move right there didn’t help it.

Erica: It really didn’t! Also, as an aside, Nora really needs to think about getting Stacey back in. Longer she’s out there the more time she has.

Kyle went to help his client up to her feet. She leaned against the apron as he was talking to her, meanwhile Nora was getting up as well. She shook her leg a little bit, and saw them on the outside. Kyle moved away as Nora took off for the far side. Stacey turned around as Nora went for a Superman dive through the ropes….but Kyle pulled Stacey out of the way. Harris hit the floor as Stacey tried to pull herself together. The blonde finally managed to get her wits about her, and saw Nora stirring on the floor. She took off towards her with a kneelift to the head to put her back down. The referee administered his ten count in the ring as Stacey pulled the apron up to retrieve a microphone cable. And when Nora started to get up, Stacey wrapped it around her neck and began to choke her out with it!

Erica: Missy had a chain, Angel has a piano wire and now Stacey has a mic wire! It’s almost like the lacking-in-morals people actually like choking people!

Zack: I’m not sure Stacey can control her own impulses. She has so much ire for Nora that she’ll do anything to make her suffer!

Harris gasped and choked, trying to get her breath as Stacey pulled back on the cable to try to tighten the grip. The referee stopped his count, and went out to get her to let go. Nora’s fingers pulled at the cable, trying to loosen it before the referee started unwrapping it himself till she was free. Stacey didn’t like that at all, and gave Wilson a roundhouse kick to the head. He collapsed on the floor as Stacey grabbed the cable again, looking to pick up where she left off.

Zack: She just kicked him right on the jaw! When she gets mad, I don’t think Stacey Sky can control herself!

Erica: I’m not convinced she has the ability to control herself even when she’s not angry.

When she reached down to grab Nora to choke her again, the brunette rolled onto her back and caught her with a knee to the head. It sent Stacey reeling for a half second before Nora got back to her feet, now also irritated as she launched into Stacey with wild right hands on the outside. Referee Melinda Davis came out next, and immediately called for the bell. Stacey and Nora, however, continued to throw fists at one another.

Zack: I think Stacey may have been disqualified! But I don’t think either of them care at this point! Nora’s fighting back, she’s had enough of Stacey!

Erica: I don’t get the impression that Stacey would care even if she was aware of it having happened, to be honest. Though at this point, might be better to just leave them at it.

A trainer came out to help the referee as the second referee tried to separate them. Kyle pulled Stacey with him, seemingly being the only one who could control her as he pulled her by the hand up the ramp. Nora kept a wary eye on her, favoring her knee still as the trainer checked on the other referee.

Gaby: Stacey Sky has been DISQUALIFIED! Therefore your winner….NORA HARRIS!!

Erica: You called it Zack! Stacey has no impulse control and it’s cost her the match. Can’t say I’m disappointed in it, mind you.

Zack: It may have cost her this match, but I guarantee you this is far far from over. And for Nora’s sake, she better look over her shoulder in the meantime.

Stacey looked as though she wanted to go back and fight more, but her manager continued to pull her with him towards the back. Nora waved her forward, inviting her to do it as the show heads to commercial.





Mistress No More

Recorded Earlier Today….

We see Adam Grant standing outside his office, and he’s immediately joined by Mistress Vivi. He offers her a handshake as she arrives at his door.

Adam: I’m glad to see you. Welcome to your first Future Shock international show. Been seeing any of the sights in Glasgow?

Vivi: Good to see you too, Adam. And yes, I’ve been out exploring the city. I’ve never been to Scotland before and it’s been fascinating to get out and see just what this city has to offer. Thank you for inviting me.

Adam: Cool. I heard recently that you no longer want to be introduced as Mistress Vivi. So I wanted to check with you personally before I started sending notes to the ring announcer. Is that right?

Vivi: Yes, that’s right. In light of recent developments, I’ve elected to be introduced as Vivi Robichaud.

Adam: What prompted the change? You’ve been known as Mistress Vivi for quite some time.

Vivi: I have been. And while I can’t deny that Mistress Vivi has been a very large part of my life since before I began my wrestling career… there comes a time in everyone’s life when changes must be made. I’ve reached that point now, and I’ve decided to take the advice of a dearly beloved and sadly departed friend of mine, Simon Raines. Simon and I had been many things to one another over the years, and during one of our last conversations we discussed the possibility of my allowing myself to be more open with the audiences I face - giving them the chance to see Vivi Robichaud, not just Mistress Vivi.

Vivi chokes up as she says her former lover’s name and she allows the pain to show on her face for a brief moment before reining herself back in.

Adam: I heard about Simon, and you have my condolences. I’ve never met him, but if he touched your life that much, I totally understand. You’ll not be called Mistress Vivi again.

Vivi: Thank you, Adam. I do appreciate your kind words and the acceptance of my name change.

Adam: While I have you here, we have a little pool party show coming up on the 19th with all challenges. Think you’d be up to be part of that? Might show up some of these other Prospects.

He added with a smile.

Vivi: Sounds like a good way for me to get introduced to Future Shock. I’d be happy to come to Boston for it.

Adam: Awesome! I’ll get in touch with you later on what exactly I have in mind for your challenge. In the meantime, enjoy the show because you’re likely to be meeting some of these girls very soon.

As the camera pulls back, Future Shock heads to a commercial break.

[Adam Grant]

The show returns from the commercial break to find Gaby already back in the ring with her microphone in hand.

Gaby: The following contest is scheduled for one fall.

The lights shift to a turquoise hue as the chorus of Kristina Maria’s “Move Like A Soldier” erupts over the PA system. Tracey Murdock emerges from behind the curtain with a bright smile, throwing both arms high into the air. When she gets to the edge of the ramp, she pumps her fist into the air three times, a firework going off for each pump, much to the delight of the crowd. The lighting returns to normal after the third firework.

Gaby: Introducing from Lanikai Beach, Hawaii….please welcome TRACEY MURDOCK!

As Tracey moves down the ramp, she slaps hands with the fans, occasionally stopping to let one snap a selfie with her. Tracey quickly slides into the ring under the bottom rope and is on her feet in a split-second. She is all smiles as she climbs to the top turnbuckle. She throws up the hang-loose gesture to the crowd with her right hand, then ropewalks to the opposite turnbuckle, and throws another hang-loose gesture with her left hand. She drops to the canvas and takes her spot in the corner.

Zack: Tracey Murdock has had a problem getting that first win here in Future Shock, but no one shows more heart and determination than she does. The last time we tried to have this match, you know what happened, Erica.

Erica: I do, I do! And Tracey will definitely be looking for two things out of this match. The first being that elusive first win. The second being that she makes sure that what happened before does not happen again. Not that you can blame her.

The otherwise quiet intro to Family Force 5's "Drama Queen" starts on the sound system, and lights start blinking in random colos as Tara Cortez struts onto the entrance ramp, with her manager Christian Kincaid right there with her. She stops right before the descent and pulls off a short dance move, crouching down only to get back up, running her hands over her slender body and then bringing them above her head, only to then open her arms... and then wave off the booing audience. Blowing raspberries, she then starts strutting down the entrance ramp, shaking her head at the fans in attendance as she makes her way to the ring.

Gaby: Introducing first/And her opponent, escorted to the ring by Christian Kincaid... From Fort Worth, Texas... "10-STAR" TARA CORTEZ!

When Tara climbs into the ring, she makes her way to the ropes facing the hard camera, leaning onto them and posing for the audience, moving her arms much like in the same way she did earlier with her starting dance. She then waves the crowd off once again before she hops back down to the ring, making her way to her corner and sharing some last minute strategy with Christian.

Zack: Unlike Tracey, Tara has had nothing but success in Future Shock. The case could be made for the fact they weren’t all against actual Prospects or completely fair matches.

Erica: I’m….just gonna sit here and keep my mouth shut, Because what I want to say would probably get me into more trouble than the silly girl is worth.

Referee Ashley Pruitt checks both girls, and calls for the bell to start the match after Gaby leaves. Tracey’s face is pure determination and focus as she heads towards the center of the ring with Tara. The two look at one another, even though Tara seems disinterested. They then lock up from there. Tara starts pushing Tracey back against the ropes, and gives a clean break when the referee calls for it. Cortez tells the referee she was pulling her hair though. When the official asks Tracey and gets her attention, Tara uses a sucker punch to catch her off guard. A trio of European uppercuts follows that before she lowers her shoulder, and drives her back into the corner. Shoulder thrusts to the body follow that before Tara stands up, asking her if she was sure she wanted this match. A knife edge chop followed that before she asked her again. As she leaned back to deliver another, Tracey spun her into the corner and began unloading with rapid-fire chops across Tara’s chest. The crowd came to life on that, and she used a monkey flip to send her out of the corner to the canvas.

Zack: I guess Tracey answered Tara’s question there, didn’t she? I’m not sure what good talking smack in the ring does, because you’re already in the ring. Time to back it up!

Erica: Hey, people who think they should be doing things like that are also the ones who don’t know when to shut the Hell up anyway...and Tara is definitely one of those people. She had that one coming.

Tara started to get up, and Tracey was there to greet her with a running clothesline to put her right back down. Murdock kept running though. She hit the far side ropes, and bounced off into a dropkick to Tara’s chest that sent her back to the mat again. The crowd was solidly behind Tracey as she hit the ropes for a springboard into a double knee drop to Tara’s body. A quick hook of the leg followed that before Pruitt dropped to count.

Erica: Trash talking has only lit a fire under Tracey, and Tara might be starting to regret that choice!

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

NOPE!!

Tara kicked out at the two count. Tracey propped up on one knee, and fired right hands into her head before she got back up again. With the crowd still solidly behind her, she yanked Tara to her feet and whipped her into the far corner. Cortez struck chest first as Tracey barreled in behind her with an avalanche splash. The brunette stumbled backwards out of the corner before Tracey decked her with a boot to the jaw.

Erica: Tara Cortez says she’s a ten-star athlete, but right now I think the best description for her and stars is that she’s seeing them!

As soon as Cortez hit the mat, Tracey headed for the top rope and fell backwards with an elbow drop in mind. But Tara rolled out of the way, and she landed on the mat instead. Tara got back to her feet, shaking off the cobwebs before executing a double stomp to Tracey’s back. She stepped over her from there, and applied a Boston crab. The referee moved around in front of Tracey to ask for a submission, but was told no. She glanced around, seeing they weren’t far from the ropes and began trying to reach for them as Tara had the hold locked in deeply.

Zack: Tara might have been wiser to put that crab on a little farther away from the ropes. But as deep as she has it sunk in, Tracey’s still having trouble reaching the ropes.

Erica: Normally I would call a decision like that stupid, but it has appeared to cancelled itself out so I guess it’s working?

The Hawaiian beauty’s face tensed as she stretched the best she could before finally reaching the bottom rope to get two fingertips across it. Pruitt called for the break, and Tara got up on a three count. She looked behind her to see Tracey’s fingertips on the rope, and stomped her hand for her troubles. When the blonde started to get to her feet, Tara snatched her around the waist and deposited her with three German suplexes in a row before she bridged up on the third to go for the win.

Erica: That opening before the crab was apparently all Tara needed, and she’s well and truly in control of this match now.

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

TH-NOPE!!

Murdock’s arm came up in time before the three. Tara shoved her to the mat, and got back to her feet with an annoyed expression on her face. Tracey started to head towards the ropes with Cortez right behind her. When she got there, Tara pulled her to her feet and applied an abdominal stretch. Once more, Pruitt dropped down in front of Tracey to see if she wanted to stop the match. And once more, she got the same answer as she did a moment ago. Tara reached her free arm behind her to grab the top rope, causing Tracey even more pain as her face seized in pain. The referee peered around behind her, only to find Tara checking her nails.

Erica: Well maybe if the referee wasn’t staring directly at Tracey’s face, she’d see more of what’s going on around her...

Zack: Ashley is a new referee, replacing Angela Keanan who was put out of the business by Stacey Sky. She still has a few things to learn.

Pruitt moved back around in front of Tara, asking again if she wanted to quit. Tara slyly moved her hand behind her and grabbed the top rope again. Tracey became very animated at the additional pressure before the referee darted the other direction to see Tara’s hand. She kicked it free, causing Tara to shoot her a dirty look...for a second before Tracey executed a hip toss to send her to the canvas. The blonde rose up slowly, rubbing her back for a moment when Tara started to get back up as well. When Cortez turned to face her, Tracey used a bell clap around her ears to disorient her. It worked well as she wobbled on her feet before Murdock planted her with a facebuster to the mat! She immediately rolled her over, and went for the cover before the referee dropped to count.

Zack: Tara got caught by the referee, and it all went south from there! Big time facebuster, and Tracey’s first Future Shock win could be seconds away!

ONE!!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

THRE-NOPE!!

Tara got her shoulder up once more, and Tracey immediately headed for the corner. The crowd continued to show their support as she headed up to the top rope, and perched herself. And with grace, she came off with a big elbow drop that landed perfectly onto Tara’s chest!

Erica: Not quite there yet, but Tracey’s hellbent on making sure that tonight’s the night!

Tracey headed for the corner once more, and started to make her way up top. But as she was setting herself, Tara rolled out on the far side of the ring. This only got boots from the crowd as Tracey had to hop down to the canvas, looking to go get her when the referee asked her to stay in the ring so she could count. Cortez rolled under the ring as the referee went to count, but didn’t see her. As soon as she rolled under the apron, Tara rolled out on the other side looking as fresh as a daisy. She slid into the ring behind both Tracey and the referee. And when Murdock turned around, she walked into a superkick to the chin! The brunette took off towards the ropes, picking up speed before she delivered a leaping frog splash for the cover.

Zack: WAIT A MINUTE!!

Erica: ...Well this is a thing.

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-NOPE!!

The crowd cheered as Tracey managed to get her arm up. Tara rose back to her feet, showing no signs of even having been in a match to this point. She yanked Murdock to her feet, firing forearms into the side of her head. She whipped her across to the far side, and caught her on the rebound by scooping her up and using a spinebuster to splat her on the mat.

Erica: Well, what I can only imagine to be a doppleganger at this point is doing a decent job of doing what anyone in their shoes would do...

Tara popped back up to her feet, and headed for the ropes. She started to use them for a springboard into something, but Tracey rolled out of the way before she connected. The brunette faceplanted on the mat as Tracey started to fight back to her feet. She looked down at Tara before heading for the corner again. She ascended to the top turnbuckle with the crowd solidly behind her!

Zack: I think we’re about to see the Vortex right here!!

Murdock leaped from the top rope, connecting perfectly with her corkscrew shooting star press! It landed perfectly!

Zack: And I was right, the VANUATU VORTEX!!

Erica: And we are three seconds away from Tracey’s first win! And not a moment too soon!

Tracey immediately went for the cover, hooking both legs tightly but there wasn’t a count. She glanced around to see the referee was trying to get Christian down off the apron. Murdock got back up, and headed towards her before Tara rolled out to the floor in a heap. She got yanked under the ring by something before she rolled out the other side, and back into the ring. She laid down on the canvas like she was out cold when Christian finally got down.

Erica: ...WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?!

Tracey headed back for her opponent, and went to make the cover with the referee now in position before Tara cinched her up in a tight small package (with a handful of trunks) that the referee didn’t see!

Zack: ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Pruitt called for the bell as Tracey sat up, eyes wide as Tara immediately rolled out of the ring to the floor. Christian raised her hand before the referee joined them to do the same.

Erica: You know what? ….I got nothin’. Absolutely nothin’.

Gaby: Here’s your winner by pinfall…………………..’10 STAR’ TARA CORTEZ!!

Christian gave her her 10 Star ring back as she stood triumphant on the floor. Tracey headed for the referee to dispute what happened before Tara slid back in behind her. She spun her around, and decked her with that ring on her fist. The boos only got louder as she leaned down to let Tracey’s lips touch her ring before she raised her hand again.

Erica: ...I still got nothin’. At this point I’m not entirely sure why I should be surprised by this.

Zack: Add another theft of a win to Tara Cortez’s record! Tracey had this match more than once, if you ask me!

Cortez joined her manager back on the floor as the pair headed up the ramp to louder boos from the Glasgow crowd.






Still Better Than You

The fans in the arena begin to boo immediately as they see two familiar faces on the video wall, where we find Valerie McKinley and her manager standing backstage. Kyle stands behind her as he begins to speak.

Kyle: On the last Future Shock, this woman right here knocked off your number one contender to the Future Shock Championship when she ended Bianca Reed’s little streak in three seconds. And since that night, what did she get? Let’s see, she got called racist.

He started counting on his fingers.

Kyle: She got called a c word that I’m not going to repeat on television since it’d get censored anyway. She got called all that because of the simple fact...she got shown up. Isn’t that right?

He asked, looking down over Valerie’s shoulder as she spoke. Valerie cocks her head to one side as she begins to speak, moving her hands about.

Valerie: Let’s call a spade a spade. The only reason why Bianca Reed is upset is because she knows she isn’t even CLOSE to being on my level. She has been handed everything and doesn’t know when to sit down and be humble.

Kyle: Bianca can be mad, and she can use all the slurs she wants because she lost. That’s fine. The important thing is she knows she got beat, and she knows if and when she faces Valerie again, it’ll be for the Future Shock Championship. And….history will repeat itself. Then she can rant and rave all she wants, because we’ll care even less due to the fact that the title...will be right here where it belongs.

He gives her shoulder a little pat. Valerie gives a little smirk.

Valerie: Bianca can bitch and moan about how she is going to do everything in her power to become Future Shock champion. She can have the best laid plans anyone could come up with. Hell, she can even win the damn thing. But she has to know in the back recesses of her head that all it takes is one false move and I will end her little championship dreams….
She lifts her left hand up and snaps her fingers.

Valerie: Just like that.

Kyle: Also on the last show, I let NHB know that they may have some new competition looking to pack those tag titles away. And people kept asking me who I was talking about. Well let me enlighten you. It’s the team who defeated the current Future Shock Champion and Lydia Charisma. That’s right, the only thing better than one title is two. And I’m sure Valerie and Lacey both would be quite happy to add a little extra to their list of accomplishments.

This brought a smile to the face of the Providence native’s face as she nods, reaching back to oat Kyle on the arm appreciatively.

Valerie: It’s moves like this proves why this man is the best manager in the business today. He knows that on our own, Lacey and i are good. But put us together? We become better than good. We become something out of this world. So ladies, consider this your one and only warning. Keep those titles warm, because it will only be a matter of time before the redheads take over.

Kyle: But first things first, Lacey has to put Celeste in her place a little later tonight with the Aspire Ring on the line. I’ll be ringside for that, and Valerie will be here supporting her friend in every way possible.

Valerie: I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that Lacey is going to do what she does best, and that is win in fabulous fashion. The Aspire Ring deserves to be worn by someone smart, talented and beautiful….none of which describes Celeste. You can rest assured that I’ll be here to make sure that things go the way that they should.

As she finishes, the show heads elsewhere.




Mara Keeps Rolling

The show cuts away to find Sara Wilkins with a special guest in front of the backstage set for the Glasgow event.

Sara: In a little while, the woman to my right has the biggest challenge since arriving in Future Shock. She could well earn herself a shot at the Aspire Ring. Mara, thanks for talking with me. You earned your way into this match by ending the streak of Lilliana Leucrotta, who had been on something of a tear. She made some pretty harsh comments about you in the runup to that match. I assume it felt very good to knock her off her pedestal?

Mara: It felt great to put down the supposedly biggest, baddest, meanest, nastiest bitch in the yard down. It felt great to get the win over her, bring a halt to her momentum and hand her the first loss that she’s suffered in Future Shock. Maybe over the last couple of weeks she’s had a chance to think things over, re-evaluate and decided that perhaps she needs to be here and improve her skills.

There was a shrug of her shoulders.

Mara: As for tonight, I don’t think I could have said it any better myself. Biggest challenge I’ve faced yet in Future Shock. I’m facing two women at once inside of the ring - which I’ve not done yet and Lydia is… big and immensely powerful, pretty much unlike any other woman I’ve faced before. Then again, that’s the way it should be - the biggest challenge for the biggest reward. If I can win tonight; if I can keep up my streak and win this match then I get to challenge for the Aspire Ring which could do absolute wonders for me and for my career. I can’t wait for it to get underway.

Sara: Let’s speculate for a moment. Say you are successful tonight. Do you have a favorite as far as the winner of the Aspire Ring defense between Lacey and Celeste?

The dark haired woman took a couple of moments to consider her answer.

Mara: Celeste would be a fun match up and maybe a little easier to prepare for which, given that I’ve not got an awful lot of experience, could be a good thing. And by that I mean Celeste’s going to keep it nice and clean and above board, leaving me to only really worry about the fact that she’s a phenomenal athlete and a massively talented wrestler. While with Lacey, there’s always a possibility that on top of her skills and willingness to bend the rules that you’ve got to deal with her manager possibly wanting to be a little more hands on. But that’s wrestling and I’m going to have to deal with that sorta bullshit sooner or later right? So I’d probably prefer Celeste, but I won’t be disappointed if I have to face Lacey.

Sara: Two women have already earned their shots at the Ring, and meet tonight to see which of them goes before the other. What are your thoughts on Kaya Crimson and the “World Piercer” Gemma Pierce?

The former inmate shrugged her shoulders.

Mara: Gemma seems to be pretty intense and determined to make an impact, I certainly like that focus and from what I’ve seen of her she seems more than capable of backing it up in the ring. Kaya’s a really good wrestler too as she demonstrated with her win over Casey and Lacey, Definitely wouldn’t underestimate her in the slightest. I’m pretty sure that there’s an awful lot I can learn from both of them to make myself a better wrestler.

Sara: The last thing I wanted to cover is in two weeks. Future Shock will be hosting it’s own pool party, taking the Prospects out of the ring for an all challenge episode. And I’ve been told you’ll get to be part of it. How does that sound?

Mara: Like a whole lotta fun. C’mon Sara, it’s gonna be a pool party, who wouldn’t enjoy that? Sun, a pool, maybe… if things don’t devolve into chaos… a drink or two afterwards. I’m pretty excited by the idea of it and love that I get to be a part of it.

Sara: When you debuted in Future Shock, it was as part of a challenge. So it’s fitting you get to return to that, in almost the exact same challenge. You won the dodgeball contest that night, and you’ll get to see if you can do it again over a swimming pool against both women in Future Shock and possibly some special guests!
Mara: Get to show that the first time around wasn’t beginners luck and if I can then I’ll maintain my undefeated dodgeball streak. If I can keep it going for a couple of matches, maybe they’ll start to call me the Queen of Dodgeball or something.

She grinned widely as a short laugh escaped her lips.

Mara: The challenges always look to be a lot of fun and I loved taking part in my first dodgeball contest, despite the nerves. I’m sure this time around it’ll be even more enjoyable, especially with the pool party atmosphere.

Sara: I’m sure it will be. Fans, don’t move a muscle! Gemma Pierce and Kaya Crimson will meet one on one when we come back.

Sara thanks Mara as Future Shock heads to a commercial break.

[Adam Grant]

A short video package shows the history between Kaya Crimson and Gemma Pierce, including their teased altercation at Anarchy before we head back to the ring. And there we find Gaby in her usual location.

Gaby: The following contest is scheduled for one fall.

Zack: I’m looking forward to this after their original encounter, and what we almost saw at Anarchy. Kaoru Asaka, welcome to the booth.

Kaoru: Happy to be along for the ride as always, Zack. And this should be a hell of a ride with these two about to go at it again.

The lights go out in the arena, an anticipatory murmur filling the arena. A moment or two passes in silence before a slow-tempo guitar begins to play through the PA system, accompanied by an electronic vibration effect, kicking off All Good Things’ “For the Glory.”

Better back down, you’re in my domain
Got the whole crowd screaming out our name
It’s a blowout, it’s a hurricane
It’s over, before you know it

An aggressive guitar chord strikes as red lights begin to swirl through the arena. The curtain is pushed aside, and a dimly lit figure stands in the middle of the entrance ramp. While not much of her is clearly visible, she turns her head to face either direction of the crowd.

Why you shaking? We’re a dynasty
In the making, We’re the royalty
Now we're breaking down the enemy
Move over for the soldiers

After a moment, a single white spotlight turns to the ramp, revealing a red-haired woman in a leather jacket, glaring toward one side of the crowd, chewing a piece of gum with a smirk on her face.

Gaby: Introducing first], from Liverpool, England, weighing 147 pounds…this is “The World Piercer,” GEMMA...PIERCE!

Gemma turns to stare at the other side of the audience, lips curling into even more of a smirk as the fans react to the introduction with boos. She stuffs her hands into the pockets of her leather jacket, pacing down the ramp slowly. For the most part, she ignores the crowd, although one person toward the end of the ramp seems to get the “World Piercer’s” attention. The smirk on her face only grows as she gets into a bit of a jaw-jacking competition with the fan, even holding her arms out and seeming to invite some kind of confrontation--when nothing comes of it, though, she just grins even more.

She circles around the ring, taking her sweet time before deciding which side she wants to enter on, swinging herself up onto the apron. She grips the top rope and grins, pulling herself up to her feet, staring out into the crowd for just a moment. She steps through the ropes, moving straight into the center of the ring and stretching her arms out wide, curling both hands in a “bring it” sort of gesture, as the boos only increase. The Merseysider chuckles to herself, shrugging her leather jacket off her shoulders and tossing it out of the ring, moving to her corner and leaning herself back against the turnbuckles.

Zack: Gemma Pierce has been nothing but impressive since arriving in Future Shock. And the only loss she has is against the woman she’s about to face. So something tells me that makes her even more focused, if that’s possible, tonight.

Kaoru: With someone as obviously competitive as Gemma is, it’s no wonder she wants to try to get that win back. That’s the kind of thing that will sit on your mind and bother you until it’s resolved… She’s about to get that chance though, we’ll see if it works out.

The opening to “Our Truth” by Lacuna Coil kickstarts, feeling the arena with Cristina Scabbia’s symphonic wail. Its unique beat results in Kaya Crimson making a steady walk from behind the curtain. Chewing on a piece of bubblegum, she scans the crowd methodically. After her initial scan, she blows a bubble before heading down the ramp. A black hood shrouds all but her excited smile. Her walk down the ramp itself represents that as she throws her hands out to the crowd, smacking the hands of outstretched fans. She stops and points outward to Gabrielle Crimson, beckoning her to start her call.

Gaby: Making her way down to the ring...weighing at a 143 pounds...she is the Rockstar Revolution...KAYAAAAAAAAAAA CRIMSOOOOOOOOOON!

Only taking a few more steps down the ramp, she stops on the end of the it. From there, she takes a “break” on the barricade, allowing some lucky fans to get some up close and personal selfies and interactions with the Rockstar Revolution. She leaves them with a playful air, putting up the devil horns with her fingers while she saunters towards the ring.

When she ascends the ring apron, she shows a small usage of her athleticism, front-flipping over the top rope. With a roll to recover, she stays on one knee. The hood naturally falls off, revealing the full features of herself. The bright eyes of Kaya Lovelace displays her competitive glee as she points out to Gabrielle Crimson. She blows her a kiss and mouths “thank you” to her fellow Crimson. She heads to her designated corner, keeping her back turned to whatever. Lowering her head to the top turnbuckle, she begins her mental preparations. Most of which involves her rolling her wrists around in, garnering focus in the action.

Zack: Kaya’s coming off a big win over the Aspire Ring bearer, whom we’ll see later tonight. That’s two big wins in a row for her, Gemma and then Lacey! What do you think, Kaoru? Can she ride that wave to two wins over the World Piercer?

Kaoru: It’s a lot of momentum, but it’s always harder the second time around. Gemma’s got that first-hand knowledge now. It’ll be interesting to see if she sticks to the same game plan that got her the win the first time or if she switches things up a bit. Either way, it should be a very close encounter here.

As Gaby left the ring, referee Melinda Davis checks both women for anything illegal. When she finds nothing, she calls for the bell. Kaya cracks her knuckles as she listens to the crowd starting to get behind her. She and Gemma meet in the center of the ring, locking up. Both women jockey for position for a couple seconds before Kaya pulls Gemma down into a small package that brings the crowd to its feet and the referee into position!!

Zack: Both women trying to get the----GOOD LORD, SHE’S GONNA DO IT AGAIN!!

ONE!!

T-NO!!

Kaoru: Kaya knows it only takes one move and three seconds and that was almost the shock of the night right from the jump!

Gemma kicks out almost immediately, her eyes wide as Kaya quickly gets back to her feet and takes off towards the ropes. The redhead rises up as well, catching a running shoulder tackle from Kaya that sends her backwards a few steps. Crimson immediately unloads with right hands to her head followed by a jawbreaker that stumbles her backwards. Kaya pulls her down again into another small package!

ONE!!

TWOOO!!! NO!!

Kaoru:  And another one! Even closer this time and we haven’t even left the starting blocks!

Zack: That’s how she got her in their first match, and Kaya’s gonna make Gemma hate a small package before we’re done!

Another kick out as Kaya rolls to her feet, a little smirk on her face as Gemma starts to get up and glares a hole through her. This time, Gemma becomes the aggressor as she charges towards Kaya. Crimson backs up towards the corner as Gemma reaches for her, only to get a drop toe hold face first into the bottom turnbuckle. Kaya quickly springs to her feet and takes off towards the ropes. As Gemma turns around on her knees, she gets a boot across the jaw for a facewash that drives her head into the second turnbuckle now. The redhead tried to sit up, and caught a low dropkick to the chest that caused Gemma to nearly topple over the bottom rope.

Kaoru: The good news is, Gemma didn’t get rolled up again. The bad news is, she just at a lot of boot leather from Crimson.

Zack: Kaya’s not looking to counter wrestle tonight, she’s out there showing us her speed and giving Gemma serious problems already here in the early moments.

Kaoru: Seems like Pierce got a bit over-aggressive in pursuit and Kaya made her pay for it.

Kaya pulled Gemma to her feet, and shoved her into the corner. She climbed up to the middle rope, and instead of ten punches, it was ten elbows into a bulldog off the middle rope. Pierce crashed on the canvas before Kaya went for the cover with a hook of the leg.

Kaoru: Crimson not getting paid by the hour here and looking to get it done quick in Glasgow!

ONE!!

TWOOOO! NO!!

Zack: Who can blame her?! You get paid the same no matter how long the match is, and Kaya’s rolling here!

Gemma kicked out, sending Kaya rolling off and back to her feet. Crimson stomped her boot, and backed up against the ropes. She waved Gemma to get up and turn around. When she got her wish, Kaya went for a big boot across the jaw but Gemma caught her foot with both hands. Kaya hopped on one foot before Pierce kicked her other foot out from under her and caused Kaya to do a split on the canvas that froze her in place. Pierce’s face darkened as she stepped back, and gave her a shining wizard to the head to put her down entirely.

Kaoru: And that, friends, is why proper stretching is important. Although I’m not sure how much that helps after that shot from Gemma. I think Kaya’s roll just stopped rolling.

Zack: You got that right! And on top of that, I think she’s gotten under Gemma’s skin too. And this is a lesson in what happens when you irritate the World Piercer.

Kaoru: I’ll try to remember that for the future.

Kaya brought her legs back together gingerly as she tried to gather her wits about her. Gemma pounded two stomps into her head as she lay on the canvas, and then grabbed one of her legs and bent it backwards to begin stomping Kaya’s head with her own boot. When she let go, Kaya dropped back to the mat and got scooped up by the waist in a show of strength for a wheelbarrow suplex that spiked her back onto the mat again.

Zack: Ever seen someone use your own foot to stomp you in the head? Gemma’s stretching Kaya here, and in the most grueling ways possible.

Kaoru: I’m not quite that limber, thankfully. That seems like a really good way to not only damage someone’s groin muscles, but their ego too. That suplex takes care of the rest.

The rocker tried to push up to her hands and knees before Gemma grabbed both of her legs, and flipped her over into a gorilla clutch submission. Kaya’s face showed abject pain as her lower body was being tortured along with her back. Davis dropped down to ask for a submission, but didn’t get one as Kaya immediately used her hands to try to pull them towards the ropes. Gemma let her get almost there before she dragged her back towards the center, causing more anguish for Crimson.

Kaoru: Gemma’s got that locked in good, really working over the back and lower body of Kaya here. I’m kind of surprised she made it that close to the ropes so fast, but Pierce looks all too happy to drag her back out into deep waters here.

Zack: Gemma is one of a very few people in this business I’ve seen make use of the gorilla clutch, and she has it perfected, to say the least. She let Kaya get to the ropes to taunt her, and then bring her back to center.

Kaoru: She doesn’t seem bitter about those small packages at all…

Crimson tried to push up again, but this time, she moved her hands even faster and made it to the ropes. She wrapped her arm around the rope as Gemma tried to yank her free, but wasn’t having any luck before she finally let go of the hold. A stomp to the face got her to let go before she pulled her away from the ropes again to the center. She grabbed her feet to go for it again, but Kaya surprised her by rolling onto her back and using a bicycle motion with her legs to stomp Gemma repeatedly in the face. It sent her stumbling backwards as Kaya pushed back to her feet, and grimaced as she tried to stand up straight. Gemma was already back up thought, and went towards her with a clothesline. But Kaya ducked under it behind her, and hooked her into a half nelson suplex.

Kaoru: You can see the toll that hold took on Kaya there as she got up, after that...unique bit of offense to escape the clutches of the World Piercer there.

Zack: Kaya loves using that full nelson suplex, and she’s doing whatever she can right now just to get a moment to try to straighten her back out. But Gemma….she’s getting up again!

Gemma barely stayed down long before she started pushing back to her feet, giving Kaya virtually no time to recover. Crimson took off towards the ropes, but Gemma snatched her by the back of her tights and pulled her back to her before she got very far. Pierce grabbed a rear waistlock before Kaya began throwing back elbows with both arms to try to get free. Several connected on both sides of Gemma’s head, allowing Kaya to free herself as Pierce stumbled backwards. Kaya spun into her, hoisted her up into a vertical suplex but brought her down into a double knee backbreaker!

Zack: She calls that LOVE HURTS! And she got every bit of it! That’s also the first time I’ve ever seen someone counter a run towards the ropes!

Kaoru: Sometimes letting go is the hardest part, Zack, and I bet Gemma wishes she had after that move by Kaya! But can Crimson capitalize on it?

Crimson crawled towards the ropes, using them to help her get up. But it was clear how much pain she was in, with one hand pressed against her back. She forced her way back to the slowly rising Gemma, and scooped her up again. This time, she connected with a falcon’s arrow face down on the mat before she rolled her over for the cover. Davis immediately dropped to make the count.

Zack: Falcon’s arrow right on target, and Kaya’s looking to end it now!

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

THREE-NOPE!!

Gemma’s shoulder came up after the two, causing Kaya to struggle back to her feet. She pounded her fist onto the mat, trying to get the crowd behind her before she pulled Gemma’s head between her legs. She went to hoist her up for a powerbomb, but she yelped in pain and dropped her to her feet. Crimson stumbled backwards off balance, and Gemma pulled her into a powerbomb….but across her knee before she hit the mat.

Kaoru: Kaya went for it all right there but all that work on her lower back paid dividends for Pierce and boy did she make her pay with that powerbomb variation! Wow!

Gemma slowly made it back to her feet, showing the signs of the offense that had been used against her. She headed towards Kaya, who was almost in a fetal position on the mat. Pierce stalked towards her as she reached down to grab her before Kaya surprised her and pulled her into another small package! The crowd got to its feet as Davis went to count!

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-NO!!!

Gemma barely kicked out in time, and sat up. She looked up to the referee to see it was just a three, and her nostrils flared for a split second in anger.

Kaoru: I’m not sure who Gemma is more mad at right now, Kaya for using that small package again, or herself for getting caught again, but in any case, she looks even more pissed off than she has all night, and it’s harder to get any closer to a repeat of the last outing than that!

Pierce got back to her feet, and yanked Kaya up with her as she was trying to do the same. She fired her across to the far side, and went for a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on the rebound. But Kaya spun through and landed on her feet instead. Gemma turned around just as Kaya grabbed her arm and pulled her down into an inverted stomp facebreaker! She lunged on top of her for the cover!

Zack: Where did that come from?! Kaya for the win!!

ONE!!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-NO!!

Gemma’s shoulder popped up in the nick of time, causing Kaya to make sure with the referee it was just two before she rolled off the cover. Crimson struggled to get to her feet, not able to stand up straight fully.

Kaoru: Kaya really making the most of the opportunities her reversal game is giving her here and serves up another round of boot for Gemma! She’s got Pierce reeling but she’s gotta stay aggressive here if she wants to win!

Kaya dragged her thumb across her neck before she pulled Gemma up to her feet with her. She planted her head into position as she wrapped her arms around one of Gemma’s legs and one between them.

Zack: Kaya’s looking for that Frank Gotch inspired piledriver! I don’t Gemma will get up if she hits it!

Kaya went to lift her up, but Gemma surprised and stood up with Kaya over her back. She planted her with a backdrop driver, spiking Kaya into the mat before she got back to her feet with a bit of a snarl on her face. She jerked her back to her feet, and executed her lifting single underhook brainbuster! Kaya collapsed on the mat before Gemma hooked the outside leg, and grinded her forearm into Kaya’s head at the same time.

Kaoru: Gemma wasn’t ready to go quietly and she just PIERCED THE EARTH with Crimson’s head!!

ONE!!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

Davis called for the bell as Gemma rolled off the cover, sitting slumped over on the mat as she inhaled deeply, trying to catch her breath as she looked over her shoulder at the fallen Kaya.

Zack: With one emphatic PIERCE THE EARTH, Gemma put a period on this match! I can’t tell by that look if she has any more respect for her now or just wants to do it again.

Gaby: Here’s your winner by pinfall………..’THE WORLD PIERCER’ GEMMA PIERCE!!

Kaoru: It almost looks like both, but I think she’ll be glad to get out of here with the win as it is! That’s how you snatch victory from the jaws of defeat right there.

The redhead slowly got back to her feet, and had her hand raised. The crowd didn’t show her much love, but it didn’t seem to bother her at all.

Zack: Gemma Pierce evens the series with Kaya Crimson tonight, but I have a feeling these two are gonna be on a collision course with one another yet again. And I want to see it if they do!

Kaoru: You, me, and everyone else! What a match though.

Gemma rolled out of the ring, and headed up the ramp. She glanced behind her to the ring as Kaya was starting to get up. It was only a stare though before she looked ahead as the show cut elsewhere.




The Graduation

A video package shows us highlights from the first 2 Prospects versus the World matches that got Angel and “Poison” Rose Gardner into the graduation poll. We then head back to ringside with the Director of Future Shock standing in the ring. A buzz falls over the crowd since they know what he’s come to discuss.

Adam: Hey Glasgow, how the hell are you?!

He gets a very loud response from the crowd, which brings a little bit of a smile to his face as he continues.

Adam: Before I get to the business at hand, I want to thank all of you here for being part of tonight. It was Future Shock’s first visit to Scotland, and I give you my word that it won’t be the last! You guys have made this trip a massive success, and I can’t thank all of you enough. Now with that said, we got a lot more action still to come. But tonight is not just about that, it’s also about….moving up.

He points up to the FFW flag hanging over the arena.

Adam: It’s all about that. Today, June 5th, is the 8th anniversary of FFW. The most successful women’s wrestling promotion on the planet, no one else even comes close honestly. But see, FFW is a major company with some of the best and brightest talent in the world. But it’s right here...in Future Shock...that we see where the future lies. It’s here in Future Shock that we see what the next chapter in FFW’s future will hold. And it’s here in Future Shock that we get talent ready for that.

He gestures back towards the flag again.

Adam: You all made a choice recently of who you thought was ready to go to the biggest stage in women’s wrestling. You had a tough choice with two women that I feel are more than ready. But this is Future Shock, and we left it up to all of you around the world. Tonight, they find out which one you chose.

He headed towards the corner, picking up a clipboard off the turnbuckle.

Adam: I have a full roster contract right here in my hand. A ticket to FFW on it’s birthday. It’s almost like we’re sending them a gift, and I think that’s fitting honestly. Tonight on FFW’s 8th birthday, it is my pleasure…..with a mix of sadness because it’s like watching your kids grow up and leave home…. It’s my honor to send the Prospect you thought deserved it to FFW. So let’s do it Price Is Right style…….

He pointed towards the ramp.

Adam: ROSE GARDNER…..COME ON DOWN!!

And the Glasgow crowd erupted. The disco beats of “I’m The Boss” hit the sound system as the Cosplaying Princess showed up atop the stage, wearing her street clothes (seeing as she isn’t booked to wrestle tonight) and with a beaming smile on her face. She dashed down the entrance ramp happily sharing high-fives with the audience before she rolled into the ring and leapt on Adam, giving him a big hug.

Rose’s celebration continued as she leaned onto the ropes and moved to the music, swinging on the top rope and pointing to herself when the music called for it. As soon as she was done with that, she immediately rolled OUT of the ring again and made a beeline to the ring announcer, formerly her aunt through marriage, Gabrielle Crimson, and gave HER a big hug too, before snatching the microphone from her hand and rolling into the ring again.

Rose: ROSALINA FOR PRESIDENT!!!

Adam put the clipboard under his arm, giving her some applause along with the exuberant crowd in attendance.

Adam: 55% of the the vote said they wanted to see you in FFW. Congratulations, Rose. I couldn’t be prouder of you!

Rose beamed proudly at the announcement, hopping on the balls of her feet due to her hyper-ness.

Rose: That’s awesome! And I love that it was so close! I mean… I did say it, didn’t I? That it would be just as awesome if Angel was elected to graduate, as long as people smacked a vote? I think… I think this… Oh man. Wow. Uh…

The cosplayer walked around, still smiling proudly, even though she was at a temporary loss for words.

Rose: Okay, tell you what. Uhhhh… This contract. I’m gonna take it, thank youuuuu.

She slyly collected the contract from Adam’s hand, as playfully as it’s expected from her,causing the audience to chuckle.

Rose: BUT! I’m very, very, very thankful to Future Shock for all the things I learned and all the friends I made. And I’m gonna take these experiences with me all the way… Now as a pro!

Adam: You earned it. But you know as well as I do that it’s a real shark tank up there. But the fans and I agree that you are more than ready for it. And as soon as you sign that contract, a much bigger world awaits you. As a matter of fact, there’s someone else who wants to celebrate in the moment with you.

The crowd’s attention turned to the ramp as we see a guy they’ve never seen before, at least not in his street clothes. In a pair of shorts and a “Poison” t-shirt walked out a guy with dirty blonde hair. He climbed the steps into the ring, and gave Rose a hug and kiss to congratulate her. After the sweet moment, Rose smirks at the crowd.

Rose: For everyone not familiar… This is Alex, my boyfriend! And you’re out here just in time! How about we turn--...

Alex: I know where you’re going, but let’s wait for like a minute on that. Because you know me, I’m kind of a ‘live in the moment’ dude. And when I saw you were in this graduation poll deal and having been there for most every match you’ve had in Future Shock, I decided there was a question I was going to ask the winner of this poll. I can’t tell you how glad I am it was you, because well…

He reached into his pocket, and dropped down to one knee in the ring. Many of the women in the crowd gave quite an “aww” sound.

Alex: I know we haven’t known each other forever. I know we haven’t been together a hugely long time. But I also know that every day you’re with me, I look forward to the next more. So what do you say….you and I…..make this thing official? I love you more than anyone I’ve ever known, and while FFW is going to be a new adventure, I’d like to go on a bigger adventure with you. So….will you marry me?

Rose blinked as her cheeks went red, and the audience slowly broke into a “YES” chant. Poison looked around, absolutely flustered, before… of course, cracking a joke about it.

Rose: You were gonna propose to Angel if she won? Dude, not cool.

Alex shook his head quickly, letting her know he and Angel weren’t that tight. Rose shook her head with a snicker.

Rose: Of damn course I will, you silly boy.

He popped open the ring box, and put the diamond ring on her finger before he got back to his feet, and the two lovebirds shared another kiss, much to the delight of the Glaswegian crowd. As they separated, Rose smirked at her now fiancé and picked up the microphone again.

Rose: Now there’s only one way to go about this, you leave me no choice.

The Cosplay Princess then turns to the Commissioner…

Rose: Okay, one last request, if I may, Adam? Let’s have ourselves… A DANCE PARTAAAAAY~!

The lights went out as colored spotlights began to flash all over the ring and the crowd before the music began. Then the dance party began before the show headed to a commercial break.

[Adam Grant]

Future Shock returns from the commercial break, and immediately heads back to ringside with Gaby front and center in the ring.

Gaby: The following contest is scheduled for one fall, and it is a triple threat match for a shot at the Aspire Ring!

Zack: One of three matches on tonight’s show that revolve around the Aspire Ring, and this one has the likelihood of potentially being the most chaotic of the three.

Erica: I’d argue it’ll be the Aspire Ring match itself. After all, we were talking earlier about Lacey and Celeste having had issues for over six months. That said, there is certainly more than a little potential for this to go nuts.

I'm only human
I'm only—I'm only—
I'm only human, human

“Human” by Rag’n’Bone Man starts to play over the soundsystem as the video screen shows a jail cell door sliding backwards and a pair of black ring boots with legs going all the way up to a simple blue skirt step out onto the landing only to suddenly stumble as if given a push in the small of the back from the man who appeared behind her in shiny black shoes and black pants.

Maybe I'm foolish,
Maybe I'm blind
Thinking I can see through this
And see what's behind
Got no way to prove it
So maybe I'm lying

As the pair pass by, the camera gets a shot from behind before it cuts to more grainy CCTV footage that shows the guard escorting the raven haired prisoner across a prison yard of patchy grass and into another building. There’s another cut as we see a shot of exposed midriff on the other side of a counter that has a pack of gum, some loose change on it and a hair bobble on it. A hand reaches forward, picking up a pen and signs a name quickly before scooping up the possessions as she stiffly pushed to move onwards.

But I'm only human after all,
I'm only human after all
Don't put your blame on me
Don't put your blame on me

There’s another cut; this time to show the back of the black haired woman as she reaches up to tie her long loose hair back with the bobble while still walking forward, coming to a stop in front of a large closed door. The camera cuts to the opposite side of the door and low door, watching as it swung open and the woman stepped out; only for the blazing sun to obscure her face and body; the video screens becoming a blazing yellow-white sun glare with a spotlight shining bright as the same woman has appeared at the top of the entrance ramp. The spotlight dims to reveal Mara Werth standing there in her black boots, blue skirt and white vest top.

Take a look in the mirror
And what do you see?
Do you see it clearer
Or are you deceived
In what you believe?

Gaby: Ladies and gentlemen please welcome from Tuscaloosa, Alabama… MARA WERTH!!!

'Cause I'm only human after all,
You're only human after all
Don't put the blame on me
Don't put your blame on me

With a smile on her face she begins to head down the ramp….until Lilliana blindsides her from behind with a baseball bat to the back. The music stops as she starts wailing away with the bat across her back, an enraged look on her face.

Zack: I wondered why Lilliana wasn’t already in the ring, and now we know! She’s furious over her loss to Mara, and she’s trying to take her out of this match before it even starts!

Erica: ...Huh. Well at least she’s got the temper like every other hothead on this roster, I suppose! Gotta pardon me, I always get the urge to go number two when she’s about.

Referee Malcolm Parks heads out of the ring before he gets shoved back until Lilliana starts choking Mara out with the bat. Parks manages to pull her off before she stomps the back of Mara’s head into the floor. Leucrotta heads for the ring with her bat in hand, and starts swinging it. Gaby barely avoids getting hit as the referee tries to get the bat away from her.

Gaby: And in this corner, from South Bend, Indiana... weighing one hundred sixty-five pounds... Lilliana Leucrotta!

Zack: Lilliana still has that bat in the ring, Mara’s down on the outside. And boy, did that prediction about this match being chaotic ever come true! Get the bat away from her!

Erica: Apparently I stand corrected! Liliana apparently trying to make this match the singles match that it was meant to be. Which is a shame, really. Mara is the infinitely better wrestler.

The Indiana resident spat at a few ringside fans as she shoved the referee backwards, the bat still in her hand as she waved Lydia to come out. She got into a batter’s squat, telling her to come out.

Zack: She’s telling them to bring out Lydia! Mara’s still down on the ramp!

The trainers went to check on Mara as Lilliana continued to swing the bat like she was warming up in the bullpen. She continued to shout for Lydia to come down to the ring.

Erica: So….no one is going to remove the bat from wrestling hothead number one million and five then?

Zack: I don’t know if Mara’s gonna be able to compete in this match, and Leucrotta….IS ABOUT TO GET HER WISH!

“Charisma” by W.A.S.P. fills the arena as up near the top of the ramp a fine smoke begins to pour out from both sides. Fragments of code begin running on the ground, but they slowly transform into... Music notes. The notes of green and purple begin to appear on the ground of the ramp towards the ring.

“I've a breath in minds of men with the lies I breathe!
No man's ever ruled the world not knowing the curse of me!
I'm some of the seven sins, vanity in the lust of men!
I'm the Alpha-Omega man, I'll show you who I am!
Ohhhhhh, hypnotic charm, mesmerizing face, my soul has a dark embrace!
A magic tongue, I'll seduce you all ‘till I'm your king, ‘till ya know my...!
 
CCHHHHAARRRIIIZZZMMMMAAAAAAAAAA!!! DO YOU KNOW MY NAME!?
I’M THE GOD THAT YOU PRAISE, WHEN YOU WORSHIP MY NAME!
CCHHHHAARRRIIIZZZMMMMAAAAAAAAAA!!! ARE YOU IDOLIZING ME!?
I’M A DANGEROUS THING, AND YOUR NEW MESSIAH’S ME!”
 
Walking backwards through the smoke is Lydia Charisma with her back to the crowd. She raises her hands up over her head and turns around, her eyes immediately falling on Lilliana in the ring.
 
Gaby: From Sin City... Weighing in at 202 pounds... She is THE RAWK OF AGES, THE JUKEBOX POWERHOUSE, THE ONE WOMAN NIELSEN RATING... This is “THE SIX STRING SINNER”... LLLYYYDDDIIIAAA! CCCHHHHAAARRRIIISSSSMMMMAAAAA!!
 
“I'm a liar blinding your vision, vatican man!
Preachin' fear and using religion, with the Bible and Koran!
I wrap myself in the American flag, and tell people I'm for which it stands,
I'm comin' back till you know I'm God, ‘till you believe, till you know my...!
 
CCHHHHAARRRIIIZZZMMMMAAAAAAAAAA!!! DO YOU KNOW MY NAME!?
I’M THE GOD THAT YOU PRAISE, WHEN YOU WORSHIP MY NAME!
CCHHHHAARRRIIIZZZMMMMAAAAAAAAAA!!! ARE YOU IDOLIZING ME!?
I’M A DANGEROUS THING, AND YOUR NEW MESSIAH’S ME!”
 
Charisma leans down, checking on Mara along with the trainers before she hops up onto the ring apron. Meanwhile, Lilliana is inviting her in. Charisma cautiously steps through the ropes as Lilliana got right for her with the bat, but Lydia catches it under one arm and starts firing right hands into Lilliana’s head. The crowd roars in approval as Charisma boots her backwards, and throws the bat out of the ring. Leucrotta gets her bearings before immediately catching more right hands from Lydia.

Zack: Lilliana wanted Lydia out here, and she got her wish! I’m not sure if this is still a triple threat, but I don’t think this crowd minds who gets their hands on Lilliana at this moment!

Erica: I’m not sure being as unpolished as she apparently is, and then doing that, was a good idea. Maybe it’s just a whole other branch of idiocy? I mean, you don’t predictably chase people like Lydia Charisma with a bat.

Parks immediately called for the bell as Lydia unloaded with right hands a’plenty! Each shot staggered Leucrotta backwards before Charisma whipped her across to the far side. Lydia bounced off the near side with a lariat that flipped Lilliana inside out. The crowd started chanting her name as Lydia headed towards her opponent. Leucrotta began to slide backwards on her butt towards the corner, and caught a running kick in the chest from Lydia when she tried to get up. She shoved her back into the corner, and climbed to the middle rope to rain ten straight right hands onto her head. When she hopped down, Lilliana walked out three steps and faceplanted on the mat.

Erica: You know what’s interesting here? Glasgow is a city that loves a good brawl, and a good brawler by extension, but they’re right into Lydia right now. Saying that though, one third of the match was taken out by sneak attack, so there’s that to consider too.

Zack: The trainers are still working with Mara on the outside. I don’t know if she’ll be able to compete, but either way, Lydia certainly is ready!

As Lilliana was getting to her feet, Lydia sent her into the ropes again with an Irish whip. As soon as she rebounded, she got planted with a sidewalk slam. The powerhouse got back to her feet, pulling her to her feet and then lifting her overhead into a gorilla press slam over the top rope to the floor. She stepped through to the outside as Lilliana was starting to crawl away from her. When Charisma went to grab her though, Leucrotta grabbed the bat and drove it into her abdomen. It doubled the powerhouse over before Lilliana got to her feet, and struck the bat against her back repeatedly as she had with Mara earlier. Leucrotta pulled her up, and rolled her back inside before sliding in after her.

Zack: Lydia threw her out, but it was on the side of the ring where that bat was laying! And now, Lilliana’s gotten control here.

Erica: I would call that a bad move, but I’m not entirely sure that Lydia actually knew where the bat was. In any case, it wasn’t the greatest idea and now she’s paying for it. And now I remember why I get that urge.

Lydia held her back as she lay on the mat before Leucrotta bit into her face. Boos rained from the crowd as she sat up, and began driving fists into her face. After getting back to her feet, she followed up with a knee drop into Lydia’s back. A glance around the crowd only got loud boos for her before she executed a double leg drop across her chest before grabbing her leg to make a cover. Parks slid into position to make the count.

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

T-NOPE!!

Zack: A close fall there for Lilliana, and she’s really taking advantage of the fact there’s no disqualifications in a triple threat.

Erica: Let’s be realistic, the no disqualification aspect is the only thing that gives her a chance against someone like Lydia.

Lydia got her shoulder up before her opponent began trying to pull her face apart with her fingers in both corners of Lydia’s mouth. Leucrotta got back to her feet, and put the boots to Lydia. She pulled her head between her legs, and went for a piledriver. But Charisma blocked it, and shoved her backwards into the ropes. Leucrotta bounced off the ropes, and caught Lydia getting up with a kneelift to the face. The powerhouse fell to a knee before Lilliana dragged her bootlaces across her face.

Zack: There’s nothing that Lilliana Leucrotta won’t use if she can get her hands on it. Or in this case, her bootlaces. She’s managed to get Lydia down, and keep her there.

Erica: I can think of a million things that are also legal that would have a better effect than bootlaces. That would be more irritating than effective, to be honest.

She picked up the bat still laying on the mat, her face showing nothing but hatred as she moved around to Lydia’s side. The bat was raised over her head like a guillotine as Lilliana spat on Lydia’s head. The boos were getting louder...until Mara slid into the ring behind her. The former inmate stood right behind her, a thunderous expression on her face.

Zack: Uh oh….she forgot about Mara! Look at her face!

Erica: And then there’s the crowd letting her in on the fact she’s there! Goddamnit guys.

Lilliana went to strike, but Mara pulled the bat down from behind her. As soon as the Indiana resident turned around, Mara fired the bat into her ribs. The referee tried to get her to drop it before Werth put the bat between her legs and lifted her off the mat with it. Leucrotta fell to her knees in pain as Mara threw the bat out of the ring. She pulled her up by the arm, and started firing kicks into her body one after another. Werth took off for the far side, and caught her with a high knee to the head. As she staggered backwards, Mara hit the near side ropes and caught her with a bicycle kick to the mouth. She immediately made the cover and hooked the outside leg in the process. Parks dropped to count the fall.

Erica: Revenge is a dish best served cold! Or in this case, with a pin attempt!

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

THRE-NOPE!!

Leucrotta got her shoulder up in time, and Mara quickly got back to her feet. She yanked her up by the arm, and sent her across for the ride. Mara caught her on the rebound with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker.

Zack: There has to be so much pain that Mara wants to inflict on Lilliana with how this started. Something tells me she’s glad the match isn’t over yet.

Mara dragged her opponent to her feet, and sent her into the corner. She followed her with a corner clothesline before sitting her on the top rope. Werth climbed up with her, and hooked her head under one arm in position for a superplex. But as she was lifting her up, Lydia popped up between her legs and used a powerbomb at the same time as Mara executed the superplex. Charisma dove on top of Mara for the cover as the crowd came to its feet.

Zack: A tower of doom, and both Mara and Lilliana got PLANTED!! Lydia’s getting a shot at the Aspire Ring!

ONE!!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

THREEE-NOPE!!!

Mara’s shoulder came up as Lydia crawled over to Lilliana, and made another cover with a hook of the leg this time.

Erica: Mara didn’t get Lydia what she wanted, so hopefully Lilliana will!

ONE!!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

THREEEEEEEEEEEEE-NOPE!!!

Leucrotta got her shoulder up in time before the three, causing Lydia to get back to her feet. She rubbed her back for a moment, and saw Mara starting to get up first. She immediately grabbed her, and went for her reverse chokeslam facebuster! The crowd roared in approval as Lydia headed to make the cover before Lilliana caught her with a low blow that dropped her to her knees before she made the cover on Mara instead!

Zack: The DEALER’S HAND!! And Lydia---no...Lilliana’s gonna steal it!!

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-NO!!

Werth got her leg across the bottom rope, causing the referee to stop his count. Parks held up two fingers as Lilliana sat up on her knees in agony before giving the referee the middle finger. She got back to her feet, and headed for the ropes as she seemed to be measuring either Mara or Lydia for something.

Erica: D’aww, the witto hothead didn’t get her way so she gonna act like a brat about it. Also...someone fill me in on what she’s planning.

Mara was beginning to get to her hands and knees before Lilliana turned her attention to her. The Indiana resident darted towards her, looking for her curb stomp. She didn’t make it before Lydia intercepted her with a discus punch, still sore from the low blow. She pulled Leucrotta into position, and connected with her spinning double leg facebuster! Charisma quickly went for the cover as the crowd came to its feet!

Zack: OCEAN’S ELEVEN!!

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Parks called for the bell to a pop from the crowd, and Lydia struggled back to her feet and had her hand raised in the process.

Erica: And that’s how you snatch victory! The charismatic one is getting a shot at the Ring!

Gaby: Here’s your winner……………………’THE SIX STRING SINNER’ LYDIA CHARISMAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

Zack: There’s not a part of her body that isn’t hurting right now, but the Jukebox Powerhouse has gotten herself a shot at the Aspire Ring!

Lydia headed for the corner, climbing up onto the middle turnbuckle and raising her name again. The fans shouted her name, before she shouted back asking them what it was. She headed for the floor, leaning against the barricade as the ringside fans congratulated her.

Zack: Lydia Charisma went through two women and a baseball bat tonight, and she’s earned her shot! Whether it’s Lacey or Celeste, I wouldn’t sleep on the Six String Sinner when she comes calling for her shot!

Erica: Can’t argue with that! Anyone who knows anything about Lydia knows that this is going to be one hell of a match when it happens, and it doesn’t matter who!

Charisma started to head for the back as the show cut elsewhere in the arena.




Angelic Sincerity

Future Shock returns from the commercial break, and we see a quick recap of earlier in the night when Rose Gardner was announced by Adam as the winner of the graduation poll. It then goes elsewhere and finds Angel with her manager in her locker room.

Christian: So I guess congratulations are in order. Rose won the poll, and I doubt anyone was surprised by that. I know I wasn’t. Angel wasn’t either. She won the poll, and she’s on her way to FFW in short order. But see, what stands out to me is that it wasn’t a blow out. And I’m sure a few thought it might be. Rose got 55% of the vote…..55%, which means Angel here was extremely close to getting the nod.

Angel, weirdly, doesn’t actually look too disappointed by the result.

Angel: Indeed, congratulations to Rose. And I say that with sincerity. I’m not much a fan of her, but the reality of it all is that I knew I had a mountain to climb to come as close to a win as I did, much less actually win the poll. I think we all knew that. It is surprising that it wasn’t a washout, but I can, and will, respect the fans for their decision and thank those who saw something. For now, however...let’s just keep causing some mayhem.

Christian: I think there’s a lesson we can learn from this. While there will always be those fans who like the gimmicks of dressing up like pop culture characters, there’s also a subset of fans who appreciate a woman who does what she says she’s gonna do. There’s no flash with Angel. She’s straight-ahead, bare knuckles, and out to do what she does best: leave people laying on the mat. And this poll proves to me that there’s quite a lot of them in the Future Shock audience, otherwise this would have been a landslide.

He looks to her with a smile, patting her on the leg.

Christian: You’ve got some fans. You’ve got some die hard wrestling fans who appreciate what you do, and I think that speaks to the fact that Future Shock fans aren’t just trolls as they have been painted in the past. Some of them like a tough as nails woman who can go, and doesn’t require anything but who she is. For what it’s worth, I’m very proud of you.

Angel: And I appreciate all of that. Thank you.

She gives him a small smile.

Angel: It’s disappointing. Of course it is. But the reality is what it is and I will accept that as I have accepted all other realities...such as the fact that it is Lacey wrestling Celeste with the Ring and not me. That’s the way it goes. So it just remains that we’ll keep going as we have...and make sure that next time it’s not me that’s being left.

Christian rubs his chin for a moment before giving her his attention again.

Christian: I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. I promise you that I will get you to FFW. You have my word. I’ll do it one way or another. I know you’re past ready. And before this year is over, I’ll pull every string I need to in order to get you there. Cross my heart.

He added with a grin, and actually did make a cross over his heart. Angel smiled at him again, but shook her head.

Angel: It’s appreciated. Truly, but I think in some cases it would be best if I went up when I am deemed ready by those around us. Can’t have people calling favourites now, can we?

Christian: I manage champions up and down the card in two companies. I think I’m more than qualified to decide if you’re ready. But I see your point. It’ll still be my goal. After all, what kind of a manager would I be otherwise?

Angel: You wouldn’t be, let’s not pretend otherwise. And you’re my friend as much as my manager.

Christian: Damn right. It wasn’t tonight, but it will be soon. And I’m always proud of you. You’ll never have someone who believes in you more than me.

Angel: I;m glad to hear it. Except maybe me, because self belief needs to exist. Still, we were awesome together once, I’m sure we will be again.

Christian: Guaranteed.

He gave her a wink before we head back to ringside.

[Adam Grant]

The long history between Celeste and Lacey is shown, dating all the way back to the dodgeball challenge at Halloween through multiple incidents since then involving a fire hose and fruit. We also see clips from the tag match at Anarchy.

Gaby: The following contest is scheduled for one fall, and it is for the ASPIRE RING!

Zack: It’s hard to believe how long this match has been building. It began with Celeste being a guest who knocked Lacey off in dodgeball last October. And it’s only gotten more intense. I have one of Celeste’s friends with me as usual for these big shows, Missy.

Missy: It’s great to be here as usual, Zack. And especially for this match. I’ve been looking forward to it since it was announced.

Strobe begins to flicker in tandem with the techno intro of "We’re in This Together Now" by Nine Inch Nails. The words begin to screech over the arena as Celeste makes her way out.

I've become impossible
holding on to when
when everything seemed to matter more
the two of us…all used and beaten up
watching fate as it flows down the path
we have chose…

She walks down the ramp with her focus on the ring ahead. After jumping up onto the apron she heads over to the nearest turnbuckle and climbs it. When the chorus hits, Celeste raises both arms up and out to take in the sounds of the crowd as she closes her eyes and tilts her head skyward.

you and me
we're in this together now
none of them can stop us now
we will make it through somehow
you and me
if the world should break in two
until the very end of me
until the very end of you

At the end of the chorus, Celeste hops into the ring from the turnbuckle and cracks her knuckles in preparation for the fight ahead while her theme fades out.

Gaby: Hailing from Miami, Florida…weighing 120 lbs…CELESTE!

Zack: She may have a bottomless stomach, but she also has an indomitable heart to go with it! Celeste is ready to put a ring on it in her first championship opportunity in Future Shock!

Missy: Celeste has already proved herself to be a strong competitor I think, and I would love to see her knock Lacey down a peg or two tonight.

The lights dim as the opening bars of “Turn You On” by Stitched Up Heart hit the speakers around the arena.

Are you awake, You're gonna have to hear the words I say
Don't you try turn away, I'm everything you ever dreamed I'd be
I'll make you wish that you never talked, Back to me
I can't wait to watch your ego bleed
Your pain will set me free

A red spotlight hits the curtain and Kyle Kilmeade walks out and proceeds to hold it open for Lacey to walk through. Stepping onto the stage in front of Kyle, Lacey wears a green and black one piece, which has a deep vee cut all the way to her navel, black fishnet tights and matching green and black boots. She runs her hands down her curves, while giving a little sway of her hips and then stands with her arms folded across her chest and her head lowers. 

I'd bite I'd scratch I'd hold you down, Just to turn you on
I'd leave you waiting tied and bound, Just to turn you on
Close your eyes, And come with me tonight
I'd burn this whole room to the ground, Just to turn, just to turn you on

She snaps her head up and flings her arms out at the sides of her in one fluid motion, almost as if someone has just pulled the strings on a puppet. Keeping her gaze straight ahead she slowly smirks before lowering her arms to her sides and making her way down the ramp with Kyle walking beside her.

I'll make you beg, I'm gonna teach you things you won't forget
Don't you try turn away, I'm everything you ever dreamed I'd be
I'll make you wish that you never talked, Back to me
I can't wait to watch your ego bleed
Your pain will set me free

Gaby: Making her way to the ring at this time….from parts unknown…..LAAAAACEEEEEY!!!

I'd bite I'd scratch I'd hold you down, Just to turn you on
I'd leave you waiting tied and bound, Just to turn you on
Close your eyes, And come with me tonight
I'd burn this whole room to the ground, Just to turn, just to turn you on

Completely ignoring the crowd at either side of the ramp, Lacey speeds up as she reaches the ring and jumps up onto the apron. Taking hold of the top rope with both hands, she slowly and seductively sways her hips and wiggles her way down and back up, almost like a serpent, before springboarding over the top rope. When she lands in the ring she immediately drops down into the splits and stays there for a moment with her arms outstretched. After getting back to her feet, she climbs up onto the top turnbuckle facing the outside. Pulling something from her top she opens her palm and blows the contents into the crowd.

I can't wait to watch your ego bleed
And all the pain you feel will set you free
If you behave this night will never end
Turn off the lights and start again

The lights shut off completely for a second at the end of the theme, when they come back on, Lacey is standing in her corner sharing some last minute words with Kyle.

Zack: Lacey’s not been happy with Celeste ever since she was a guest last fall on a show. We’ve come through fire hoses, fruit, and a tag match to get to this point. And this is definitely the most important match these two have had.

Missy: It must be awful to have an ego so fragile that you take offence to a guest throwing dodgeballs. Lacey picked the fight back then and she might be about to regret that now that Celeste has a chance to face her one on one.

Lacey hands the Aspire Ring to referee Ashley Pruitt. She shows it to Celeste as Gaby exits the ring before calling for the bell. But the referee notices Kyle is still on the apron talking with his client. Lacey holds up a finger as if asking for the match to be put on hold a little longer, causing Celeste to get a bit antsy and start pacing back and forth. The conversation continues as Celeste heads towards her. Lacey steps out onto the apron with her manager, causing the referee to intercept the challenger and ask her to step back till Lacey was in the ring.

Zack: Whatever strategy they are discussing or whatever else it could be...that should have been handled before they got to the ring. They’ve had over an hour since the show started, but...here we are.

Missy: She’s probably asking if it’s too late to back out. Or asking for tips on how to be even more despicable than usual. If anybody would know about that, it would be her manager after all!

The two continue their conversation as the crowd begins booing now. Celeste’s patience begins to wear thin as she heads towards the ropes Lacey is holding onto as she’s talking, and uses them to slingshot her over the top rope back into the ring. Lacey hits the mat, and pops back to her feet as Celeste bolts towards her into a Thesz press, and unloads with furious right hands to the head. The Aspire Ring bearer manages to shake her off, and tries to get away from her. But that doesn’t work too well before she gets pulled back by her tights. Celeste spins her around, and cracks her with an elbow to the jaw. She fires her into the ropes where Kyle is still standing, barely missing him as he hops down off the apron. And as soon as Lacey rebounds, Celeste scoops her up and drops her with a flapjack face down on the canvas to a pop from the crowd.

Zack: Celeste had enough of the team powwow going on in Lacey’s corner, and she really took matters into her own hands.

Missy: I can’t say I blame her for getting tired of waiting, most people would. If Lacey had been paying attention she would have seen that coming instead of where she’s at now.. Probably wondering what day of the week it is!

The redhead got to her feet, and went towards the corner. She didn’t make it on her own though before Celeste caught her with a clothesline to the back of her head. It sent her stumbling into the corner before Celeste picked her up, spun around, and hit an atomic drop that sent her staggering forward. Celeste rushed her from behind into the ropes, and rolled her up into a pin attempt!

Zack: Celeste with an old school O’Connor roll into a cover!

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

NOPE!!

Lacey managed to shove her off, pushing her forward with her legs. Celeste stopped herself before she hit the ropes chest first, and Lacey grabbed her head for an inverted facebuster. It smacked the back of the brunette’s head off the canvas between Lacey’s legs, and the redhead caught her breath and blew a kiss to the camera.

Missy: Lacey’s finally remembered she’s in a match by the looks of it. Although, I really don’t think she should be taking timeout for theatrics just yet, she’s only hit one move for pity’s sake. You’d think she’d just won with that display.

The Aspire Ring bearer got to her feet, stepping onto Celeste’s hair and grabbing her arms to pull her up. Celeste shouted in pain as it felt like her hair was being torn from her head. Pruitt counted to four before Lacey let her back down, and then picked her up again. Another four count followed before she let her go again. She asked the brunette if this was all she had before stepping over her, and kicking her feet behind her like she was covering Celeste in dirt. She headed for the corner, and stretched out across the top rope in the corner with her head resting on her hand as she looked at her fingernails on the other.

Missy: I’ve never seen the point of that move. I mean you’re not going to win a match with it. The only thing she’s gonna accomplish is to annoy the hell out of Celeste.

Zack: Not only that, but she’s giving her plenty of time to recover on the canvas. Celeste isn’t the kind of opponent you can take it easy against, and this is going to backfire at some point.

Lacey finally swung her legs around and back to the mat. Celeste had began to get back to her feet, but Lacey grabbed her by the head and tights before she threw her over the top rope to the floor. She dusted her hands off seconds before Celeste started to pull herself back up onto the apron, but got sent back down when Lacey ran the ropes and sent her back to the floor. As Pruitt admonished her about not letting Celeste back in the ring, while Lacey’s manager kicked the brunette in the ribs as she was trying to get up again. Kyle immediately headed around the corner before the referee turned around to start counting Celeste.

Missy: There’s always something with Kyle. I hope Celeste gets her hands on him once she finishes with Lacey. A smack in his mouth should show him the error of his ways!

Zack: Lacey would be well-advised to let her back into the ring, and try to win this. A countout isn’t going to make Celeste go away. She has to pin her or make her quit to put her out of contention.

Celeste started to rise again before Lacey took off for the far side. She bounced back, and went for a baseball slide into Celeste. But the brunette outsmarted her when she pulled out the ringa pron. Lacey’s feet slid right into it, landing ringside but caught in the apron as Celeste began unloading with body shots! Left and right hand combinations to the body rocked Lacey where she was stuck till an uppercut to the chin sent her head back onto the ropes...where it bounced forward for Celeste to catch her with a right hook. Another bounce of her head off the bottom rope before Celeste nailed her with an European uppercut that toppled her over the apron and down to the floor.

Zack: Celeste was ready that time, and Lacey got stuck behind the ring apron! What hand speed and body shots from the #1 contender! Lacey got her jaw jacked!

Missy: Ha! I bet Lacey is seeing three of Celeste after that. Maybe it’ll teach her to calm down the showboating and concentrate on the match. Although something tells me Lacey’s the kind that’s slow on the uptake.

Celeste pulled her back up, and shoved her under the bottom rope back into the ring. She was about to climb up when she noticed Kyle moving up behind her. She dropped back, and started walking him down. Kilmeade moved backwards as Celeste managed to corner him against the barricade while the referee was counting her out in the ring. Lacey started to sit up on the canvas, and watched as the referee was up to seven now with Celeste’s attention on her manager.

Missy: As much as I can understand Celeste wanting a piece of Kyle, right now is not the time. She needs to get back in the ring and kick Lacey’s butt first!

Zack: Celeste should have brought her manager to the ring with her to counteract that guy, but you’re right! The referee’s up to seven, and---there she goes!!

Celeste turns on a dime, and bolts towards the ring as the referee gets to eight. She rolls under the bottom rope, and Lacey tries to catch her with an elbow drop. But Celeste rolls back out, and causes her to elbow drop the mat instead. She rolls back in again, and snatches the redhead from behind to send her flying with a German suplex. The brunette hops back to her feet, and crouches against the ropes. Lacey makes it back to her feet, and eats a bicycle kick from the challenger. She immediately dives onto the cover with a hook of the leg before the referee drops to make the count.

Zack: Right to the face, and Lacey may have red hair but she’ll also have a blue jaw!

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

THREEEEEEEEEEEEEE-NOPE!!!

Lacey kicked out before the three came down, and Celeste got back to her feet. She gave the signal for her finisher as she moved towards the corner, waving Lacey to get back to her feet.

Missy: Celeste has kept the pressure on every chance she’s gotten tonight. If she can keep it up a bit longer I think we’ll be seeing a new Aspire Ring bearer!

Lacey began to rise just as Celeste bolted towards her. She grabbed her head to hit her finisher, but Lacey shoved her forward into the ropes. The brunette bounced back, heading straight for her until Lacey grabbed her head for a single knee facebreaker. The redhead collapsed to a seat on the mat, trying to pull herself together before she got back to her foot and planted a foot on Celeste’s chest for a cover.

Missy: That is an arrogant cover. I hope Celeste knocks her on her butt, it can’t end like this… please!

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-NOPE!!

Celeste shoved her foot off her chest, and rolled away from her. As she started to get up, Lacey scooped her up onto her shoulders and fell backwards into an electric chair. The brunette’s body bounced off the mat before Lacey started to rise again.

Zack: I’ve never seen a cover like that work, and we’re not going to break that streak tonight! I’m not sure how much either of these girls has left.

As the referee went to check on Celeste, Lacey moved to the corner and began to unfasten the top turnbuckle. She did it fairly easily and tossed it to the floor before doubling back to get Celeste. The challenger was starting to get up before Lacey hoisted her over her shoulder. She turned towards the exposed turnbuckle, and was about to take off towards it before the referee saw it and immediately stood in front of it. Lacey shouted at her to move twice, but the referee refused. Lacey ignored her, and bolted towards the corner anyway. But Celeste slipped out the back and landed on her feet. The referee dove out of the way, and Lacey barely stopped herself before she ran into the exposed corner. And as soon as she turned around, Celeste grabbed her head and hit her RKO to a pop from the crowd! She immediately went for the cover as the fans counted with the referee!

Zack: HEAVEN’S CLOUD! LACEY TURNED RIGHT INTO IT!!

ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

The referee was about to ring the bell until she saw Lacey’s foot across the bottom rope. Kyle pointed it out to her, and an instant replay shows he put it there during the count. Pruitt waved off the count as Celeste got to her feet with a smile on her face, thinking she won.

Missy: Kyle’s only delaying the inevitable, Lacey looks out of it. But Celeste doesn’t realise the bell hasn’t rung yet! Turn around Celeste, stay on her!

The referee told her what happened, and showed Lacey’s leg still on the rope. Celeste looked back, and saw Kyle nearby. Her face darkened as she realized what had happened. He hopped up onto the apron, seemingly daring her to do something before the referee went to intercept him and try to get him down.

Zack: Kyle is actually inciting Celeste to do something about it, and the only thing in her way is the referee! This match is still going, folks! And Lacey hasn’t budged!

Missy: He’s trying to buy Lacey some recovery time, or provoke Celeste into getting herself disqualified. She needs to try and ignore him as hard as that is and keep her attention on Lacey. If she does that, she has this in the bag!

The referee continued to try to get Kyle down off the apron as Celeste shook her head, and looked over to Lacey who was just now starting to move. As she went towards her though, someone hit the ring behind Celeste. She spun her around into a jumping swinging DDT. The crowd instantly began booing as the woman rolled out of the ring!

Zack: ELIZABETH LANNISTER WITH THE RAINS OF CASTAMERE!!

Missy: For heaven’s sake! If you face one of Kyle’s clients you have to watch out for them all it seems!

Lacey started crawling towards Celeste as Kyle finally hopped down off the apron. Kyle joined Elizabeth ringside as the redhead made the cover before the referee turned to make the count to boos from the crowd.

ONE!!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

Pruitt called for the bell to deafening boos from the crowd. Kyle headed into the ring to help his client to her feet as Elizabeth stood ringside with an amused expression.

Missy: What a load of bull. Celeste should have been leaving with the ring, but thanks to another member of team slimeball Lacey is retaining.

Gaby: Here is your winner….AND STILL Aspire Ring bearer………..LACEY!!!

Zack: You can call it the Grand Theft in Glasgow, but Lacey has retained the Aspire Ring! And she owes the “Lioness” one hell of a thanks for doing it!

Kyle took the ring back from the referee, and slid it back onto Lacey’s finger. The redhead looked around, still not sure what just happened until she had her hand raised. Then a smile began to form on her face as she crawled up onto the corner to remind the fans how she just beat Celeste.

Missy: Sure you just beat her, Lacey… along with Kyle and Elizabeth. How proud you must feel! I really feel for Celeste right now, she deserved to win.

Celeste looked up to see Elizabeth staring at her with a smile on her face, causing the brunette to start muttering something to herself.

Zack: I certainly hope Elizabeth Lannister doesn’t think that’s the end of it! Look at Celeste’s face, she’s ready to spit nails after getting screwed over by the “Lioness!”

Missy: The three of them should enjoy patting each other on the back while they can. I doubt they’ll be so amused when Celeste gets hold of any of them.

Kyle and Elizabeth helped Lacey to the back, practically keeping her upright as Celeste’s anger in the ring was the last image before the show cuts to commercial.




Anything She Can Do, I Can Do Better

Future Shock heads to the back, and finds a British brunette with her boyfriend and Future Shock Director, Adam Grant. He’s holding a large jousting stick in one hand as the camera picks up the conversation.

Adam: The other day, I got a phone call from someone who knows you who wants to be part of the pool party, but only if they could get to face you in a challenge. And that’s where this comes in: water jousting!

Missy eyes the jousting stick with a little grin.

Missy: And here was me thinking you’d just bought the wrong size ear buds! I am intrigued though as to who would challenge me. But I have never once backed down from a challenge so I’m not about to start now. Plus, this pool party sounds fun. Who is the challenger?

Adam: First things first. You know how this game works. You and your opponent will be on opposite pedestals over a large pool. The first one to knock their opponent off with the help of their jousting stick wins. As for your opponent, that’d be your friend and fellow Brit, Jessica Anderson.

Missy: It’s just like gladiators! That sounds like a lot of fun and me and Jessica have been saying for a while that we’d like to face each other. I just never pictured it would be in water jousting!

Adam leaned the jousting stick towards her to let her feel how soft the end was, even if it was bigger than her head.

Adam: As you can see, these aren’t hard at all. So you don’t have to worry about hurting each other. Just climb up over the pool, and off you go. Maybe you two go for a swim afterwards since it is a pool party.

Missy: Me, swim? You know that would be guaranteed. If there’s a pool within a three mile radius I’m going to end up in it! I don’t intend to end up in this one though, at least not until after I’ve knocked Jessica into it.

She gave Adam a little wink and a smile as she said that. Her smile dropped quickly though as she saw her mirror image, Cassandra, approaching from behind Adam.

Cassandra: Did I overhear correctly? Missy is having a challenge at the Future Shock Pool Party?

Adam turned to face her with a curious look.

Adam: Yeah, she was challenged by Jessica Anderson. What’s on your mind, Cassandra?

Missy: Mostly air I would guess.

Missy commented quietly, but still earned a death glare from her twin for it.

Cassandra: If my sister is partaking in a challenge, then I want to partake in the same kind of challenge. I told you I was here to prove that I can do anything she can do, only better.

Adam: Well...do you know how to swim? We’ll have lifeguards and everything, but can you swim? Do you have any swimwear? All I’ve ever seen you in are suits and skirts or wrestling gear.

Cassandra rolled her eyes and gave an annoyed sigh.

Cassandra: I am going to assume that is your attempt at humour. While others may find it charming, or cute… I find your tone condescending, and I would appreciate not being spoken to like one of the air brained women you are used to dealing with. I do know how to swim, better than Missy does, obviously. And as we are not acquainted in anyway except professionally, of course you have not seen me in swimwear. Unlike my sister, I do not feel the need to show everyone my body at every possible opportunity.

Adam: That wasn’t sarcasm, I was asking genuinely. But that’s fine with me. We’ll do it gauntlet style then. Missy and Jessica can start, and you can face whoever wins their game immediately. How’s that?

Cassandra: That suits me perfectly. If Missy can actually manage not to lose straight away to Jessica. I can have the pleasure of beating her off myself.

Missy rolled her eyes this time.

Missy: Yeah right. Like that would ever happen.

Adam: Is that alright with you?

He asked his girlfriend.

Missy: Fine by me, it’ll be almost as good as when I made her tap out!

Adam: Then you’re on. I just never…

He looked back to Cassandra.

Adam: I just never imagined you as the type who would enjoy or have fun with something like this. But if you want to do it, then you got yourself a deal. I suggest practicing a bit to you both, because it’s not as easy as it may look on television.

Cassandra: This is not about enjoying myself or having fun. It is simply a means to prove that I am superior to my sister in every way.

Missy: Look how well that worked out for you the last time you tried to prove that… doesn’t phase me. I’ll put you in your place again, and have fun while doing it. You know, you really should try taking the stick out of your ass sometime, Cassie. You might even like it!

We cut to a short video advertising the pool party in 2 weeks, and then the show heads back to the ring.



Meet Mars

We cut backstage to see the newest signee to Future Shock’s prospect roster, pacing giddily in an outfit that looks as though the 90’s just threw up on her, and a man clad in dark blue jeans and a button up orange flannel.

UNKNOWN MAN: I get the bouncing, I had it too, but can you stop Mars? You’re making me nervous.

The woman known as Mars Whimsy stops and rubs the back of her head bashfully.

MARS WHIMSY: Sorry… I… can’t help it, I’m just so nervous.

The man arches a brow curiously.

UNKNOWN MAN: Don’t you have, like… hundreds of thousands of Instagram followers and such? Twitter, Tumblr… Yout-

The thick set woman shakes her head, her multi-colored hair wavy with every shake before she laughs.

MARS WHIMSY: That’s ONLINE, Tony! I’m here doing all of this live, I’m gonna be standing in front of a real audience soon. No tricks in editing or rehearsing what I wanna do or say. It’s… a lot to take in.

‘Tony’ seems to roll it around in his head a moment before nodding in agreement.

TONY: Alright, I get your point, but that’s the point of this, right? We’re here so you can get your face seen and get a lay of the land!

Mars nods emphatically. After a moment Tony snaps his fingers.

TONY: OH YEAH! Also, GREAT learning opportunity, scout your competition, see how they do things AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND-

The man takes a cell phone out of his pants pocket.

TONY: - we’ll also be cheering on Best Girl Andi!

He starts texting as Whimsy bounces again… though her grin momentarily fades before returning as Tony looks back up to her.

MARS WHIMSY: You got it baaaaaaaaaaaaad for her, huh MISTER Cheshire?

The blush on Tony’s face is VERY noticable.

TONY CHESHIRE: U-Uh, not important right now… but yes… but, uh, shut up! Now let’s go find her and let her know we’re rooting for her, okay?

Mars pumps her fist into the air emphatically.

MARS WHIMSY: OKAY!

The duo turn and start walking down the hallway.

TONY CHESHIRE: Oh… remind me before we go find our seats, I’m starving… swear I’ve been smelling Cinnabon or something.

MARS WHIMSY: You too!? I’m gonna get like… three if we spot one!

With that we cut elsewhere.

[Adam Grant]

The show returns from the commercial break, and immediately heads back to ringside as the “Wildcat” is stepping through the ropes with her microphone.

Zack: We’ve taken our last commercial break of the evening, and thank you for being with us wherever you are! It’s main event time with a rare Future Shock Championship match outside of Pay Per View.

Erica:  I’ve been in Glasgow since yesterday morning, and holy crap if this hasn’t been one of the matches that Glasgow have been looking forward to! The Old School sort of comes home and we all know how loved Andi is by everyone!

Gaby: The following contest is your main event scheduled for one fall, and it is for the FFW Future Shock Championship!!!

CUE THE SOUNDCHIP! An 8-bit version of the song from the Goonies start playing as the main lights dim down in the arena, with small star spotlights in a variety of colors flying around the crowd. 8-bit stars fill the videoboards, right up until the words start and Andi Takata comes sprinting out of the back to hit her mark.

# GOOD -GOOD- GOOD

Andi hops into place, already in her Magical Girl pose, with blue and white sparkling pyro popping behind her, and the videoboards all exploding into pixellated color madness! The bassline kicks in and Andi dances for a moment before she starts to head for the ring, taking her time to enjoy her 'Starlights'!

#Here we are, Hanging onto strains of greed and blues
#Break the chain then we break down
#Oh it's not real, if you don't feel it
#Unspoken expectations
#Ideals we used to play with
#Finally taking shape for us.

By this time, Andi has reached the ringside fans, and cues them up for the dance party!

#What's good enough (good enough)
#For you is
#Good enough (good enough)
#For me it's good enough (good enough)
#It's good enough for me
#Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah!!!

And when Pacman whirrs down, Andi punches the air above her and makes her way back around the ring to get to the rest of her Starlights, before heading up the steps and into the ring....

#goodgoodgoodgoodgood...

#Now you'll say You're startin' to feel the push.... and pull
#Of what could be and never can
#You mirror me... stumblin' through those
#Old fashioned superstitions
#I find too hard to breaaaak
#Maybe you're out of place whaaaat's

The song builds up again, and Andi, after running the ropes by this point, stops in the middle, to rally EVERYONE up to join her in a big ol' Caramelldanse! And most do!

Gaby: Introducing first from the Cosmos, she is a FFW Hall of Famer representing the Burning Star Express……….’THE LUCKY STAR’ ANDI TAKATA!!

#Good enough (good enough)
#For you is
#Good enough (good enough)
#For me It's good enough (good enough)
#It's good enough for me
#Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah!!

Andi runs up the turnbuckles for one last go! Keep dancing everyone!

#Good enough (good enough)
#For you Is
#Good enough (good enough)
#For me.. It's good, it's good enough
#It's good enough for me
#Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah!!!!

Andi finally hops down as the song fades away....

Zack: There’s no question that Andi Takata has tunnel vision for the Future Shock Championship. She has a seemingly relentless quest to regain the gold, maybe Glasgow is the place where it’ll happen!

Erica:  It may well be! Andi’s been in need of getting some momentum behind her for a while now, and this is as good a place as any to do it!

“WWOOOOOOOOOO... OOOH!

Check it out now... I work the pen to make the ink transform
On any particular surface the pen lands on!
Zaakir is hands on, what's the beef?
The Cooley High cold chief high post techniques,
I drape off poetic landscapes and shapes.
Illustrate the paper space off the pens that paint,
Then design what have a National Geographic a magic,
With Taylor made status and plus flavor that's automatic...”

As “What’s Golden” plays, the Future Shock champion walks down the ramp with a grin on her face. Although the music is now playing through the sound system, she stills goes through the familiar motions of coming to the ring with a boombox i.e. ghetto blaster on one shoulder and the Future Shock championship on the other. She nods to the music and high-fives a few fans with a smile before putting down the boombox.

Then stopping and lifting the Future Shock championship once she stands on the apron, letting a boatload of flash photography go off around her with a grin as Gaby announces her arrival.

Gaby: Her opponent from Sheerness, England... THE FFW FUTURE SHOCK CHAMPION... “OLD SCHOOL” GILLIE BARNES!!

“We're not balling, or shot calling,
We take it back to the days of yes y'all-in',
We holding onto what's golden...
On the stage I rage and I’m rollin’!”

Gillie leans up against the ropes and “Old School” flips herself backwards inside of the ring before hugging the championship to her frame, not at all wanting to drop it for a second. She looks out to the crowd as “What’s Golden” finishes playing.

Zack: One of the original Prospects when Future Shock rebooted, “Old School” Gillie Barnes finally achieved her goal...her dream at Anarchy when she captured the title. But she’s giving up years upon years of experience to the challenger! Could that play a difference, Erica?

Erica: It boggles the mind when you know this that Gillie hasn’t been called up already. She's definitely good enough for the main roster, in my opinion...and certainly worked her butt off to get to this point.

Referee Jennifer Stringer takes the title from Gillie, and shows it to Andi before raising it into the air. Gaby then takes it with her as she leaves the ring, while the referee checks both women. Stringer calls for the bell as both Gillie and Andi meet in the center, and wish each other luck before shaking hands. A divided crowd begins chanting for both women, causing them to look around at the fans for a moment before they lock up in the center of the ring. Gillie manages to push Andi backwards with her strength advantage, giving a clean break as soon as they reach the ropes. The pair lock up again, and this time, Gillie transitions into a top wrist lock as she begins to twist Andi’s arm. It causes the space princess to lean over in pain. Barnes turns into her, and begins to rain elbows into her shoulder before Takata manages to break free. As soon as she turns towards the champion, Gillie catches her with a knee to the ribs. A gutwrench suplex follows that before Gillie bounces off the near side for a big leg drop across her chest.

Zack: We’re starting out pretty technical, which is what I expected. But this isn’t the pace that Andi wants to keep things. You know she wants to pick up the speed, maybe try to get Gillie to chase her around.

Erica: That would work wonders for Andi and we all know it. Of course, whether she manages it with the form Gillie appears to have found in recent times remains to be seen.

Gillie doesn’t get up straight away though, instead she raises and drops her leg repeatedly across Andi’s chest a few times. She finally makes it to her feet before snatching Andi up with her. Moving behind her, she fires a few shots into her lower back before scooping her up and delivering an atomic drop. Takata nearly hit the corner off the recoil, and ultimately did when Gillie caught her with a running high knee to the back of her head. The challenger hit the turnbuckle as Gillie grabbed her from behind into a full nelson slam. She quickly rolled Andi onto her stomach, pressed a knee into her back before applying a rear chinlock.

Zack: You can already see Gillie’s game plan coming to fruition here. Andi’s back has Gillie’s bullseye on it, and she’s looking to slow the space princess down before she can get that speed advantage working for her.

Erica: Definitely the best way to do it! That said though, we all know how much it takes to slow Andi down! Can’t imagine that tonight will be any different, unless “harder” is a definition.

The champion leaned back, almost bending Andi’s back into an L shape as she kept the knee firmly planted against her spine. The referee dropped down to ask if Andi wanted to quit, and got a very definite no for her answer. Takta’s teeth gritted in pain as Gillie continued to apply the pressure before Andi began reaching with her right harm towards the bottom rope. It was just out of reach, causing her to try stretch that bit more till she finally got two fingers on it. Stringer called for the break, and Gillie got back to her feet. Andi didn’t have much time to recover though before Gillie executed a double knee drop into her back.

Erica: It’s definitely starting to look like what Gillie wants, Gillie is going to get tonight! She might not be as fast as Andi but she’s damn well working on it if so she can keep the princess down!

Zack: And she’s done that with aplomb so far. If Andi can’t stand up straight, that makes running and flying around the ring quite the chore.

Andi tries to get up again, only to get shoved chest first into the nearest corner. Gillie lowers her shoulder, and starts driving thrusts into the small of her back. Each shot causes a grimace from the challenger until Gillie finally brings her out of the corner with a belly to back suplex. She floats over immediately to make the cover before Stringer drops to count.

Erica: We’re still all Gillie and into the first cover of the march!

ONE!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

NOPE!

Andi kicked out at two, and Gillie wasted no time in getting back to her feet. She pulled the space princess up with her into a fireman’s carry before dropping her across her knee before bending her over backwards across it. Barnes pushed her head away, trying to bend Andi in half across her knee.

Zack: Gillie’s going right back to work on Andi’s back, no wasted motion from the champion. I think there are those in Future Shock and FFW who could take notes here on staying on task.

Stringer once more got in position, asking the challenger if she wanted to stop the match. She got the same answer as the last time she asked, with Andi trying to reach the ropes again. But Gillie had better ring positioning this time, and the ropes were far out of reach. Andi tried to shove Gillie’s hand away from her face, and it worked for a second. That was long enough for Takata to fire a knee into the side of her head. It wobbled the champion for a second, and allowed Andi to roll back to the mat. She scrambled to her feet, and delivering a spinning knee strike to Gillie’s head before she could get up herself. She paused a moment as her back was bothering her quite a bit.

Zack: Andi found her opening, but she better press the advantage while she has it. I know her back must be in pain, but she has to try to block it out the best she can right now.

Erica: It’s all she can do at this point! Everything in Andi is going to suck right now, but she want that belt so she better pull it together.

As Gillie was starting to rise again, Andi bounced off the far side and caught her with a hip check to the head. Barnes wobbled a little on her knee before Takata shouted “SHINING STAR!” and dropped her with a shining wizard to the back of her head. Andi was starting to get more animated now, even though she was still favoring her back. When the champion started to rise again, Andi began hammering forearms into the side of her head. Each shot rocked her backwards before Andi took off for the far side. Gillie went to get her as Takata used the middle rope for a springboard into a flying forearm that knocked her down completely. The challenger hooked the outside leg, and rolled through for the cover as the referee dropped to make the count.

Zack: A slobberknocker of a flying forearm! Gillie may not know where she is right now!

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

T-NOPE!!!

Gillie’s shoulder came up before the three came down, and Andi made it back to her feet shortly thereafter. She pulled Gillie to her feet, and fired her across into the far corner. As soon as the brunette’s back hit the corner, Andi used a handspring back elbow to the jaw before grabbing her head and looking like she was going for her RKO finisher. But Gillie shoved her off. And as Barnes stepped forward, Andi caught her with a superkick that dropped her where she stood.

Erica: Andi was quite prepared to have this match ended here and now, but Gillie had that scouted...unfortunately she didn’t have the superkick looked at!

Zack: Andi loves that superkick, and she hits it with impunity every chance she gets!

Andi dragged Gillie away from the corner by her arms, and headed towards the top rope. She immediately perched herself, measuring the champion before connecting with a shooting star press! It brought the crowd to its feet as she grabbed the leg again for another cover!

Zack: THE Shooting Star Press! Andi’s seconds away from her second reign as the Future Shock Champion!

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

THR-NOPE!!

Once more, Gillie’s shoulder popped up and fell back to the mat. The challenger shook her head as as she took off for the ropes. She rebounded off the far side, looking for a rolling senton. But Barnes rolled out of the way, and Andi landed on her sore back instead.

Erica: That was good awareness on Gillie’s part there, especially as all it’s done is aggravate Andi’s back. Can’t go wrong with that one.

Both women lay on the canvas for a few seconds as the referee began her ten count. But it was Andi who began to rise first. Gillie wasn’t far behind her though as Takata headed straight for her. As soon as they were both vertical, Andi leaned back and struck a massive headbutt to Gillie…..but the brunette didn’t budge and Andi ended up staggering backwards off the shot. Gillie rubbed her hands over her face, smacking her head with her hand before firing Andi into the ropes for a spinebuster!

Zack: Andi went for a headbutt from way down south...and Gillie didn’t even feel it! Takata may have concussed herself though!

Erica: That headbutt was not soft...how the hell?! Most people would be reeling from that! Not that it matters with that spinebuster though!

“Old School” dropped to all fours as Andi started to move on the mat, and then scampered towards her to hit her with a headbutt instead. It dropped Andi back down before she tried to rise again, only to get a second headbutt as Gillie crawled towards her. A third one followed that before she popped back to her feet, and planted Andi’s head between her legs. It looked as though she were going for the spinning powerbomb, but Andi managed to break free and take off towards the ropes. She went for a jumping knee strike on the rebound, but Gillie ducked it and caught her on her shoulders. Barnes darted a few feet, and connected with a Samoan drop. The champion immediately went for the cover as the referee fell to count.

Zack: We’re a long way from Samoa, but Gillie planted the challenger with that one! The title is slipping away for Andi by the second!

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

THREEEEE-NOPE!!!

Andi’s shoulder popped up in time before the three came down, and Gillie started to get back to her feet immediately. She pulled Andi up with her onto her shoulders again, and then went into an airplane spin. Around and around they went with the crowd counting the revolutions all the way up to 11 before Gillie threw her to the mat…..and then collapsed herself out of dizziness.

Erica: I love to watch an airplane spin...but I don’t love the fact that no one actually benefits from them!

Both women seemed dizzy at this point, especially Andi who was trying to reach for the ropes but couldn’t seem to get her hand on them to help her up. Gillie finally got back up a couple seconds before Andi, and went to get her. But Takata caught her with a spinning backfist as she was coming towards her. It sent the brunette back a couple steps before Andi grabbed her head, and went for another headbutt! It had no effect on Gillie, but sent Andi into a stagger on impact.

Zack: I think I’d stop trying to headbutt Gillie at this point, Erica. The only one getting the bad end of it is Andi!

Erica: I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought that! Maybe another spinebuster?

Gillie headed towards her again, but Andi surprised her with a roaring elbow to the mouth as soon as she got too close. It dropped the champion to a seat on the canvas before Andi tried to get her head together. She headed up to the top rope, watching as the champion began to get up again before coming off with an avalanche style shiranui that drove both her knees into Gillie’s chest! Takata reached behind her to hook both legs for a cover as the fans came to their feet.

Zack: Andi’s knees are like meteors from the sky onto the champion, and we could be three seconds from a new one!!

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-NOPE!!

Gillie’s shoulder came off the mat yet again, causing Andi to get back to her feet. She pressed her hand against her back, as it was still causing her problems. She headed for the corner once more, heading straight for the top rope before she flew off with a leg drop across her chest. But the impact only hurt her back more.

Erica: Look, I appreciate that Andi really, really wants this belt and is on a mission to make sure she gets it. But for the love of all that is good can we please have her stop doing things that are damaging her more?!

Andi headed for the corner, waving the champion to get back to her feet. Gillie was very slow to do so though before she finally began to rise. Andi watched her like a hawk. And as soon as the champion turned to face her, Andi took off towards her and caught a discus clothesline from the champion. Takata staggered backwards before Gillie plucked her head between her legs and made a spinning motion with her finger for a second.

Zack: I think we’re about to see Gillie’s spinning powerbomb, Erica!

Erica: We just might be! It worked before, no reason it can’t work tonight!

Gillie hoisted Andi up, and spun around before drilling her into the canvas with her spinning powerbomb! Takata bounced off the mat as Gillie rolled over her with both legs hooked for the count.

Zack: SHE GOT EVERY BIT OF IT TOO!!

ONE!!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

Stringer called for the bell to a pop from the crowd. Gillie rolled off the cover, and collapsed onto the mat. She finally made it to her feet by leaning against the ropes before her hand was raised in victory.

Erica: The first defence is the hardest, and Gillie Barnes has just done that fifty miles from my hometown!

Gaby: Here’s your winner…..AND STIIIIIIILL FFW Future Shock Champion……………’OLD SCHOOL’ GILLIE BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARNEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!

Gillie was handed her title back, bringing a smile to her face before she immediately helped Andi back to her feet. The space princess was a little dazed herself, but raised the champion’s hand out of respect.

Zack: The “Old School” reign will continue for Gillie Barnes! And a nice show of respect from Andi too! But Erica, we know who’s next! Valerie McKinley and Bianca Reed!

Erica: And you can bet your ass they’ll be taking notes on this one...when they’re not sniping at each other, of course!

Gillie gave her title a kiss before showing it to the very loud crowd inside the arena. She headed for the corner, and raised it aloft.

Erica: Many congratulations, Gillie! That was beautifully done, and commiserations to Andi...though maybe next time not so much recklessness.

Zack: It’s been one hell of a night here in Glasgow! Congratulations to Gillie, and thank you for joining us! We got a pool party on our next show, and you’ll not want to miss that!

Gillie smiled at the title in her hand, her reflection shown in the main plate before Future Shock Glasgow faded off the air.