FFW Unstoppable 10 - July 27, 2019

[Adam Grant]

Live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California
July 27, 2019

The FFW logo appears across the screen before we see clips from the first Unstoppable in 2010 with the voice of Samantha Star speaking over it. 

Samantha: In 2010, Femme Fatale Wrestling opened in a landscape of promotions at the time. It was built and designed to be the premier destination for the women of this business who wanted to be seen as elite athletes and valued for more than just their looks. And the bar was set that night when the first FFW Champion was crowned. 

The show clips start going through shows upon shows seemingly fast forwarding through match after match and event after event. 

Samantha: It became exactly that. It became exactly what I dreamed it would be. And a juggernaut was born. There has never been a place for women like FFW before or since, and it has stood the test of time. Because virtually none of the promotions that were our competition are still in business today. Tonight on the biggest stage in women’s wrestling… on the 10th annual edition….. FFW proves yet again why it’s women are just like me…

The clips change to look at the face of the owner of the company as she stares into the camera with a smirk. 

Samantha: Unstoppable.

We've been on the run
Driving in the sun
Looking out for number one
California here we come
Right back where we started from

From there, it cuts to a video package of Savannah Star’s history with the Franchise, both as a member and being removed. Her battles with each member of the group are highlighted, including how the No Surrender title was taken from her. A clip reminds us of Samantha’s offer for the match tonight to her husband: his job for her FFW Championship match. Which he accepts. 

Hustlers grab your guns
Your shadow weighs a ton
Driving down the 101
California here we come
Right back where we started from

The next clip highlights the personal issues between Mallory Bennett and Missy, including what started it all at a SVW even last year. Mallory is shown taking liberties with the brunette, all of which turns into a massive brawl, prompting Missy to select Metal Mayhem as her pick match for the Ultraviolence Championship.

On the stereo
Listen as we go
Nothing's gonna stop me now
California here we come
Right back where we started from

The next clip shows the meteoric rise of Bianca Reed in the last year as she scores wins over such women as Sophia Pike. Side by side with that shows Kelly defeating her as well to become the new Evolution Champion. The pair lock eyes in front of the Unstoppable logo with the Evolution title over the blonde’s head. 

Pedal to the floor
Thinkin' of the roar
Gotta get us to the show
California here we come
Right back where we started from
California (California)
Here we come!

The faces of six women flash across the screen before clips are shown of each of them working their way up the ladder. The next shot shows them all standing around a ladder looking up at the Fast Track Championship, and then to each other with narrowing glares with the Fast Track Championship hanging overhead. And just as it fades out, Andi’s head pops up with a peace sign almost like a quick cut before we open live inside the arena to a deafening crowd. 

Rockets with pyro streak from the stage across the arena as the camera pans the crowd, waving many signs and continuing to make a lot of noise as “California” by Phantom Planet continues to play over the PA system.

Zack: Welcome to the City of Angels! Welcome to the backyard of FFW! Welcome to a sold out Staples Center, where the SRO signs went out weeks ago! And most importantly, welcome to the spectacle that is the 10th ever…. UNSTOPPABLE!! And we’re gonna make a lot of history tonight!

Mai: There’s no night like this on the FFW calendar, and honestly there’s nowhere else I’d have thought Samantha would want the 10th Unstoppable than in Los Angeles! You’re right about the history too. 4 titles will be decided, and maybe a few grudges settled too. 10 matches on tap, Zack.

Zack: So strap in, because the biggest night of the year in women’s wrestling is about to begin! Take it away, Kat!

Mai: Did you say strap-on?!




Kat: The opening contest of Unstoppable 10 is scheduled for one fall, and the winner will earn a shot at the Fast Track Championship to be decided later tonight!

Zack: In a manner of speaking, Harley and Areum got lucky that they weren’t put into that ladder match still to come. That’s gonna save a lot of wear and tear on their bodies.

Mai: Anytime you can avoid having a ladder used against you as a weapon is a good night to be a wrestler. 

The Intense electrical thrumming of “Diabolic” by Dance With The Dead signals the coming of Areum Jijang, white and yellow strobes matching the staccato piano-percussion mix.

A moment passes by and Areum appears on stage, the dry ice fog on the entrance ramp parting to show her, and in front of her, seated in a dessicated old hospital wheelchair, housing the disturbing effigy that was a Max Sato Realdoll. Boos rain down upon her, but Areum seems far less offended than she is visibly nervous, she shouts at “Max” to shut up before starting off down the ramp.

When ‘Big Bang’ gets ringside, she roughly carts the life-sized doll over to her corner before hurriedly sliding into the ring and backing into her corner, scanning the ring, the ref, and the crowd as though something might jump out at her.

Kat: INTRODUCING, hailing from Seoul, South Korea by way of Fresno County, California, accompanied by… uh… well… standing five-feet tall and weighing in at one-hundred-thirty-five pounds, “BIG BAAAAAAANG” AREUM JIIIIIJAAAAAAAAAAANG!!!

Areum holds her middle fingers high as the crowd showers her with more boos, before turning and shouting at Max to ‘Shut up!’ before turning her attention back to the upcoming match.

Zack: Let’s call it for what it is! Areum Jijang is nuttier than a granola bar! But that hasn’t stopped her from being very dangerous in the ring. 

Mai: I think you just insulted granola bars, because she’s way more effed in the head than that. That’s a lesson, kids. This is what happens you have sex with Max Sato. 

The lights in the arena went out and the video wall came to life finding Harley sat on the sofa in her apartment .It’s obviously late at night as stars and street lights can be seen through her windows, while the girl herself has her flame red hair in a bun that is held in position by two pencils and long nightshirt on - pulled down and stretched over her knees that she has pulled up to her body, using her legs as a rest for her sketchpad, that she is currently tapping with another pencil that she has in her hand before she made a couple of carefully placed swishes across the paper before letting out a big yawn, covering her mouth as she stretched out her arms before she shifted her position, trying to get more comfortable. 

As the camera watched, the red haired wrestler fell asleep and the sketchpad started to slide off her knees to the floor, showing a drawing of the entranceway for Unstoppable 10. As it slid further the pages began to turn until it landed on the floor, her leg following it to hang off the side of the sofa. A malevolent looking face with straggly hair and a hooked nose, illustrated in black pencil lines seemed to peer out from the page.

Suddenly the woman began to move, the paper bulging slightly as the hag seemed to be straining at her papery bonds, eyes swinging back and forth before she nodded her head, the page going back to lie flat. A moment later an illustrated, clawed hand scratched and pushed and broke its way through into the real world and grabbed Harley by the ankle, extending and curling it’s fingers to ensure it’s grip was firm before it yanked Harley downwards, jerking her off the sofa and into the page.

The camera quickly followed. A pencil line art version of Harley falling through the air before she finally came to a hard crash landing on a flagon stone floor. The animated wrestler pushed herself up to her feet and almost fell backwards as she came face to face with the witch who had brought her into her world. Before she could do anything, the villain grabbed hold of her wrist, squeezing tightly, causing Harley to drop the pencil. The hag threw her head back with a cackle and quickly drew up a series of thin restraints that she quickly hurled towards the wrestler, catching her around the neck and her wrists before pinning her against the wall. The witch waved bye-bye as she began to climb upwards. Harley pulled at the shackles, pressing her feet against the wall for additional leverage and finally managed to break out of them, quickly following the witch and pulling her back down into the illustrated world. 

The witch sneered at her as she landed on her feet only to get a stiff right hand from the trained combatant. It caused her to reel and immediately the hag began to use the pencil one more, starting to redraw herself to be bigger, stronger. 

Harley didn’t hang around for her finish and ran off; the sketchpad in her apartment flicking a page of its own accord and then a second before the camera rejoins our heroine, picking her way through a dense jungle. Rain is pouring down upon her, a look of worry upon her face as a series of hungry eyes seem to be following her. The screen suddenly gets dominated by a speech bubble that reads “HOOOWWWWLLLLLLLL!!!!!” Harley set off in a dead run, coming to a clearing that saw her faced by a pack of sharp fanged, wolves as big as she was, eyeing her up as though she was a steak. Slowly Harley backed up to a tree, knocking her head against it and immediately reached up to rub her head, only to find the pencils holding her bun in place.Quickly she pulled one out and drew a box that hung in midair with an opening and a handle that could be operated by a paw and was entitled ‘Magic Sausage Machine’. As she pressed the handle, a long link of sausages poured out of it and she hurled them towards the slathering wolves. The front wolf ignored the sausages and moved towards her, reaching out it’s paw and pressing the handle itself to vend it’s own sausages, before it nuzzled the wrestler.

A second later the Hag appeared as a giant half woman/half snake creature, ripping apart the forest and leaving a trail of destruction behind her before she loomed over Harley. The wrestler gulped obviously. Then the pack attacked the hag. Jaws and claws launched towards her like exocet missiles. As the witch began to retreat the wolves followed behind her. And Harley once more took off in the opposite direction.

Again the pages of the sketchbook turned of their own accord and came back to the drawing of the Unstoppable X stage area. As the camera zoomed in once more, it found the illustrated Harley stood behind the curtain, looking out and seeing the real life crowd of the sold out Staples Center. The girl looked down at herself as she stepped backwards, hiding herself from view and shook her head. Quickly she took the pencils in her hand and drew her ring gear over herself, erasing all lines of the t-shirt where needed. Once satisfied she, drew a couple of music notes hanging in the air which prompted the opening of 
“Seven Notes In Black” to start to play. Harley turned back towards the entranceway, backing up and charging towards the curtain, getting a breaking of glass as she broke through and was right there on the entrance ramp in full living colour.

Kat: Weighing in at 122 lbs, standing 5’6” tall and coming from Hanover, New Hampshire...HARLEY SHANNON!!!

The flame haired girl through her hands in the air to get a rapturous response from the crowd before she took down the entrance ramp towards the ring, slapping hands with the fans on both sides of the ramp before she hit the ring, rolling in underneath the bottom rope and popping up to her feet and climbed the turnbuckles, throwing her hands in the air to another cheer from the crowd before she dropped back to her feet on the mat and waited for the match to begin.

Zack: Wow, harley really wanted to make an impression on her first ever Unstoppable, and I’d say she did that!

Mai: You know more about this broad than me. She’s had like 2 matches or something, and she gets to be Unstoppable?!

Referee Melinda Davis waits until Kat is completely clear of the ring before she calls for the bell to get the match underway, and gives a wary look towards Areum’s Max Sato realdoll. She shakes her head as she turns back to see Areum and Harley making their way to the centre of the ring. Harley attempts to get into a good old fashioned collar and elbow tie up but Areum doesn’t seem interested in that at the slightest. Harley doesn’t seem phased by that in the slightest and strikes quickly with an elbow to the jaw that makes Areum have to quickly adjust her footing. Another two follow that start to push the wrestler formerly known as Ji-Hu back, before she dodges another oncoming strike from the redhead. Harley shrugs it off and adjusts to grab Jijang by the arm and turns around completely while twisting the arm over Areum’s head before she transitions it into a wrist lock. 

Zack: First of all, she’s not a broad! She’s one of the most decorated and accomplished women to come out of Future Shock. Not to mention she’s self-taught.

Mai: So what? I taught myself how to be an alcoholic, you don’t see me giving myself entrances to come sit out here. Do you?

Areum starts to scowl and furiously fires shots at the redhead with her free hand, but Harley manages to side step and avoid any of them making serious contact. Harley uses her grip to pull Areum towards her, but as soon as she does the South Korean wrestler starts to fire shots wildly towards Shannon. She manages to land a couple of lucky hits which forces the former Future Shock Champion to release her lock. The redhead adapts quickly and instead pulls Big Bang in as if she is going for a short-arm clothesline, but Areum surprises her with a headbutt that sends her reeling backwards. Before Harley can fully gather her bearings Areum hits her with a leaping forearm and then starts to hammer them across Harley’s jaw like there’s no tomorrow. She grabs the redhead by the arm and spins her out as if she is going to send her across for the ride, but at the last second she pulls her back into a short arm lariat to drop her to the canvas in a heap instead. 

Mai: So you say she’s won all the titles there was to win in Future Shock, huh? Okay. But this is the big time, and she flopped against Gillie.

Zack: Yeah, and? A lot of talents have come up short against “Old School” when the bell rings. That’s not a mark that you’re bad at what you do.

Areum takes off towards the ropes as the New Hampshire native begins to push herself up. She gets as far as her hands and knees before the South Korean wrestler comes off the ropes with a single knee drop into the back of her neck to push her back down to the canvas face first. Immediately Harley starts to push up again only to receive another knee drop, this time into her back to push her back down again. A kick from Areum hits Harley’s side before the former Max Sato client starts to kick her in the side like she’s kicking a soccer ball. Shannon tries to roll away from the impact but as she rolls onto her back Areum lands a knee drop into her ribs, doubling the former Future Shock Champion up in pain. 

Zack: Since she had this break from reality, I’d say Areum is more dangerous than she ever was before or after she came up from Future Shock.

Mai: Yeah well, crazy people are dangerous. What else is new? That’s why we have sanitariums. I’d put her in a padded room next to Michael Myers myself.

The South Korean gets back to her feet with a weird grin on her face and takes off towards the opposite set she bounces off them and delivers a running knee drop into the same spot on Harley’s ribs where the last one landed. Harley rolls onto her front and starts to push up to her hands and knees again, only for Areum to grab her by the head and yank her roughly up to a vertical base.  Areum lets Harley get her feet underneath her before she fires the redhead across into the nearest corner. She hits with a loud thud and Areum follows her in at speed with a shoulder thrust to the ribs that brings a grunt of pain from the New Hampshire native. A throat thrust follows causing the Los Angeles crowd to boo Areum loudly before she pulls the redhead out of the corner and fires her across into the ropes. She rebounds at speed and 
Areum catches her and applies a front facelock to use a swinging neckbreaker to send her to the canvas. 

Mai: Are you sure she was that good? Because Harley’s getting the floor wiped with her body by Areum here.

Zack: Yes, I’m positive. If you watched that show more, you’d be more enlightened on all the talent that comes here because that’s where the majority of it comes from now.

Harley starts to rise back to her feet again looking a little disoriented as Areum watches her closely. Areum charges at her as soon as she is fully upright and knocks her back into the nearest corner where she starts to connect forearm smashes one after the other again. Just as Davis is about to call for a break, Areum pulls the former Future Shock Champion out of the corner and uses a running bulldog to plant her face first onto the canvas.  The South Korean rolls the redhead onto her back and hooks a leg as the referee drops into place beside them for the count. 

Zack: Big time bulldog from the “Big Bang” may just net her her first win at Unstoppable!

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOO-NOPE!!!

Shannon gets her shoulder up before the two is complete and Areum storms back to her feet shouting at the Max Sato realdoll in the corner that it’s all his fault. 

Mai: Nah, you obviously have to beat on Harley more than this. She really likes getting bruised up, I guess. 

Using the distraction Harley rolls to the ropes and rests against them for a moment to take a couple of deep breaths, and then uses them to support herself as she gets back up to her feet. Areum spots that Harley is upright and bolts towards her looking to hit her with a forearm smash but Harley narrowly manages to avoid it causing the South Korean wrestler to hit the ropes chest first. Shannon hits Jijang with a forearm shot across the back of the neck and then grabs her by the shoulders to spin her around. The redhead lands a matching pair of elbow shots to the side of Areum’s head before she grabs her arm and fires her across into the opposite ropes. The South Korean wrestler rebounds off and Harley catches her to deliver a t-bone suplex to drive her into the canvas. The redhead immediately gets into position for a cover prompting Davis to slide back into position for the count. 

Mai: A t-bone from a girl who probably doesn’t even eat meat! I don’t think it’ll work though.

ONE!!!

TW-NOPE!!!

Areum gets her shoulder up just after the one and shoves Harley away from her forcefully. The redhead lets herself  roll with the momentum and gets straight back up to her feet. 

Zack: You’re right for once. But none of these girls get paid by the hour. If you think you might get the win, you go after it. 

Shannon takes off towards the corner leaving Areum on the canvas and scales to the top turnbuckle. She keeps an eye on the South Korean wrestler as she perches at the top, and as soon as Areum is standing on her own two feet, she launches herself off looking for a missile dropkick. Jijang spots it coming in the nick of time and dodges to the side leaving Harley to land awkwardly on her feet. The redhead struggles to keep her balance and Areum makes the most of it to catch Harley by surprise with an uppercut that snaps her head backwards. 

Zack: Harley’s head snapped back like a Pez dispenser right there! 

Mai: Not really, because I didn’t see any candy fly out. Get your metaphors right, Hudson!

Areum shouts at the Max Sato realdoll again and then begins to unload with uppercuts that keep Harley’s head bobbing like a bobblehead doll, shouting at the Max doll as each one connects. When half a dozen of the shots have connected she fires the redhead across into the nearest corner and grabs the top rope to deliver a vicious series of kicks to Harley’s body. She keeps them coming ignoring the referee’s call for a break until Harley manages to shove her backwards a couple of steps with a double palm strike to the chest. Jijang doesn’t go far enough to allow Harley to leave the corner, and the South Korean points that out to her before she hits her with a knee to the stomach. A second knee strike to the same spot bends the New Hampshire native in the middle and Areum pulls her out of the corner, clocks her with a right hand to the side of the head and then uses a snap neckbreaker to send her to the canvas. 

Mai: I can tell Areum likes working the head and neck, doesn’t she? Fitting since her head isn’t right either. 

Zack: I’m sure she’ll come thank you for these comments later. Maybe she’ll bring an invisible friend when she does. 

Areum takes off towards the ropes and rebounds off them to come back with a knee drop into Harley’s ribs again before she gets into position for the cover as Davis slides into place for the count. 

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

T-NOPE!!!

Harley gets her shoulder up off the canvas just after the two and shoves Areum off her to give herself enough space to roll out of her way towards the ropes. She grabs onto them and uses them to bring herself to her feet, giving herself a shake off as the live Unstoppable crowd show their love for the former Future Shock Champion. 

Zack: It’s clear that Los Angeles is firmly behind Harley Shannon, and who can blame them?! 

Mai: Me. People in Los Angeles are known for having bad taste. I mean isn’t there a Scientology office somewhere near here? 

Jijang makes it back to her feet, leaving Harley on her back on the canvas. She immediately heads towards Harley, but as she bends to pull her up, Harley wraps her arms around Areum’s legs. With a swift tug she brings the South Korean crashing down to the canvas to land on her back with a thud that echoes and gets a pop from the Los Angeles crowd. Harley gathers herself before beginning to get back to her feet, just as Areum is starting to do the same. Harley reaches her feet before Areum and before the South Korean can fully straighten, Shannon catches her with a knee into her ribs that bends her over. A forearm smash across her back follows from the redhead, before she uses another knee strike, this time into her jaw to stand her back upright again. Areum tries to get her bearings but Harley doesn’t let her before she fires the South Korean across into the ropes. 

Mai: Harley’s trying to pick up the pace here, Zack. Must be tired of getting beat on the “Big Bang”, huh?

Zack: Are you kidding? Harley’s been in firm control of this match for a bit now. 

Areum rebounds at speed and Harley meets her with a flash kick to the jaw, into a roundhouse kick. The wrestler formerly known as Ji-Hu falls to her knees and Harley connects a backward thrust kick to her jaw flattening her to the canvas. Shannon immediately gets into place for the cover, hooking both legs as Davis once again gets into position. 

Zack:  And that’s one Unstoppable ERUPTION!! Harley’s got the cover!

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Davis gets to her feet to call for the bell as Harley rolls off the cover looking a little shell-shocked. 

Kat: Your winner……………..via pinfall…………………...HARLEY SHANNON!

Mai: Well that was disappointing. I was kinda hoping to see Nutty here make a fool of Harley on her first appearance at Unstoppable. 

Zack: Much like it must be when your batteries die, it’s gonna be a disappointing night for you then! 

Harley gets back to her feet to have her hand raised by the referee and smiles widely as it sinks in what happened. The crowd gives her a massive amount of cheers as her smile only grows.  On the image of a smiling Harley the show cuts elsewhere. 



Announcement Interrupted

The next shot takes us to the back in the hallways of the Staples Center, and finds the Future Shock Director standing alongside Allison Marx. 

Allison: Adam, welcome to Unstoppable 10 and congratulations on the Prospects having a clean sweep at Impact last week. 

Adam: Thank you, but that goes to them and not to me. They put in the effort, the time, and the hard work. They exceeded my expectations, which I won’t forget. And I’m glad to be here. I haven’t missed an Unstoppable yet. 

Allison: I understand you have some news for us about a recent graduate to the FFW roster after Impact?

Adam: You’re right, I do. All of FFW management was at Impact, and they got to see what kind of talent is growing on my roster. And at least one of them impressed highly, and was offered a contract to move up, thus making her last match in Future Shock at Impact. 

Allison: And which of the five women was it? 

Adam: Well the one that--

A loud commotion could be heard a few doors away, as though someone or something was getting thrown into the door and the walls. Adam held up a finger and headed towards the door with Allison in hot pursuit. He was about to open it when he saw it was the women’s restroom. A few more thumps and thuds could be heard as he started calling for security.

Allison: What’s going on in there?!

Adam: I’d love to know too, but I can’t go barging into the ladies’ restroom. 

It wasn’t long until several female security team members arrived just as the door swung open,and out walked Valentina and Isis. Lozano grinned up to her associate as the pair looked at Adam and the security with a raised brow, and then kept walking. The camera overheard Lozano say she got what they wanted as the security team went inside to find Scarlett Silver face down on the floor. 

Allison: They attacked Scarlett again?!

Adam started calling for the trainers as the female security surrounded Scarlett. The trainers arrived quickly as Adam and Allison watched.

Allison: What did she mean they got what they wanted?

Adam: I don’t know, but I don’t think we need to keep the cameras here. I know the guys int he truck can hear me, send it back to the ring now. 

A concerned look on many faces was shown before the show cut back to the ring, just as Adam had instructed. 

[Adam Grant]

The buzzing crowd is heard as we go back to the ring, and find Kat Grayson once again standing in the center with a bright smile on her face. 

Kat: The following contest is scheduled for one fall to a finish. 

Some like beautiful, perfect and pretty
I see the good in the bad and the ugly.
I need the volume one louder than ten,
Put the pedal to the metal, needle to the red.

Halestorm’s “I Like It Heavy” plays over the speakers, bathing the arena in blue and black lights. From the back emerges Emma Mackenzie, attired as always in her denim shorts and black and blue top. Behind her is manager and husband, Ryan Mackenzie. Together they stand on the stage, at the top of the ramp while the woman takes in the reaction from the crowd.

Kat: On her way to the ring, from Glasgow, Scotland, weighing 135 pounds and accompanied by Ryan Mackenzie, please welcome EMMA MACKENZIEEEEEEEEE!

If the windows ain;t shakin’,
Makin’ my heart race,
If I can’t feel it in my chest I’m in the wrong damn place.
I got a demon in my soul, a voice in my head
Singing “go, go, go”
I can sleep when I’m dead.
There’s a sonic revelation, bringing me to my knees.
And there’s a man down below who needs my sympathy.
I got a ringin’ in my ears, getting ready to burst,
Screaming “hallelujah, motherfucker, take me to church”

The pair begin their walk down the ramp, with Emma moving to the beat of the music. She doesn’t catch any of the hands of fans reaching for her, either because she isn’t entirely aware they’re doing it...or habit. Reaching the bottom, Ryan pulls himself onto the apron while Emma climbs the stairs, and he allows her in.

The song promptly hits its chorus, and a much heavier, harder beat, which the blue-haired wrestler uses to dart across the ring and up onto the top turnbuckle, extending her arms which gets a pop from the crowd. With a grin, she jumps back down, meeting Ryan in her corner. The two discuss something while the music fades out.

Zack: The bright lights of FFW’s biggest stage are not unknown to Emma Mac! After coming back from rehab, I’m positive she’s happy to be involved and is about to teach a lesson to a conceited opponent. I’m joined by Christian Kincaid, who manages Chaotic Temptation.

Christian: I’m not sure calling Lacey conceited is fair, Zack. She’s been very accomplished, especially in the last year. If I had accomplished all she did, I might be a little more cocky too. But you’re right about Emma. There’s no show she’d rather be on than this one.

The arena goes to pitch black before a red spotlight shines on the stage, just as a large rose slowly lifts from underneath. Several well built guys surround the rose, and immediately start pulling off the petals of the rose until Lacey is seen inside with one arm behind her manager’s head as he stands behind her. 

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

Each of the men drop to their knees, allowing Lacey to step down over their backs till she lands on the ramp with a flourish. Kyle follows behind her, handing her a rose which she holds to her nose and then flicks behind her. 

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

Kat: Making her way to the ring at this time, accompanied by Kyle Kilmeade….from parts unknown…..LAAAAACEEEEEY!!!

Lacey almost glides towards the ring with Kyle right behind her, lifting her hand as she ascends the steps and stretches out across the middle rope with her legs wrapped around the top for a moment. She shoots a look towards the crowd before swinging her legs into the ring, and slides to her knees. 

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

She crawls on all fours to the other side of the ring, and drapes herself over the middle rope to blow a kiss into the camera as her music fades out.

Zack: She’s half of the Future Shock Tag Champions, and part of the Gold Standard! And you can damn well bet, whether she admits it or not, there’s some butterflies rumbling in that stomach as Lacey makes her first appearance on the biggest stage of them all!

Christian: Yeah, that really goes without saying. There’s nothing this company does bigger than Unstoppable, and your first one is always something you remember. I was at the first Unstoppable, and I still remember it like it was yesterday.

Referee Melinda Davis checks both women for foreign objects as Kat leaves the ring. She calls for the bell from there as Lacey looks around the arena, taking in her first Unstoppable. Emma does the same, but smiles until she turns her attention to her opponent. The redhead finally pushes out of the corner, and meets Emma in the center. She gives Emma the option to kneel before her, pointing to the mat. Emma glances down, then back up, and declines the invitation before surprising Lacey with a headbutt to the face. That immediately gets the crowd going as Emma starts hammering right hands into the side of her head. A deep armdrag takedown sends her up and over to the mat, and Lacey barely gets back up before she catches a second and then a third. When she pops up the fourth time, Emma catches her with a standing dropkick to the chest and immediately pulls her into a standing side headlock when she tries to get up again.

Zack: Things are not going how Lacey may have hoped at the outset of this match. She’s giving away years upon years of experience to Emma. 

Christian: No, Lacey’s not likely to surprise Emma in the ring. She’s seen it all, and done most of it herself at some point. But Lacey does have attributes that match Emma’s. 

Lacey tries to shoot her off into the ropes, and manages to do so before Emma rebounds with a clothesline in mind. The redhead ducks the contact, only for Emma to stop behind her. And before she can stand up again, the standing side headlock finds its way right back onto Lacey’s head. While Emma seemed amused, Lacey looked to be getting more and more agitated. She shot her off a second time, and didn’t give her a chance before using a drop toe hold on the rebound to bring Emma down to the canvas. Lacey began hammering forearms into the back of her head with a vicious expression before mounting her back, and scrubbing her face against the canvas. 

Zack: Emma’s getting her face scrubbed right there on the Unstoppable logo, and Lacey’s taking out some of those frustrations now. 

Christian: Lacey’s pride may have been hurt a little there, and you don’t try to upstage her without her looking to make you pay for it. 

She grabbed two handfuls of hair, and spiked her face into the mat repeatedly. The referee admonished her as she got back to her feet. Emma started to push up to all fours as Lacey bounced off the near side with a punt into Emma’s ribs, almost lifting her off the mat half an inch where it landed. That slowed the veteran down, and Lacey cinched her up into a rear waistlock for a German suplex. The blue-haired veteran started to rise to all fours, and Lacey used a double stomp to her lower back to stop that. 

Christian: See what I told you? Lacey’s not usually this aggressive in a match, but Emma made her angry with how things started. 

Zack: Whatever caused it, it’s definitely effective. Maybe Lacey should start more matches pissed off, could lead to even more success. 

Lacey started to regain her composure now, and pulled Emma back to her feet. She had her hooked around the waist again, but this time, she utilized a gutwrench powerbomb to spike her into the mat. She stacked her legs up and leaned over her for the cover before Davis dropped to make the count. 

Zack: Lacey with a gutwrench powerbomb, and she’s got Emma stacked up for the win!

ONE!!!

TW-NOPE!!!

The veteran got her shoulder up off the mat as the two was about to strike. Lacey released the cover, and started stomping away at her. Emma rolled out of the way, and as she got to her knees, Lacey went for her big boot to the face… but Emma caught her foot. 

Christian: Uh oh…. This won’t end well for Lacey.

Emma rose to her feet with Lacey’s foot under one arm, causing the Future Shock Tag Champion to bounce in place and try to land some punches. None of them connected since her leg was longer than her arm. When she glanced over to Kyle, Emma spun her around and delivered a high atomic drop that sent her into the corner chest first. That brought the crowd back to life before Emma followed her in with a corner clothesline to the back of her head. With the redhead stumbling in the corner, Emma ducked low and scooped her up for an electric chair drop! This time, it was Emma who went for the cover with a leg hook. 

Zack: Bad ride, worse landing! Lacey got planted, and now Emma’s ready to make Lacey’s first Unstoppable a bad memory!

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Lacey kicked out at two, and Emma rolled over her. She pulled her into another standing side headlock, which once more annoyed Lacey as the camera showed her facial expression. 

Christian: Emma’s just taking the piss here, because she knows it’s annoying Lacey. It didn’t work out to her advantage the first time though.

Lacey’s anger got the better of her as she turned her head in, and took a bite into Emma’s stomach. That caused her to let go quickly, and Emma looked down to see the bite marks on her side. When she turned back, Lacey jammed a thumb in her eye, and pulled her into a hammerlock DDT. A look of aggravation formed on the redhead’s face as she watched Emma starting to get to her knees. The shout of “KNEEL BEFORE ME” was heard before Lacey pasted her with a big boot to her face to drop her back to the mat. 

Zack: She got it that time, and tried to send some of Emma’s teeth into orbit in the process, didn’t she?

Christian: That’s alright, those teeth aren’t real anyway.

She dragged the veteran to her feet, and sent her into the corner. A quick follow found Lacey connecting with a running forearm to her mouth. She pulled Emma’s head under her arm, and used the ropes for a springboard into a bulldog. A few elbows landed before she got up, and then planted Emma’s head between her legs. She went to scoop her up into a piledriver, but Emma stopped that as she got up to her shoulders. Before Lacey could react, Emma snapped off a hurricanrana that got the crowd behind her once again. 

Christian: Emma’s just a hair quicker in the ring than Lacey, and she was clearly a step ahead of her right there mentally. Lacey’s used to being in control more often, I think.

Zack: Well Emma will break her of that habit. There may be a red stain on the canvas from Lacey’s head getting spiked into the mat. 

Emma got back to her feet, and headed for the corner. She quickly made her way to the top rope, but didn’t get time to turn around before Lacey rushed her. She knocked her feet out from under her, and caused the blue haired veteran to land on the top turnbuckle facing the crowd. Lacey climbed up with her, cinching a rear waistlock and launching her with a German suplex! Emma bounced off the mat before Lacey scrambled across to make the cover with a leg hook. 

Zack: I’ve never seen Lacey do that! Emma got launched like a missile, and we’re three seconds from a major upset!

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

THRE-NOPE!!

Emma’s shoulder came up at two and a half, and Lacey shot the referee a dirty look when she showed her only two fingers. The redhead got back to her feet, and resumed stomping Emma’s head and body in annoyance. 

Christian: I’m not sure upset is the term I’d use if Lacey won, but it’d certainly be among the bigger wins she’s ever had in her career so far. 

When the veteran started to get up, Lacey circled around behind her and locked in a full nelson. She tried to lock her fingers quickly, but Emma’s hair made that a little difficult for her. But when she finally did, Lacey stepped on the back of Emma’s knee to keep her on the mat as she applied more pressure. Davis slid around in front of the Hall of Famer to see if she wanted to stop the match, but Emma shook head despite her face already beginning to darken in color. 

Christian: It’s extremely difficult to get out of a full nelson when your opponent locks their fingers like Lacey has. Emma’s gonna need to get to the ropes, because I don’t know if she can power out. I think Lacey is deceptively strong. 

Zack: You have to have some strength to make this hold its most effective. While Lacey may not look as though she’s jacked, she definitely has some power in that frame. 

Emma tried to push up to her feet, but Lacey stepped on the back of her leg to stop that each time. The veteran’s face continued to darken as Lacey tried to add even more pressure. The referee checked again, but still didn’t get a “yes” from Emma. Instead, she started pulling them forward by walking on her knees until they got to the ropes. When she grabbed them, the referee demanded a break, but Lacey held on till 4 as Emma got to her feet. But before she could let go, Emma grabbed her head and delivered a jawbreaker that sent the redhead staggering backwards holding her mouth. She turned towards her, and followed up with a superkick that dropped Lacey like a rock, and brought the crowd to life once again. She dove on top of her for the cover with both legs hooked this time.

Zack: She got out of that full nelson, and got her chin nearly kicked off in the process! Emma’s going for the cover, and Lacey may be unconscious!

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-NO!!

Lacey barely got her shoulder off the mat in time before the three count. Emma shook her head, and made it back to her feet. She made a slashing motion to her neck, and headed towards the corner to make her way up top.

Christian: If Lacey has any wherewithal at all in her body, she’s gonna want to move as soon as possible. Emma’s got nothing good in mind for her up there. 

But as soon as she got herself into position, she saw someone heading down the ramp walking with a little bit of a sashay. In a little black dress, out walked Elizabeth Lannister. Emma looked at her as the “Lioness” headed towards the ring. 

Zack: There’s the “Lioness” on her way down, and I’m not sure who exactly invited her to be part of this match!

Christian: I don’t think she needs an invitation, she goes where she wants. At least she’s not gonna be able to do much in that dress.

Emma wasted no time at that point, and launched herself into her high angle senton bomb that landed absolutely perfectly on target. Lannister sped up her walk to the ring as Emma made the cover with both legs hooked!

Christian: That’s what I told you, Zack! That’s the FALL FROM GRACE!!

ONE!!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Davis called for the bell as Elizabeth headed up the steps, and into the ring. Emma got to her feet, and looked at her as if to ask what she thinks she’s gonna do. 

Kat: Your winner by pinfall……….EMMA MACKENZIE!!!

Zack: Elizabeth Lannister has locked eyes with Emma Mac, and we got a standoff! I’m not sure what the point of this is other than----OF COURSE!!!

With Emma looking at Elizabeth, Lacey caught her with a low blow that dropped her to her knees. Elizabeth began hammering fists into her head as she and Lacey worked her over. Lacey pulled Emma up, and Elizabeth connected with her jumping DDT. The blonde got to her feet and hugged Lacey, sharing a smile with her. 

Zack: Does this mean that Elizabeth Lannister has been called up to the main roster? Because it sure as hell looks like it!

Christian: I’m pretty sure you’re right. I didn’t see her with the other Prospects earlier today, so yeah...I think you’re onto something! 

Both girls saw Scarlett and OE heading towards the ring, and rolled out to the floor. Elizabeth raised Lacey’s hand, despite the fact she didn’t win and got boots from the crowd. The two girls headed up the ramp with Kyle behind them, both beaming ear to ear as the show heads elsewhere. 



Seth’s Last Signing?

After a clip promoting the next Future Shock as well as the upcoming pool party, we go back to the live show and find the COO shaking hands with both Vincent Belmont and his wife, Luci. 

Seth: A pleasure to meet you both. I know you work at our Future Shock Center in town, sir, but I have not had the pleasure of meeting your wife. Luci, welcome to the 10th Unstoppable! 

Luci smiles to the COO and nods her head.

Luci: Thank you, Mr Star. It’s brilliant to be at Unstoppable for the first time in...a hell of a long time, let’s just say that. THank you for the invitation.

Seth: Oh yes, I do recall watching some old footage on the network and seeing you were here in FFW’s genesis back in 2010. Well you tell me how has it changed from then to now? 

Luci: Quite...quite a lot, to be honest. Personally and professionally. I’d like to think that I am a much better wrestler than I am now from the things I’ve been through in my personal life. Which is up to and including training and falling in love with this man who stands beside me. I don’t think I was as ready then as I am now to be in a place like this, and now that’s quite different. Something I’m quite glad of, to be honest.

Vincent: Luci has improved dramatically from her early days through the power of will, driving her to become better each and every day. And I’d say personally she has come a very long way from her days of being associated with Mr. Thunder in SVW. 

Luci: Let’s not make this a slight on Luther, he was essential in giving me the basics for what was my style then and the occasional callback to it now. And I’m forever grateful that he did all of that for me. It just so happens that what I learned to wrestle as with him may not have been the best thing for me.

Vincent: I meant no slight. I was only saying how much you have learned and grown since those days. I have no Malice towards mr. Thunder. 

Seth: Well now that we’ve gotten all the references to people who don’t work here out of the way, I understand you are here as a guest of Mr. Grant. And that you would be interested in picking up where you left off? Unless you’re just here to promote the pool party in a couple weeks.

It was clear by the last bit that was mostly kidding. 

Luci: I have no issues with plugging that a little bit, but you would be correct in the first assumption. It has been a topic of conversation between Vincent and I for a while that I would be suited to returning to the company if it would be seen as at all possible.

Seth: Well if my sister has her way tonight, this could well be the last decision I make as the COO of this company. And if that is to be the case, I can think of no better one at the moment. Join me in my office, and we’ll work out the particulars. 

He pushed the door open for her as Vincent let his wife go first before following along behind her  with Seth in tow after that. As the door closes, we head back to the ring. 

[Adam Grant]

Kat: The following contest is scheduled for one fall to a finish. 

"IKU ZOOOOO!"

The familiar call of one Andi Takata cues the start of her music, 'Setsunairo' by TokiwoIkiru , as her rising sun of a video plays on the screens.

# War War War, War War War
# War War War, War War War
# War War War, War War War
# War War War, War War War

As the real lyrics begin, The Lucky Star rises up from under that stage on a lift, hands held high to praise the sun on the video screen. And probably some of her highlights.

#Tobe, tobe, hitome o ki ni shite kakushita te, ōkikuhiroge
#Te, to te,  ga fureau koto o osorezu ni, habataiteyuke

Takata turns around to the crowd finally, pumping her fist in the air to rally them with her!

# War War War, War War War
# War War War, War War War

Takata dances to the next part, fist still going as her feet have her hopping around the stage.

# Deki nai, riyū o naraberu notte mechakucha, kantandakedo
# Sō janai akirameru no wa damedamedame kōkaishitakunai

Kat: Introducing at this time, hailing from The Great Cosmos, she is a magical girl, the Genuine Space Princess and YOUR Sunshine Senpai…

# War War War, War War War
# War War War, War War War

Kat: The Lucky Star, Andiiiiiiiiiii Taaaaaaakataaaaaa!

# Susumitaikara!
 
Our Sunshine Senpai starts to dance her way down the ramp, clear of the stage, noticing all her kouhai in the cheaper seats!

# Taninu, dōshi, onaji pēsu ja ,1 ban ni wa narenai
# Ushiro, yubi wo, sasarete datte 
# Hashiridashita mon ga katsu, torubeki michi wa tsu~~~

As the pyro shoots straight up  and pops behind her, The Lucky Star takes off for the ring, slapping hands on her way down the ramp and around the ring before coming back around!

# Itsu made mo  kowagattenna, kowagattenna
# Dōse itsuka hateru inochinara
# Tobikonde,  tobikondeike

 Andi hops up on the apron, dancing around more along to her song, as if performing it herself. Which, if you're within earshot, she is.

# Mizukara o  utagatte na, utagatte na
# Jinsei ichi do kirina dekara!
# Sakaratte , sakaratteike!
# Onnanara  mai chitte, mai chitte sake!

Takata pumps her fist some more, trying to get the ringside crowd involved from her spot on the apron, moving herself back and forth to capture EVERYONE.

# War War War, War War War
# War War War, War War War
# War War War, War War War
# War War War, War War War

Andi finally turns and hops over the top rope, running straight across, off the ropes and back again, putting both hands up into the air.

#Doki, doki, kanjiru kodō wa atsui mama, nagareteyuku
#Hon, kide, afureru koe wa “ madamadamada, konna monjanaize~~ ”
# War War War, War War War
# War War War, War War War

Takata takes off for a far side turnbuckle, singing along to the crowd while posing on the top turnbuckle.

#Tsukamitaikara!
# Namida, korae, fuanna yoru o, ikutsu koetekita ndarō
# Ten to, ten ga, sen ni tsunagaru 　 
# Shunkan shōmei shitai, mayō hima hanai~~

After a moment, Andi darts across to a turnbuckle nearer to the hard cam, and repeats her actions for the tv side before standing on the top turnbuckle itself to dance!

# Mizukara o  utagatte na, utagatte na
# Jinsei ichi do kirina dekara!
# Sakaratte , sakaratteike!
# Onnanara mai chitte, mai chitte, sake!

Andi flips down from her perch up top, landing on her feet and throwing her arms up into her classic pose. As the song fades down on more of the 'war' chant, Takata gets herself ready to go.

Zack: It has been well over a year since we last saw the “Lucky Star” in the ring, but there’s no better place for that than right here tonight at Unstoppable. 

Mai: You might have missed her, but I certainly didn’t. And I hope Andi beats get the blue tint beat back into her hair.

The arena darkens, bringing with it a large quantity of dry ice. In the ring, the green, white and orange lights pulse until they form the Irish Tricolour in the centre of the ring. It’s this sight that brings about jeering from the audience. As the lights settle, a drumbeat hits the speakers, soon to be followed by a well-known riff that doesn’t quite sound as people would know it to be. It is then that a woman steps out on the stage; Jo McFarlane. Not that you can tell right away - her face is obscured by a white bandana covering her mouth and nose, and she wears a green beanie on her head, which appears to be entirely covering her hair, showing only her eyes. She is also dressed in camouflage; traditional green colours, a long-sleeved jacket and trousers. Through the fog as the crowd begins to jeer, standing by her side, is her father.

If you’re havin’ trouble with the high school head,
He’s givin’ you the blues.
You wanna graduate, but not in his bed,
Here’s what you’re gonna do!
Pick up the phone, I’m always home
Call me anytime.
3624-360, I lead a life of crime.

Kat: And her opponent, from Derry, Northern Ireland, weighing one hundred and twenty seven pounds, she is “THE REBEL CHILD” JOOOOOOOO MCFARLAAAAAAAAANE!

During the verse and Kat’s introduction, Jo first taps the stick on the floor, then starts off down the ramp, towards the ring. Tommy remains a step behind her the whole time...though it’s difficult given the massive height difference. She moves quite quickly, and stops at the bottom. Moving towards a corner at ringside, she drops the kendo stick in her hand against the barricade, making sure the referee sees that she did, giving him a pointed stare.

Dirty deeds, done dirt cheap!
Dirty deeds, done dirt cheap!
Dirty deeds, done dirt cheap!
Dirty deeds, and they’re done dirt cheap.
Dirty deeds, and they’re done dirt cheap.

As the chorus plays and the solo starts up, Jo ascends the stairs, removing the jacket she wears, revealing a similarly coloured top. The beanie soon follows and she steps through the ropes. She then heads towards her corner, where she stands on the middle turnbuckle, looking around her before jumping down. Her father joins her in the corner, and the two exchange words as the music fades out.

Zack: Much like her opponent, Jo McFarlane is no stranger to the biggest stage of them all! And you can bet she had no intention of watching this show without being part of it. 

Mai: Nor should she. She’s been the main event of it before, and it’d have been a travesty if Samantha had left her off it. But she hasn’t, and she gets to ruin Andi’s return, so win/win!

As Kat makes her way out of  the ring, referee Jennifer Stringer completes a check of both competitors before she calls for the bell to get the match under way. The Los Angeles crowd immediately show their support for Andi as both her and Jo come out of their respective corners and meet in the centre of the ring, getting straight into a collar-and-elbow tie up. They both struggle to take control and after a few moments Andi manages it with a quick elbow strike to the side of Jo’s head, another follows in quick succession which forces the former FFW Champion to release her hold. As soon as McFarlane releases her grip, Andi follows up with a forearm strike to her chest before taking hold of her arm to whip her to the ropes. Jo rebounds and is met with a dropkick to the chest which sends her down to the canvas. She pops straight back to her feet, only for a second dropkick to knock her straight back down again. 

Zack: You gotta wonder how much ring rust Andi may have after being out of the ring as long as she has. I haven’t seen it so far, if there’s any.

Mai: I don’t care how much training she’s done, there’s no substitute for being in there with someone who actually is trying to beat the snot out of you.

Jo gets straight back up to her feet for a second time and the two stars get back into another collar and elbow tie up. This time Jo starts to get the upper hand and she pushes the Space Princess back several steps towards the ropes before she breaks the tie up, and hits Andi with a forearm across the jaw. She follows up with two more forearms pushing Andi back another step towards the ropes. The Franchise team member makes an attempt to grab Takata by the wrist but before she can, Andi shoves her palms into the redhead’s chest pushing her away from her. McFarlane recovers her balance quickly and starting to look annoyed lunges forward again to deliver a headbutt into Andi’s face that sends her reeling backwards. 

Mai: Scottish girls tend to have very hard heads, Zack. Jo is proving that with the headbutt you just saw. I bet her dad’s given her a couple of those.

Zack: You aren’t kidding. Part of me thinks Tommy is outside the door yelling at his daughter if she takes too long in the bathroom. 

Jo doesn’t give Andi a chance to respond before she grabs her by the wrist and fires her across into the corner. The Lucky Star hits back first and Jo follows her in with a shoulder thrust that almost lifts the returning wrestler off of her feet. Jo pulls her out of the corner and immediately shoves her back in, cracking her with a pair of forearms to the jaw after she has.  She does the same thing again with more force prompting Stringer to ask for a break. Jo hits her with another forearm before she complies at a count of two and pulls Andi out of the corner, only to immediately drive her up into the Lucky Star’s face. Another trio of knee strikes are delivered into Andi’s face before Jo fires her across into the opposite corner. 

Zack: Andi’s getting her head rocked with those knee strikes, and this is probably not how the “Lucky Star” envisioned spending her Saturday night.

Mai: Good thing for her there’s nothing in that head to get damaged. Did you know if you look in one of Andi’s ears that you can see out the other side? 

The redheaded Franchise member follows Andi in with a running knee that flattens her back into the turnbuckles before she grabs her by the arm and pulls her out and into a hard forearm smash across the jaw. Andi’s head reels from the impact before Jo shoves her back and starts to drive her knee up into the Lucky Star’s ribs. After several of the strikes have landed Stringer calls for a break and gets to a count of three before Jo pulls her out and fires her across into the ropes. Takata rebounds off them and is met with a standing dropkick from the former FFW Champion that knocks the Space Princess straight back into the ropes again. She rebounds off them for a second time and this time Jo mows her down with a clothesline that flattens her to the canvas. 

Mai: I like this offense from Jo, she’s not taking prisoners. She doesn’t like Andi any more than I do. 

Zack: Well we can count on one hand all the people you like, but we’d have to wash it first. 

The Lucky Star gets back to her feet and straight away Jo gets her by the back of the head and runs her across the ring to use a bulldog to faceplant her on the canvas. Andi rolls onto her back and is about to kip back up to her feet but before she can Jo steps between her legs. The Franchise team member grabs both of Andi’s legs as she does and twists them into a knot around her own leg. Holding Takata’s legs in place she steps over, and turns Andi over in the process. The Lucky Star’s face immediately shows the discomfort as the Los Angeles crowd get behind her with loud support. The referee drops down beside Andi to see if she wants to stop the match but receives a very determined and definite no in response. 

Zack: I cannot see the circumstances that Andi Takata would give up, not tonight in front of this crowd on her comeback match!

Mai: Good thing no one asked you what you thought. I can handle this match if you want to cheerlead for this jabroni at ringside. 

With the crowd encouragement spurring her on Andi tries to reach towards the ropes. She stretches her arm as far as possible but finds them just out of her reach. She digs her hands into the canvas and tries to pull herself closer to them, but Jo leans back increasing the pressure and getting a yell of pain from the Lucky Star in response. Stringer asks again if Andi wants to give in and she gets a shake of the Lucky Star’s head in response which gets her a pop from the Los Angeles crowd and their support gets louder. Andi again digs her hands into the canvas and this time she manages to start moving herself and Jo closer to the ropes. Realising that she is millimeters away from grabbing the bottom rope, Jo stands up to adjust her position and as soon as she does Andi lunges to the bottom rope and gets her hand around. Stringer calls for Jo to break and after a few seconds the redhead complies but as she gets back to her feet she delivers a stomp to Andi’s knee that gets another yelp of pain from the Lucky Star. 

Mai: It’s only illegal if the referee gets to five, Zack. Until then, do all the worst you can do and have fun. That’s what I say!

Zack: And as I’ve said before, tell us all of the many successful clients you have right now. Go ahead, I’ll wait. 

Jo goes for a second stomp to the same leg but Andi manages to pull it out of the way barely, causing McFarlane to stomp down on the canvas hard instead. The discomfort registers on Jo’s face as Andi uses the ropes to steady herself a bit as she gets back to a vertical base. Jo heads straight for Andi as she sees her back to her feet and grabs her by the head to start laying shots into the Lucky Star’s kidney area. After several have landed she switches her grip to Andi’s wrist and is about to fire her across into the opposite ropes, but Andi plants her feet and instead reverses it to pull her into a nasty forearm to the jaw.  Holding her in place Andi uses her free arm to hammer forearm shots in rapid fire succession across the former FFW Champion’s jaw, neck and shoulders until she forces Jo down to one knee. Immediately she starts to rise again and Andi yanks her up the rest of the way and fires her across into the ropes. Jo hits them face first and bounces off at speed only to receive a dropkick to her back that sends her straight back into the ropes again. 

Zack: The last thing Jo wants to do is let Andi start getting her speed game uncorked, because I don’t think she can keep up with her. 

Mai: You trying to imply that Andi’s on speed? Well I wasn’t expecting that, but I’d be willing ot humor you if they wanted to drug test her right now.

Jo spins around just in time to see Andi launch herself at the Franchise team member to start laying forearm shots into the side of her head. She switches to elbow shots and keeps them landing one after another. After a dozen of the shots have landed Andi pulls Jo away from the ropes and fires her into the nearest corner. McFarlane hits back first and Andi sets of at a run to follow her in with a dropkick to the chest that pins her back against the turnbuckles. Andi comes back out and backs up to give herself another running start before she delivers a second running dropkick that audibly knocks the wind out of the redheaded former FFW Champion. Jo slumps back against the turnbuckles, at least until Andi snaps off a hurricanrana to bring her out of the corner and flip her to the canvas with a thud. 

Mai: Jo’s taking a little bit more punishment than I’d like to see here. I’m not sure Andi has too much ring rust after all, which isn’t fair. 

Zack: Did you think she’d come back after all this time and not be ready?! When have you ever seen Andi Takata unprepared for a match?

Andi looks like she is considering a cover, but instead she goes back to the corner and scales to the top turnbuckle. The Space Princess steadies herself and waits for Jo to start to rise. As McFarlane makes it back to her feet, the Lucky star launches herself with a meteora that knocks the Franchise member back down to the canvas. Andi gets back to her feet and heads across to the ropes, she jumps up onto the middle rope and then launches herself off to land a moonsault across Jo’s body. Staying in place for the cover, she hooks a leg as Stringer drops into position. 

Zack: A picture perfect moonsault, and the “Lucky Star’ may be about to make it the comeback of the year!

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

NOPE!!!

Jo gets her shoulder up just after the referee counts the two and Andi rolls back to her knees and then on up to her feet. She looks at her downed opponent and then the ropes causing the Los Angeles crowd to give her a massive cheer of encouragement.

Mai: Or completely flop. You should have more faith in Jo McFarlane, Zack. She’s not exactly a first year rookie out here!

The Space Princess heads to the corner but as she glances back she sees Jo already back to her feet, she changes her mind and makes a dash back towards her to deliver a double palm strike to the chest that knocks the former FFW Champion back a few steps. A giant chop to the chest lands next before Andi follows up with a spinning backfist that knocks Jo all the way back into the ropes. McFarlane rebounds off and Andi catches her with a cartwheel back elbow that sends her down to the canvas like a sack of bricks. Andi starts to pump up the crowd and gets a loud, enthusiastic response from them before she takes off towards the corner. She climbs to the top turnbuckle and steadies herself as she checks to make sure that Jo is still down. Seeing that she’s still on the canvas, the Lucky Star launches herself off looking for her Shooting Star Press, and…..gets nothing but knees as Jo raises hers up to her chest. 

Mai: Ahahahahahaha!! That’s what happens you’re a spotmonkey. Sometimes you get the hit, sometimes you get hit by two knobby knees!

Zack: I don’t think you should be calling Jo’s knees knobby. You never know who’s listening.

Mai: Uh… that was an analogy, Zack. Jo’s knees are totally not knobby. They are glorious knee caps.

Andi bounces off onto the canvas and Jo rolls away to the ropes getting an earful of advice from Tommy as she does. She tells him she’s got it and uses the ropes to help steady herself as she gets back to a fully vertical base. Andi pulls herself back up to her feet and immediately Jo leaves her to deliver a dropsault that sends the Space Princess staggering backwards into the corner. The crowd boo the Franchise team member as she follows Andi into the corner with a stinger splash that makes a thud on impact. Holding onto the top rope, Jo starts to rain blows down into the Lucky Star’s shoulder and the side of her head with her free hand. Stringer calls for another break, and at a count of four Jo finally backs off. 

Zack: Everyone likes to test the referee’s five count, and one of these days, someone is going to slip up and it’s going to cost them big. 

Mai: Maybe if they are an idiot, which Jo is clearly not. And I’d like to reiterate again I do not find Jo’s knees knobby.

She pulls Takata out of the corner and spins her around so that she’s facing the turnbuckles and then climbs to sit on the top one herself. The redhead applies a front facelock on the Space Princess and then jumps forward. She swings around to fall backwards, driving Andi’s head into the canvas. Andi bounces to land on her back as Jo gets back to her feet. Jo looks around as Tommy starts telling her what to do, while Andi makes it back to her feet, rubbing her head a little as she does. Jo closes the gap and catches Andi with a running knee to the ribs. The Scottish wrestler spins the Lucky Star around and gets her into a wheelbarrow position before driving her face first into the canvas with her BANG! Move. 

Mai: And there goes the BANG!!! AHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Jo gets straight into position for the cover and hooks one of Andi’s legs as the crowd try to encourage her to get up and Stringer slides into position for the count. 

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-NOPE!!!

Andi manages to kick out before the three is complete and Jo sits back onto her knees glaring at the referee accusingly. 

Zack: Are you kidding me?! I don’t remember the last time I saw anyone kick out of that move, but Andi Takata has done just that! 

Jo gets back up to her feet and watches as Andi staggers back to her own feet looking more than a little disoriented. The redhead lays a trio of elbow shots into the side of Andi’s head before punctuating them with a spinning backfist and taking off towards the ropes. Jo uses the ropes to bounce off and comes back leaving her feet to deliver her spinning headscissors that send Andi crashing to the canvas. The former FFW Champion gets into position for another cover, this time hooking both of Andi’s legs as she does. 

Zack: I don’t think that she’ll get up from that though! Jo’s got both legs hooked!

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Stringer gets back to her feet and calls for the bell as Jo rolls off the cover and back up to her feet. 

Kat: Your winner, via pinfall…………………. JO MCFARLANE!

Zack: And unfortunately for the “Lucky Star”, I was right! Jo McFarlane has put away a very game Andi! The problem now is if she’s done with the Franchise… or if the Franchise is done with her.

Mai: That sounds like a Franchise decision, not an Andi decision. She’ll probably go back into retirement anyway. So what are we even worried about? Let’s get the next match going!

Tommy joins Jo in the ring as Stringer raises Jo’s hand, he raises her other hand as Jo looks back to Andi who is starting to pull herself up to a seated position. After the referee releases her hand, Jo and Tommy make their way out of the ring and start up the ramp to the back as the camera cuts elsewhere.




Midnight Strike

As the show returns to the back, we find the COO (for now) standing with “Midnight” Mila Martin outside his office inside the Staples Center. As she approaches, he shakes her hand before he begins. 

Seth: Miss Martin, I hope you are feeling somewhat better after all you endured at the Impact special the other night. While the medical staff says you are clear, I’d still rather hear it from the horse’s mouth, in a manner of speaking. 

Mila gives a small nod of her head. 

Mila: Yeah, I’m feeling alright. I spent a couple of days laid up which helped the healing. Started back on light training the other day and will be back to full speed in the next couple of days. 

Seth: That’s very good to hear, and I can assure you there are no plans for you and Miss Lannister to ever meet again. What I did have in mind though was an opportunity for you to meet some new competition at Velocity. One who isn’t blonde and likely won’t become obsessed with you. How does that sound? 

Mila: That already sounds like a major plus point in my book. There’s only so many times you can play the same broken record before it makes your ears bleed. 

She rolls her eyes at her own bad joke.

Mila: Who did you have in mind for me to face next?

Seth: I happen to have another woman on the roster who recently came back, and is in much the same position as you. What I mean is she is very eager to get climbing up any and all ladders she can. With the knowledge you are ready to get back to business at Velocity, I had the idea you and Mel Avilo might give each other a challenge. She’ll be your introduction to the Franchise, which your tag partner has gotten to know.

Mila: Mel Avilo, huh? That is certainly a challenge. She’s quite the athlete and from all accounts is a pretty hard hitter. Yeah, I think that’s a challenge I’d like to face. You don’t get better by sitting on the sidelines after all. 

Seth: That’s very true. You can consider that signed then. I also know you and Miss Storm are trying to work your way up the tag ranks, and I’ll be giving you both an opportunity to shine there as well. But I’d rather you focus entirely on Miss Avilo for the time being. And besides, she may be bringing some gold home with you both anyway very shortly. 

Mila: You’re right we would like to work our way up the tag ranks, but are both focused on solo activities too. I always stay focused on the immediate task at hand, so you don’t need to worry about my focus not being on Mel. 

Seth: I am very happy to hear that. We should both go find a monitor, because I believe that ladder match is coming right up. 

He tells her before they head off in opposite directions and the show heads back to the ring to crown the next Fast Track Champion.

[Adam Grant]

The camera panned down the entrance ramp as it was flanked by ladders, descending in size as they neared the ring before it focused on the FFW Fast Track Championship that was hanging high over the ring. After a couple of moments of looking at the glittering prize, the camera cut to Kat as she stood in the ring, ready to make the announcements.

Kat: The following match is a ladder match and it is for the FFW Fast Track Champonship!!!!

Zack: I think we can safely say this has been one of the most anticipated matches on tonight’s card, and with good reason. We are guaranteed a new FFW Fast Track Champion tonight! I’m joined by the Franchise’s Mel Avilo to watch all this unfold.

Mel: Cheers for having me, Zack. I can't wait to watch Angelina take what's coming to her in the shape of the Fast Track Championship!

The dance beats of DJ Cutman's "I"m The Boss" blare through the sound system as lights blink in white, baby blue and purple. Skipping and bopping to the beat, Rose Gardner comes out from the back, opening her arms in an airplane stance as she reaches the top of the ramp, stopping and staring into the crowd. She then makes her way down the ramp, highfiving as many fans as possible in the way. As the chorus of the music approaches, she darts to the ring and hops onto the second rope, showing off for the crowd, pointing to herself with her two thumbs as the lyrics say...

I'm the boss!
I'm the boss!
I'm very, very sorry for your loss!
I'm the boss!
I'm the boss!
And just in case I didn't get the point across
I'M THE BOSS!

Kat: Introducing first, from World 8-8, standing at 5'4"... ROSE GARDNER!!!

Poison then removes her sunglasses and throws it into the audience for some fan before hopping down to the ring and bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Zack: It’s hard not to like Rose Gardner! The cosplay princess has her eyes set on that title hanging over the ring, and she may be one of the fan favorites to claim it too.

Mel: She reminds me an awful lot of an old friend. The determination to succeed at any cost is there, and you can't help but get into it. The trouble is, she doesn't quite seem to have it to go there.

The lights in the arena go out.

Just then as the intro to “Kong at the Gates” by The Misfits blares into the arena, generating a buzz from the crowd.

Kat: Making her way to the ring…representing The Privileged Circle…Hailing from the City Of Angels, Los Angeles, California…standing at an impressive 6 foot 6 and weighing two hundred and thirty pounds. She is the “Titaness of Destruction”…

ISIS MORALES!!!!!!

As the music begins, and the spotlight is beaming on the stage, Isis Morales comes out of the curtain. Isis makes their way down the aisle in a slow, intimidating pace, the spotlight following her on their way to the ring.

Once she climbs up to the apron of the ring, Isis faces the crowd and looks menacingly at them. She easily steps over the top rope to enter the ring with ease and then walks towards the center of the ring to stand there, soaking up the reaction from the crowd. Isis then stomps her foot down on the mat with force and, instantly, the four corners of the ring shoot out smoke, with a booming sound, mimicking an explosion. She lets out a primal roar and then goes over to a corner where she climbs up and poses, yelling back at the crowd at every chance. She then goes toward the opposite turnbuckle and does the same thing after climbing up. Then, as she comes down, Isis takes off her coat and gives it to the ring attendant. Isis then runs herself across the ropes once to loosen herself up before settling in the corner of the ring as they wait for her opponent (or the match to begin).

Zack: But it’s hard to deny the momentum of that woman! We saw what Isis and Valentina did earlier to Scarlett Silver, and now she looks to climb the proverbial and literal ladder to capture her first singles title since leaving Future Shock. 

Mel: Ugh. About the most impressive thing about this woman in recent times is her wins over Nevaeh. Which is impressive but I can't think of anything beyond that since the tag titles. Was fun to watch what she did to Scarlett though.

We see a wide shot of the Staples Center packed to capacity. The building is lit up as normal, but the lights seem to be getting brighter. A buzzing sound can start to be heard as the lights begin flickering, the buzzing getting louder. LED boards, the stage area, everything is flickering and buzzing till eventually everything in the building shuts off and we are left in complete darkness.

The crowd hums,  a nervousness coming over them as no one knows what to make of this. Eventually we begin to see yellow electricity bolts flashing across various LED screens set up over the arena. The sound of electrical currents zapping as the bolts are small and quick, but they eventually grow larger and last longer.

On the stage we see the bolts beginning to appear on the large screens set up on it. The bolts are beginning to flash faster and larger all over the building, a pulsing sound loudly heard throughout the building, as if it was beginning to sizzle inside the Staples Center

Suddenly a yellow light shines through from the bottom of the stage area as now all the bolts of electricity we see on the screens beginning pulsating towards it. A strong, constant pulse of dozens of bolts keep striking towards the bottom of the stage when "Rise" By Sixx A.M. starts to play, the familiar music of Nevaeh Summers.

As the music blast through we watch the stage area as something seems to begin moving up from the bottom. We see a figure, presumably Nevaeh, with double french braided hair, hair that is glowing yellow neon in the dark. As well as having what seems to be yellow lights moving all around her body, arms, and legs.

While we keep observing the scene we begin to notice the lights moving around Nevaeh as well as on the screens on the stage, almost seem to be rhythmically moving together. Nevaeh’s hair starts to move slowly, turning as we now see what seems to be a yellow neon pupil and lipstick staring over her shoulder at us.

The crowd oh’s and ah’s as Nevaeh now fully turns around, showing off both yellow neon pupils. Nevaeh looks around the building, nodding her head, as she starts feeling the crowd as she saunters slowly down to the stage and to the ramp. Nevaeh goes about pointing her left hand out to the crowd and moves it around as if she was conducting them. She then points to the crowd with her right hand, urging that side of the building on the same way. Nevaeh lowers her head, her hands still swaying to the crowd till she raises her head up and snaps her arms out to the side.

As Nevaeh strikes her signature pose a row of pyro goes off next to her, starting far out and rushing close to her, before a big unified explosion happens. The lights fully come back on in the arena as we see Nevaeh is wearing a black suit with lights all over her body. Nevaeh now lowered her head back down and looked towards the ring and began walking down the ramp with a purpose.

Kat: Making her way to the ring at this time she resides in Los Angeles, California by way of Atlanta, Georgia. She weighs in tonight at 120 pounds. She is Nevaeh Summers!!!

Nevaeh reaches the bottom of the ramp and goes about slapping hands with the fans. Nevaeh now heads to the opposite side and slaps a few more hands before Nevaeh makes her way up the steps and stands on the apron for a moment, looking out at the Staples Center crowd. Nevaeh gets into the ring and makes her way to the middle as she starts unzipping the jacket to reveal a  yellow top with white trim. The jacket stays on, lights still flickering as Nevaeh starts to undo the belt on her pants. Holding the belt together Nevaeh starts to do a shimmy, getting the pants and jacket off herself to the roar of the crowd.

We now find Nevaeh wearing yellow colored leather pants running down her leg. The side of each leg is laced up with white colored fabric, showing of her skin. On her feet we see black boots and white kickpads. On the front of each kickpad appears her logo as there is a circle with “NS” in the center of it in Yellow. While “The" scrolls on the top and “Finest” scrolls on the bottom, also in yellow.

Nevaeh now begins to make her way to the ropes, climbs up them, hooking a leg over the top rope and straddling it. Nevaeh now sits there and looks out to the capacity crowd. The blonde began motioning them to get louder, which they do. Nevaeh eventually lowers her head and starts motioning her arms as if she's conducting them again. This time we zoom out and capture the front row all around motioning along with her. After a moment Nevaeh snaps her head back and her arms out, as does the crowd. Multiple spotlights soon shift down onto her, basking her in the light.

Nevaeh keeps striking the pose till she sees fit. Once she has she gets off the ropes and makes her way to the opposite side of the ring where she puts one foot on the bottom rope and the other on the middle. She bounces on them while looking out to the crowd and stretches her arms out yet again, encouraging them to get louder.

Nevaeh bounces off the ropes and lands on her feet. She starts psyching herself up as she paces back and forth along a corner.

Zack: I learned a long time ago that you don’t bet against Nevaeh Summers. She’s done it all in FFW, including joining the Hall of Fame. But tonight, none of that is on her mind. It’s all about the Fast Track Championship.

Mel: ...Oh, is she done? We could have had the match in that time! And why is she in this match to start with? Like you said, she's done it all up to and including the Hall!

A warm, low light fills the arena as a silhouette takes center stage. The figure’s shirt billows in the wind that kicks up and she spins around, revealing Angelina Fantastica in a white button-down shirt, with a pink tie loose around her neck.

I just wanna get your attention
I really wanna be all up in your head
Cause when I got you're gonna wanna get some yeah
But girl that's only if you ain't scared

The Shaolin Stunna winks at the camera and starts moving smoothly down the ramp, throwing a little spin and flourish in as she tips her fedora to a pretty lady in the audience. The lady in question presses herself up to the barricade and Angelina hooks a finger under her chin, drawing the girl closer and blowing her a kiss. The girl giggles and fans herself, stepping back as Angelina moves toward the other side of the ramp.

And I won't knock or ring no bells
You just poke that bottom up in the air
I'll get you hot, I know you oh so well
And when I walk in, all that I wanna hear

The fans don’t clamor to Angelina as they might have last year, but several women move forward and reach out for Angelina, trying to tug her in closer. Angelina puts her hands up and turns her back to them, then leans up flush against the barricade, letting the ladies run their hands all over her bare torso. A cocky grin spreads over the Staten Island native’s face and she luxuriates in the attention as they try and use her tie to pull her in for kisses.

Is you say, "Daddy's home, home for me"
And I know you've been waiting for this loving all day
You know your daddy's home and it's time to play
So you ain't got to give my loving away
So all my ladies, say, "Hey, hey, hey, daddy"
Hey, hey, hey, daddy
So all my ladies, say, "Hey, hey, hey, daddy"
Hey, hey, hey, daddy

The girls behind her lip sync “hey daddy” as Angelina pulls herself away, standing in the center of the ramp with her thumbs hooked through the belt loops of her black dress slacks. 

I ain't gotta do a lot of flexing
Shorty, you already know what it is
And girl, tonight we gonna do a lot of sexing
Can't nobody do your body like this

Despite the song lyrics, Angelina takes a minute to flex, posing with her arms out and her abs on full display as the next lines of the song come up and she strikes a Michael Jackson-style pelvic pop, pulling her hat down over her face for a brief minute. Several ladies in the audience gasp and faint, fanning themselves as Papi Chulo skims her hands down her sides, showing them everything they want to see.

And I won't knock, won't ring no bells
You just float that bottom up in the air
I'll get you hot, I know you oh so well
And when I walk in, all that I wanna hear

She swaggers down the rest of the ramp and makes her way to the ringside seats, hopping up to sit on the barricade and waving several more ladies forward to bask in that Big Daddy Energy. They oblige happily and Angelina seems content to flirt with each of them in turn, letting them whisper “daddy” in her ear as they try and pull her into the audience with them.

Is you say, "Daddy's home, home for me"
And I know you've been waiting for this loving all day
You know your daddy's home and it's time to play
So you ain't got to give my loving away
So all my ladies, say, "Hey, hey, hey, daddy"
Hey, hey, hey, daddy
So all my ladies, say, "Hey, hey, hey, daddy"
Hey, hey, hey, daddy

One of them is eventually successful in getting Angelina down off the barricade and she moves through the crowd as the song plays, finding a spare chair and unfolding it near the front row. She sits with her legs spread apart, waving the girl who pulled her off the barricade over to her. The girl straddles her and starts giving Angelina a lapdance to the beat of the song, tossing her hair and running her hands all over herself and Angelina like she just can’t resist the Franchise member.

Poke it on out, poke it out right there
I'ma fall back while you work that chair
Do your damn thing, let the neighbors hear
Hey, hey, hey, daddy
Poke it on out, poke it out right there
I'ma fall back and let you work that chair
Do your damn thing, all I want to hear

There’s a little bit of commotion as a heavily tattooed young woman with bright red hair gets up from her seat and comes over to Angelina with her hands on her hips. Angelina pushes the other girl off her lap and stands up, giving the redhead with the tattoos a deep kiss and a heavy smack on her ass. Angelina’s girlfriend and the mother of their daughter has clearly decided to show everyone at Unstoppable just who gets to call Angelina Daddy, and Angelina is more than happy to oblige. The couple walks to the barricade and the luchadora jumps over it, giving her girlfriend a final kiss before ascending the ring steps and perching on the top turnbuckle with her back to the crowd as the final chorus of the song plays out.

Is you say, "Daddy's home, home for me"
And I know you've been waiting for this loving all day
Your daddy's home, it's time to play
Now, baby, you ain't got to give my loving away
"Daddy's home, home for me"
And I know you've been waiting for this loving all day
You know your daddy's home and it's time to play
So you ain't got to give my loving away
So all my ladies, say, "Hey, hey, hey, daddy"
Hey, hey, hey, daddy
So all my ladies, say, "Hey, hey, hey, daddy"
Hey, hey, hey, daddy
So all my ladies, say, "Hey, hey, hey, daddy"
Hey, hey, hey, daddy
So all my ladies, say, "Hey, hey, hey, daddy"
Hey, hey, hey, daddy

Kat: From Staten Island, New York by way of Los Angeles, California, she is the Shaolin Stunna, La Corazon Oscuro, the Real Papi Chulo - Angelina Fantastica!

Angelina shifts position and lounges on the top turnbuckle, blowing a kiss to her audience even as they boo her and roll their eyes at her antics, but she doesn’t appear to notice or care as she basks in the attention.

Zack: A lot has been made of the fact that Angelina’s had multiple shots at this title. But if you watched her promo, she’ll tell you where you can stick your opinions. She’s looking for her first piece of gold in FFW. 

Mel: And she is absolutely right about where you can stick your opinions of her. Angelina has worked her tail off to get to this point, it has shown. She's got what it takes to win this match and I'm looking forward to it tonight.

“Villain” by Wildfire begins to play as a long stretch limousine starts to pull into the arena on the right hand side of the stage. It comes to park before the chauffeur steps out, and opens the passenger door. Dressed in a three piece suit, Kyle steps out first and then Valerie joins him. She straightens his tie slightly, and snaps her fingers when money begins to fall from the rafters with her picture in the center. 

"Tic tic toc, the time bomb clock
Ticks grinning ear to ear here baby
Tic Tic Toc, the time bomb clock
ticks counting down...
tic, tic stop!"

She extends her arms out as two men dressed like butlers join her, and lift her onto their shoulders to carry her towards the ring. Kyle gets escorted by a couple of women dressed like French maids. 

"My sanity's in short supply
Mad as a hatter, hey surprise!
T-T-T-Ticking bomb on the inside
Livin' with the villain pacing in my mind."

Kat: Ladies and gentlemen, making her way down to the ring, being accompanied by Kyle Kilmeade…..from Providence, Rhode Island, representing the Gold Standard… Valerie McKinley!!

The butlers place her on the bottom step, and leave. She gives the maids a look, and they scurry off before Valerie ascends to the apron. A wiggle of her finger summons the referee to hold the ropes open for her before she steps through and right to the center with her arms outstretched and a confident smirk on her face as her music fades out. 

Zack: Valerie McKinley has proven she’s in a class all her own from the day she walked into Future Shock. She’s packing half of their tag titles, and if she has her way, the Fast Track Championship will be leaving LAX or a private jet tomorrow with the One Percenter, Mel!

Mel: The other person in this match that I would be quite happy to see win this thing! She’s got the backing of the best manager going, after all.

Ah-ooh!
If you got troubles let 'em go
Let 'em soar so high, high into the sky
Just like a red balloon

“Red Balloon” by Charli XCX begins to play as red balloons fall from the ceiling, just before Charli XCX steps out onto the stage performing her song. The singer gets a loud pop from the crowd. Caitlyn follows her out, looking up in amazement at the balloons showering down on the crowd before looking back to Charli. 

Monday morning
Shoot up like a rocket
Yeah, the sun is shining
Keep it in my pocket
Got this golden feeling
Never gonna stop, it just goes on and on

The balloons start getting tossed around in the crowd as Charli continues her performance, following Caitlyn to the ring. The former fitness instructor hops up onto the apron and over the top rope to high five a smiling Kat.

Kat: Introducing at this time....Hailing from New York City, New York and weighing in at One Hundred and Twenty-Six pounds...She is Caitlyn Storm!

Today, I opened my eyes
And now I'm so happy and free
I've got my friends by my side
And that's all that matters to me
So, come on, get up and join in
'Cause this is just what you need
Let's do it all day long

Caitlyn heads for the corner, and climbs up to the second turnbuckle. She glances back to her opponents and the ladders all around ringside before pointing up to the Fast Track Championship to a pop from the crowd. The music fades out from there as Charli heads to the back. 

Zack: Wow, Caitlyn got a little celebrity endorsement and some new music to go with it! Special thanks to Charli XCX, who has pumped up this crowd and Caitlyn too, if she already wasn’t.

Mel: Lord knows she needs some kind of endorsement! Having friends in the company is not a substitute for actually being able to get it done! And she knows that...and we all know she’s bricking it really.

Robert Valero checked that the competitors were ready from the outside before he called for the bell, getting the contest underway. As the hubbub of the fans got louder, with the cheers for favourites getting stronger, duelling with each other while the wrestlers took a couple of moments to stare at each other. McKinley finally made the first move as she darted towards Isis Morales, catching her with a shoulder to her gut, forcing her back into the corner and Valerie tried to deliver shoulder blocks to her midsection, only getting to deliver one before the Titaness used clubbing forearms across her back to drop her down to her knees… which instantly saw Angelina Fantastica charge forward, stepping up onto Valerie’s shoulders and drove a knee strike into Isis face. 

Zack: Mel, it’s gonna be hard to keep up with a match that has this many women in it, but I think we can do it! Look at that, Valerie and Angelina working together! I don’t think that’ll last long.

Mel: I doubt it. At this point it’s get everyone else down so that you can bring the house down with the best match you can between you, and that’s what those two would do!

McKinley pushed up to her feet and started to again deliver shoulder thrusts as Angelina stepped up onto the bottom rope in order to throw kicks into the red haired wrestlers chest. On the opposite side of the ring, Caitlyn and Rose exchanged a glance and Storm was the first to set off, leaving her feet as she delivered a drop kick to Isis over McKinley’s back before Rose followed suit and delivered a drop kick of her own. Valerie quickly moved to the side and began to deliver sidekicks into the tallest woman’s midriff; Caitlyn and Rose quickly joining in with the assault, seeing the logic in trying to take out the powerhouse in the early stages of the match.

Zack: Practically everyone in this match is ganging up on the Titaness, and that’s not a bad idea. Isis is getting treated like a red-headed step-child. 

Mel: ...Well, she is redheaded. And so far as any redhead will actually care, not an actual one so I guess it works. YES I know what you meant, I’m being pedantic. Also, it is quite a good idea, Isis won’t even need the full 16 foot ladder to reach the belt!

Isis tried to fight back against all four women, only to find herself overwhelmed by the sheer numbers fighting against her - yet it only lasted for mere moments before Nevaeh pulled Fantastica off the middle rope, driving her down into the mat with a Walk of Shame jumping reverse bulldog. Quickly Summers came back to her feet and once more went to Isis’ aid as she wrapped drove a forearm across McKinley’s shoulders before she applied a rear waistlock and hurled her over her head with a release German suplex. With the Franchisee and the Gold Standard member taken out of the attack on Isis, the powerhouse wrestler began to fight out of the corner, tagging Rose and Storm with right hands as she fought her way out of the corner. As Rose staggered backwards, Morales caught her with a big boot to her face, sending her back down to the mat. Isis turned back towards Caitlyn Storm as the New Yorker bounced off the ropes and came towards Isis who lowered her shoulder and sent the girl high into the air with a back body drop that saw her clear the top rope and land outside the ring.

Zack: Did you see Nevaeh trying to help Isis ward off all these contenders? I know they’re friends. I’m not sure that’s a good idea. Only one woman is gonna be Fast Track Champion!

Mel: It’s likely a similar logic to the thing with Valerie and Angelina a few moments ago. Which is fine, since inevitably means that Isis would take Nevaeh out in the end, which is definitely the lesser of two evils.

Meanwhile Summers turned back towards the rising McKinley and caught her with a running, jumping knee strike to the side of her head before she dropped down and swept her legs out from underneath her. McKinley rolled and started to push up to her feet only for Summers to start to fire off kicks into her body, slowing her rise to a vertical base; when Valerie finally got there, The Finest left her feet and caught her with an enzugiri that saw the Gold Standard member to hit the canvas and roll to the outside. Meanwhile Isis caught Rose as she got back to her feet with two knife edge chops to the chest before she lifted her up high above her head and used a Gorilla Press to heave the Cosplayer over the top rope and into the rising Caitlyn Storm that saw them both land on a heap on the floor on the outside. Isis turned around and came face to Nevaeh. 

Zack: Nevaeh helped her a few minutes ago, and now they are the only two in the ring. I have a feeling that alliance is about to fall apart big time. 

Mel: As well it should! Every woman for herself, ultimately!

The two friends stared a hole through each other for just a second before they went at it, exchanging right and left hands. The red haired Goliath got the upperhand, forcing Summers backwards only for Nevaeh to counter with a drop toe hold that took Isis down to the canvas. Morales pushed herself up from the canvas, starting to get her feet underneath only to once more be driven face first into the mat with a bulldog. Again it didn’t keep the red haired wrestler down for long as she once more started to get her feet underneath her and the World’s Finest quickly went for the Grand Finale on the Titaness, but Isis never gave her a chance to deliver the move as she shoved her away and followed it up with a perfect Priceless Kiss to her friend’s jaw that sent her falling backwards through the ropes and landed in a heap on the floor.

Zack: Summers may have had some teeth knocked out right there, and look who’s all alone in the ring, Mel! Isis won’t need too tall of a ladder to grab that title either!

Mel: No she most certainly will not! And for the sake of her own safety, she shouldn’t! Bigger they are, the harder they fall.

Isis swiftly looked around the ring before her eyes turned up to the title, then she slid out of the ring and headed up the entrance ramp to retrieve a ladder, folding it close and started to carry it down to ringside. As she did so, Fantastica came back to her feet in the ring, waiting until Isis returned to ringside before she charged across the ring and dove over the top rope into a senton that sent Isis down to the floor. Fantastica popped up to her feet and pumped her fist, getting a small appreciative cheer from some fans in the audience that were mostly overwhelmed by boos. Meanwhile on the outside of the ring, Nevaeh Summers was starting to get back to her feet, only for McKinley to charge her from behind and drove the Georgia native face first into the steel ring post. As Summers reeled backwards from the steel, Valerie left her feet and spiked the blonde’s head into the floor with a jumping DDT. 

Zack: This isn’t the first time that Nevaeh and Valerie have gone head to head, but it’s certainly never had the stakes as high as this. 

Mel: Angelina made the mistake of celebrating that moment against Isis, and now I’m looking at a maybe and a Hell No in this match. Yay.

As McKinley was getting back to her feet after delivering the move, Angelina had turned on the entrance ramp to face Morales as the Titaness made it back to one knee and the Franchisee caught her with a shining wizard to the side of her head. It only rocked Isis, causing the red haired woman to reach out with one hand to steady herself on the floor. Fantastica shook her head and as Isis looked to be starting to push herself upwards, the Staten Islander skipped forward and delivered a superkick to the kneeling powerhouse. Again it only seemed to rock the Californian. Valerie moved towards Fantastica; the Gold Standard member seeming to offer her an alliance as she picked up the fallen ladder, holding out one end to the high flying Franchise member while indicating towards Isis. Angelina nodded her head, taking hold of one end of the ladder as Isis started to rise and the pair charged towards their red haired opponent, clotheslining her back down to the floor with the ladder. As Isis landed, the pair laid the ladder over her chest and Valerie quickly jumped into the air and came down with a double footstomp on the rungs of the ladder, driving it into the powerhouse’s chest, which was quickly followed by Angelina also delivering a double foot stomp driving the metal of the ladder into her body. Isis pushed the ladder away, holding her chest.

Zack: That’s what we were talking about earlier. Valerie and isis may be friends. Hell, Isis says she’s like a sister, but you can throw that out the window!

Mel: If you can’t get past a friendship to get what you want in this business, you got no business being here! Valerie knows that and good for her!

Valerie and Angelina picked up the ladder once more and headed towards the ring, lifting the ladder up and sliding it onto the ring apron only for Rose and Caitlyn to come forward and simultaneously launch themselves into a baseball slide that sent the ladder back into the Gold Standard member and the Franchisee. The ladder clattered to the floor; the two wrestlers stepped backwards and Rose and Caitlyn came back to their feet at which point they immediately took off across the ring and came back with matching suicide dives - Caitlyn catching Angelina flush in the chest as Rose barelled into McKinley, the foursome landing in a heap on the outside. 

Zack: It’s like watching a demolition derby as these women throw everything they have at one another. They are sacrificing their own bodies to become the Fast Track Champion!

Mel: Tends to be how it works! But you can’t climb a ladder from the outside, especially when you’re horizontal!

Storm began to pull Fantastica upwards only for the Staten Island native to push away from her fellow New Yorker before the pair started to exchange kicks. Meanwhile Rose started to pull McKinley to her feet only for the ginger haired wrestler to surprise the cosplayer with a low blow. Gardner tentatively stepped away from her opponent but wasn’t allowed to get more than three steps before the Rhode Islander jerked the cosplayer back towards her, lifting her up off her feet as she spun around and drove Rose into the metal of the entrance ramp with a spinebuster. Rose held her back as she started to sit up following the impact only to find herself pulled back to a vertical base by a handful of hair from McKinley who wasted no time at all in lifting her nemesis off her feet and dropped her chest first into the crowd barrier. Gardner stood upright holding her chest as she did so and Valerie caught her with a clothesline across her shoulders, sending the cosplayer into the front row. 

Zack: Valerie and Rose have been going at it through the spring, and neither of them are any less fond of the other tonight at Unstoppable. 

Mel: Nor would I expect them to be! Especially when this is what they both want.

Turning around, Valerie found Caitlyn and Angelina evenly matched as they traded and blocked shots while Isis was beginning to rise back to her feet. McKinley immediately moved towards the powerhouse, hooking her arm around her head as she pulled her back towards the entrance ramp and snapped off a quick DDT, sending the Titaness skull first into the metal. Immediately the One Percenter came back up to her feet and moved straight towards Caitlyn, hooking her arms from behind as she pulled her backwards and invited Angelina to take her best shot. Fantastica took the Gold Standard member up on her invite as she unloaded a vicious roundhouse kick to the side of Storm’s head. Valerie kept Caitlyn in her grasp, holding her up before Angelina asked her to let her go, McKinley pushing her off to one side as Angelina backed up before launching herself into a handstand headscissors takedown - the Break It Down. 

Mel: Well a lot went on right there, and there’s more where that came from! That thud from Isis was something else though!

Zack: For once, I don’t blame Kyle for staying as far away from this carnage as possible. He’s way up the ramp, and Valerie just gave him a signal for something. 

[Adam Grant]

As the high flyer delivered the move to Storm, Valerie was giving a signal to Kyle Kilmeade who was watching proceeding from the relative safety of the stage at the top of the ramp; the manager beginning to move at his clients request. Fantastica rolled through and came to her feet, turning towards the Gold Standard member and the Staten Islander threw her hands up, just getting them up in time as the one percenter skipped forward and fired off a superkick. Despite getting her hands up, Angelina still spun away from her opponent and Valerie made the most of it, locking in a rear waistlock and snapped off a German suplex that dropped the Franchise member back first onto the ladder Isis had been bringing to ring earlier. McKinley got up and rolled into the ring, looking around and seeing that everyone was down, as Kyle was already halfway to the ring, carrying a ladder with him which he slid under the bottom rope to his client. The manager clapped his hands, cheering on the Future Shock Tag Team Champion as she picked up the ladder from the canvas and began to set it up underneath the title belt.  When she was satisfied that it was set up and in position, McKinley started to climb the ladder but only made it up four rungs before she felt a hand on the back of her tights, tugging her backwards and found Nevaeh Summers back in the ring, stopping her from having a clear run to the title.

Zack: Valerie was halfway to the promised land, but Nevaeh put a stop to that in short order. 

Mel: You gotta be almost completely sure that everyone is down in a match like that to get what you want, and it just so happened that it wasn’t the case here! Unfortunately for Valerie anyway.

McKinley tried to kick Nevaeh away, only for the World’s Finest to grab hold of her leg and pull her off the ladder with a dragon screw leg whip. Valerie hit the mat and began to immediately rise back to her feet only for Summers to be on the move bouncing off the ropes on the opposite side of the ring, avoiding the ladder and caught her opponent with a spinning wheel kick. McKinley staggered for a moment before she was caught by Nevaeh who pulled Valerie forward and hurled her through the air and into the ladder with an overhead release belly to belly suplex. The ladder tottered and fell over, landing on the top rope and bouncing as it folded up. Summers nodded her head as she saw this and quickly pulled McKinley up to her feet and into a hip toss, sending the Future Shock Champion into the ladder. Valerie’s face became a mask of pain as she hit the metal and Summers launched herself into the air and delivered a knee drop into her face. McKinley immediately rolled away, falling off the ladder as she did so, holding her nose. 

Zack: McKinley may have a broken nose right there, but that’s not Nevaeh’s problem tonight. Her mind and focus is about 15 feet above her head!

Mel: Broken noses are workable, at least. Either way, that looked bloody sore and I’m glad it wasn’t me!

Summers quickly righted the ladder and once more looked to set it up underneath the Fast Track Championship, looking up at it before she started to climb the ladder. Again, though, she didn’t even make it halfway up before Rose Gardner grabbed hold of both of her ankles as she used the ladder to pull herself up to her feet, her head going between the blonde’s legs as she stood, getting the World’s Finest sat on her shoulders before she turned, pulling Nevaeh away from the ladder and dropping her backwards into the canvas with an electric chair drop.  Rose quickly came back to her feet and backed up to the ring ropes, running towards Nevaeh as she sat up and drove a knee into her face. Summers rolled away to the apron and Rose started towards the ladder, holding her back for a moment before she started to smile; her movements speeding up as she reached the ladder and began to climb. She got halfway up before Isis slid into the ring and came to her feet - Rose saw and started to scramble to reach the top of the ladder, but only made it two more rungs before Morales reached the ladder, bending down to grab the bottom rung on the opposite side to the one Rose was climbing up and began to lift the ladder upwards, sending it falling backwards. Rose leapt clear… and landed straddled on the top rope which bounced underneath her for a moment or two before Isis sprinted towards her and delivered a running big boot to the side of her face that sent Gardner falling to the floor on the outside. 

Mel: Well if your name is Rose Gardner, that went from wonderful on your part to “oh eff that” in the space of about twenty seconds! Ouch!

Zack: After everything so far, whoever leaves with the Fast Track Championship will have damn well earned it! 

As Isis turned around she found Angelina Fantastica on the top rope, the Franchise member seemingly measuring up the Titaness before she flew towards her… but never got to execute whatever she had in mind as Isis stepped forward and caught with a hand around the throat. Fantastica’s eyes went wide, kicking her feet as she was lifted into her air and driven down into the canvas with a massive chokeslam from the Privileged Circle member. The Staten Islander gasped for breath, trying to scrabble back to her feet straight after taking the move only to get a kick to the midsection from Isis who wasted no time at all in pulling the high flyer forward, flipping her up onto her shoulders and drove her down into the canvas once more - this time with a powerbomb, that saw Fantastica roll away to the apron holding her back as she did so. 

Zack: There’s just no way to negate Isis’ power, and she’s equal opportunity about decimating anyone who gets in her path to getting the title. 

Mel: Isis seems to have tapped into that time where she was a straight up wrecking ball and is using that to everything and everyone that she can get her hands on!

Isis stood upright just as a recovered McKinley darted past her and into the ropes, springboarding off them and delivered a roundhouse kick to the face of the powerhouse. Isis staggered backwards and got a flying forearm to the jaw for her troubles from the One Percenter, quickly followed by a leaping European uppercut before Valerie took hold of Isis’ wrist and fired her across the ring into an empty corner, following in behind her and delivered a splash in the corner. McKinley landed on her feet turned away from Morales for a moment before she left her feet and caught the Titaness with a gamengiri to the side of her head. Isis slumped in the corner and McKinley immediately went towards the ladder, pulling it back onto its feet and securely setting it up once more before she was surprised by a high kick to the side of her head from Rose Gardner. 

Zack: Valerie’s heading up again, Isis is trying to figure out where she is! And here comes Rose!!

Mel: Move it, Valerie! Goddamn!

Valerie stumbled to the side before she jerked around by the Cosplayer who left her feet and delivered a codebreaker to McKinley, sending her back into an empty corner. Rose backed up, measuring up her foe before she darted forward and launched herself into the Sonic Spin handspring into an enzuigiri. As it connected McKinley made it two steps out of the corner along the ropes before she flopped forwards and faceplanted onto the mat. Rose headed towards the ladder once more and began to climb upwards, getting halfway up before Isis began to step out of her corner and headed towards the ladder herself. Rose continued to climb as Isis started to make her way up the opposite side. Gardner got close to the top of the ladder and reached up for the title belt, fingertips just brushing the plate as she stretched. Rose shook her head and stepped up one more rung before she reached for the title again...and received a stiff closed right hand shot into the gut from Isis. 

Zack: I thought Rose might have had a clear shot at the gold, but the most dominant woman in Future Shock history has something to say about that!

Mel: Shaw and Charlotte aren’t in this match! But I see your point!

The Privileged Circle member delivered another shot to Rose’s stomach, stopping her from trying to reach up for the title. Rose looked down at the Titaness as she was still coming up the ladder. The Cosplayer drove a fist down into Isis’ forehead which didn’t seem to stop the red head from climbing. Rose through another only for Morales to return fire, catching the young woman with a haymaker of a right hand which almost sent her from the ladder. Rose regained her balance and reached over the ladder to drive the point of her elbow down across the bridge of her nose. A second and a third followed in quick succession, giving Isis a moments hesitation. It was just long enough for Rose to push upwards one final rung and hurl herself forward, sliding down Isis and grabbing the powerhouse by the legs as Rose caught her with a knee to the back of her head in the process of jerking the Titaness off the ladder and sending her down into the canvas with a sunset flip powerbomb.

Zack: Rose might as well have powerbombed a tree for all it took to get the Titaness down off that ladder! 

Mel: I just want to know where the hell she found the strength to pull that off!

Rose leaned back against the ladder after delivering the move, holding her head but got no respite as Angelina had made it back to her feet and came towards the Cosplayer, catching her with a knee to her gut before she took off across the ring and caught her with a running neckbreaker that put her down on the mat. Quickly Fantastica pulled her back up from the canvas and hurled her over the top rope to the outside. Dusting her hands off, Fantastica turned her attention back to the ladder that was still set up in the middle of the ring but never got a chance to start climbing it as she was sent face first into the rungs instead by a roundhouse kick driven into her shoulders by Caitlyn Storm. 

Mel: Goddamnit Caitlyn! Stay down!

Angelina staggered backwards away from the ladder and found herself driven backwards into the corner as Caitlyn unloaded on her with a vicious series of kicks to her body, allowing her educated feet to do the talking. Fantastica tried to cover up as her back hit the turnbuckle pads but Storm’s picked her shots perfectly to get through the Staten Islanders defences before she finished the series off with a crescent kick that caught Fantastica perfectly to the jaw. Angelina dropped her defences after the blow landed and Caitlyn brought her out of the corner with a monkey flip that saw Angelina fly through the air and hit the ladder back first and upside down before she fell forward onto her hands and knees which allowed Caitlyn to roll to her feet and quickstep towards Angelina and drive her face first into the canvas with a knee drop bulldog.  

Zack: Charli XCX’s favorite FFW wrestler is starting to clear the traffic a little bit, and has gotten all of Los Angeles behind her! 

Mel: I suppose they have to get behind someone at this point, and Caitlyn seems like the logical option.

Caitlyn looked towards the ladder for a moment but didn’t climb it as she saw Nevaeh Summers  getting to her feet in the ring. Storm moved towards the World’s Finest and the pair immediately began to exchange right and left hands only for the New Yorker to get the upperhand on the Atlanta native as she stepped forward and drove a knee into her midsection. Quickly Caitlyn grabbed hold of Summers hand and pulled her forward into a roaring elbow that dropped Summers to the canvas. Nevaeh sat up and Storm pulled her the rest of the way to her feet only to drive five raised knees into her gut before she double underhooked her arms and slammed Summers face first into the canvas. 

Zack: I remember these two putting on a show stopper a few weeks ago, which Nevaeh won. But Caitlyn is giving out receipts tonight on the biggest stage!

Mel: And she sure as hell doesn’t want them back!

Again Caitlyn looked up to the ladder only for her to see Rose getting back to her feet and Storm darted towards her, catching her with a running dropkick to her midriff. Rose dropped down to one knee only for Caitlyn to come back up to her feet and quickly delivered a single knee facebreaker to the cosplayer. Before Rose could react, Storm grabbed hold of her head and snapped off a DDT to drop her to the canvas once more. Caitlyn once more got to her feet, finding Nevaeh again recovering, causing the New Yorker to give another longing look at the ladder before she charged towards her and went looking for a scissors kick - only for the World’s Finest to pull her head out of the way at the last moment. As Caitlyn turned towards Summers, Nevaeh caught her with a forearm smash to the jaw, getting one in reply from Storm.

Zack: It’s a war of attrition now! Caitlyn and Nevaeh are in a slugfest right now with those stiff forearms to the mush!

Mel: I enjoy a slugfest as much as a the next wrestling fan, but this is not the time or the place to be doing that!

They exchanged another pair of matching forearms before Valerie McKinley charged towards the pair of them with an attempted clothesline. The pair ducked underneath her outstretched arms and as McKinley spun around, Nevaeh and Caitlyn delivered matching thrust kicks into the One Percenter’s stomach, causing her to bend double which allowed the two to drive the ginger woman into the mat with a stereo facebuster slam. As Storm and Summers turned back to face each other, the Worlds Finest caught the New Yorker by surprise, driving a boot into her gut to bend her over before she slammed her into the mat with the Grand Finale DDT. 

Mel: Valerie wanted in on the action, to be denied and now it’s the Nevaeh show all over again!

As Summers got back to her feet, she headed towards the ladder and began to climb towards the title belt only for Valerie to crawl after her, using the ladder to pull herself upwards as she gave chase. The Rhode Islander managed to catch the blonde by the foot and looked to yank her off the ladder to no success. McKinley tried once more before she grabbed hold of Summer’s other foot and this time tried to jerk both of her feet out from underneath her which prompted Nevaeh to leap off the ladder and catch Valerie with a double axe handle smash to her head. The Future Shock Champion stepped backwards only for Nevaeh to use a drop toe hold that sent the Providence native face first into the ladder. Summers didn’t give her any chance to recover as she pulled Valerie away from the ladder to her feet, where she whipped her across the ring. As McKinley charged backwards to Summers, the Worlds Finest left her feet, delivering a dropkick to Valerie’s face sending her down to the canvas where McKinley rolled out to the apron. Nevaeh rolled up onto one knee with her arms outstretched and the fans shouted at her “HOW GOOD WAS THAT?!?!” 

Zack: it was damn perfect, Nevaeh! Somehow Nevaeh is FIRED UP once again with the City of Angels cheering her on! I don’t know where they all keep finding these reserves, Mel.

Mel: They have to. They know what happens if they can’t. THere’ll be more than a few ice baths waiting backstage after this!

A surprised smile appeared upon Nevaeh’s face as she heard the fan’s reaction to her, twirling around to take in the cheers before she moved towards the ladder. She only made it one step though before Angelina Fantastica came back into the ring, holding a chair that she hurled towards Summers. The World’s Finest caught the chair in front of her face and the Franchise member drove the steel back into her face with a jumping kick. Summers dropped back down to the canvas, still holding the chair over her face as Angelina left her feet and delivered a double footstomp to the chair. As the Atlanta native rolled away, the camera caught sight of her head, showing that the blows from the chair had busted her open. Fantastica took the chair away from Nevaeh and advanced towards the rising Isis, driving the chair into her gut twice before she brought it crashing down on Morales head, dropping her to one knee before slamming the chair into her spine. It sent the Titaness falling forward over the middle rope which allowed Angelina to catch her with the 718 Tiger Feint Kick; Isis took the full force of the move and rolled away, falling backwards into a sitting position in the corner. 

Zack: If that corner wasn’t where it is, Isis Morales would be flat on her back right now. Angelina nearly kicked her into San Diego!

Mel: And not a single soul in this place would have given a damn if she had, I can promise you that!

As Fantastica came back to her feet, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Slowly she turned around and as she did so, Rose Gardner was stood right there and as quick as a flash she dropped Angelina to the mat with a stunner. Rose popped back up to her feet to a cheer from the crowd before she spotted Isis sat in the corner and backed up to the ladder before she darted forward and launched herself into a cannonball senton to Morales chest. Rose came back to her feet and started for the ladder, getting near to it before Valerie caught her from behind, driving her front first into the ladder which teetered and tottered as McKinley spun Gardner around and drove her into the mat with the Divine Providence Swinging Reverse STO. 

Mel: STO! Rose won’t know up from down after that one!

Valerie got back to her feet and quickly started to climb the ladder, she made it halfway up towards the title before a recovering Caitlyn started to move up the other side. McKinley shook her head as she spotted her rival climbing the other side and continued her ascent, trying to move her legs faster as she reached up and found the title just out of reach. The Gold Standard member made it to the top and tried to pull the title down only getting a moment to attempt to free the title before Storm caught up with her and stopped her in her tracks, driving a knife edge chop into her stomach. She followed it up with a second knife edge chop before she managed to block the attempted reply from the Future Shock Tag Champion. Caitlyn quickly grabbed hold of the back of her foe’s head and drove her face first into the top of the ladder. McKinley swayed backwards and as she tried to reassert her grip on the ladder, Storm caught her with a throat thrust that saw McKinley fall backwards off the ladder. 

Zack: How many times has Valerie McKinley been nearly up that ladder before someone’s stopped her? This time, it was Caitlyn.

Mel: More times than she wants to think about, and you can be completely assured that she is not going to be happy about it either.

As this was happening Angelina pulled herself up to her feet and climbed to the top turnbuckle behind Caitlyn. As McKinley landed hard on the mat, Storm secured her position on the ladder and started to reach up for the title belt, grabbing hold of it in her hand only for Fantastica to bounce off the top turnbuckle and fly towards the ladder, managing to catch herself on it. Angelina took a second to catch her balance before she leapt upwards, grabbing hold of Caitlyn around the neck as she jerked her backwards and into a codebreaker from the top of the ladder. Fantastica rolled away, holding her back in agony after landing on the mat and pushing Storm away from her; Caitlyn spasming in agony, holding her back with both hands as she did so.

Zack: They are wrecking each other, absolutely destroying each other’s bodies on the biggest stage in all of women’s wrestling!

Mel: That was...well, it was something anyway. I’m not sure I have the words for that one.

All six competitors were laid out on the mat, unmoving for a couple of seconds before Nevaeh and Rose started to move, the pair crawled towards the ladder and simultaneously began to climb up opposite sides, heading towards the Fast Track Championship. The two dragged themselves all the way to the top of the ladder and both reached up for the title belt, each one placing a hand on it before they seemed to realise the other was there. The two tugged the title belt in opposite directions, trying to take it out of the others grasp before they both let go of the Championship and began to launch right hands at each other’s head. Neither one gave up an inch as they exchanged rights and left, back and forth. They didn’t notice as Isis used the ring ropes to pull herself up to her feet and charged the ladder, driving her shoulder into it before reeling away and leaning back against the ring ropes. It momentarily rocked from side to side before it fell towards the ring ropes, Nevaeh and Rose falling as it toppled and landing hard on the mat. The ladder itself bounced off the ring ropes and folded up onto the canvas. 

Zack: It’s a good thing we got plenty of ladders, because they are taking about aa many bumps around the ring as the women using them.

Mel: I’m just shocked we haven’t actually lost any of them to the madness that this match is yet!

Isis finally pushed away from the ring ropes and headed towards the ladder only for McKinley to charge at her, Morales lowering her shoulder as Valerie neared and lifted her upwards onto her shoulders. A moment later, Angelina had forced herself to her feet and also moved quickly towards Isis, who again dipped her shoulder and managed to catch the Franchise member on her shoulders. With a roar the Privileged Circle member straightened up, turned around and leapt into the air, falling backwards and driving both Valerie and Angelina into the folded up ladder with a Samoan Drop. The pair rolled away in agony as Isis started to come to her feet and quickly found herself forced momentarily onto the back foot as Caitlyn Storm came back to her feet and began to launch into a series of kicks to Isis legs and body. The Titaness stumbled backwards as Caitlyn moved towards the ropes and used them to springboard into the Storm Rising spinning heel kick. Isis went unsteady as the boot met her face but she managed to stay upright. Storm went to the well once more into another Storm Rising springboard spinning heel kick. 

Mel: isis just took two Rising Storms there, and I wish I knew how she didn’t go down after the first one! That was surprisingly powerful.

Zack: What the hell does it take to put Isis down?! 

Again Isis wobbled but still didn’t go down. Storm shook her head and went towards the ropes again, launching herself into a third Storm Rising. Which this time saw Isis catch her in mid-air with one arm across her chest as she half-heartedly drove Storm down into the mat with an STO. Caitlyn rolled away to the ropes and Isis moved towards the ladder again, pulling it upright and setting it up beneath the title belt. Isis slowly began to climb up the ladder towards the Fast Track Championship. Isis managed to get far enough up the ladder that she was able to touch the title belt before, taking one more step to enable her to grab hold of the title belt. Before she was able to pull it down though, Nevaeh made it back to her feet and made for the ladder, crying out loudly as she started to shove it over. Isis jumped off and landed on her feet as it toppled, the ladder landing and resting on the top rope. Summers quickly moved towards Morales, catching her with a boot to the stomach while the Titaness was still getting her balance. 

Zack: Isis had her fingertips on the Fast Track Champion, but was DENIED by Nevaeh Summers once again!

Mel: Smart girl, Nevaeh. No one wants to hear Isis bragging about winning a belt again. No one. Except maybe Valentina.

Isis doubled over and Summers double underhooked both of her arms, setting up for the Grand Finale...which the red haired wrestler powered out of, coming up to her feet and lifting the blonde onto her shoulders before flipping her off and drove her downwards with the Voyage to Armageddon. As Isis delivered the move, Rose was quickly upon her once more, leaving her feet to drive a knee into the side of the head of the red haired Goliath. Morales staggered a step and Gardner pulled her quickly into the Poison Buster. 

Mel: You get a finisher! And you get a finisher! Finishers for everyone and only the baby of the Gardner family is left standing!

Rose made towards the ladder, setting it right and moving towards the middle of the ring, making sure that it was underneath the title…. And got no closer to reaching the title as Caitlyn spun her around, catching her with a kick to the middle before she jumped upwards and sent Gardner face first to the canvas with a scissor kick to the back of her neck. Caitlyn stumbled backwards, falling onto her ass against the ring ropes after delivering the move. Storm looked up at the title belt as she breathed deeply for a couple of moments, trying to recover from the effects of the match.

Zack: Caitlyn’s face tells you the tale, she’s staring at the gold! This has to have been the toughest match of their careers, but it’s not over yet! Someone has to get up the ladder and claim the title!

Mel: It almost feels like everyone has...frozen. I don’t like that. Giving everyone time to get themselves back together isn’t good for all of them.

Finally Caitlyn used the ring ropes and pulled herself to her feet, a look of pain on her face as she slowly walked over to the ladder. As she began to climb towards the title belt, the rest of the competitors began to get to their feet and started to converge upon the ladder. Angelina and Nevaeh were the first towards the ladder, followed by Valerie and Rose as Isis started to push upright. Fantastica and Summers began to rock the ladder, trying to topple it over as they felt the effects of the match while Storm tried to ignore their actions and continue to climb, looking down at the other five competitors gathering around the base of the ladder. As Isis joined the back, Caitlyn was two thirds of the way up the ladder, which was now rocking violently, Storm took a moment to look up at the title before she leapt from the ladder and into a frog splash that saw her crash down into all five of them, sending them all to the mat as the ladder rocked a few more times before finally settling on its feet once more.

Zack: The biggest frog splash Caitlyn Storm has ever hit, and she just wiped out everyone at once! Who’s gonna get up first?

Mel: Lord only knows, and that’s the worst part.

McKinley and Angelina were the first to rise to their feet and Valerie struck first, grabbing hold of the Staten Island by the back of her head and driving her face first into the side of the ladder. As Fantastica reeled backwards, Val hooked her head and drove her down into the canvas with a reverse DDT; Angelina rolling to the ropes after the move landed. McKinley rose back to her feet and was immediately stepped towards the ladder, only for Rose to bounce off the ropes and tag her in the jaw with a superman punch. The Gold Standard member started to fall backwards to the canvas only for Rose to grab her hand and yank her forward straight into the Poison Buster. 

Zack: POISON BUSTER for the One Percenter, and that had to have felt damn good for the Cosplay Princess!

Mel: I can only imagine that it did!

As Rose delivered that move, Caitlyn began to crawl towards the ladder while Nevaeh and Isis came to their feet and began to exchange right hands. Morales began to get the upper hand on the blonde, forcing her backwards. Summers looked unsteady on her feet and Isis loaded up for a haymaker and as she threw it, Neveah ducked beneath the shot, suddenly lifting the Titaness off her feet and dropped her with the Makeover variant of the Go To Sleep. Isis hit the mat and didn’t move. She was joined a moment later by the World’s Finest as Rose took full advantage, grabbing hold of Summers and slamming her into the canvas with another Poison Buster before the Atlanta native knew what was happening.

Zack: Good Lord, Rose is handing out POISON BUSTERS like a Pez dispenser! Nevaeh just got one to remember her by!

Mel: I feel like we should have Oprah out here shouting “you get one”, ‘cause I am not doing it again!

By the ropes, Angelina began to pull herself upwards with the aid of the ring ropes, Lyla Fox pushing something into her hand, with a flash of metal, as did so. Rose looked to the ladder and saw Caitlyn was pulling herself up the far side, climbing towards the Future Shock Championship. Gardner quickly moved to the ladder and began to climb upwards herself. Caitlyn maintained an advantage in the climb over the former homeless New Yorker; the pair racing slowly to the top of the ladder… only for the race to be cut short as Angelina used the bottom rope to leap onto the top rope and came off and wrapped her legs around Storm’s shoulders, yanking her backwards as she drove her down into the canvas with a reverse frankensteiner. Quickly Fantastica rolled to the ropes once more, as Rose saw a clear path to the title and the high flying Franchise quickly pulled herself back to a vertical base, slipping something onto her hand as she did so and used the ring ropes as a springboard to land on the ladder again. 

Zack: Have you ever seen something like that? Angelina doing her best Spider-Man impersonation, using the ropes to get back onto the ladder!

Mel: I’m more curious about what’s on her hand, personally.

Fantastica took a moment to find her balance before she started to scramble up the ladder as fast as she could, getting to the top at the same time as Rose Gardner. As they came to the top of the ladder, Rose started to fire off rapid fire right hands, that caused Angelina to rock backwards, swinging out and away from the ladder, only keeping one foot on it and holding on with one hand. Fantastica swung backwards and as she did so she swung a brass knuckle covered fist, catching the Poisonous One in the side of the jaw as she did so. Rose swayed backwards and as she found her footing once again, Angelina aimed to drive the brass knuckles straight across the bridge of her nose. But only got air as Rose managed to duck down out of the way before she countered by grabbing hold of the back of Fantastica’s head and slamming her face first into the top of the ladder twice in quick succession. Angelina wobbled but didn’t fall backwards. Not until Rose grabbed her by the hair and drove a headbutt into her forehead. As the Staten Island native fell all the way from the top of the ladder to the canvas, Gardner reached up and pulled down the title, holding it against her chest as the referee called for the bell.

Zack: SHE DID IT!! WE GOT A NEW CHAMPION!! TELL’EM ABOUT IT, KAT!!

Kat: Here is your winner, and NEW FFW FAST TRACK CHAMPION!!! “POISON” ROSE GARDNER!!!!

Zack: I know she may not be one of your favorite people, Mel, but I don’t think anyone can deny that rose Gardner didn’t earn that title! All six women left it all on the mat at Unstoppable, and the Cosplay Princess has got her first title!

Mel: You got that right on both counts! I’m disappointed for Angelina, but I’m not about to remove the fact that Rose did everything and more that she needed to to get her first piece of gold in the company. Well earned, for all I might grumble about it.

As the announcement was made, Rose moved to sit atop the ladder, holding the title above her head as she was cheered wildly by the crowd. There was a massive grin on her face as she clasped the title to her chest before the show cut elsewhere.


.


Zack: Thoughout the night, we are going to be taking you back to the Hall of Fame ceremony last night to show you the speeches from this year’s inductees. And right now, we’re gonna start with Steph Stefano!

Recorded Last Night….

Steph stands at the Hall of Fame podium, a recording of ceremony that comes before Unstoppable. Her attire choice is a black dress as she taps the microphone before sliding her glasses on and putting hands on the top of the frame.

Steph: I’m sorry if this is short but it comes from the heart. The first time you guys ever heard of me? I was off-again, on-again filming Mickey and Raquel’s videos for Femme Fatale Wrestling. After that? Future Shock’s very first tag team season and... I just want to state that Sunny? If you are watching? This award... A chunk of this award belongs to you.

She continued staring at the award for some time before breathing out.

Steph: This... I know my name is on the Hall of Fame banner. I know my name is the one called before I came onto this podium but... It doesn’t feel like it just belongs to me. Yeah sure, I’m the one standing here but I don’t feel like I can say it was all me. It’s never all you. Not in the way you guys are thinking either. Sure, I wanna thank Mickey Scarborough and Raquel Fair for the fact that the three of us together...

There’s a small grin on the Witch of Wall Street’s face before she licked her chops.

Steph: Well the three of us made the most unstoppable group, the most undeniable trio, the most dangerous faction in all of Femme Fatale Wrestling, of all time.

There’s some boos and some cheers for that and Steph snorts.

Steph: Hey. Hey! We’re all in this company’s Hall of Fame. Just saying.

She clears her throat.

Steph: At least give us the most memorable. Jesus. Anyway... Yeah, I wanna thank Christian Kincaid for managing my career all that time, I want to thank Sun Hi Kyoun for teaming with me, working with me, growing with me in the beginning. I want to thank Nevaeh Summers who, who while she wasn’t there at the start, has been one of the tightest with me. I want to thank my significant other for all that support up to now. The truth of the matter is they should know how thankful I am of the hands they had in my career but I don’t just mean people who were there for the support. I mean every nemesis, every enemy. If I domed you with a lead pipe, drove my knees into your back, or pissed you off... You probably have about as much claim to this as I do. Because there were wars and all those wars... Made me who I am. Standing here, right now. Look I’ve been The Witch of Wall Street, The Wicked Witch, “The” Steph Stefano... I’ve been the worst person you’ve seen, the most dangerous. I’ve been your Evolution champion, your Unity Tag champion, one of your voices of Future Shock...

She looks down solemnly, thoughtfully.

Steph: I... Do not think I will ever be your FFW Champion, but I am very proud to be one of your Hall of Famers. So proud. Thank you.

With that Stephanie walks from the podium to a pleasant reaction of applause.

[Adam Grant]

Kat: Ladies and gentlemen, the following match is scheduled for one fall!

The Staples Center goes pitch dark before a desert shows up on the video wall. Flames begin issuing up at the ramp as the crowd begins getting restless. The desert in question then shows off a large four-man looking truck in metallic looking blue and pink colors as it bounces up and down on the road. It nearly runs over a scaly looking brown creature on four legs with two red eyes before the little mongrel like critter opens it’s maw to cackle... 

Only for the truck to skid backwards and run the creature over. The truck then revs, before an arm-attachment on the roof of the vehicle launches a metal barrel into the air before it drives off, leaving the creature snarling and hissing in the dust.

...A few moments later the beginning chords of “Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked” begin to play as a number of half-naked men in white masks with breathing devices built-in, ala the Psychos from the Borderlands series begin emerging, hands flailing and screaming wildly towards the ring before they simply stop.

“He was a... You know he...
He was a... You know he...”

They form two straight lines going down the ramp towards the ring and stand at attention as though they’re all under the most strict command, even though a few moments ago they were screaming unintelligibly. They each have a stepladder, hiding behind their back. From the top of the ramp two figures emerge next, noticed by glow-in-the-dark contacts and glow-in-the-dark markings on their left arms and shoulders. Mickey Scarborough is dressed like Maya from the Borderlands series, taking her most recent look from the upcoming Borderlands 3. She sports a hood over BRIGHT blue hair that goes down to her abdomen in two locks with a long right sleeve and a sleeveless left arm showing off her tattooed arm of glowing blue markings.

“I was walking down the street when out the corner of my eye
I saw a pretty little thing approaching me
She said, "I never seen a man, who looks so all alone
And could you use a little company?”

Beside her on the other side emerges Raquel Fair. Raquel sports her hair put up to look short in neon red, Her eyes are a glowing, caustic looking yellow as she grins, dressed like Lilith from the Borderlands series. Her arm in the darkness looks to have yellow tattoos but once she comes out of the shadows and takes her place on the other side opposite Mickey it looks like blue markings. She grins wide as Raquel looks at Mickey and Mickey looks back at her. The two women watch each other before they look to the entrance.

“‘If you can pay the right price, your evening will be nice
But you can go and send me on my way’
I said, "You're such a sweet young thing, why you do this to yourself?"
She looked at me and this is what she said...”

Six arms form on the video wall and flex as the arena interior lights turn bright blue, then purple, then green and back to blue again. Slowly emerging from the curtain is The Witch of Wall Street, Steph Stefano. Steph is dressed like the newest Siren of the Borderlands series, Amara save for looking more in line with wrestling gear. She’s got a sleeveless leather jacket with spikes emanating out of the right side, and tattoos like Mickey and Raquel on her left arm. She puts her hand forward and Mickey and Raquel follow suit, in a one-for-all fashion before all three women begin walking to the ring as the Psychos salute... With stepladders.

“Oh there ain't no rest for the wicked!
Money don't grow on trees!
I got bills to pay, I got mouths to feed,
There ain't nothing in this world for free!
Oh no, I can't slow down, I can't hold back,
Though you know, I wish I could!
Oh no there ain't no rest for the wicked,
Until we close our eyes for good!

Stephanie shrugs off her jacket before she slides in the ring, bouncing on the balls of her feet before she hits the ropes to get a familiar feel of what she’s been without for so long. She bounces off the ropes once more for good measure before landing on her knees and punching the mat, causing pyrotechnics to go off above the ring. The Witch of Wall Street hops up and bounces again before she beats on her chest, walking backwards into her corner.

Zack: Stephanie made this challenge, looking for a fight on the biggest stage FFW can offer and I’d say the biggest opponent she could find in the industry.

Mai: So how quickly is this gonna end, Zack? Two minutes? Three?



The lights dim, and a rich, almost bass voice rolls out over the assembled fans, as murmuring commences. 

Deus In Absentia.

A crisp spotlight snaps on, illuminating the tall figure on the dark stage then, a man dressed in stunningly accurate Crusader Knight armor, complete with chain and plate, a flowing white cape at the shoulders, an Acre Broadsword in a scabbard at his back. The spotlight spills over as he removes his helmet, revealing that this is in fact none other than Chuck Matthews, businessman and tycoon - and notable is, in his hand, a censor that spills mist to flow from it and down the ramp towards the ring.

The tick tock of a metronome is heard from the music now playing, Deus In Absentia by Ghost and some high pitched giggling follows as from the darkness of the curtain area come two small girls, dressed in white lace dresses and carrying two baskets filled with purple, black, and white rose petals which they strew as they move past Chuck, skipping down to the ring. He squares his stance as the lyrics pump up and the vid comes on the screen behind him. On display are sequences done as a slideshow, presenting many of Aurora’s favorite moves in her favorite matches. DDT after DDT after DDT, many of them capturing the astonishment on the faces of the people she’s spiking on their heads.

In this your time of need
You're turning to the light
You had just begun to explore the dark
In the urban night

The world is on fire
And you are here to stay and burn with me
Our funeral pyre
And we are here to revel forevermore

As the word is drawn out by the background singers, Aurora appears on the stage and looks around at the fans, several smaller spotlights coming to highlight her and the two figures that step up behind her. Aurora is wearing her classic ring gear, a look she’d gotten away from but felt fitting for tonight, a mix of leather and lycra, black and pink. Heavy, heavy Harley style boots on her feet, and blinding flashes of the lights off the silver badges and so on look almost like a halo around her.

Her short hair blue, for this encounter, rustles in the downdraft from the ceiling vents as those plush lips twist into a wry smile. At either side of her is Aubrey Jessica Parker and Nina Stokes, both dressed in short dark fitted dresses, almost like dark nun habits but both of them had uncovered hair - and looked more than capable of fighting off anyone that would try to interfere in this match.

You're so God damn frail
Failing for a change
You just had to know all about the world
But you will never know
'Cause no one ever told you how

The trio walk by Chuck who then follows up behind them in a position of strength, guarding them it seems, as they make the ringside area. Unusually for her Aurora bows her head as she reaches the steps and then looks up with a brilliant smile on her face before turning to Chuck - who seems to be saying some sort of encouragement or blessing to her. She goes up the steps to the apron and then turns to face the ramp, her arm draping the top rope as she does a backwards flip into the ring, joined by Aubrey and Nina as they come through the ropes.

Producing a microphone, the trio sing along with the last bits of the music, belting out the words.

The world is on fire
And you are here to stay and burn with me
A funeral pyre
And we are here to revel forever

The world is on fire
And we are tied as one eternally
Our funeral pyre
And we are here to revel forevermore

Aurora shakes their hands before they leave the ring, handing down her decorated ring jacket to Aubrey before she and Nina go to collect Rhiannon and Nicoleta and sit near the timekeeper’s area, leaving Chuck there with his own wry grin as the music finally fades out, the fans chanting Aurora’s name.

Aurora! Aurora! Aurora!

A pause and she smiles, taking a deep breath and saying it to carry:

“Hello my Freaky Darlings, have you come to see a fight!!!”

She laughs delightedly at the roar of sound in return, tossing the microphone to a ringside tech as she rolls her shoulders and moves out of the way so the referee can take the center of the ring. 

Zack: Ladies and gentlemen, if you have never seen an Aurora match you are about to see a spectacle in wrestling. There is no question that she is one of the best, so expect competitive from start to finish.

The two women meet in the middle of the ring as referee Malcolm Parks glances to Kat, who announces the two competitors. A small “Steph-Stefano-(clap clap clap)” chant breaks out.

Kat: From Berkeley, California and weighing in tonight at 170 pounds... She is THE WITCH OF WALL STREET, THE MISTRESS OF THE BACKBREAKER... THIS IS *THE* STEPH STEFANO! ...And her opponent...!

The Witch of Wall Street stomps on the mat, grinding her heel as she watches Aurora. For her part, Rori looks slightly amused by the display as Kat motions to her. This time an “Aurora! Aurora! Aurora!” chant cuts across this time.

Kat: From Chicago, Illinois and weighing in tonight at 145 pounds... She is THE QUEEN OF THE CROSSROADS, THE MISTRESS OF THE DDT... THIS. IS.....AAAAUUUURRROORRRAAA!!

DING! DING! DING!

The two circle around each other, arms up as though they both intend to go for a collar elbow tie-up. Steph quickly moves forward and Aurora nearly cuffs her across the head with a european uppercut, causing Stephanie to take a few steps back from taller wrestler. She exhales and launches herself forward, nearly catching Rori in a clothesline, but the faster wrestler sidesteps her as Steph harmlessly hits the ropes, hanging there for a second as Rori watches her. The Queen of the Crossroads catches the Witch of Wall Street quietly nodding to herself before she turns around as the two watch each other again. Both women immediately lock up with Steph slowly beginning to impress upon Rori with her power advantage. She begins to walk Aurora towards the corner as the sold out Staples Center watches on, but Rori quickly breaks the collar-elbow tie-up to get a standing headlock before she sends Steph running, but Steph reverses it and sends Aurora as hard as she can into the turnbuckle! 

Zack: So far it’s just a little tit-for-tit here, Rori took the turnbuckle to the back and Steph looks to be picking up on impact! 

The Witch of Wall Street begins to corner in on the Queen of the Crossroads as she gets to her feet, tagging her with two forearms. She irish-whips Rori again but Aurora stops herself just short of another back impact in the turnbuckle and catches Steph with a back elbow when she attempts to come running in. Steph staggers back and drops, putting a hand in front of her eyes and trying to decide if she’s seeing double thanks to that hard elbow shot to the head. Aurora follows it up with a standing double axe handle once Steph is on all fours. The Witch of Wall Street winces, on her knees as Aurora grabs her by the back of the head and feeds a spinning heel kick across the side of the head that puts Steph on her back. Aurora reaches down and begins to force Stephanie up, going for a front facelock.

...The crowd rallies up...

...And before a DDT happens, Steph rolls backward into a crouching position with a stare at Rori like a deer in headlights. She mouths something, shaking her head before she rushes at the Queen of the Crossroads, getting caught with a hurricanrana into a pin!

OOOONNNNNEEEE!!

TTTWWW---

KICKOUT!!

Mai: Rori nearly started her DDT count early, and Steph quite literally ran from it. These fans came to see DDT and Backbreaker spam, Stefano. Don’t be a coward.

Zack: ...So you want her to just sit and take DDTs all--of course you want her to sit there and take DDTs.

Stephanie kicks out and Rori quickly switches gears, hoping off her opponent and hitting the ropes. The crowd  watches as the Witch of Wall Street staggers up, only for the Queen of the Crossroads to pedal forward into a bicycle kick. This time however Steph sidesteps out of the way, and the moment Aurora turns around she gets caught with a flowing Samoan Drop. Rori gets the air knocked out of her for a second as Steph is immediately on the attack, forcing the quicker wrestler to a knee before hitting her with a snapmare takedown and forcing Rori up. Quite literally off the bat, Steph goes for her usual jumping reverse bulldog, but Rori twists her wrist around, pulling her into a front facelock and then a Snap DDT, spiking her head into the mat! Rori sits up from the impact before looking to the turnbuckle, and her eyes fall on the nearest corner as the Witch of Wall Street is laid out, on her back after half-rolling over and cradling her head.

Zack: Ask and you shall receive and Rori gives Steph the first DDT of the night, with no regard except for the top. I think we’re about to see the Haunted Revolution!

Mai: ...K. That’s... That’s a name. You know, I could name wrestling moves better than either of these two. Walk of Shame. Haunted Revolution. There are people you can PAY for this sort of thing.

Amidst dueling chants...

Half the crowd: AURORA! AURORA! AURORA!

Other half of the crowd: STEPH STEFANO! *CLAP CLAP CLAP* STEPH STEFANO!

The Queen of the Crossroads drags the Witch of Wall Street to the nearby turnbuckle she’d been looking at. She lets go and walks to the corner. Rori takes a firm grip of the nearest turnbuckle and hoists herself up. She springs and launches herself with a split-legged corkscrew moonsault but at the last second Stephanie raises her knees up and lets Rori come down on hard on them. Aurora staggers up, holding her ribs as Steph kips up, turning Aurora around and pulling her into an Inverted Headlock Backbreaker, letting her rebound up to her feet before grabbing Rori by the wrist and pulling her into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, stretching Rori over her knee as long as she can, forearm on her jaw and other arm at her waist. She DIGS her knee into Aurora’s back, wrenching before stepping up with Rori, and THEN hitting the jumping reverse bulldog for good measure!

Zack: WALK OF SHAME!!

OOOONNNNNEEEE!!

TTTTTTTWWWOOOOOO!!

...

KICKOUT!!

Malcolm Parks motions for the two count and Steph sits up, wiping her brow and she heaves. Steph slowly rises up, looking down at Aurora before shaking her head. The Witch of Wall Street steps towards her prone form. For a moment it looks as though Steph is going to reach down for her legs, but as she reaches, Aurora’s legs shoot up and wrap around Steph’s throat. Steph does the first thing she can think of to counter the Mistress of the DDT’s headscissors, arching herself upward as though she was going to powerbomb her...

...But it seems that was exactly what Rori wanted as the moment she’s on Stephanie’s shoulders, she hops off, hooking Steph’s head on the way down and spiking her head into the mat with a vicious Flip-Over DDT, or Samurai Driver by another name!

Crowd: OOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!

Mai: Talk about being two moves ahead. Stefano got fed a headscissors and thinking Rori was gonna try to catch her with a rana she lifted her up... And well. You saw what happened.

Rori keeps the front facelock applied even with Steph’s legs in the hunched, forcing her to stagger towards the ropes as she leads her. The Mistress of the Backbreaker gets fed onto the apron by the Mistress of the DDT and for a moment it looks like Aurora is going to get off an Elevated DDT... Then she gets a quick jab to the ribs. Then another jab to the ribs. Steph begins doing the most in trying to fight Rori off of her, punching her again and again in the abdomen just to get her off. Rori does stagger back as Steph pulls herself through the ropes, back into the ring only to run RIGHT into a Pendulum DDT with authority! She drops, spread eagled as Aurora hooks the leg!

Zack: THE EDGAR ALLEN POE SPECIAL!

OOOONNNNNEEEE!!

TTTTTTTWWWOOOOOO!!

...

KICKOUT!!

Steph gets the arm up, but the moment the Queen of the Crossroads SPOTS said arm? She nudges the Witch of Wall Street over onto her abdomen, wrapping her legs around said arm and pulling backward into an MMA style crucifix armbar. She hooks one arm with her own arm, the other arm with both legs and begins tagging Stephanie with repeated elbows to the head before her arm wraps around her neck. The Witch of Wall Street agonizes in pain, shaking her head when Malcolm Parks asks if she wants to quit. She continues to take on both arms being stretched out and fights through the pain as Rori pulls back on it. There’s a struggle through the pain but Steph stretches out her legs, and when that fails... She tries to stand on her knees with Rori in tow. A few in the crowd gasp as Steph successfully stands up with Rori on her back. Aurora breaks the armbar, quickly about to use the grip she has on Steph’s arm to likely hit a neckbreaker, but Steph counters by lifting Rori up and sending her down to the mat with a Thrust Spinebuster...

Before both women go down.

Zack: Aurora had a nasty looking crucifix armbar there and once or twice you could tell Steph was considering tapping out. It was only raw strength that saved her there and her arms HAVE to be killing her.

Mai: So I’ll do my job for once; Aurora and Steph differ with speed versus strength, but where they meet is technical fortitude and styles revolving around a brand of maneuvers. If you’ve noticed yet, Aurora actually made the effort to be good outside of a walking DDT machine......... I guess.

The camera zooms in on both women, Aurora rolling on her side and massaging her back with her knuckles and Stephanie with a hand on her shoulder and another hand on the back of her neck. Aurora however is the first person to get up between the two women and she reaches down for Steph. The Witch of Wall Street looks up at Rori with trepidation and weariness as the Queen of the Crossroads tch-tch-tchs her and forces her to her feet... Before Steph drops to her knees again. Rori blinks rapidly, before she forces Steph back to her feet again, a little shocked that the Witch of Wall Street has been exhausted already. She forces her up to her knees again but Steph grabs Rori by the wrist, and twists it around before hitting her with a jumping legdrop bulldog for good measure and laying there for a second, mouthing “FUCK!” that is muted on pay-per-view.

Zack: Stephanie just hit Aurora with a GOLDEN STATE OF MIND! That’s Nevaeh’s maneuver! 

Mai: YES. JOY. GREAT. THEY’RE BESTIES, WE GET IT ALREADY!

There is a look of desperation on the newly minted FFW Hall of Famer. She forces herself to her knees as she looks over at Aurora, still sprawled out from the legdrop bulldog. Steph puts a hand on the back of her neck and continues staring at the Queen of the Crossroads as though she’s never seen anything quite like her. She begins to slowly rise up, her vision never leaving Rori as she begins to slowly walk backwards into the turnbuckle. The side of the crowd chanting Aurora only chant louder and the side chanting for Steph try to match as Steph begins debating for a punt kick straight to Rori’s head. She huffs, eyes narrowing as she looks like she’s decided on the course of action. It would be disrespectful to not give everything to the match, right? She rushes forward, looking for the punt as Aurora gets on all fours, but at the last moment Steph misses when Rori sits on her knees.

...Arm twist.

Rope-assist.

Asai DDT.

Zack: GHOSTLY KISS! THE GHOSTLY KISS DDT!! Steph just got drilled into the mat! 

OOOONNNNNEEEE!!

TTTTTTTWWWOOOOOO!!

...

TTTHHHHHRREEEE--!!

KICKOUT!!

Stephanie gets the shoulder up but like hell if she can actually see straight, trying to sit up and immediately deciding how bad of an idea that is before dropping back down on the mat, eyes closing and opening slowly. Labored breathing as she tries to sit up and then drops on her back. Rori however isn’t about to fall for any manner of goldbricking for the second time and reaches down to force Steph to her feet. She walks her into the nearest turnbuckle before catching her with a european uppercut. She hits her with a second european uppercut. A third european uppercut and the Witch of Wall Street has to be pushed back into the corner by the Queen of the Crossroads rather than she straight up collapse on her. She goes for a fourth but Steph begins fighting out of the corner. One forearm. Two forearms. Three forearms. Four forearm strikes and heavy breathing. She goes for a fifth but Rori sidesteps her and windmill kicks her upside the back of her head.

Zack: Steph trying to beat Aurora back but once again, speed is the factor as Rori hits her with an overhead windmill kick.

Mai: How many blows to the head can you take in a given match, Zack? How many blowjo--

Zack: No. 

AGAIN. The Mistress of the DDT goes to raise the Mistress of the Backbreaker, almost feeling as though she’s been here before. Aurora shakes her head and irish-whips Steph towards the ropes. On the rebound she leaps upward and OVER Steph. She hits the ropes and springboards for a beautiful moonsault, complete with flashing lights of flash photography. Steph catches her on one shoulder however, and it looks for a moment like she might hit her with a powerslam. Aurora however twists her hips and for a moment it looks like she’s about to hit Steph with a swinging Tornado DDT...

...

Until at the very last moment, the Witch of Wall Street grounds herself, hefts Rori back upward and drives her into the mat with a vicious lifting side slam before collapsing on top of her.

Zack: WITCHMADE!!

OOOONNNNNEEEE!!

TTTTTTTWWWOOOOOO!!

...

TTTHHHHHRREEEE--!!

KICKOUT!!

Rori kicks out.

Steph sits up and... It can be said that Aurora brings out a particular emotion within every opponent she faces. Steph’s is... Confusion. She silently mouths to herself, “How?” Repeatedly. She keeps asking herself “How?” over and over and over again, rubbing the bridge of her nose and looking as though she’s steadily losing her mind, sweat from her face, veins across her forehead and arms... She looks as though she cannot properly process how this is still going on. She unsteadily stands up. Very... Very unsteadily. The mouthing “How?” turns into a “No”. before she walks back towards the nearest corner, once AGAIN thinking about a punt kick to the head. Then she stops. She looks back at Rori, walks back to her and hefts her up for a Argentine Backbreaker Rack. She hops twice... Wrenching the hold before heaving Aurora over into a double knee backbreaker. Stephanie THROWS herself over Aurora.

OOOONNNNNEEEE!!

TTTTTTTWWWOOOOOO!!

...

TTTHHHHHRREEEE--!!

KICKOUT!!

Again.

OOOONNNNNEEEE!!

TTTTTTTWWWOOOOOO!!

...

KICKOUT!!

...And now The Witch of Wall Street begins slapping herself in the face in frustration, then digging and pulling her hair. She looks half-mad the way aggravation has completely built up before she sits up and mouths, ‘What the fuck is it gonna take? WHAT IS IT GONNA TAKE!?!’ She screams the second part at Aurora’s prone body...

...Too which Aurora sits up and wipes her mouth, before mouthing with eerie calm. “More.”

Zack: Stephanie looks absolutely beside herself. She wanted this match but I don’t think she realized just exactly what it was gonna take, what it was going to entail.

The Witch of Wall Street lets out a roar of frustration and goes for a running punt kick anyway, but the Queen of the Crossroads rolls backward, flowing in motion and doing an ankle takedown that sees Steph drop on her abdomen. She does a push-up to get herself up and both women for one second are both standing before Rori bicycle kicks Stephanie straight upside the head. Steph is on rubbery legs, looking as though she might fall backwards but Aurora catches her by the wrist, twists and heads for the rope.

...Percisely two seconds later?

Zack: GHOSTLY KISS DDT! THE SECOND OF THE NIGHT AND THAT HAS TO BE IT!!

OOOONNNNNEEEE!!

TTTTTTTWWWOOOOOO!!

...

TTTTTTHHHHHHREEEEEEEEE!!

DING! DING! DING!

Kat: Here is your winner... AAAAAUUURRROORRRAAAAA!!

Mai: Well... The dumb, fat bitch failed us. Great. Just great.

Zack: Hold your tongue. Neither woman was looking to disappoint tonight but Aurora was simply just a little bit more calculated, a little bit faster, a little bit smarter... A little bit of everything.

As “Deus In Absentia” plays over the system, Raquel and Mickey slide in to check on Steph, spread eagled. As Chuck quietly applauds at ringside, Nina and Aubrey come to the apron and slide in a large leatherbound book to Aurora once her arm is raised by the referee. She takes the book and quietly walks towards Steph with a tired smile. Steph looks up, exhausted as Rori grins.

Aurora: Wouldst thou like to live deliciously?

The side of the Hall of Famer’s mouth twitches slightly, before she takes the pen sitting in the book and signs her name. Rori takes the pen and closes the book before handing it back to Aubrey and Nina. She offers Steph a hand up which she gladly takes. The two shake hands before Rori gives Steph a hug and whispers something. Steph nods an affirmative as we head elsewhere.



Choose Your Words Wisely

The next time we cut away, it’s to backstage. In specific, it’s the locker room area where the door in front of the camera says “10 star” on it. Seeing it’s open and no need to knock, the camera heads inside to find the reigning Future Shock Champion herself Tara Cortez with her manager on a sofa together. As soon as they see the camera, Christian waves it on in the rest of the way. 

Christian: C’mon in, especially since you already let yourself in anyway. I made a promise to the champion here before Impact that if she picked up the win, I’d personally bring her to Unstoppable myself. Knowing full well that she would, I went ahead and arranged for it before that show even happened. And I am a man of my word. So Tara…

He gives her his full attention, and even gives the Future Shock Championship a little pat as well.

Christian: What do you make of all this? 

Unbothered as usual, the Future Shock Champion sips on a glass of juice as she comfortable leans on her seat.

Tara: You mean, this show? My future is right here. When the next edition of this grand stage of excellence rolls on -- the Unstoppable of the Decade, you should say -- I will be here, extending my streak of victories even further. And it’ll have been a surprise for absolutely nobody, granted they’re actually paying attention.

She pats the main plate of the FS Championship and smirks.

Tara: Unstoppable X truly is the show where the brightest stars gather, and it’s only fair that I, the 10-Star champion, be present for the 10th edition of this spectacle.

Christian: That’s exactly right. Especially when less than 2 weeks ago, you put down a Hall of Famer who has held the FFW Championship and who was in the ladder match tonight. At the very least, I’d say that entitles you to be at the big show up close and in the middle of all the pomp and circumstance. And like you say, I am confident by this time next year, THIS will be your stage as well. This will be YOUR playground, so to speak. Instead of being a big fish in a teapot, you’ll be a whale in the ocean. 

Tara: Oh, Nevaeh, yeah… See, I have a little theory of my own, see if this makes sense to anyone.

Tara taps the side of her head as she puts up a thoughtful face.

Tara: Everyone involved in Future Shock Impact was at some point a Future Shock Prospect. Every single one of the wrestlers that fought for -- let’s call it this for the lack of a better term -- the “main roster” is a Future Shock Graduate… Except for two of them. One of them was Raven Knight, who, on the grounds of us not being acquainted in any way, is not important right now. The other… Was Nevaeh Summers. See, Summers was brought in by Samantha Star to be the ultimate test to one of Adam Grant’s “chosen squad”. And I use that term loosely because I wasn’t CHOSEN, so much as I was a mandatory presence, seeing as there is no Future Shock without Tara Cortez. That whole event would be illegitimate from the start hadn’t I been there wrestling.

Tara then cups her chin.

Tara: This being said, it strikes me as odd that Adam Grant would be disappointed with the notion that the chosen stars of Future Shock would clean sweep the event. Five matches, five victories for Future Shock. A champion of future stars such as himself should be beaming with happiness over that fact -- the idea that his Prospects were SO ready to take on the main roster squad, even a Hall of Famer was brought down to size! And I have a hard time thinking what result it was that made him so disheartened over the idea of a perfect clean sweep… If not for the match including the woman he did not choose.

Christian: It’s pretty much what you said. It would have been a high insult if the Future Shock Champion wasn’t part of Impact. What other woman would outrank Tara here as someone to represent the Prospects? No one. But the funny part is here’s Nevaeh on this show competing for a title that if she wins, under normal circumstances would make Tara #1 contender. But that’s not the case obviously. So she’ll just relish the fact that she knocked her off, and whenever Nevaeh starts getting the big head again, I happen to manage the pin that will deflate that balloon. 

Tara: And far be it from me to offer counsel to any of the self-serving lessers infesting this roster, but if I were in your shoes, Nevaeh… I would be VERY careful with your words. Because many, MANY before you have tried to delegitimize me as a champion. And all of them failed. Nobody has been able to dismantle my machine. Nobody has been able to cut me down to size. Everyone claims to be in on my secrets, and yet none of it has been enough for people to actually snap my streak of victories. And you… YOU, Nevaeh! You of all people have no right to call ME out! Not with the long comedy of sins you carry on your back!

Tara laughs vividly.

Tara: There are many reasons I’m twice as good as the best wrestler you can think of. And one of them is, despite people being so confident about knowing what I am and what I do, the fact nobody has ever found a way to put a stop to my dominance. And if Adam Grant is so disheartened by it.

She looks at her belt.

Tara: Maybe I could bring this here belt to the main roster and show the “professionals” what a true champion looks like.

Christian seems to ponder that, and whispers something to her before the show cuts back to the ring. 

[Adam Grant]

Typhoon Warning

After a short commercial for Sin & Sacrifice, the show heads backstage to find the reigning No Surrender Champion herself in one of the skyboxes throughout the Staples Center. Seated next to her was her employer on one side, and the “Red Empress” on the other side. 

Samantha: Before I go and get ready to do my refereeing duties, I wanted to spend a little time with the No Surrender Champion here. You see, ever since she completely decimated Savannah and entirely removed her from the division as a result, that just means she has new challenges ahead. New opponents that are more deserving than Savannah, which…. well anyone would be. On the next Velocity, we’ll crown the new number one contender to the No Surrender Championship in one of the final matches my brother will have put together. It’ll be O.E. Ayano and Lilly Arthur under submission rules in the main event, and the winner will have the honor of being Bianca’s first successful title defense at Sin & Sacrifice. 

The Brazilian blonde smirks mischievously.

Bianca: For the sake of full disclosure, I just find it hilarious that a woman who took pride in being a technical phenomenon, that being Savannah Taylor -- always so full of herself, believing to have wiped out the Franchise and whatnot -- was the one that proved why I am FFW’s Franchise Player. Not only the face of the company, but the face of technical wrestling as well. And with experiences like my match with Andi Takata in the books, I guess it’s more than proven that I’m the perfect all-rounder, aren’t I?

She leans back on her seat and crosses her legs.

Bianca: I’ll enjoy watching them go for it. Ayano and Arthur, that is. Because now they have a legitimate champion they can look forward to losing to, and a belt that actually means something, instead of being an extra 15 pounds of titanium around the waist of a woman who made her career on sex -- doing it and talking about it -- to such point one could argue Vivienne Robichaud is only as on the nose with her Kamasutra references because it’s the only thing she could fight someone to be the #1 Google result of.

The Russian part of the trio leans forward with her usual demonic smile.

Mika: The Franchise will continue to turn heads as they go, and give meaning to the championships they hold. Samantha Star and I have full faith in what Bianca Salvador means to the No Surrender Division.

Samantha: Normally I am not too enthusiastic about the idea of someone holding two championships in FFW at the same time. But I make exceptions. And let’s say OE does win the match at Velocity, I have enough faith in Bianca to keep her from adding another title to her collection. As it pertains to Lilly, I hope she knows my brother only gave her this chance out of what I can assume is only pity. Because you see, just because you won four matches as Fast Track Champion, ones where you win by DQ or countout will never count again as a successful defense. So while she may be proud and think she’s following in the footsteps of Kaoru Asaka, the problem comes if she wins, she still has to TRY to defeat Bianca. And that’s not something I think she is capable of doing either. 

Bianca: I think it’s time this roster has this understood.

Bianca raises the No Surrender Championship to the level of her head, smirking.

Bianca: You’ve all seen me do the unthinkable. The doubtful. The extreme. And I’m not afraid of any of you bitches. Y’all got your panties in a twist because Sophia Pike is out here snapping arms or Cassandra Steen is snapping ankles? You whores should be afraid of ME. Not because I’m Mika Demidov’s protegé or Samantha Star’s designated MVP. Not even just because of this championship.

Bianca smirks mischievously.

Bianca: You should be afraid of ME because I’ve already proven time and again that I am the closest thing to perfection this company has ever seen. Go on, roll your eyes, blow your raspberries, it’s all you simpletons know to do. I’ll keep on wrecking my enemies and putting you all in check, one by one. And when you’re caught up in THIS typhoon… You won’t be able to say you weren’t warned.

Samantha rose from her seat to do as she said she was, leaving the camera to linger on the No Surrender Championship before the show headed back to the ring.




The bell sounds a few times as the show heads back to ringside, where Kat Grayson is once again in the ring with her microphone.

Kat: The following contest is scheduled for one fall, and it is for the FFW Evolution Championship!



The lights in the arena go dark as the military-style horns blare throughout the arena - the opening to Little Mix’s “Salute”. A group of dancers are arranged in a triangle shape, wearing matching black tops, camouflage pants, and sneakers. Their heads are bent forward and their hands are on their knees and as the music begins, the lights come up and two rows at a time, the dancers pop their heads up and begin the choreography. 

Bianca Reed is in the center of the dancers and two stay with her as the others fan out into small groups along the ramp, with Bianca taking point.

Ladies all across the world
Listen up, we're looking for recruits
If you with me, lemme see your hands
Stand up and salute
Get your killer heels, sneakers, pumps or lace up your boots
Representing all the women, salute, salute

The three women show off their hip-hop skills, making the footwork look easy. Bianca moves on to another pair of dancers, joining them in the center as the next verse of the song hits.

Ladies all across the world
Listen up, we're looking for recruits
If you with me, lemme see your hands
Stand up and salute
Get your killer heels, sneakers, pumps or lace up your boots
Representing all the women, salute, salute

As they reach the bottom of the ramp, Bianca raises her fist in the air and the dancers gather behind her in formation, executing the dance moves perfectly. 

It's who we are
We don't need no camouflage
It's the female federal
And we're taking off
If you with me, women lemme hear you say
Ladies all across the world
Listen up, we're looking for recruits
If you with me, lemme see your hands
Stand up and salute
Get your killer heels, sneakers, pumps or lace up your boots
Representing all the women, salute, salute
Attention (salute)
Attention (salute)
Attention (huh)
Representing all the women, salute, salute

All but eight dancers disappear offstage, leaving Bianca surrounded by a circle of women who drop to perform their floor work, leaving her standing in the center.

You think we're just pretty things
You couldn't be more wrong
(We standing strong, we carry on)
Knock us but we keep moving on (we're moving up, yeah)
Can't stop a hurricane, ladies it's time to awake (yeah)

At the “ladies it’s time to awake” line, Bianca grins as the next chorus hits and she runs to the center of the ring. Her eight dancers follow her, and more flood in over the barricades and down the ramp. Some are from her opening but others are new and it’s clear that some of the newcomers are little girls between the ages of five and fifteen.

Attention
Attention
Individuals
Originals
Huh

Bianca Reed: LET ME HEAR YOU SAY!

She shouts out that particular line of the song and joins in the choreography with the others, flash-mob style. Only her purple hair prevents her from getting lost in the sea of women surrounding her - women of all shapes, sizes, and ethnic backgrounds, dancing in unison and surrounding her with positive energy.

Ladies all across the world
Listen up, we're looking for recruits
If you with me, lemme see your hands
Stand up and salute
Get your killer heels, sneakers, pumps or lace up your boots
Representing all the women, salute, salute
Attention (salute)
Attention (salute)
Attention (huh)
Representing all the women, salute, salute!
(Ladies, the time has come, the war has begun
Let us stand together
And remember, men fight great, but women are greater fighters)
Huh!
Representing all the women, salute, salute

Bianca goes to the turnbuckles and climbs each one in turn, saluting and waving to the crowd and yelling at them to applaud her dancers. And before Kat can do her introduction, she goes to the ring announcer and seems to whisper something in her ear, which results in Bianca being given the microphone.

Bianca Reed: From Atlanta, Georgia and currently residing in Los Angeles, California, my name is “Killer B” Bianca Reed. I am the Princess of House Reed, the Rockstar of Femme Fatale Wrestling, and the most UNDENIABLE woman in this company TODAY! The women who came here with me today are all current and former students of Starlight Dance Studios in Atlanta, Georgia - my first family, and the people who taught me all the skills I needed to get to this point in my career. So no matter what happens tonight, I want to thank them for being here, for putting in hours of rehearsal, for getting everyone here to the Staples Center tonight, and for giving y’all one hell of a performance!

She grins and hands the mic back to Kat, going to her corner and stretching before the match gets underway.

Zack: Wow! You want to talk about a high octane entrance? That was it! Bianca Reed is ready for the biggest match of her career tonight on the biggest stage! That’s one thing I love about this show, the pageantry! Chrisitan, welcome back to the booth. 

Christian: Good to be back. I wasn’t needed for what you’re about to see from Kelly, and I agree with you on Bianca’s entrance. That one got me a little pumped up, and I’m just sitting here with you.

The lights go out and the video wall comes to life with a caption that reads:

“Los Angeles…. 65 Million Years Ago”

The text fades out and it is replaced by a video of a lush, green verdant forest… that is only interrupted by the sudden presence of a dinosaur - a brachiosaurus to be precise, craning its long neck into the canopy and pulling down a mouthful of vegetation that it happily munches down on as the camera pulls back to reveal more dinosaurs roaming through the forest scene in what could easily be an excerpt from a Jurassic Park movie - it even has the iconic movie soundtrack as a score. As this plays on the video wall, the camera cuts away to show shots of the entrance ramp and ringside area where animatronic dinosaurs are ‘grazing’; their hides lit up in bright neon colours while other, smaller dinosaurs are also shown frolicking amongst the crowd.

It all lasts for a good couple of minutes before it’s interrupted by a screeching, screaming whistling noise that heralds the arrival of meteors. Red hot rock pitching across the video wall plumes of smoke suddenly rising up in the background; looks of confusion, panic and bewilderment appearing on the dinosaurs faces as they start to stampede. While from the rafters of the Staples Center a huge meteor suddenly appears, shooting and screaming over the heads of the crowd before crashing into the stage area; a wall of flame shooting upwards on the moment of impact. As the flames die away the whole arena is plunged into darkness; the dinosaurs disappearing from view as quickly as they appeared. 

The darkness lasted for a few brief periods before the video wall came back to life, showing a desolate burnt, barren landscape; the sun a dulled orange halo in the sky. The number on the bottom of screen began to spin quickly, counting down from 65 million years and on the screen we quickly saw the rebuilding of life. The sky clearing while the first green shoots of recovery worm out of the ground, exploding up through the ash and into towering trees. The camera shows bugs and beetles feasting once more in the forest as more and more complicated animals appears.

Finally there’s the arrival of primates into the forest - and into the arena. Performers acting like monkey’s cavorting their way through the crowd, pretending to groom and pick bugs from spectators. A couple of moments later they were replaced by Neanderthal man as more performers entered the arena - this time in packs, all dressed in animal skins with wild hair and spears. The packs of neanderthals seemingly hunting as they made they way through the arena. And again, just as they seemed to reach the entrance ramp they were replaced yet again by Homo Sapiens - a whole grouping of which had created a settlement on the entrance ramp down to and around the ring. They even had a fire going half way down the ramp with a boar on a spit roast. 

It only lasted for a short while before the lights went out once more and again all attention was focused on the screen where the settlement became more advanced; the homo sapiens fashions changed. As the years ticked off the forest was slowly cleared away and was finally replaced by the sprawling concrete jungle of today. And still the countdown continued; flicking through pictures of people of all ages and ethnicities while the fashions continued to get more and more up to date. As we neared the present day there was the briefest, momentary flick of a picture that could have maybe been a publicity shot of Bianca Reed - though it went past much too quickly for anyone to be sure.

As we hit the present day and an aerial shot of the Staples Center there was the sound of a radio retuning, skipping back and forth from one DJ or song to the next. The camera moved forward, into the Staples Center itself, finding the meteor still centre of the stage. As the radio finally settled and began to play the opening strains of “Blonde, Bad And Beautiful” by Airborne, Kelly Kincaid explodes up out of the top of the meteor and lands on her feet on top of it, holding the Evolution Championship above her head as she did so, getting a loud cheer from the crowd. 

Kat: Please welcome to the ring, from Coney Island, New York… the reigning and defending FFW EVOLUTION CHAMPION… KELLY KINCAID!!!

With a grin on her face, the blonde acrobat fastened the title around her waist before she charged towards the side of the meteor and launched herself from it. A cape billowed out behind her as she swung out and flew over the top of the crowd in a large circle around the ring. On the second pass her flight path brought her closer to the ring and finally the girl landed on the top turnbuckle in one corner. She stood there, raising the title above her head once more to get cheered by the crowd before she flipped off and landed on her feet. Removing the cape from around her shoulders, she handed the title belt off to the referee and completed her last minute preparations as her music died and the lights returned to normal, waiting for the match to begin.

Zack: Another spectacular entrance, this time for the reigning Evolution Champion. Kelly’s no stranger to this show, but she wasn’t part of it last year. She looks to make up for that tonight. 

Christian: Everyone wants to be part of this show. If you’re on this roster or a Prospect, this is where you want to be. And if you don’t, I’m not sure why you’re wasting everyone’s time honestly.

Referee Ashley Pruitt takes the title from Kelly, and holds it high over her head. She shows it to Bianca, who gives it a pat before it’s handed off to Kat as she leaves. The bell sounds, and both girls are already bouncing on the balls of their feet. Each of them look out over the crowd, smiling at the reaction before they meet in the center. The smiles fade as they go nose to nose, and Bianca begins her usual trash talking. Kelly returns the favor as things heat up quickly, and they start throwing hands. The crowd responds with each shot as the fists start flying. Kelly sends her across to the far side, but Bianca reverses it. Kelly rebounds and cartwheels out of the way as Bianca goes to grab her. A grin on the blonde’s face forms as Bianca spins into her with a shake of her head, and catches her with a discus elbow to the mouth. Three more right hands land against her jaw before she grabs a rear waistlock. Kelly reverses it and ends up with one on Bianca just as Reed grabs her head and gets shoved off. The challenger spins back around, and holds up two fingers to show how close she was to putting Kelly’s lights out.

Zack: You can see those egos flaring right now, and we’re getting a little bit of gamesmanship from both of these women. They both like to show off, and they both pride themselves on what they can do!

Christian: Yeah, there’s not gonna be a quickness or speed advantage for either side. They are both lightning fast, and they are both gonna try to show the other up. There’s no bigger stage to do it on either!

The pair lock up in the center of the ring, and Kelly starts to push Bianca back into the ropes. The referee calls for the break, and Kelly gives it. But Bianca catches her with a palm thrust to the throat as she backs away. That chokes her up for a moment, and Bianca starts unloading with body shots followed by a short knee to the ribs. She doubles the champion over before Reed drops her with a twisting neckbreaker. Kelly doesn’t stay down long though, and Bianca takes off for the ropes. As soon as the champion is back to her feet, Reed catches her with a jumping leg lariat that puts her down again. A double knee drop to the body stops Kelly from getting up again, and Reed applies a rear chinlock. 

Zack: Now we got Bianca trying to ground Kelly for a moment here, but I’m not sure how long she’s going to be able to keep her down.

Christian: The thing is when you compete at the pace these two do, you have to conserve energy too. You don’t want to get blown up halfway through, this lets Bianca take a breath or two.

As Zack suggested though, Kelly doesn’t stay down very long. She starts back to her feet, and Bianca transitions into a standing side headlock. The champion shoots her off into the ropes, and Bianca rebounds into a leap over Kelly’s head before she hits the far side. Kelly tries to catch her with a mule kick on the rebound, but Reed grabs her foot and counters into a dragon screw. Kelly gets snapped down to the mat, and “Killer B” follows up with a double stomp to her leg. When she reaches down to grab her foot again, Kelly brings her knees up and shoots her backwards instead. The acrobat nips back to her feet, and then leaves them as Bianca comes forward to deliver a headscissors takedown. It sends the challenger out of the ring before Kelly takes off for the far side. As the challenger gets to her feet, Kelly runs up the ropes for a meteora that drives her into the floor!

Zack: A meteora from the top rope to the floor, and Bianca got planted! It was only a matter of time before these two started getting airborne, and Kelly wiped out the challenger right there!

Christian: It’s the adrenaline of the moment. Kelly’s deviating a little from the gameplan we laid out, but sometimes you have to call audibles in the moment. 

Kincaid popped back to her feet, listening to the crowd’s response before pulled Bianca back up. Sitting a few feet away at ringside was Melody Reed, who was shouting at her in-law to pull it together. Kelly tossed her opponent back into the ring, and slid in after her. Bianca tried to get her breath back, but Kelly scooped her up to sit on the middle rope. She then took off to the far side, and came back with a sliding snap German suplex. Bianca landed on the back of her head as Kelly grabbed her legs to roll through for a cover. 

Christian: That’s something we worked on right there though, and let’s see if Bianca’s winded enough to call this a retention. 

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

THR-NOPE!!

Bianca kicked out in time, and Kelly got back to her feet. She dragged Reed to her feet, and pasted her with a few forearms upside the head. They rocked the challenger back into the corner before Kelly fired her across to the opposite corner. Reed hit chest first before Kelly darted in behind her, using the middle rope for a disaster kick. 

Zack: Bianca’s head nearly made a goal after that disaster kick, and Kelly’s got the challenger in major trouble! 

Reed clutched the back of her head on the mat as Kelly climbed up the ropes again, this time using them for a springboard moonsault. But Bianca rolled away from her, and let her crash on the mat instead. Reed sat up, still holding the back of her head as Kelly was face down on the mat. The challenger lunged forward with knee lifts into her ribs when she tried to get up. Several of those shots landed in a row before Bianca grabbed her around the waist for a wheelbarrow facebuster. She rolled her over, and hooked the leg for a cover before Pruitt dropped to count.

Zack: The speed in this match is unreal, and Kelly got dropped right on her face! Bianca could be leaving with Evolution gold!

ONE!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

TH-NOPE!!

Kelly kicked out in time, and Bianca rained forearm shots to her head before she finally got back to her feet. She dragged Kelly up into a full nelson before turning it into a full nelson slam. Kincaid landed on the back of her head before Reed darted up the corner, and connected with a split-legged moonsault.

Christian: I gotta give Bianca credit, she’s fighting like she’s in someone else’s body tonight. And there’s no better time to do it!

The move caused Kelly to curl up on the mat, and Reed dragged her back to her feet again. A few quick forearms to the side of her head landed before a discus punch clocked her to slump on the middle rope. Reed bounced off the far side, and came back with a tiger feint kick that sent Kelly back to the mat. And with a yell to the crowd, Bianca headed for the corner and started to make her way to the top turnbuckle. 

Christian: Is she gonna go for the stunner already? I’m glad she can’t hear me, because I think she’s taking way too big of a risk right now. 

Zack: I’m not sure if she’s looking for it yet or not. It’s hard to predict what “Killer B” has in mind when she starts heading up to the top rope!

Before Kelly could get up, Bianca launched herself into a moonsault. But Kelly rolled away from her, causing Bianca to land on her feet instead like a cat. Kelly went to grab her from behind, but the challenger grabbed her head and snapped off a stunner that popped the crowd. Kelly bounced to the mat right before Bianca lunged towards her for a cover. But the champion rolled out of the ring to the floor, and Bianca barely missed grabbing her. 

Zack: I don’t know if she meant to do that or it was just the momentum. But Kelly may have just saved her championship reign in that precise moment. 

Christian: Bianca senses it too. She may want to go out there and get her back in though. I wouldn’t leave Kelly to her own devices too long, if I were her.

Bianca followed the advice, even if she didn’t hear it, when she rolled out to the floor. She pulled Kelly to her feet, but the blonde surprised her and drove her backwards into the barricade. But it was clear the blonde was still dazed as she dropped to her knee. Melody Reed moved around behind Bianca on the other side of the barricade, telling her to finish her off. Bianca glanced towards her, which gave Kelly the opening she needed to paste her with an European uppercut that snapped Bianca’s head back. Two more of those landed before Kelly whipped her into the apron. Reed landed back first as Kelly charged towards her. Bianca lowered her head, and Kelly ended up in a handstand on the apron behind her. When Reed looked up, Melody screamed at her to look just before Kelly came down with a tornado DDT. It stood Reed on her head for a half second, and Kelly launched her back into the ring to make the cover. 

Christian: Maybe I should have stayed ringside for this match. This Melody chick Jake invited seems like she’s managing Bianca from the front row. It may be over now!

ONE!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

THREEEEEEEEE-NOPE!!!

Zack: I think she’s being more of a nuisance to her honestly, but that’s not important now! Bianca just got her shoulder up in time!

Kelly made it back to her feet, and yanked Bianca up with her. She scooped her over one shoulder, and delivered a snake eyes in the corner. The challenger stumbled away holding her head before Kelly hopped up onto the second turnbuckle from the inside, and came off with a blockbuster! The champion waved her to get up as she bounced on the balls of her feet. Bianca did just that, and Kelly snatched her head to deliver her headlock driver! Reed collapsed in a heap before the champion made the cover. 

Zack: Bianca just got a bad case of CLIPPED WINGS!! Kelly’s gonna retain the title in three!

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!! NO!!

Bianca’s shoulder popped up off the mat at the last possible second, and Kelly looked to see it and then to the referee with two fingers up. The champion looked stunned as she looked down to “Killer B” on the mat.

Christian: I...I don’t believe it! Do you know how many people kick out of that move? Yeah, me either because it almost never happens! 

Bianca struggled to get to her feet, and Kelly pulled her the rest of the way. Reed managed to shove her backwards as she wobbled on her feet. The Evolution Champion stormed forward with a few forearms to the side of her head before getting shoved off again. This time, Kelly grabbed her head until Bianca countered with a body shot. Reed scooped her up into a backdrop driver. The challenger rolled away from her, still trying to get herself together as she got to the ropes. 

Zack: I don’t think Bianca’s fully recovered from that headlock driver earlier, and she looks like she may be fighting on fumes right now. But it looks like she’s finding that second gear. 

Christian: I can’t believe she kicked out of it still. But you’re right, she’s digging down deeper into that reserve where every good wrestler has. They have that second energy tank, like a video game.

Reed started stomping her foot to get the crowd behind her again, and it worked like a charm. She watched as Kelly finally got back to her feet. And when she turned to see where the challenger was, Bianca darted out of the corner with a superkick on the chin that dropped the champion where she stood. Reed dove on top of her, hooking both legs in the process before the referee dropped to make the count. 

Zack: A skull-rattling superkick right on the button! And that button says “Good night, Kelly!” Reed’s gonna make history!!

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-NO!!

Kelly’s arm came up at the last possible second, and Bianca pounded the mat. She struggled back to her feet, and headed for the corner. The “Killer B” fans were very loud at this point as Reed headed for the top rope!

Christian: I think she’s looking for that stunner now! Neither one of them can have too much left to give, they’ve thrown everything at one another! 

Bianca got her bearings on the top rope. And as she was about to turn, Kelly lunged towards her and scaled the corner like a cat. She grabbed her around the waist, and launched them both into a cyclorama that shook the ring on impact. Kincaid hooked both legs as tightly as possible before the referee dropped to count. 

Christian: If she kicks out of CRASH AND BURN, I’ll eat this desk, Zack! 

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

Pruitt called for the bell to a pop from the crowd as Kelly rolled off to the canvas. The former acrobat pulled herself slowly to her feet, and nearly fell backwards into the ropes before she got her hand raised. 

Zack: Well you won’t be needing and ketchup tonight, Christian! Kelly dug down as deep as I’ve seen in years, and she’s retained her title!

Kat: Your winner by pinfall….AND STIIIILLLLLL FFW Evolution Champion…….KELLY KINCAID!!

Pruitt handed Kelly the title back, and she raised it overhead with a tired smile on her face. She moved towards Bianca, offering her a hand up. Reed took a moment, and accepted it before the pair shook hands. But Bianca dropped back to a knee, still dazed as Kelly rolled out to the floor with her title in hand. 

Christian: I don’t know what it means to her, but Bianca showed me a lot tonight. Sometimes the journey to the top of the mountain takes a little longer than we’d like, but she’s as close to the peak as anyone could be, far as I’m concerned.

Zack: Bianca Reed has nothing to be ashamed of. She came closer to knocking off Kelly than anyone in recent memory, and there’ll be another day for “Killer B” and championship gold!

The camera caught Melody Reed hop the barricade, and climb into the ring with Bianca. She helped her to her feet, and raised her hand to a pop from the crowd. Reed looked at her with a confused look though.

Christian: Bianca’s in-laws came to see her tonight, that’s the one Jake invited: Melody Reed. 

Zack: It is indeed, but I’m not sure Bianca knows what to make of it. 

Bianca was even more confused when she gave her a hug… and then planted her with a flatliner. Melody sat up with a scowl on her face, and took off towards the ropes. When Bianca rose to her feet, Melody left hers and connected with a sunset piledriver (Yoshi Tonic) to spike her head into the mat. 

Zack: What the hell is that?! 

Christian: I guess they aren’t that close after all!

The Los Angeles crowd booed as Melody got to her feet, and security took off down the ramp. The blonde rolled out under the bottom rope, and put up her hands before she headed towards the back with security in pursuit. 

Christian: I thought she was there to help her. I guess the Reed family isn’t as close-knit with the in-laws as the rest.

Zack: She doesn’t even work here, she’s a guest! And she just dropped Bianca on her head! Get her out of the arena!

As Bianca started to get her wits about her and sit up, her face quickly showed a very angry woman as we cut to a commercial for Sin & Sacrifice. 

[Adam Grant]

How Bad Does Lilly Want It?

The show heads to the back, and finds Lilly Arthur alongside Amber Carano. The reporter gives her a hug as she approaches, and then turns to the camera.

Amber: It’s the biggest night of the year for women’s wrestling to say the least. Before we get started, I’d like to welcome my guest at this time to Unstoppable 10. She’s been part of this event, and knows what it means. Thanks for joining me, Lilly.

Lilly: Always a pleasure Amber. It’s a huge night isn’t it? The tenth anniversary of Unstoppable. Traditionally the biggest show in FFW’s year...this promises to be the biggest FFW show in history. It’s certainly going to live long in the memory for an awful lot of people.

Amber: We are in FFW’s backyard here in Los Angeles, Calfironia. Earlier tonight, we heard the confirmation on some news you already knew was coming. So let’s start there. On the next Velocity in the main event, you will have your #1 contender match for the No Surrender Championship when you meet O.E. Ayano under submission rules. This is a first time meeting for you both, and I’m curious what you feel O.E. brings to the table.

Lilly: I don’t think it’s any secret that O.E. has a lot of heart, a lot of determination and a never say die attitude - she’s very difficult to beat by pinfall and even harder to beat with a submission hold. On top of that, she’s a very proficient technical wrestler and a pretty skilled submissionist who can have something of a vicious streak to her too. It’s something that I’ll have to look out for. The No Surrender Championship is something that Ayano has wanted for a long, long time too - like really wants, like craves it in a borderline unhealthy way maybe. I mean, she was willing to risk her entire career for the titanium championship. That’s a length that she’ll probably be prepared to go to again when I face her at Velocity. It’s going to be a very exciting match for the fans.

Amber: Keeping that in mind, do you think that means she wants the opportunity to challenge Bianca more than you?

Lilly: I think it means that she set this as something of a career goal for herself and is DESPERATE to achieve it. I can understand that. But I’m not sure it’s going to matter all that much at the end of the day because she’s felt that way for a long, long time without quite getting over that hump of winning the title or getting quite close enough to get a chance to win that title. I think what it means more than anything is that O.E. will fight every submission hold and every attempted submission hold like her life depends on it. Just like I will. And that desire, that desperation, it won’t mean anything when one of us gets caught in the middle of the ring, trapped in a submission hold cinched in really tightly and the only choice you’ve got is to tap out or wait until you pass out.

Amber: Lastly, you had been showing off your submission skills a lot in recent months against Angelina and Scarlett Silver when you won the Fast Track Championship. Was that your way of letting management know that the No Surrender title was something you were interested in all along or was it more that was what worked in those moments?

The Englishwoman considered her answer for a moment.

Lilly: It was a little bit of both to be honest. I mean, the original plan was to rack up the four defences and challenge for the Evolution Championship as per the terms of the Fast Track Championship, but given that only one person had ever made it four defences, it made sense to take the opportunity to demonstrate all of my skills and abilities; show that I can win matches in many different ways and maybe also help keep my horizons as broad as possible. Couple that with the fact the No Surrender Championship is a very storied title, held by some of this companies stand out talents, from Wendy Briese, Serafina DeCaro and Caroline Dallins to Starla McCloud, Jo McFarlane and Sophia Pike. Who wouldn’t want to be part of that history?

Amber: You make a good point, Lilly. I appreciate you time tonight. Let’s send it back to the ring for the next match.

And that’s the next stop as the show cuts back into the arena.





We’re sent back to replays of the Hall of Fame ceremony that happened the night prior as this time, “the Outlaw” Alysson Gardner takes the stage. There’s almost a protocolar round of applause for the former Ultraviolence Champion, with a couple of people showing particular appreciation for her. The “Goddess of Extreme” takes on the environment and waits for her music to die out to begin speaking.

Alysson: This has been a looooong time coming.

Alysson stares at her new plaque and ring with some weird look that can only be classified as… Melancholy.

Alysson: I’ve been around in this industry as a professional for 13 years. Since 2006, I’ve been breaking my back to send out a message to the world. I’ve seen people of my family walk in and out of the industry. I’ve seen people come and go, fall in love and become disillusioned with the art of wrestling. But one thing has stayed the same: ME. I am here. I’m still willing to go the extra mile for what I believe in. And I fucking love to fight.

A sigh follows.

Alysson: Many were the times this love was put to the test. Before coming to FFW, they thought I was just another… goddamn big-boobedInstagram model who would be happy if they gave me a Tits-’n-Ass Championship. Not even kidding, THAT really happened. But all I really wanted to do was to… Fight. Truly fight. See, professional wrestling saved and changed my life. Everybody who’s cared to research a little bit about me knows that I used to have a drug abuse problem in my teen years, and because of that problem, I’m unable to have children today. But wrestling taught me discipline. Wrestling gave me a reason to stay clean, sober. It gave me a purpose to fight for. And it gave me a family. Figuratively… And literally.

The image cuts to Valerie Lamb, Alysson’s wife, with a big beaming smile of pride. right next to her, another of Aly’s best friends, Emma Mackenzie, with a similar feeling.

Alysson: I met my wife, Valerie, through FFW. I remember the shows we did in the United Kingdom, in which my ex-wife Gabrielle Crimson and I would stay over at her place in Edinburgh, which was how our friendship started. And that’s been… Like, 6 years already, goddamn. And today, I’m proud to say that I’m the stepmom to two beautiful children, and wife of one of the most talented women in this sport.

There’s a short commotion before Alysson continues speaking.

Alysson: And this just keeps feeding into my desire to take this sport by storm, yanno? I’ve fought for a lot of companies before settling in FFW. I’ve made the rounds with some of the best AND some of the worst this sport can offer. I’ve had my share of big championships and heartbreaks. And this is just the culmination of all the work put forth towards being known as one of the best. And I know I’ve been talking a lot about retirement recently; I even mentioned I wanted Mallory Bennet to put me down. But before I do… I have a challenge. I have a challenge to FFW.

There’s a soft “ooh” from the crowd as Alysson smirks.

Alysson: I know I’m the oldest active wrestler of this company, but I have no idea how much gas I have left in the tank. But I can tell you this: it’s more than enough for what I want from you. This Hall of Fame moment is a celebration to my career and how a reckless bitch from Paris can put her body on the line for the best part of one and a half decades and still kick ass like the best of them. Which means I’m level with fucking Crystal Hilton.

Laughter follows.

Alysson: To many people, this is the pinnacle. Being recognized for the whole of their career. But not me. Because I don’t like fitting in just for the sake of it. And now that I have this… Something nobody can take from me… There’s only ONE. MORE. THING I want from FFW.

Alysson slams the podium and smirks.

Alysson: I WANT THE BIG ONE.

The audience immediately cheers on the announcement, as we focus on some members of the audience’s eye rolls.

Alysson: And I will NOT retire, I will NOT rest, I will NOT waver and I will NOT surrender until I can look at every single one of you in the eyes and say that the Goddess of Extreme, the Outlaw, is once again a World Champion.

She shakes her head.

Alysson: I’ll fight for it. And I’ll prove I’m ready for this. And it doesn’t matter how long it takes, I’ll keep on fighting. This is not just a statement, it’s a promise: I’m coming for it. And when I do… I’m gonna ROCK. YOUR. WORLD.

And as Alysson’s music hits again, she raises her plaque and throws the horns with her other hand. On that sight, we go back to the live show.





As we’re sent back to ringside, we’re met with a most grin scenario: the ring’s ropes have been swapped out for strings of barbed wire, and there’s steel chairs and barb wire panels galore surrounding the ring. Given this unsafe predicament, Katherine Grayson isn’t even inside the ring for the announcements!

Kat: The following contest… is a METAL MAYHEM MATCH… And it is for the FFW ULTRAVIOLENCE CHAMPIONSHIP!!!

Zack: And who better to join me for this match than iconic hardcore wrestler and one of the newest members of FFW’s Hall of Fame, Alysson Gardner? Welcome to the prime seats, Mrs. Gardner, and again, congrats on your induction.

Alysson: Let’s talk less about me and more about this match. And I’m not even here because of the whole love story between Missy and the Franchise… More interested in how far they’re willing to go with this. I’m sure to be entertained!

A bunch of people dressed like Ghostface from the Scream movies pour out of the back, running towards the crowd before another one steps out. Clearly this one is female, and holding a butcher knife in her hand.

Voices won't go away
They stay for days and days
They say some awful things, ways to make you fade away
I don't think no one's home
And we're just here alone
I better find you first, before you find the phone

The sole Ghostface pulls her mask off to show it’s Missy before she looks to the knife and slices the front of her costume to let it fall to the floor. Christian appears behind her, and she hands him the knife. Dressed in blood red ring gear, she casts her eyes to the ring.

You go up check and see
No one cares less than me
Dead wrong I guess you'll be
These voices won't let you leave
Got you down on bending knee
What should my next weapon be?
It's over you can't breathe
Just sit down, rest with me

Kat: Introducing at this time…. Hailing from Leeds, England and weighing in at One hundred and twelve pounds… she is MIIIIISSSSSY!

You better run, better run, better run, yeah I'm coming after you
When you're sleeping at night, yeah there's nothing you can do
There's no place you can hide 'cause I'm coming after you
I wish there was another way ah-ah-ahah-ah-ah-ahah out for you
I wish there was another way ah-ah-ahah-ah-ah-ahah for you

Missy takes off towards the ring, and slides in under the ropes. She looks around at her surroundings with an almost twisted smile on her face as she drops down to one knee, and beckons Mallory to join her as her music fades out.

Zack: Were you surprised to learn that Missy was as willing to play ball with Mallory as the champion is willing to make things violent, Alysson?

Alysson: Well, yes and no. Missy came to FFW with a clear objective, and I’m not sure the Ultraviolence Championship was exactly part of that goal. But let’s give the devil her due, she’s proven to be a tough one from the get-go, and if the fact she used to swing a fucking steel chain around choking people out won’t tip you off, the fact she welcomed this match stip with a smile should do it.

The camera circles around the barbed wire ring ropes and Missy with the referee as the Staples Center seems poised and ready to start booing the Ultraviolence champion before she’s even come to the ring. The Franchise’s resident brawler has yet to come to the ring but the fans continue booing, all but ready for what is expected to be a public execution with Missy as the headsman. Yet still there’s absolutely nothing. No sign of “Malicious” Mallory Bennett or Andy Marx. No sign of any members of the Franchise.

Just a sold out Staples Center calling for her blood.

Zack: Well, looks like the Ultraviolence Champion is taking her tim--

Then the arena goes black as the video wall begins playing pre-captured footage.

It’s a ghost town in the middle of the Florida brush. There’s a sign the camera pans on that reads ‘Hopewell’, before the camera passes across an abandoned farmstead, a larger farmhouse and then cuts over a graveyard of wooden stakes. The stakes used as markers are heavily damaged if not outright broken but still are about the best marker for the dead as this ghost town being shown on screen could show.

There’s a weathered wanted poster of Bianca ‘Typhoon’ Salvador set for the crime of second degree assault and trafficking.

One wanted poster nearby is for Jo McFarlane, her name written as ‘Rebel Child’. Her crime on the poster is conspiracy and inciting a riot.

Another wanted poster is of Angelina ‘Papi Chulo’ Fantastica, with crimes for public nudity and resisting arrest.

The next wanted poster is for Mel Avilo with her crimes being battery and foul play.

The last wanted poster is at the end of the row, that of ‘Malicious’ Mallory Bennett with indecent exposure and reckless endangerment.

At the last moment a hand reaches upward from off-camera and tears Mal’s wanted poster off the wooden panel where all the other wanted posters have been sitting. The camera follows the hand but only gets the back of someone riding a horse, the two bodies creating a silhouette against the setting sun as they begin trotting down a trail where a thin wooden sign points in the direction of ‘Unstoppable X’. At that point a single tumbleweed rolls across the ramp as the lights go up and Chris Cagle’s rendition of ‘Wanted Dead or Alive’ begins playing.

”It's all the same, only the names ‘ave changed.
Everyday it seems we're wasting away.
Another place where the faces are so cold,
I'd drive all night just to get back home.
Cause I'm a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride.
I'm wanted (Wanted...) Dead or alive.
Wanted (Wanted...) Dead or alive.”

Through the curtains, the Ultraviolence champion emerges... Dressed quite literally like an outlaw from straight out of a western. She’s astride an iron gray American Quarter horse, saddle and everything. The horse has been apparently trained for large crowds as it trots a simple gait among the loud music and likewise reaction of loud boos. Neither horse nor rider seem bothered.

”Sometimes I sleep, sometimes it's not for days.
The people I meet always go their separate ways.
Sometimes you tell the day...
...By the bottle that you drink.
And times when you're alone all you do is think.”

The Ultraviolence champion for her part is dressed in torn up black jeans, just enough so not to completely deny her movement in the ring, and snakeskin wrestling footwear. They look to have a little in common with the cut of the Austin style cowboy boots. She wears a poncho (think Travis Banks) over her shoulders cut out of the Florida flag, and a matching bandana as she trots to the ring with her hair up. Her Ultraviolence championship is holstered to her saddle like a trophy as her horse takes her all the way to the ring.

”Cause I'm a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride.
I'm wanted (Wanted...) Dead or alive.
Wanted (Wanted...) Dead or alive.”

The horse stops in front of the ring and the Ultraviolence champion fires off a thousand yard stare at Missy, watching her as though she’s the only person in the entire arena. Commentators, Christian Kincaid, fans booing her, the trainers at ringside, the aide ready to walk the horse to the back. There is no one to Mallory Bennett except Missy.

Kat: From Tampa Bay, Florida... Weighing in at 150 pounds, she is The Byproduct of Misconduct, representing The Franchise AND your reigning FEMME FATALE WRESTLING ULTRAVIOLENCE CHAMPION... “MALICIOUS” MALLORY BENNETT!!

“I walk these streets, a loaded six string on my back.
I play for keeps, 'cause I might not make it back.
I been everywhere, still I'm standing tall,
I've seen a million faces and I've rocked them all.
I'm a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride.
I'm wanted (Wanted...) Dead or alive.”

Mallory finally dismounts her horse after lifting her Ultraviolence championship over head. She all but throws it at the referee to catch, over the barbed wire ropes. She takes off her poncho and hands it to the aide taking the horse back up the ramp. She slides under the barbed wire and stands the camera catching her back with numerous scars and unhealed bruising from her reign since becoming champion, only the band from her shoulderless wrestling top hiding anything.

”I'm a cowboy, I got the night on my side
I'm wanted (Wanted...) Dead or alive.
Dead or alive... Dead or alive.
Dead or alive... Dead or alive.”

Zack: You’ve recently been in the ring with Mallory Bennett, Alysson, and you KNOW how hard she hits! Not to mention you’ve publicly mentioned you want to face her in your retirement match, even though God knows when that’ll be.

Alysson: I’m not stopping anytime soon, Zackary, but again, I’m not the focus here. Mallory is a bright star in the hardcore-slash-deathmatch niche, and she’s willing to do everything it takes to let it show. Just like me, she enjoys feeling and giving pain -- something we in the UV division have in common. It’s a way of feeling alive. And with all this metal around them? I’m sure she feels right at home.

As the bells ring, the two wrestlers, who are still letting it sink in where they are, eventually walk up to the center of the ring and face off. Their expressions of concern finally give way to a more defiance war face, as the two rivals start mouthing off at one another, touching foreheads in a first, preliminary power contest. Eventually, they back off one step from one another, before Missy gives Mallory the full deuce -- basically, a British middle finger --, to which the crowd cheers and claps... Before Mallory nods and proceeds to BITE MISSY'S FINGERS!!!

Alysson: HAHAHAHAHAH, what a way to hand your business card, am I right?! You don’t flip the so-called “Devil’s Favorite cocksucker” like that, she might enjoy the idea!

Zack: Sexual connotations notwithstanding, Mallory doesn’t need metal to inflict pain, she can do it with her TEETH! She’s gonna rip Missy’s fingers off with her teeth!!!

Missy lets out a loud scream of surprise and pain, right before Mallory kicks her in the stomach, folding her over. With Paige folded, Mallory throws ax-handle shots to her back as a warning shot, eventually sending Missy to her knees. Not satisfied, Mallory grabs a handful of the Brit's hair and forces her up, before backing off a step and then throwing a bicycle kick... NOPE! Missy holds it! The champion's eyes go wide as the English wrestler shakes her head, pushing Mal's leg to the mat and then grabbing her by the wrist, planting her feet down and whipping her to the ropes... What ropes?! The champion barely has the time to remember this is not your usual wrestling ring and hits the brakes, stopping RIGHT before touching the barbed wire!

Zack: Oh! OH! She almost got first blood drawn from her with the barb wire strings, and  I guess now she knows what she’s dealing with!

Alysson: Oh come ON, Zachary, she knew it from the start. Both women are well aware of the risks, and victory will come to she who adapts better to this environment!

Mallory turns around in surprise, only for Missy to dropkick her into the barbwire strings! Mal bounces back arching her back with a wince of pain, before Missy shoves her to the corner, pressing the champion against the barbwire-covered wooden corner cover. Bennet doesn't have enough time to react to the pain she feels on her back as Missy is already all over her, smacking her with punches and ax-handles to the skull and the omoplata. Eventually, she backs off from the corner and gives Mallory the time to come out of the barbed wire, which she does VERY carefully so not to tear her skin or her attire too bad... Before she SPITS Missy's way! The gob falls right on Missy's cheek, much to her (and the audience's) disgust. The Mischievous One immediately reacts, trying to catch Mal with a lariat... But Mallory drops to the mat and catches Missy's leg in a drop toe hold, sending the challenger FACE FIRST INTO THE BARBWIRE!!!

Zack: OH MY GOD!!! MISSY-- MISSY WENT FACE FIRST INTO THAT WIRED CORNER BOARD AND-- MY GOD!!!

Alysson: If this was a Crimson Mask Match, Mallory would just’ve earned herself a win, because Missy’s gonna be all red in the face in no time! But the biggest danger here, Zachary, is if the barbs reach Missy’s EYES. But, again, they know what they’re doing!

Zack: Good Lord in heavens, I hope so!

Mallory rolls away from Missy and laughs at the wail of anguish the British challenger lets out before she crawls away from the barb wire cover. The champion quickly bounces back to her feet and grabs a handful of Missy's hair, shoving her back to the corner, this time with the challenger's back meeting the barbwire. She then opens up some distance from her, walking up to the center of the ring, before dashing towards her opponent and splashing into her with a stinger splash! Missy makes a great effort not to collapse from the corner, as it'll do quite the number on her back, but Mallory is more than willing to put some more pain on her as she pulls Missy away from the corner and then whips her right back into it. Missy crashes against the corner and the sheer puncturing pain makes her step away from it, at which point Mallory sweeps her leg and forces her to sit on the mat. Opening up the distance between then, Mal then takes aim at her opponent and dashes forth, catching her with a yakuza kick that sends Missy semiconscious to ringside, her attire and strands of hair caught on the rope's barbwire.

Zack: And just like you said, Alysson, Missy’s face is all cut up and bloodied, and we’re not even 10 minutes into this match. Mallory seems to be having way too much fun with this, and it shows.

Alysson: Being Ultraviolence Champion means you’re ready to throw caution to the wind and do whatever it takes to make people feel pain. Trust me, I’ve been there.

Carefully rolling to ringside, Mallory doesn't even have to go too far for a steel chair, as she finds one right in front of her. Walking up to the corner of the ring where Missy is, Mallory unfolds the chair and, as Missy is getting up, the champion lifts her up and sits her comfortably on the chair. After that, Mal starts to poke more fun at the challenger, giving HER the full deuce, rubbing her index and middle fingers on her face, before reeling back and smacking her face with a sound slap. The crowd seems to indulge in the demoralizing idea of the slap, but Bennett is unfazed. Now browsing under the ring, Mallory takes her time and eventually produced... A barbwire-covered baseball bat!!!

Zack: A baseball bat! All covered in barbed wire!

Alysson: Oh my, that takes me back! Doesn’t it take YOU back? And, hey, let’s hope these girls have pasties under their attires!

Zack: … holy crap, you’re right! Mallory was struck with one back when she and Bianca Salvador were rivals and that caused the wardrobe malfunction of the year!

Alysson: I don’t think Mallory would mind that a whole lot today.

Referring to the camera, Mallory says (and it's caught on this specific camera's mike), "hey, Bianca, remember this?" before walking up to Missy and screaming: "TAKE ME OUT TO THE BAAAAALL GAME!" Before the crowd can even think of continuing the song, Mallory swings the bat at full force... But Missy slinks down the seat and gets on her knees on the floor right before impact, and Mallory home-runs the shit out of the steel chair's backrest! Missy gets back up and Mal turns to her back, swinging the bat again... Only for Missy to HOLD IT!!!

Zack: OH MY!!! MISSY JUST HELD THE BARBED BAT LIKE IT’S NOTHING!!!

Alysson: It’s the adrenaline and the competitive drive speaking. The punctures on her palms are nothing, compared to what she wants to do to Mallory. I DIG IT.

It’s now Missy’s turn to SPIT on Mallory’s face, and the champion only has the time to turn her head to a side as the gob of saliva and blood strikes her cheek. The moment of distraction allows Missy to kick her stomach, folding the champion over as they drop the baseball bat. Missy then hovers around Mallory and grabs her by the waist, looking at her back and noticing the chair there. With a swift impulse, Missy arches back and releases Mal in the air, sending the champion crashing into the steel chair she’d set up with a German suplex!

Zack: A GERMAN SUPLEX ON THAT STEEL CHAIR AND MALLORY MAY BE REGRETTING MOST OF HER CHOICES UP TO NOW!

Alysson: Ultraviolence wrestlers don’t regret things like that, Zachary. But that was quite the uncomfortable landing place for Bennett. This is how easy it is to change the pace in a hardcore match.

As Mallory screams, collapsed in a heap of out-of-order humanity, Missy looks at the mess the barbed wire did on her palm, smearing her own face with blood to hype herself up, before grabbing one of the panels of barb wire from ringside and throwing it into the ring. After that, Missy grabs Mal by the head and throws her back into the ring, giving chase immediately afterwards, rolling on top of the champion for a cover.

ONE!

TWO!

NO!!! Mallory kicks out with authority!

Missy perks her head up with anger, only to put Mallory in a rear chinlock when she sits up! Pressuring the champion’s neck and twisting it around, Missy tries to capitalize in the submission as Mallory attempts to reach for the ropes with her feet. Sure enough, she reaches the ropes, but… The referee does nothing for the rope break.

Alysson: No DQ matches have no rope breaks by default, I wonder where Mallory is going with this?

Mallory doesn’t seem to be fazed by the lack of a rope break, as she continues to slither her way to the edge of the ring. Missy eventually realizes her face is awfully close to the barb wire ropes, and is forced to let go of the chinlock as Mallory lands at ringside. The crowd boos raucously as Mallory scans the surroundings and retrieves her baseball bat back. Missy is now on her two feet, daring Mallory to come back to the ring, and the champion gingerly makes her way to the apron… Only for Missy to try and capture her skull with a kick! Mal smirks, showing she expected that to happen, and swings the baseball bat into the back of Missy’s leg, sweeping the leg and opening a MASSIVE gash on that muscle! The challenger SCREAMS in pain as Mallory pokes her own head with an index, doing the “I’m pretty smart” taunt.

Alysson: Oh goodness, that one’s a little bit more than a simple papercut. It’s gonna take a while to heal, Missy’s ENTIRE lower leg is now looking like a row of tassels!

Zack: That’s one goddamn way to put it! This is the horrifying reality of a Metal Mayhem Match, and… They’re just getting STARTED!

The champion rolls back into the ring carrying the baseball bat, raising it like a trophy before crouching next to Missy, still struggling at the edge of the ring, to taunt her more. But Missy is having none of that as she SHOVES her fingers up Mallory’s eyes! Mal shoots upwards in pain holding her face, and in order to do that she drops the baseball bat. The crowd immediately “ooh’s” as Missy takes claim of the bat and gets up to her feet (even if the back of her right leg is bleeding profusely) and immediately WHACKS Mallory with it, making sure to let it slide across her body to open a GIGANTIC bruise on the side of her midsection! With her attire ruined and her hip bleeding, Mallory lets out a MASSIVE scream before Missy grabs her by the wrist and sends her running to the ropes. Mallory hits the barb wire ropes and comes running back, ignoring the new punctures on her back, only for Missy to scoop slam her ONTO THE BOARD SHE’D LEFT THERE EARLIER!!!

Alysson: NICE!!! I was wondering what the plan with that board was, but Missy with the scoop slam right on the thing! And now both women have tasted the joys of barb wire!

Zack: Your notion of “joy” is debatable at best, Alysson, but one thing is a fact: I hope nobody watching us right now is faint of heart, because this is turning into a crimson world of horrors!

As Mallory screams in pain, her body stiffening up on the barb wire board, Missy rolls out of the ring and immediately browses under the ring, this time pulling out a… wood stapler! She doesn’t seem to be interested in punishing Mallory with it though, as she also gathers some bandage from under the ring (why there’s a roll of bandage under the ring? Who the heck knows, right?), which she uses to tape around her leg, and then… STAPLE IT INTO HER OWN MUSCLE WITH THE WOOD STAPLER!

Zack: WHAT THE-- Well that’s one way to get yourself patched up, I guess!

Alysson: Alright, Missy, you have my attention.

Meanwhile, Mallory manages to crawl out of the barb wire panel and collapses to ringside, where there’s plenty more for her to be thrown into. Seeing that, Missy dismisses the stapler and makes a beeline to Mallory, grabbing her by the head and lifting her to her feet, and then mustering up all of her power to put her in a bear hug, and then ramming her into one of the standing barb wire panels that sat unused at ringside. Another scream from Mallory, and Missy then prepares to whip her over the crowd barricade… Only for Mallory to shift her gravity point, land safely and then kneelift Missy herself, folding the challenger! Mallory then sweeps the base of the panel and forces it to fall to the ground, and then grabs Missy by the head, lifts her in what looks to be a suplex… AND SLAMS HER ONTO THE PANEL!

Alysson: So much for that bandage trick-- Oh, oh! What’s she doing?!

Mallory then grabs the panel inside the ring and drags it out to ringside, standing behind Missy as she sets it up meticulously with the aid of a steel chair. Before Missy can escape from the panel she’s laid on, Mallory opens up some distance and vaults over the steel chair supporting another panel, SANDWICHING MISSY BETWEEN TWO PANELS OF BARBED WIRE AS SHE STRIKES THE TOP ONE WITH A SICK KICK, COLLAPSING ONTO THE CONTRAPTION WITH A SENTON AS MISSY LETS OUT A LOUD WAIL OF AGONY!

Zack: OH MY GOD!!! This is NOT a safe way to make a sandwich!

Alysson: BAHAHAHAHAHAH, THIS IS AWESOME! In a hardcore match, most of it comes down to creativity, and my god was that creative! What next, though?! You have to take it back to the mat, Mal!

Sure enough, Mallory seems to have heard Alysson as she removes the top panel away from Missy, and then grabs a handful of the Brit’s hair to drag her away from the bottom one, throwing her punctured body back inside the ring. Missy can barely gather enough strength to stay on her knees, as Mallory rolls back in the ring and preys over the challenger, slapping her cranium and spitting on her face. When Missy is finally on her knees, Mallory opens up a bit of distance, only to dash towards her and strike her with a bicycle knee to the side of the head. Missy collapses to the side and Mal drags her closer to the center of the ring for a cover.

ONE!

…

NO!!!

Alysson: … excuse me, WHAT?!

Missy immediately sits up with a demonic smile etched on her face, and Mallory doesn’t even have the time to complain to the referee as she just stares at Paige’s expression with surprise and indignation on her face!

Zack: M-Missy just shrugged off all of the punishment she’s taken recently and kicked out at ONE! It’s almost like… Almost like… She’s been goldbricking Mallory THIS ENTIRE TIME!

Alysson: This bitch! gotta say, if Emma Mac taught her anything, she did a great job! And if this is all Missy… Goddamn, girl, color me impressed!

Missy slowly, methodically gets up to her feet as she faces a shocked Mallory, who looks around for something to use against the opponent… and except for the bloodstains on the mat, there’s nothing there. No baseball bat, no wooden panels, no steel chairs. Like a cornered animal, Mallory sees no other exit than to strike, and she does so by rushing towards Missy… Only to get caught and slammed into the mat with a spinebuster! Mal rolls over to get up, and Missy dares her to pop back to her feet… Only to plant her face into the mat with a powerful curbstomp!

Zack: MISCHIEF MAKER!!! Li’l Miss Mischief is in control of the match, and it’s time for us to crown a new Ultraviolence Champion!

Sure enough, Missy sees the opportunity to finish the deal, as she moves to the ring apron. But she quickly realizes there’s little to no support for her to climb up to the top rope, seeing as the barb wire “ropes” would certainly break if she put her weight on them. Jumping to ringside, Missy then retrieves a steel chair and throws it into the ring, rolling in afterwards while Mallory still looks to be completely out. Setting the chair up close to the corner, Missy uses it to hop onto the corner post, gingerly balancing herself… ONLY FOR MALLORY TO POP BACK TO HER FEET AND, IN A FEAT OF DESPAIR, SHOVE MISSY OFF THE CORNER!!! MISSY COLLAPSES TO RINGSIDE AND CRASHES EVER SO UNCEREMONIOUSLY AT RINGSIDE!!!

Zack: OH MY GOD, MISSY W-WITH A 12-FOOT TUMBLE!!! STRAIGHT TO RINGSIDE!!!

Alysson: Goddamn, she’s out! She’s GOT to be out! You don’t just shrug off a fucking tumble like that!!!

The crowd is booing their heads off as Mallory gasps and heaves. Missy is completely unresponsive at ringside, which gives the Malicious One plenty of time to roll to ringside, retrieve her adversary and dump her back inside the ring. Slowly, the champion then hops onto the steel chair and… forgoing the top rope, she jumps from there, executing a frog splash that she transitions into an elbow drop that finds Missy’s chest. Mal then stays on top of her opponent for the cover!

Zack: Missy’s ALREADY OUT, and Mallory still goes for the Muy Mal! Was that necessary?!

Alysson: Yes, Zackary. It’s called “making a point”!

ONE!

TWO!

THREE!!!

DING DING DING!!!

And as soon as the match ends, the medical team rushes down the entrance ramp as the stagehands cut the barbed wire ropes to allow them in. The EMTs storm the ring as Mallory rolls away from Missy, laughing her head off.

Kat: The winner of this match… AND STILL!!! FFW’s Ultraviolence Champion… MALLORY! BENNETT!!!

Alysson: What a fucking match this was! Bravo to these two for being able to brave the pain and… Mallory, you’re gonna go far.

Zack: Missy took a HORRIFYING tumble there and let’s all hope it was just ugly to see and not ugly to live through, though the scars from this match are gonna stay with them for a LONG while! Mallory… has managed to hold on to the UV Championship against a very game Missy and… Wow! Who knows what’s next on the Champion’s chopping block?!

As we focus on the EMT team tending to a still knocked out Missy, we fade out to something different.

[Adam Grant]

Zack: We’re about to see the first ever meeting between two very accomplished women. One who knows what it’s like to be FFW Champion, and one who feels she belongs in the title picture too. 

Mai: I think Sophia does too, but she’s stepping up into a shark tank of a division. This will be quite a test for her, and I hope she declaws Leona personally.

“The agility of the coyote.”

The screen shows images of a baby girl being blessed by an Aztec shaman. The shaman holds a frankinsence that he hovers around the sleeping baby’s body, letting the soft smoke coming from the urn embalm her.

“The dexterity of the condor.”

After that, he coats the tip of his thumb with ashes and traces a small line on the baby’s forehead. The shaman then picks the baby up in his grasp and gives her a good look. The baby is wrapped in a traditional cloth, as evidenced by the pre-Colombian patterns.

“The drive of the wolf.”

The shaman makes its way out of his shack with the baby in his hands. Eventually, he crosses a path in the woods before arriving at the main village, where an army of face-painted, feather-decorated warriors wait.

“You, dear, will be the next ruler of all warriors. With Huitzilopochtli as my witness and with the blessing of Quetzacoatl... You…”

The shaman exposes the baby to the warriors. And upon sight, they know who that is. they come to their feet… and bow.

“You will become… the Warrior Queen.”

…

Darkness.

As “Coyote” by GRILLABEATS takes over the sound system, a single spotlight in orange illuminates the top of the stage. And into that spotlight walks Leona Vega, the Immortal Warrior, dressed in feathers and skulls, and a particular helmet that resembles the head of a brown coyote. She carries a wooden spear decorated with tassels that she brandishes in the air. On that command, several warriors dressed in Aztec war fashion storm the entrance ramp and surround the ring. They start banging their spears on the ground and celebrate the arrival of the Warrior Queen.

Kat: The following contest is set for one fall! Introducing first, from Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico… “The Warrior Queen”... LEONA!!! VEGA!!!

With her name being called, Leona dashes down the entrance ramp and spears herself into the ring, banging her spear into the mat as she pops up to her feet and letting out a loud war cry. On cue, the warriors also raise their spears and join in on the war cry, celebrating their Warrior Queen!

Leona then leaves her spear on the center of the ring and climbs the nearest turnbuckle, staring into the crowd with a big smile and raising her hand to the cheering audience, before touching her head on the top turnbuckle and saying a quick prayer to herself. She proceeds to slap the turnbuckle and jumps back down into the ring, finally removing her attire’s decorations such as the feathery shoulder pads and the coyote helmet, handing them over to her warriors before they leave the ringside. Leona then stands in the center of the ring and just stares down the entrance ramp, waiting for her opposition to arrive.

Zack: Leona Vega has been at the top of the mountain in FFW more than once, but her legacy is far from defined with that title. Tonight, she faces what may be one of the toughest challenges of her career.

Mai: The toughest, you mean? Because Sophia’s not really considered some pushover after all. 

The lights in the arena cut out completely, leaving the audience in a murmur for just a second. With a beat of a heavy drum, the tron lights up with a fighter select screen. While the faces on the menu are those of FFW wrestlers, the models they represent as each beat moves the cursor around are decidedly not; in fact, they appear to be more akin to Mortal Kombat models. 

The first fighter chosen is Leona Vega’s representation, although broadcast over the PA is the name “KITANA.” Her face is hidden by the blue mask, while the model flicks both wrists, and her weaponized fans extend. After several more beats, a second fighter is chosen; the representation of Sophia Pike, broadcast as “JADE.” Notably, for those more familiar, this model is the undead revenant, eyes a fiery red, as a glowing green staff appears in her hands.

FIGHT!

LiquidCinema’s “Bullet Force” starts to play, the slow opening few seconds met by the two fighters circling each. When the first major beat hits, the two engage, Jade swinging her staff low, avoided by Kitana’s quick jump. What she can’t predict is Jade’s response, a quick hook kick to follow up that catches the blue-clad warrior across the jaw. Kitana stumbles back, as the revenant of Jade charges forward, leaping into a jumping thrust kick that catches Kitana in the sternum. Kitana tries to fight back, and at least manages to keep Jade at bay, but it’s only for a brief time; eventually, the Emerald Assassin sweeps Kitana off her feet, using her staff to lift her up and spike her into the ground again. 

The fight plays out with Kitana mostly trying to recover from Jade’s onslaught, until a shot to the midsection with the staff leaves Kitana stunned. Amusement flashes in the red eyes of the revenant, who produces a second weapon, a three-bladed Cyclone Thrower, to hack off her opponent’s arms, then her legs at the knees. She produces the staff once again, extending it and thrusting it through Kitana’s skull, leaving her impaled on the far end.

FATALITY!
JADE WINS!
FLAWLESS VICTORY!

A sea of swirling green lights pan around the arena, as a spotlight illuminates the center of the ramp. In the light stands the revenant Jade, her staff slung over her shoulder, notably with what looks like blood dripping off it. 

Zack: In her own words, the past nine months of Sophia Pike’s career in FFW have been devoted to one thing: reaching Unstoppable, and what she considers her just rewards for her career thus far, an FFW Championship match. What she was offered instead, was a contender’s match tonight, against Leona Vega...

Mai: And she’s not happy about it, to put it nicely. Even with 2019 constituting a “down year” for Sophia in FFW, she’s been impressive. She thought she was due a title shot, in the main event of the biggest show of the year. But, according to Samantha Star, she isn’t quite yet, and you know she’ll be wanting to make a point tonight.

She hooks her arms around the staff, carrying it down the ramp over her shoulders, without so much as a glance at the fans, who have no different reaction to the Emerald City Siren than they do without the cosplay, the chorus of boos possibly even louder than normal, given her recent actions and, indeed, her opponent for the evening. While the lower half of her face is obscured, her cheekbone rises above it as she smirks behind the mask, and her eyes--bright red even still--flash with amusement.

When she reaches the end of the ramp, she pulls the staff off her shoulder, slamming it down into the ring steps with an echoing thud. She climbs up the steps, notably not wiping her boots off on the apron like she normally would, and steps through the ropes, raising the staff up in the air for a moment. Her eyes close briefly as she almost seems to enjoy the hate she gets.

Kat: Introducing next, from Seattle, Washington, by way of Outworld, and weighing in at 137 lbs; she is a former FFW No Surrender Champion, a former FFW Evolution Champion, and the current SVW Midas Touch holder; she is Pro Wrestling: Evolved, this is SOPHIA...PIIIIIIIIIKE!

Sophia rips the mask from her face, screaming into the air as she thrusts the staff up one last time. The fans respond in kind, trying to drown out the undead Emerald City Siren with boos. She drops the staff outside the ring, shrugging off the majority of her costume, although the glowing red contacts stay in as Sophia backs herself into the nearest corner, a sneer painted on her face.

Zack: Sophia’s never happy, to be honest with you. I don’t recall one time she was happy where she was in her career. So being angry about this match didn’t come as much of a surprise. 

Mai: I’m sure she’d be happy if she was in the main event winning the FFW Championship. I’d give her whatever she wants personally, because I like having my arms attached.

Jennifer Stringer checked both wrestlers were ready and called for the bell; the two wrestlers coming out of their corners as it sounded and Leona began to circle around her foe as Pike told her to take her best shot. Leona nodded her head at the invite as Pike continued to taunt the Mexican wrestler who reared back and threw a right hand towards her jaw only to see it blocked by Sophia. Pike looked to land a big right hand of her own but only got air as Vega ducked beneath and ghosted behind the Emerald City Siren. Sophia quickly turned back towards the former FFW Champion who left her tagged the Washingtonian in the jaw with a dropsault kick, forcing her back a step. Vega meanwhile landed on her feet and immediately launched spun to deliver a roundhouse kick to her foe, catching her square to the side of her head.

Mai: So what is this outfit she’s wearing for the match, Zack? I didn’t play video games, I was too busy having sex. 

Zack: You know you can have sex and play video games. You really don’t recognize Mortal Kombat? 

Pike staggered backwards a step and found herself sent spinning down to the canvas thanks to a Japanese armdrag takedown from the Aztec Warrior. Leona rolled through the move and popped back up to her feet, instantly setting off towards her opponent and caught her with a running knee to the gut. Quickly the Mexican followed it up by with a European uppercut that straightened her foe upright and followed it up with four more European uppercuts in rapid succession that sent Sophia stumbling back to the ring ropes. Quickly the Monterrey native caught the former No Surrender champion by the wrist and sent her in for the ride with an Irish whip, springboarding off the middle rope and into a flying forearm that caught Sophia on the jaw on her return knocking her down to the canvas. Pike tried to rise back to her feet, rolling to her knees only for Vega to meet her with a bionic elbow driven into the top of her head. 

Zack: There’s not many strikers I can think of who are as good at what they do as Leona Vega. She’s one of the most well-rounded athletes in all of FFW.

Mai: So what? She’s also gonna be holding one arm for a few days after this match when she taps out to Sophia. 

It sent the Seattle native down to both knees which saw Vega began to unload of volley of stiff kicks to her opponent’s chest and body. Despite these blows, the submissionist continued to push up to her feet and when she got there, Leona launched herself into the air, wrapped her legs around her head and snapped off a hurricanrana, holding the move as she landed it and reached back to hook both of her foe’s legs for the pinfall.

Mai: Leona must be religious, because only a divine being would make her think she’s got this already. 

One…

Tw-

Zack: There’s nothing wrong with going for a cover. They’re here to win, and don’t punch a time clock.

Sophia kicked out before the two count could be completed and shoved Leona away from her, which only caused the high flyer to pop back up to her feet before she once more took off across the ring. Vega quickly bounced off the ropes and left her feet to drive a flying knee into the face of her opponent as Pike made it up to one knee, sending her straight back down to the canvas. Sophia held her face as she rolled over and started to push up to her feet only for the Mexican wrestler to catch her around her head and drive her face first into the mat with a bulldog. Again the Emerald City Siren tried to make it quickly back up to her feet only to once more get cut off by her opponent who used a snapmare this time to take her down to the canvas and immediately followed it with a rolling neckbreaker, then a hesitation dropkick to her chest to put her down on the mat once again. Before Sophia got another chance to sit up, Leona delivered an elbow drop into her stomach before she made the pin, hooking the leg once more as she did so.

Mai: Oh look, another failed pin attempt. She’s not gonna get past Sophia with this!

One…

Two--

Zack: Tell us of all the success your clients are having right now in wrestling. 

This time Stringer was able to complete the two count before Sophia kicked out of the pinfall and rolled over to the side. Vega quickly pulled her foe up to her feet and fired her into the corner, following in behind her to deliver a clothesline to the former No Surrender Champion the moment that she hit the turnbuckle pads. Leona skipped backwards three steps before she jumped into the air and caught the submissionist with an enzugiri kick to the side of her head. It caused Sophia to stumble out of the corner and get scooped off her feet by the Mexican who dropped the American across her knees stomach first. Pike dropped off Leona’s knee and onto all fours on the canvas as Vega stepped back into the corner and climbed to the top rope, measuring up the Emerald City Siren, letting her rise before she drove her face first into the canvas once again with a Fame-asser. Rolling the former No Surrender Champion onto her back, Vega made the cover, hooking the legs once more.

Zack: Leona’s keeping Sophia off balance, and this strategy is working well! There’s another cover. 

One…

Two…

...T-

Mai: And there’s another failed pin attempt. 

Pike again kicked out of the pinfall and tried to force her way back up to her feet while CK urged Vega to stay on top of the Emerald City Siren. The Mexican wrestler did just that - rallying the crowd to cheer her on before she wrapped one arm around Sophia’s head, pulling her upwards and snapped off a DDT. Sophia held her head as she slowly rolled over onto her back and the Aztec Warrior bounced off the ring ropes, leaving her feet as she neared the Emerald City Siren for a back splash that saw her land across the submissionist’s knees. 

Mai: There’s the mistake, it was bound to happen sooner or later. And now Sophia will take full control. 

Zack: It’s nearly hard to wrestle a flawless match against an opponent of the caliber of either of these two women. Mistakes can happen.

The former FFW Champion held her back as she pushed back up to her feet and found herself forced backward into the corner by a flurry of European uppercuts from her opponent. Pike delivered shot after shot to the former FFW Champion as Stringer calling for the break as the Emerald City Siren had her pinned against the turnbuckles. The official used the five count, getting to four before Sophia fired her opponent across the ring into the opposite corner and moved to follow her, only to slam on the brakes as the lunchadora effortlessly climbed the ring ropes without breaking her stride and launched herself into a cross body block from the top rope. As her foe flew towards her the Seattle native left her feet and caught Leona in the stomach with a standing dropkick. 

Mai: If she had hit that a little harder, we’d have seen what Warriors eat for lunch! 

Zack: I’m a little surprised she hasn’t already started going after Leona’s arm, but no question that’s coming at some point. We’re talking about Sophia here. 

Leona began to push upwards from the canvas, holding her gut for a couple of moments only to find her arm caught by her opponent. Sophia twisted the limb into an armwringer before viciously driving elbows downwards into her upper arm. Five elbow strikes were delivered to her bicep before Pike twisted Leona’s arm up behind her back into a hammerlock before she started to paintbrush slap her head, delivering four forehand and backhand blows to the Mexican’s skull. As the strikes ended, Vega tried to throw an elbow backwards, looking to secure the release of the hold...but it only resulted in Pike sweeping her legs out from underneath her, holding the hammerlock in place as she drove the former FFW Champion face first into the mat. The Emerald City Siren immediately made sure that her grip on her foes arm was secure and the hammerlock was locked in tight before she shifted her body around and kicked up into the air, driving her knees downwards into Vega’s arm. Two more double knee drops followed it, causing Vega to grimace in pain but shake her head as Pike demanded that she submit. 

Mai: Ask and you shall receive, Zack. You asked about Sophia’s arm work, well we are on that road now.

Zack: And that’s bad news for Vega, but she’s just as tough to put away as Sophia. 

Pike shrugged her shoulders at the refusal and began to use the hammerlock to pull Vega up to her feet only to spike her head downwards into the canvas with a hammerlock DDT the moment that she got her upright. The Monterrey born wrestler rolled over onto her back and the submissionist immediately took up the mount position and began to fire off ground and pound elbow strikes to her opponent’s face. Leona covered up which saw Leona pull her up to her feet with one handful of hair - ignoring the referee’s reprimand as she did so and delivered an elbow shot into the former FFW Champion’s midsection before sending her down into a sitting position with a snapmare of her own. The Emerald City Siren immediately followed that with a stiff penalty kick to her opponent’s sternum that caused her to lay back on the mat and allowed the submissionist to circle around her and garvin stomp; driving her boot in each one of her joints, finishing with a vicious stomp to her forehead. 

Mai: If you ever wondered what Sophia’s boot size is, go look at Leona’s forehead. 

Zack: There’s no doubt in my mind that Sophia is channeling that anger she’s feeling, and taking it out on Leona. 

The Mexican wrestler rolled away and tried to come back to a vertical base only to be caught with an armdrag that Sophia transitioned straight into an armbar. The Seattle native applied more pressure in the hold, increasing the torque as she did so that saw Vega grimace once more as she reached for her shoulder and began to get her feet underneath her. As Leona made it back to a vertical base though, Sophia jerked her downwards and into a double knee armbreaker. As the move landed, Vega popped back up onto her knees only for Pike to jerk her back down to the canvas and quickly floated over to lock in a LeBell lock. 

Mai: We’re just seconds away from Leona Vega tapping out, Zack. We know she quits constantly.

Zack: I’d love for you to know me any of these matches where she quit constantly. Go ahead, pull it up on FFW All Access. 

The Seattle native caught her opponent’s arm trapped as she pulled backwards on her head, applying pressure to her neck and back while the official got in front of the Monterrey born wrestler and asked her if she wanted to quit. Leona refused to quit, using her free arm and legs instead to drag herself sideways, refusing to submit as Sophia increased the pressure of the submission hold and screamed at her to tap out. Still Vega struggled against the hold, trying to drag the two wrestlers to the side before she finally managed to kick out her leg across the bottom rope. Stringer immediately called for the break and started the count which Sophia milked for every moment she could, finally breaking and rolling away to her feet before the official was forced to disqualify her. 

Mai: You know it’s not illegal till the referee gets to five, right? So nothing she did was wrong there. 

Zack: If they count, it’s not legal. End of. Maybe she feels like she needs shortcuts to get the job done.

Leona began to pull herself back to her feet with the aid of the ring ropes only for Sophia Pike to move around behind her and quickly trapped her arms before throwing her back towards the middle of the ring with a dragon suplex. Vega hit the mat and rolled back to her feet only for the Emerald City Siren to catch her by the hand once more and went targeted her shoulder again as she jerked forward and into a shoulder tackle. She jerked her forward twice more into two shoulder tackles before she raised her boot, placing it against her foe’s jaw before she fell backwards to deliver an Eat Defeat. Vega reeled away, holding her jaw with her hands as she did so. Sophia rolled away and came up to her feet only to explode forward as Leona turned to face her and caught her with a spear to the midsection that caused her to crumple to the canvas. Immediately Sophia moved forward on her knees and wrapped her hands around her throat to choke her out.

Mai: Choke her out, Sophia! Make her face turn blue if you want!

Zack: You’re disgusting, but that’s nothing you probably haven’t heard before. 

Stringer instantly called for the release and started the count, getting to four which saw Pike break and go straight back to the choke. Another count came from the referee which again saw the break come on four before Pike resumed the choke once again, barely giving Vega time to catch her breath. This time when Stringer got to four and got the break she began to read the riot act to the Seattle native who immediately argued with the referee, telling her that she had till the count of four, meanwhile Vega was rolling away and starting to come to her feet. The Emerald City Siren pushed her way past the referee and darted towards her opponent, catching her as she came to her feet with a running knee strike to her chest. A second knee to the chest followed that before the Seattle native pulled her up to her feet, yanking her forward and into an STO that drove Leona down into the canvas once again. 

Mai: You realize how brilliant of a main event it would have been to have Sophia face Shaw tonight?

Zack: Uh huh. You can go bitch at the owner of the company and see how that works out for you both.

As soon as the high flyer landed on the mat the former No Surrender Champion began to stomp away at her side, causing her to roll over and force her way upwards. As the Aztec Warrior made it to all fours, Pike swooped down on her, leaving her feet as she drove a boot into her spine, sending her back down to the canvas with the curb stomp. A second later, the Emerald City Siren stooped over her foe, grabbing both of her wrists and pulled her into a standing surfboard submission hold, demanding that the former FFW Champion submit. Vega shook her head as the referee asked the question, kicking her feet against the canvas as her upper body writhed and squirmed in an attempt to free herself from her opponent’s grasp. Again Stringer asked her the question and Pike continued to scream at the Mexican wrestler to give in and save her career. But again Vega refused. Which saw Pike release her grip as she stomped on Vega’s right shoulder, driving her back down into the mat as she did so. 

Mai: I love watching Sophia at work. She’s like a laser, and she just keeps focused on burning through her opponent’s arm and shoulder.

Zack: She’s certainly very methodical. There’s rarely any deviation from her gameplan match to match. You know what she’s coming after before you get to the ring.

The Monterrey born wrestler rolled onto her side and started to reach for her shoulder only to get cut off by the gifted submissionist who dropped down upon foe, using her legs and her arms to lock in a Rings of Saturn submission hold. Stringer again began to ask the former FFW Champion if she wanted to submit, getting a defiantly cried out ‘No’, accompanied by a shake of her head. The crowd started to rally behind Leona, causing her to start to push the pair of them towards the ring ropes. Sophia tightened up the hold, causing Leona to grind to a halt and cry out in pain. The referee asked Leona once more if she wanted to submit, getting another defiant ‘No’ from her before the Mexican continued to push towards the ring ropes. Leona continued to refuse as she inched nearer and nearer to the ropes, causing Sophia to release the hold and roll away to her feet, giving her opponent a look of disgust as she told her that she was going to rip her arm out and end her career. 

Mai: Do it! What an Unstoppable moment that would be! To see Leona’s arm get ripped out of socket like a horror movie!

Zack: Don’t hold your breath on that happening. You know what, feel free. 

Leona only ignored the comments as she grabbed hold of the bottom rope and started to pull herself upwards. As she came to one knee, Sophia moved in behind her and wrapped her arms around her, pulling her the rest of the way to her feet and spinning her away from the ring ropes as she looked to lock in a crossface chickenwing submission. Vega though, fought the hold, pulling at Sophia’s arm with her free hand to stop her fully applying the submission before she shifted her weight and lent forward, sending the Seattle native down to the canvas with a judo throw. The Emerald City Siren quickly rose back to her feet, turning to face Vega who snapped off a savate kick to the underside of Pike’s jaw. As the submissionist turned away, the luchadora darted past her and used the ropes to launch herself into a disaster kick that sent Sophia down to the canvas while Vega stumbled to the side and caught the ropes to stay on her feet. 

Zack: Sophia just got her brains scrambled right there, and look at Leona! She’s starting to come back now!

Mai: It’ll be short-lived. Even a blind squirrel will find a nut sometimes, Zack.

The Seattle native began to rise and as she got back to her feet, Vega quick stepped forward and left her feet to catch her opponent with a codebreaker, sending her down to the canvas. Leona held her shoulder as she lay flat on the mat for a couple of seconds before she came to her feet as Sophia did likewise and Leona launched herself towards the former No Surrender Champion, catching her with a jumping knee to her jaw. Pike again fell backwards to the mat and quickly Vega leapt into the air and came down across her chest with a leg drop. Rolling back up to her feet, the Monterrey native once more delivered a leg drop to her foe before she made the cover.

Mai: A leg drop is never gonna beat Sophia unless you do it with a cinder block! And then maybe.

One…

Two…

Zack: Sophia’s still got something left in the tank, and you’re right about how much it takes to keep her down.

Sophia kicked out once more as the two count was made and Leona rolled away to the ring ropes, shaking out her arm as she used the ropes to make it back to her feet. As her opponent began to rise to her feet, Vega charged towards her and cracked her across the jaw with a jumping justice fist. Sophia hit the canvas and rolled onto her front, starting to push upwards only for Leona to strike when she got her feet underneath her and take her down to the canvas once again with a running neckbreaker. Once more the Seattle native began to rise, getting her feet underneath and immediately found herself on the receiving end of a barrage of kicks to her side. As Pike staggered backwards, Vega finished off the sequence with a spinning heel kick. As Sophia hit the canvas, the high flyer went towards the ropes once more and left her feet to deliver a springboard moonsault. As it connected, Leona made the cover, hooking the leg once more.

Zack: A breathtaking Asai moonsault right on target, Vega with the cover!

One…

Two…

...TH-

Mai: Sure, it was pretty. But did it work? That answer is gonna be a big old nope.

Again the Seattle native kicked out ahead of the pinfall and Vega nodded in acceptance of the referee’s count as she pulled Pike up to her feet and fired her off into the corner. The former FFW Champion followed in close behind her and delivered a splash to the Emerald City Siren pinning her against the turnbuckles as she did so. As the luchadora landed on her feet, she quickly stepped up onto the middle rope and delivered a viciously stiff enzuigiri to the side of the Seattle native’s skull. Sophia began to stumble away from the pads and Leona grabbed hold of her wrist to fire her across the ring into the opposite corner with all her might. Sophia slumped slightly with her arms hung over the top rope and Vega charged in towards her, launching herself into a backflip handspring kick. As soon as she landed the move, Vega reached to hold her shoulder for a couple of seconds before she shook it off and pulled her opponent out of the corner with a monkey flip. 

Zack: That shoulder is still giving the Aztec serious problems, but she’s doing what champions do and fighting through the pain.

Mai: It won’t matter in the end how much she fights through it, she’ll tap like everyone else.

Sophia sat up on the canvas and began to push her way back to a vertical base as Leona set off across the ring, bouncing off the ropes and left her feet to catch her opponent’s head and start to spin around her body. Vega spun around and around and around her foe before finally she spiked her headfirst into the mat with the satellite DDT. The Emerald City Siren stood on her head for a moment before she crumpled to the canvas. Leona kipped up to her feet and quickly moved towards the ropes, using the bottom rope to springboard up onto the top rope which she launched herself from and into a five star frog splash. It connected perfectly with Sophia’s body and the Mexican wrestler hooked her leg for the pinfall.

Zack: 5 star frog splash!! That’s gotta be all!!

One…

Two…

...THRE--

Mai: No no no no...YES! Thank goodness, we almost had a tragedy take place.

Before Stringer could complete the three count, Sophia rolled her shoulder to break up the pinfall. Vega rolled into a sitting position and held up three fingers to the referee, who shook her head and held up two fingers to indicate the two count, which caused the former FFW Champion to get to her feet and gave a signal to the crowd which caused them to cheer her on loudly as she measured up Pike. When the Emerald City Siren made it to her knees, Leona began to spin around herself, delivering a series of roundhouse and spinning heel kicks to her foe. Vega looked to finish off the El Molinillo with a volley kick to Sophia, only for the former No Surrender Champion to have the move scouted as she grabbed hold of the Luchadora’s flying foot and countered with a dragon screw leg whip. As soon as Vega faceplanted into the canvas, Sophia forced herself up to her feet and locked in her variant of the Haas of Pain - Queen Anne’s Revenge. 

Mai: Aha, there’s QUEEN ANEE’S REVENGE! Whatcha gonna do now, Leona?!

Zack: Vega is trapped in that submission, and there’s very few options available to her! But if anyone can find a way, it’s her!

Sophia locked the hold in tightly, pulling and wrenching at her neck as she did so; all the while telling her foe to tap out. Vega refused point black to tap out, shaking her head and gasping out a ‘No’ as she used her arms to try and pull them across the canvas towards the ropes. The former No Surrender Champion let out a frustrated grunt and further tightened up her hold in the submission, further arching her back before she resumed making demands on her opponent to submit in the hold. For a couple of moments Leona’s hand wavered over the canvas as she seemed to be considering the submission only to begin to drag them  both towards the ring ropes. The Emerald City Siren released her hold, letting out a cry of anger and frustration as she quickly got her feet underneath and began to stomp away at her opponent’s spine.

Zack: I think Sophia’s starting to lose her focus. She’s getting frustrated, and that’s when a wrestler makes mistakes more often.

Mai: I disagree. I think it will only serve to fire her up even more, and make her want to cripple Leona instead.

Despite the stomps, Leona tried to push her way back to a vertical base, getting to all fours before Pike wrapped her arms around her waist and jerked her upwards, adjusting her grip as she brought her to her feet and with a roar of annoyance snapped off a German suplex. A second and third followed before Sophia pulled her again and this time threw her backwards with a release German suplex. Vega hit the mat near the ropes and slid backwards slightly, Pike quickly returned to her feet and grabbed her foe around her knees, falling backwards into a catapult that sent the Monterrey native throat first into the bottom rope. As the former FFW Champion struggled for breath, Pike pulled her back towards the middle of the ring and dropped down on top of her opponent, grabbing her hair in one hand and began to fire closed fists into her face with the other. Stringer ordered the break and began the count, getting to four before Sophia released her opponent.

Zack: Sophia’s flirting with a DQ. And that’s not something she needs if she’s trying to make her case for a bigger match.

Mai: What’s gonna happen is Leona is getting put on the shelf, and she has no one but herself to blame for not quitting when she could have.

It was only momentary though before Pike grabbed her foe by her hair again and pulled her upwards, scooping her off her feet and dropping her into her knee with a shoulder breaker. Sophia dropped Leona to the mat only to bring her upright yet again and pulled her straight into a pulling piledriver, spiking the Monterrey born grappler on the top of her head, before pushing her onto the canvas. As Leona hit the mat, Sophia floated over and applied a crippler crossface to her foe. Stringer slid into position, asking Leona if she wanted to submit while Pike encouraged her vehemently to say ‘yes’ to the referee. Leona though only ignored the question as she tried to pull the submissionists hands away from her face. Again Stringer asked the question, still getting no answer as Vega fought for all she was worth against the hold before she started to flag; her movements getting slower as the hold took effect.

Mai: Go to sleep...go to sleep….go to sleep little Leona…

Zack: I hope you don’t think you’ve got a future in the music industry. Your singing voice doesn’t exist.

Stringer asked Leona once more who just managed to wave her hand to tell the official ‘No’, Sophia only used that as a prompt to further tighten the hold, wrenching on her foes head and neck further as she once more demanded that she submit to her. Still the former FFW Champion refused as she shuffled her body, kicking her feet against the canvas, stretching in all directions trying to reach the ropes before finally she fell still. The referee checked once more and as she barely got any answer from the competitor, Stringer rose her hand in the air and watched as it dropped to the canvas. Again she raised Leona’s hand into the air and for a second time it hit the canvas when released. For the third time the Mexican wrestler had her hand raised, the fans cheering her loudly as Stringer released her hand and watched it fall before it stopped just short of the canvas and hovered there. The referee waved it off as Leona balled her hand into a fist, waving it over the canvas before she planted her fist on the mat and used it to push backwards a couple of inches, allowing her to kick her foot out and hook a toe over the bottom rope.

Zack: There we go! Leona Vega always knows where she is in the ring, and she just barely got a way out of this hold. 

Mai: Dumb luck, Zack. You don’t really think she knew that she could do that, do you?

Stringer called for the break and began the count, Sophia holding the submission hold right up to a heartbeat before Stringer would have to disqualify her. As Pike started back to her feet, Stringer gave her a warning about holding onto the submission which caused the Emerald City Siren to get in the referee’s face, telling her that she knew the rules and knew she had a five count and there wasn’t a damn thing that the referee could do about it and the official should just get ready to ring the bell and call her the winner. Sophia turned back towards Vega as the former FFW Champion was slowly starting to rise, Pike waving her up to her knees. When the luchadora got there, the Seattle native skipped towards her and aimed a superkick at the side of her head...only to get air as Leona leaned backwards to avoid the blow before she leaned forward, putting her head between Sophia’s legs and with a huge cry of effort pushed up to her feet, lifting Pike up on her shoulders before she let out another cry, hurling her off her shoulders and sending her falling forwards to faceplant hard into the canvas as Vega fell to her knees.

Mai: That’s the brilliance of Sophia’s strategy, because even when her opponent does get offense in, it still hurts them. I think that’s brilliant.

Zack: So does every wrestler who works a body part. She didn’t invent that, just so you know. 

Leona began to rise back to her feet simultaneously with her opponent and as the pair got to their feet, Vega struck first, delivering a high kick to her foe’s jaw. Sophia took a step backwards and as she did so Leona fired off a stiff side kick into Pike’s midriff before she jerked her forward by her head, dropping down to one knee to connect with a European uppercut to the jaw of the Emerald City Siren that caused her to stand up straight. As she did so, the former FFW Champion caught her by the wrist and pulled her forward, lifting her onto her shoulders into a fireman’s carry before sending her down into a double knee gutbuster, completing El Pilote. Leona quickly dove into the cover and hooked her legs as she did so.

Mai: Not EL PILOTE!! NO NO NO!!

One....

Two…

...THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Zack: How about YES YES YES?! Leona Vega has pulled out one of the toughest wins of her career tonight at Unstoppable! 

Stringer called for the bell as Pike’s shoulder shot up from the canvas a second too late, causing Vega to roll away to a sitting position, holding her shoulder for a moment before she slowly started to rise to her feet.

Kat: Here is your winner, by way of pinfall… LEONA VEGA!!!!

Mai: So awful, Zack. Leona is going to be insufferable bragging about this win, I bet.

Zack: You’re talking about the wrong woman! Leona Vega leaves Unstoppable with a massive win under her belt against a very focused Sophia Pike. 

The referee raised Leona’s hand in the air in victory, the crowd cheering the woman loudly as Sophia Pike rolled out of the ring and landed on her feet, holding her abdomen as she scowled at Vega in the ring, staring daggers at the Mexican wrestler. Meanwhile the Monterrey native found the camera and told the two women in the Main Event that she’d be seeing them soon and was coming for the FFW Championship before the show cut elsewhere. 





The scene returns to the Hall of Fame ceremony from the previous night, where Charlotte Harker and Shaughnessy O'Neill were stood at the podium. Harker was wearing a sparkly silver dress, slit up one leg to the waist her hair straightened and back combed before hanging down her back. Shaw had on a glimmering, emerald green strapless gown; her brunette locks were curled and resting on her shoulders along with the FFW Championship. Charlotte also had a massive grin on her face while Shaw simply had on a smug self-satisfied smile as she, as you'd expect, was in front of the microphone.
 
Shaw: I told you so.
 
The French Canadian began quietly before getting louder.
 
Shaw: Way back when, when we made our first ever appearance in front of an FFW camera, right before our first ever match in Future Shock, I told you all that you were staring at the absolute best of the best, that in front of you was greatness. Now here we are. Two women who dominated Future Shock, won their season and dominated the main roster tag team division in a way that hasn't been seen before or since. My brains. Charlotte's brawn. Our talents. The perfect mix. Backed by the best manager in the business and Carson Black who came along to pick up a quick buck or two off of our backs. For four hundred and twenty seven days we stood as Champions; we were untouchable and unmatchable virtually unbeatable. No-one even came close. Hall of Famers or high flyers, experienced veterans or rookie wrestlers looking for a big break, technical experts or powerhouse gorillas, friends or family. No-one came close. It didn't matter who. It didn't matter where. It didn't matter when. It didn't matter the strategy the other team had or whatever weakness they believed they had identified...we overcame it all. We stood tall, head and shoulders above them all.
 
She grinned for a moment.
 
Shaw: Hell, the worst anyone could say about us was that Charlotte chose to say quiet, but then she'd also be the first to tell you that public speaking has never been her forte. She'd be the first to tell you that it's another example of how we perfectly complement each other; how our strengths compensate for each others weaknesses. As a pair, we mesh together perfectly - you can't even see the join, no matter how closely you look. Best of friends. And sure, we've had our ups and our downs. People have tried to poison Charlotte's mind, tried to turn her against me, against the woman who made her a household name...she still saw the light and came back to where the grass is greener; to where she knew she’d experience continued and ever greater success.
 
The Quebecois looked around at her surroundings, at the staging and finally to the Hall of Fame statuette.
 
Shaw: Here we are. A Moose, derided as little more than my puppet and the only successful thing, the only winner to have come out of Buffalo in a generation. And a Quebecois Superstar, a natural born winner, the greatest athlete of her generation and a wrestling prodigy. Two girls who came from nothing, who had nothing - nothing except a dream, who came together by a strange twist of fate. Here we are realising our destiny, accepting the highest honour that can be bestowed upon us, one that can NEVER be taken away from us or denied - induction into the pantheon of the best and brightest, the most famous and most skilled, the woman who have been the faces of the biggest wrestling company in the world. Here we are accepting our invitation into the FFW Hall of Fame.
 
Finally Charlotte nudged Shaw to the side and leaned in towards the microphones slightly. 
 
Charlotte: And I need to thank my mom and my dad for always supporting me in everything that I’ve done. To Cody Kincaid for the whole Future Shock idea and having the faith to bring us into Future Shock. To all those people who have trained us, built us up to this point and had any hand at all in our careers. Carson for everything he did for me at the start of my career. Kyle for actually realising that I had talent… Samantha Star for giving us the opportunity to shine here in FFW, for giving us every chance to fulfil our potential. The fans because… well, yeah, I guess. To Shaw for not shoving me out of the way and actually letting  me have this thirty seconds to say Thank You to everyone who deserved it. 
 
As Harker came to an end, Shaw pushed her out of the way and took up her spot in front of the microphone once again.
 
Shaw: This… this isn’t the last time you’re going to see us on this stage, accepting this accolade. This year we enter as the One Woman Show, but in the future, we’ll be invited to stand upon this stage once. You’ve got the Moose here, Charlotte Harker, just starting to come into her own, starting to grow into becoming the second greatest wrestler to have ever appeared in FFW. She’s been derided as nothing more than my puppet, prepared to stand in my shadow… who has recently been racking up victories, beating women into whose esteemed company she is about to join and going from strength to strength. Then there’s me. Already an FFW Champion, headlining the biggest and most historic show in FFW’s history; main eventing Unstoppable for the second year running. There are records that have been set...and I have every intention of keeping hold of this title until I’ve shattered them; until I am recognised as the greatest of the great, the very, very best of the very best.
 
A smirk played at her lips.
 
Shaw: And that, is a guarantee.
 
The show cut elsewhere as Charlotte and Shaw, raised their Hall of Fame honours high.

[Adam Grant]

The spotlight hangs over Kat Grayson as she stands in the center of the ring, with the Los Angeles crowd buzzing.

Kat: The following contest is scheduled for one fall, and it is your main event of the evening for the FFW Championship!

Zack: As if that wasn’t enough, there’s a man’s job on the line in this match too if Savannah doesn’t get past Shaw tonight on the biggest stage in women’s wrestling. I’ve got Jo McFarlane with me here, who had quite a fight with the “Lucky Star” in her return match earlier.

Jo: THanks for having me Zack! I think I’ve just recovered from rattling someone who uses my family as an attacking point from pillar to post enough to come and join you with this! Tell you what, I cannot wait to see what happens when Shaw retains!

The lights in the arena go out before the video wall comes to life to see the world revolving in space before it appears in someone’s hand. The shot pulls back to see the owner of FFW look up at the camera. She says “I’m home” before the video cuts out again. “Can’t Be Tamed” by Miley Cyrus begins to play as Samantha comes up from the stage. The spotlight shined on her in her referee’s attire as she got a very positive response from her hometown crowd. 

Kat: Introducing the special guest referee for this match, she is the owner of FFW…..SAMANTHA STAR!!

Zack: There’s not many places FFW goes where Samantha Star gets this kind of reaction from the fans, but this is her hometown. This is her backyard, and the home of FFW! And all of Los Angeles is showing the owner of this company respect. 

Jo: As well they should! Between being the hometown girl and just how much blood and sweat she’s poured into making FFW the biggest women’s wrestling company ever, she damn well deserves it!

The entirety of the Staples Center has suddenly gone to pitch black. A murmur is heard among the crowd as the fans reach for their cellphones in an attempt to see in the darkness. A crackling is heard as all eyes turn towards the video wall, which has come to life. The sixteen bit graphics from the Nintendo Super Entertainment System greet the fans, who look on in somewhat confusion. Emperor Gestahl, who looks VERY much like the FFW owner herself, right down to the red hair, stands on top of the Floating Continent. Next to the Emperor is the former right hand man, Kefka Palazzo who, yes, bears a near perfect resemblance to the owner’s sister-in-law, Savannah Taylor. The two stand in the middle of the trio of goddess statues, which regulated magic and if moved, would spell the end of the world....something that Kefka had already started doing.

Gestahl: How are you doing this??

Kefka: How? It’s simple! I’m standing within the field of the Statues! Their strong field absorbs all magic sent their way! Or….didn’t you notice??

Gestahl only utters a shocked gasp as Kefka looks up at the Statues.

Kefka: And now, Statues! You’ve shown me a sign! It’s time you show this old one your true power!!

Gestahl: No!! Kefka!! Don’t do something stupid…

Kefka: I command you, Statues!!!

On cue, a bolt of lightning shoots down from the statues a few feet away from where they stood. It was enough of a force to knock the two back a bit.

Kefka: In…..incredible!!

A second bolt strikes down near the duo, but Kefka rolls out of the way as Gestahl is knocked down temporarily. Kefka stands up and jumps up and down.

Kefka: You’re WAY off! Where’re you aiming?!?!

A third bolt of lighting strikes down, landing closer to the still prone Gestahl.

Kefka: Woah! More to the right!

A dazed Gestahl slowly gets up as a fourth bolt strikes closer to him, knocking him back. Kefka looks on and breaks out into a singsong rhyme.

Kefka: Run! Run! Or you’ll be well done!

Gestahl picks himself up and attempts to run, but the fifth bolt hits the target and strikes him down. A gleeful expression crosses Kefka’s face.

Kefka: YES!!!

With Gestahl down, Kefka moves to his side and starts to kick his seemingly lifeless body towards the edge of the continent.

Kefka: Poor old…..oh well, what a worthless excuse for an Emperor!!

He laughs as he continues to kicks the body towards the edge, essentially kicking dead weight. He pushes the body to the edge and rather nonchalantly pushes him off the edge of the continent to the surface below. Kefka then goes back to moving the statues, but is stopped by the blonde Celes, who essentially looks like a feminine version of Kyle Kilmeade.

Celes: Snap out of it, Kefka!

Her efforts are met with a resounding slap to the face, which knocks her off to the side. He quickly pushes the statue closest to him to a different part of the area he was standing on.

Celes: Oh that’s REAL smart, Kefka! Disturb their delicate balance and they’ll go haywire!!

He ignores her please as he goes about moving the statues in the order he wanted. As soon as he has all three moved where he wants them, there is a whistling sound that draw’s Kefka’s attention.

Kefka: Who’re you??

A figure clad in blue, the hired gun Shadow who, if we’re being real here, is essentially the male Shaughnessy O’Neill, jumps onto the area where Kefka was moving the statues, picking up the fallen Celes along the way. Without a word, Shadow goes about moving the statues as close to their original positions as possible. Kefka tries to grab onto the other statue to stop Shadow, but he ends up getting trapped between the status.

Kekfa: Nooooo!!

Shadow: Go! There are people counting on you!

Celes looks around as Shadow waves her on.

Shadow: Don’t worry about me! Run!! I can’t stop this chain reaction! I’ll see you again...count on it!

Kefka: You can’t escape me!!

Celes nods towards Shadow as she turns and hurries to find a way off of the Floating Continent. As she is making her way around, cracks appear on the surface, a result of the changing positions of the statues. She runs to a specific spot, only to find the section of the continent behind her has broken off completely. She keeps pushing on, dodging cracks and fallen pieces until she reaches the edge. Looking down, she sees the airship hovering down below, as if waiting for her. She stops, however, and chooses to wait for Shadow to join her. The seconds tick by and seem like hours before finally he jumps onto the scene next to her. The two look at each other and jump down to the airship below. As they landed on the ship and it takes off, the result of Kefka’s meddling are beginning to show. Various places on the Earth are starting to crumble away, the citizens going with it. All around the world, chaos and destruction are happening in various forms. It appears that Kefka has achieved his goal……

The video wall cuts off as a brilliant red light shines on the stage. In the middle of the stage is a large brown structure made to look exactly like Castle Figaro. Off to the left is the famed Los Angeles Philharmonic. Standing in front of the castle, clad in red flowing dance dresses, complete with red pointe shoes, are one dozen members of the Corps de Ballet of the Los Angeles Ballet. A few seconds pass before the Philharmonic begins to play the haunting opening strains of Nobuo Uematsu’s epic score ‘Dancing Mad.’ As the music continues, the dancers form two lines of six ballerinas each on either side of the staircase leading down from the top of the castle. Fifty seconds into the piece, a red spotlight falls on the choir positioned behind the orchestra. As they begin to sing, the dancers begin a slow, rhythmic dance.

”Obitas et proelio
Vita nuntis
Obsidi et tempori capem
Quam copis fidem scutis esset
Diem terrore
Diem magnae
Diem milites
Diem barbarus”

As the tempo increases in the song, so does the dance. This carries on for some time as the dancers make their way down the aisle, dancing in tune to the music. Once the tempo slows down, they all stop and turn towards the stage, their arms raised above their heads.

”Gloria! Fortuna!”

The organ grows in intensity as smoke begins to emanate from the top of the castle. Slowly coming up from the depths of the castle and standing tall on the top was Savannah Taylor. Savannah was dressed as almost a spitting image of the God of Magic himself. A red and gold robe, with a high and almost puffy striped neckline clung to her frame. The attire was one hundred percent Kefka, right down to the one black boot covering the red leg of her ring attire and one white boot covering the blue leg of her attire. She even had the large and ornate feathers perched in her hair. But what really set the outfit apart was the makeup. White paint covered every bit of her face and neck while her eyes were lined with blood red eyeliner, winging out into jagged peaks extending to her temples, and her lips were painted deep purple, extending upward in almost a Glasgow smile. Her gaze in fixated on the ring as she slowly begins to make her way down the stairs, standing at the top of the ramp.

Kat: Ladies and gentlemen, making her way down to the ring....weighing in at one hundred twenty pounds.....from Las Vegas, Nevada.....Savannah Star!!!

The music turns from dark to lighthearted as the organ changes tempo. Instead of walking down the aisle, Savannah decides to take to skipping down the aisle, her lips turned up in a grin, which makes the makeup just a SMIDGE more frightening. As she is making her rather unique trip down the aisle, the dancers are doing an impressive series of jetes and fouette turns, stopping when Savannah reaches the ring. Hopping up onto the apron, Savannah climbs through the ropes and stands in the middle of the ring, the grin never really leaving her face as she unbuttons the robe and shrugs it off, revealing a modified version of her normal ring attire top. Handing the robe to a ring crew member, she takes the feathers out of her hair and hands them to the same person, shaking loose her locks. She walks around the ring for a bit before she goes to a corner and rested her arms on the top rope, the orchestra beginning to fade out as she glances around at the crowd, awaiting her opponent.

Zack: There’s never been a bigger and more important night in the career of Savannah Star than right here tonight on the biggest stage of all! And that’s one hell of a game face she’s got on as she awaits Shaw. 

Jo: Given the circumstances, she looks the part. And by that I mean the frightening makeup, because that’s exactly how I;m going to feel if she walks out with the title...all because of her asshole husband.

The lights in the arena go out and Zadok The Priest’s “The Coronation Anthem” begins to play as a video kicks into life on the entrance screen. It starts off in black and white, showing a young girl who looks like Shaughnessy O’Neill walking the snow covered streets of Sherbrooke only to enter a playground with other kids who begin to push her around, finishing up with the girl sent flying backwards onto her back. The girl rolled over and started to rise to her hands and knees; as the snow and ice began to melt and drip from her forehead. Which morphed to Shaw in the gym, sweat dropping from her brow instead as she pushed herself to go harder. 

They interspersed shots of her working out - doing all the usual pushups, sit up, skipping, weightlifting and running - with images from her matches, starting from Future Shock, to highlights from her work as a tag team wrestler as part of the One Woman Show scoring victory after victory. Finally it showed her in action alone, facing off against the likes of Kaoru Asaka and Leona Vega. It finished with her winning the FFW Championship, raising it high above her head. 

As the song finally came to an end, the image of the proud Quebecois holding the title stayed on the screen while from below the stage, Shaw began to rise up in the exact same pose as she was on the video screen - title belt held aloft in two hands; only this time she is wearing a crown and a long ermine robe. 

Still she continues to rise up from under the stage and she is found to be in an ornately decorated and gilded open top carriage, hitched up to two white chargers who are attended to by two footmen in ruffled shirts and long blue coats, covered with the Fleur De Lis of Quebec, with powdered wigs upon their heads. As the coach finishes flush with the stage, another retinue of footmen appear behind from backstage, while a rock band in outfits that match the footmen strike up the opening chords of “Poison” by Alice Cooper.

Slowly the horses begin to prance down the stage, the FFW Champion waving to the crowd who boo her loudly. Finally the entourage reach the ring and two of the footmen step forward, opening up the carriage door and offering a hand to Shaughnessy O’Neill to assist her from the carriage. As she stepped down, two more footmen stepped forward, unfastening the robe and taking it from her before a third gently lifted the crown from her head. O’Neill then stepped towards the ring, climbing up the ring steps and onto the apron, finding two further footmen sat on the middle rope, holding them open for the Quebecois to step into the ring. The FFW Champion held the title belt aloft, getting booed by the crowd once more as the ring announcer made the announcement.

Kat: Ladies and Gentlemen, coming from Sherbrooke in Canada... She is a proud Quebecois, a natural born winner…. please welcome your reigning and defending FFW CHAMPION… SHAUGHNESSY O’NEILL!!!!

Zack: it’s been a long time since we’ve had a FFW Champion who approaches the confidence levels of Shaughnessy O’Neill! But there’s hardly anyone more consistent in big time matches either! It’s hard to argue with Shaw, much less shut her up. Savannah may be the one to do it!

Jo: For me, in this match, she is the lesser of two evils. I can’t stomach the woman and nor do I care to...but I’ll take another two months of her over the alternative. Yes, she’s consistent, but she’s still the most arrogant pain the hole this side of the Privileged Circle.

Shaw hands the FFW Championship to Samantha after she checks both women, but gets a long stare from Savannah. The owner holds the title over her head, and calls for the bell as Kat leaves the ring with it. Samantha backed up into a neutral corner as Shaw and Savannah met in the center of the ring. Shaw began talking a little smack before pointing over to the title. When Savannah glanced towards it, Shaw went for a cheap shot but Savannah blocked it and fired back with a right hand. Two more connected from there before grabbed her arm, and applied an arm wringer. Shaw tried to pull her hand away as Savannah twisted it again, and then transitioned into a hammerlock. The brunette’s face screwed up with annoyance as she reached behind her, trying to grab the challenger’s head. But Savannah avoided the swipes before paint brushing the back of her head and shoving her forward. This amused the crowd, but not so much Shaw. 

Zack: Shaw is giving away years of experience to Savannah here, and the cocky Quebecois is getting shown up at the start of this match. 

Jo: Won’t lie, I’m with the crowd, It was kinda funny.

The brunette turned around, and slapped her across the face. The challenger held her jaw for a moment, and the smile slowly faded before the two women started throwing hands. The crowd responded to each shot as Shaw was starting to get the better of the exchange. She drove Savannah backwards a few steps, and whipped her across for the ride. The blonde ducked the back elbow, only for Savannah to scoop her up into a tilt-a-whirl suplex. Shaw barely had a chance to get up before Savannah cinched her up into a rear waistlock. She snapped off a series of rolling German suplexes, dropping Shaw on the back of her head four times. When she got to her feet, she pulled the champion with her and fired her into the far corner. 

Zack: Savannah’s giving Shaw all she wants here, and she’s got a fire lit under her too. No better place for that than when the FFW Championship is on the line on the  biggest stage of all. 

Jo: The big one AND her husband’s job. Last time there was a match this big, I was in it! And it’s not a fun place to be! That experience Savannah has is showing though!

Savannah followed her in with a corner clothesline, and then began to unleash a series of kicks rapid-fire into Shaw’s body repeatedly. Nine in a row landed before the champion stumbled out of the corner holding her chest, and the Las Vegas native bounced off the near side to catch her with a bicycle kick to the chest that flattened her. She dove into the cover, and Samantha moved from her spot to make the count. 

Zack: Shaw’s chest nearly got booted into next week, and we’re about to see what kind of referee the owner of this company is right here!

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Shaw kicked out at two, and started firing right hands into Savannah’s head when she tried to get up. But the champion held her in place, and began using knee strikes into her head as well. She finally shoved her backwards, and rose to her feet. Before the blonde could get off her knees, Shaw connected with a shining wizard to the back of her head. 

Jo: Does that answer your question, Zack? Samantha be anything but fair, that’s just mean. If Savannah’s gonna lose, she’ll do so on her own merit.

The brunette’s face showed the irritation she was feeling as she stomped at Savannah’s head a few times. She dragged her back to her feet, and sent her into the corner headfirst into the middle turnbuckle. The challenger leaned against the corner before Shaw took off for the far side, and came back with a running knee strike that crushed her head against the corner. A second one followed that before Shaw yanked her out of the corner, and back to her feet long enough to execute a straightjacket reverse DDT. A cover followed that with a hook of the leg before Samantha fell into position.

Jo: And just like that the match is back in Shaw’s favour! Cover incoming!

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

T-NOPE!!!

Savannah got her shoulder up in time, and Samantah held up two fingers as Shaw glanced from her down to Savannah, and started pummeling her head with elbow strikes. 

Zack: I’m a little surprise to be able to say it, but Samantha has been very consistent with her counts. I haven’t noticed a bit of favoritism so far. 

With the challenger down, Shaw headed for the corner and made her way to the top rope. She wasted very little time before launching into an elbow drop that landed on target. Savannah rolled towards the ropes to get away from her, but the champion went after her quickly. As the blonde was trying to get to her feet, Shaw scooped her up from behind into a double chickenwing facebuster that bounced her body off the canvas. She rolled her onto her back, and went for another cover with Samantha not far behind. 

Zack: Shaw’s looking to rearrange the classic features of Savannah’s face right there, and the FFW Championship could be heading back to Quebec!

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

T-NOPE!!

Savannah kicked out again before Shaw got to her feet. She rolled her onto her stomach, and sat down on her lower back to apply a full nelson. The blonde’s chin was forced into her chest as Shaw saw on her lower back. 

Jo: Well that was annoying. I mean it was too early given the circumstances but it no less annoying. Doubt a full nelson will win the match either but it’ll certainly do some damage!

Savannah’s face immediately began to darken as her air supply was beginning to get cut off. The champion locked her fingers behind her head, and leaned back to cause as much pain as possible at the same time. Samantha dropped down to one knee in front of Savannah, telling her to quit instead of asking. But the Los Angeles crowd began chanting the challenger’s name as Savannah managed to get her hand around the middle rope. Samantha called for the break before Shaw got back up again. A few more stomps to her head and body followed that. 

Zack: Again, Samantha has been very fair in these calls so far. And Shaw is in full control with her FFW Championship hanging in the balance. 

Jo: What would she ain from not being fair though? More bitching for months about not being so? This isn’t Samantha’s first time wearing the stripes, she knows what she’s doing.

Shaw pulled her back to her feet, and fired a knife edge chop across her chest. It sent Savannah backwards a step before she fired back with one of her own. Shaw shot another across her chest, and ate another one before she whipped the challenger across to the far side. Savannah rebounded quickly, and ducked a clothesline before stopping behind her. Shaw spun around to grab her, but got surprised when Star caught her with her corkscrew neckbreaker that brought the fans to their feet. Samantha’s face looked on in shock as Savannah lunged across her to make the cover. 

Zack: Where did that come from?! Shaw just lost THE GAMBLE!! And Samantha may be about to crown a new champion!!

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

..THREEEEE-NOPE!!!

Shaw got her shoulder up in time, and Savannah sat up quickly to catch her breath. She looked over to her sister-in-law, and told her she was that close. That only got a cold stare from Samantha as Savannah picked Shaw up. She took off for the corner with a snake eyes, causing the brunette to stagger out of the corner until Savannah caught her with a springboard bulldog.

Jo: I was about to- say oh praise be to above, but Savannah did a pretty good job of making sure I didn’t get a chance!

She darted towards the corner, and scaled it fairly quickly before she launched herself into a double knee drop that landed on target. Shaw curled into a fetal position in pain as Savannah pounded the mat, getting the crowd louder. She backed into the corner, and started screaming at Shaw to get up. The FFW Champion wasn’t moving too quickly though, but finally made it and turned just before Savannah launched into her with a spear that popped the crowd. She hooked the outside leg, and went for the cover.

Jo: Wellm goddamnit. Come on Shaw! ...Now there’s a sentence I never thought I’d say!

ONE!!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

….THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-NOOO!!!

Shaw’s arm came up at the last second, and Savannah pelted her with straight right hands to the head. She headed for the corner again, but instead choosing to climb to the top rope. The fans got to their feet again, but soon began booing as Kyle Kilmeade headed towards the ring. Savannah glanced over to see him. 

Zack: Here comes Kilmeade! And his client damn sure could use some advice right now! Savannah just spotted him, and I think---LOOK OUT!!

With Savannah glancing towards Kyle, Shaw got to her feet and ran up the corner with her to snap off a cyclorama that shook the mat! Samantha’s face broke into a grin as Shaw threw herself over Savannah for the cover! Samantha dove into position to make the count as Kyle was about to climb onto the apron to raise Shaw’s hand!

Jo: I’ve never been a Kyle Kilmeade fan - can deal with him though - BUT COME ON MAN! THAT WAS WONDERFUL! And he didn’t even do anything!

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. No.

Savannah’s shoulder popped up at the last second, and Shaw looked to Samantha. Both women were dumbstruck. The fans roared, and started chanting Savannah’s name all over again. 

Zack: I don’t believe it! Savannah got her shoulder up after one of the most devastating moves I’ve ever seen! Shaw and Samantha both are in shock!

The champion glanced to Kyle, who seemed frozen on the apron. He slowly hopped back down, and Shaw shook her head. She dragged Savannah up into position before connecting with her flip piledriver. She crawled across her again for the cover as Samantha slid into position to make the count. 

Zack: O’NEILL’S OBLIVION!! And nobody gets up from that! Shaw’s retaining the title!!

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! No.

Savannah got her leg across the bottom rope in time, and Shaw’s face sunk. Samantha looked at her foot, while the champion pounded the mat in aggravation!

Zack: This..this must be fate! It’s not gonna happen tonight, Shaw! Savannah is STILL fighting in this match, and the champion is beside herself!

Jo: OH COME ON TO HELL. I AM NOT OKAY WITH THIS. I know how much it takes tp put her down BUT GODDAMNIT.

Shaw got back to her feet as Kyle told her to do it again. She dragged her away from the ropes, and put her into position to do it again. When she went to jump though, Savannah stood up with Shaw over her shoulders. The blonde stumbled forward, and used an Alabama slam that smacked the back of Shaw’s head against the bottom turnbuckle on the way down. The brunette collapsed motionless in a heap as Savannah stumbled backwards and fell to a seat on the mat. Kyle bolted around the corner, and started talking to Shaw and getting no response. He started shaking her hand and patting her cheek. 

Zack: That was one of the sickest Alabama Slams I’ve ever seen, and Shaw…..she’s out cold! Look at Kyle trying to revive her! All Savannah has to do is cover her, and we got a new FFW Champion!!

Jo: Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. This cannot be a thing. It is not allowed to be a thing. Nope.

The fans were very loud calling Savannah’s name as she tried to pull herself together. She crawled towards the lifeless Shaw, pulling her a bit from the corner and hooking a leg to roll into the cover. Samantha slid into position.

Zack: Samantha’s about to crown a new FFW Champion, and it’s gonna make her sick! Shaw’s not moved!

ONE!!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-WAIT!!

Kyle slid into the ring as the count started, and emptied a bottled water on Shaw’s face that caused her to come to life, and get her shoulder up in time. Savannah looked up to see Kyle, and reached forward to grab him by the neck as she got to her feet. She started pulling him into the ring, with the crowd getting even louder now! Meanwhile, Shaw was beginning to get her bearings.

Jo: I mean about the only thing actually wrong with this is that Samantha isn’t telling Kyle off, but again...he didn’t really do anything?

He tried to pull away from her, but she grabbed his head and connected with her corkscrew neckbreaker to a roar from the crowd. She glared down to him on the canvas, while the fans showed their approval. Shaw went to grab her, but caught a kick to the gut before Savannah dropped her with her desecrator. 

Zack: Kyle’s down, Shaw’s just heard the SIREN’S SONG!! And we’re three seconds from a brand new FFW Champion!!

Jo: I AM NOT OKAY WITH ANY OF THIS. NONE OF IT. Other than the apparent disappearance of Samantha, that I can do right now, but not all the time!

Zack: Where’s the count?!

Savannah dropped into the cover with a hook of the leg, but she wasn’t getting a count. She glanced over to see Kyle still down just before Samantha rebounded off the near side with a curb stomp to the back of her head. The cheers turned to boos as Shaw started moving slowly. She finally made it to her feet, and saw Savannah down on the mat. She pulled her into position, and snapped off her flip piledriver for the second time. She threw an arm across her as Samantha dropped to make the count. 

Jo: I take back everything I said about Samantha being fair, but I DO NOT CARE RIGHT NOW. Retention abound!

ONE!!!

TWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

The owner called for the bell to a chorus of boos from the crowd. The redhead helped Shaw back to her feet, and raised her hand before giving her back the FFW Championship. 

Zack: Savannah had it won! Savannah was gonna be FFW Champion, but the owner of this company wasn’t going to allow it! Samantha has screwed her sister-in-law!

Kat: Your winner by pinfall...AND STIIIIIIILL FFW Champion…….’THE ONE WOMAN SHOW’ SHAUGHNESSY O’NEILL!!

Shaw leaned against the ropes, trying to pull herself together. She raised her title high above her head to more boos before stumbling forward to help her manager, who was still down on the mat. 

Zack: Shaw may still be the FFW Champion, but she had the hardest match of her career tonight! Savannah was screwed over, and deserves a rematch with an actual referee! But for this night, July 27th, it’s Shaw who leaves the City of Angels with the richest prize in women’s wrestling!

Jo: I never thought I would see the day where I would be HAPPY that I have to listen to Shaw bleating on! But it was all for the greater good and we all know it!

Zack: Seth’s gonna lose his job, and who the hell knows what happens with Samantha in sole control! Thank you for joining us on FFW All Access wherever you are around the world! If nothing else, tonight proved that going forward Samantha Star may be UNSTOPPABLE!

As Shaw helped Kyle to his feet, Samantha raised her hand one last time as the 10th Unstoppable faded off the air.