After Shock Preview for Future Shock 62

[Adam Grant]

The After Shock logo flashes across the screen, but we’re not taken inside the usual studio. Not at all. Instead we find Jake and his guest co-host this week sitting around a hotel pool outdoors. As he and his co-host are talking, he finally turns to the camera.

Jake: Hi, everyone. Welcome to the latest edition of After Shock. It’s the morning after Wipeout, available on FFW All Access. And I got one of the big winners from that show, and one of my favorite new Prospects, Arabella Townshend.

The British rookie waves to the camera and then gives Jake a fist bump.

Arabella: What a lovely introduction, thank you Jake! I’m excited to be part of my first After Shock!

Jake: I’m thrilled to have you here, and even moreso because we are gonna get to talk about your big win last night. You were struggling a little when you first arrived, but now I think you’ve turned the corner and the wins will start mounting. As a matter of fact, I’m founding a new hashtag for you, calling it the #AgeOfArabella in Future Shock. What do you think?

She grins widely, a blush rising in her pale cheeks.

Arabella: I think that’s a very clever hashtag, Jake, and one that I hope I’ll always live up to.

Jake: If all of you watching haven’t seen Wipeout, go sign up for All Access and watch it. And then come back here. We’ll wait. Hit that pause button.

He pointed to the bottom of the screen as though it were there, and began to whistle a little bit as though he were waiting. And then he began again.

Jake: Good stuff, right? There’s plenty to discuss, and nothing better to start with than your match. You were in it, so how are you feeling this morning and how did it feel to pin one of the people you admire most, despite all this that went on?

Arabella: It was surreal, to be honest. I don’t know if it’s fully sunk in yet that not only did I pick up my first win, but I did it at Wipeout, against someone who was - and continues to be - an inspiration to me in the wrestling business. Sydney Christiansen is every bit as tough as she looks and she gave me the fight of my life, with good reason. She is an amazing competitor and I’ll be happy to be in a rematch anytime she or Adam wants.

Jake: You were terrific too. Not only did you accomplish that, but I saw Adam tweeting about you now being in contention for the new Nova Championship. So your match had even bigger ramifications than just settling an issue, congratulations on that too. That Nova title would look pretty swanky on you!

Arabella: Thank you! There are a number of talented women who are also in contention for the belt, so my competition is going to be fierce. But it’s an honor to be in the match. There’s only one first, you know? So I’m making history as part of the first match to crown the inaugural Nova Champion. It’d be nice to make even more history as the winner of that match, which is what I’ll be focused on from now until the match happens.

Jake: I’d expect nothing else. Other than your own achievement last night, what was the most standout thing you remember most? There’s a lot to pick from!

Arabella: Toss-up between Mara Werth being crowned the new Aspire Champion, Nora Harris absolutely decimating Cait Flanagan, and Cassandra Steen wrecking Lydia Charisma’s ankle. It was an eventful night! Oh, and poor Adam getting so viciously attacked! That was certainly uncalled for.

Jake: As someone who has had that happen to me, I know how he feels. Isis did that to me a while back when she was still a fixture in Future Shock. And I agree with you all on those, but I think we should add the return of Andi Takata to the list too.

Arabella: Like I said, eventful night! I’m excited to see Andi Takata back in Future Shock. She was absolutely amazing here before, she’s a bloody Hall of Famer - quite literally bloody, if you take into account the wars she fought with Bianca Salvador and Isis Morales over the years. This just proves more and more that Future Shock is one of the best places to be for women’s wrestling in the world, and I’m so glad that I get to be part of it all.

Jake: It’s good to have you involved too. I do have an update on a medical report from last night. You mentioned Cassandra Steen becoming the #1 contender for the Future Shock title. I can now confirm she did break Lydia’s ankle during that match with her ankle lock. So we aren’t gonna see Lydia again...if ever, depending on how much damage was done. But it was snapped at the hands of Cassandra.

Arabella: That’s absolutely despicable. Injuries happen all the time in this industry, sometimes catastrophic ones like what happened to Lydia, but knowing that this was done deliberately, instead of just happening by accident puts a bad taste in my mouth. No one should be out here looking to potentially end the careers of their opponents, no matter how much bad blood there is between them. I wish Lydia all the best, of course, and I hope that she recovers quickly. Even if she doesn’t come back to the ring, spending all summer in an ankle boot won’t be much fun.

Jake: No kidding. If I get more details on the situation going forward, I’ll keep everyone updated on it. I guess that goes to show you how badly Cassandra wanted to challenge for the title so she could continue her quest to prove how much better than her sister she is. That’s taking sibling rivalry a few steps too far, if you ask me. But...she has what she wants: A pending championship match.

Arabella: ...A pending championship match in which we all will be watching and praying that lightning decides to strike the arena right as the bell rings. Honestly, Cassandra Steen against Tara Cortez is the stuff nightmares are made of. And I really think, based on what she intentionally did to Lydia’s ankle, she should be stripped of the opportunity. But, I don’t run things, so if this is the match that happens, then so be it. Hopefully soon we’ll have a challenger that we can actually get behind and cheer for.

Jake: One thing we should touch on is something that almost happened to you a couple weeks ago. The Doomsday Sisters were able to knock off Carys and Katie Hanley, and you almost had a run-in with them on the show prior to Wipeout because they were coming for Carys while you were in a match with her.

Arabella: I don’t know where these ladies were taught but that is not how we do things Down Under. If they have such a problem with Katie and Carys, then they’re about to have a problem with me as well. I don’t hold with that kind of behavior and as I’m sure you know, Katie Hanley helped to train me back in New Zealand. The Doomsday Sisters may think they’re the stuff right now, but they’ve had one win. I’d be interested to see if they can keep up the momentum, but in my experience, when you start talking about how you’re the best in the world and born to rule the industry when you haven’t even stepped into a ring yet, it means you’re not even remotely near the spot you want to be in. The Doomsday Sisters are going to have to learn that lesson the hard way, it seems.

Jake: Maybe sooner than later! But we’ll get to that. Like I said, there’s a lot from Wipeout. You should go watch it if you haven’t already, tons of news coming out of that show! But the primary reason Arabella and I are here is because we need to talk about the next show. And that’ll be July 2nd back at the Future Shock Arena in Boston. The main event has already been confirmed. Vivi Robichaud will take on Luna Cortez. If she wins, well that giant meteor match with Cassandra and Tara COULD take an interesting turn.

Arabella claps her hands in excitement.

Arabella: Oh that’s going to be a good match! I know Vivi’s said she’s got a score to settle on that front, but at Wipeout the Cortez sisters pointed out - and rightfully so - that Vivi has never beaten any of them, and that every time she’s in a match with them, she seems to get injured. I hope that doesn’t come to pass on July 2nd. I was there at Malice when Vivi had her first title opportunity, and oh, my heart just broke for her. Luna is a fearsome competitor and might be the most… shall we say, unhinged, of the Cortez sisters, so she’ll be one hell of a challenge for Vivi. And maybe I’m just being optimistic here but I really want Vivi to win so we have someone to actually cheer for in that pending title match.

Jake: I think most of the fans will agree with you on that, even if Tara nor Cassandra would. But that’s the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. Also announced at the show is Nadia Beaulileu of Target Acquired making her singles debut against Jane Strode of the Laurie Jane Experience. Alessandra got a huge upset in her first singles match, Nadia probably wants to do the same. But let me ask you, do you feel like there’s something we’re missing on the Laurie Jane Experience?

Arabella: So it’s not just me then? There is something truly odd about those two and I’m not quite sure I know how to put my finger on it. I’m excited to see Nadia take center stage though. I’ve seen a bit of her in tag team action and I’m curious to see if she’ll share the same success her partner found. She’s certainly capable of it, we both know that. But I think Jane is going to make for some interesting competition, and I’d like to see how she does in a singles matchup.

Jake: And lastly on the show, you may want to be ringside for this one. Unless the stuff with Sydney has stuck with you, because Katie Hanley will be going one on one with the one third of FemDOOM that we haven’t seen yet: Jacqui Minogue. Something tells me Victoria and Sienna may get a close up view of that.

Arabella: And as I said, I’ll be sure to ask Katie if she wants me there at ringside for this match. I’m happy to be in her corner, and to keep Victoria and Sienna away from her. At least this time there’s no chance for the referee to mistake Victoria or Sienna for Jacqui if I am there. But only if she wants the extra set of eyes there to watch her back. I don’t trust FemDOOM after what they’ve done, and I don’t want to see Katie lose because of a numbers game.

Jake: I hope she says it’s alright, otherwise I think it could get very very lopsided before the match is through. We are also gonna hear from the NEW Aspire Champion Mara Werth after her big win, and finally capturing the title. I was ringside for that one...and a little closer after it was over, thanks to Elizabeth. But it doesn’t change the fact the Gold Standard are without a title now. And most would say that’s a good thing.

Arabella: I doubt it’ll last long, though. I’m still pretty new around her, but from what I’ve seen of Gold Standard, that Kyle Kilmeade always seems to have a plan up his sleeve.

Jake: We can hope though. And we’ll also be hearing from the Hall of Famer herself, the returning “Lucky Star’ Andi Takata for the first time since her surprise arrival at Wipeout. I’m glad to see her back, but I hope she hasn’t bought herself a whole world of problems right out of the gate. Those girls don’t take well to people getting involved in their business, which is what she did after Mars pulled out the win against Stacey.

Arabella: Even if she did, one Galactic Space Princess is enough to handle Stacey Sky, Elizabeth Lannister, and Cait Flanagan. And she’ll have people to back her up as well - like the aforementioned Mars Whimsey.

Jake: You got all that to look forward to, and probably more that we don’t even know is coming yet. It always feels like a runaway train on that show. July 2nd is the date when the future of FFW takes center stage again in Boston. I want to thank Arabella for joining me, because she’s been super awesome. Always welcome back too. And we’ll see on the 2nd back in Beantown. Thanks for watching After Shock!

The two return to chatting amongst themselves as the Future Shock logo flashes across the screen.