After Shock Preview for Future Shock 73

[Adam Grant]

A lightning bolt strikes the screen, leaving the Future Shock logo. The next thing we see is the familiar set of the After Shock studio with the curved video wall behind the purple couch. Gary is also seen in his newer bigger bowl with an added goldfish. The camera pulls back to see Jake, and finds he’s with the first ever Nova Champion Katie Hanley. And the Nova Championship is sat on the table between them with a blank nameplate.

Jake: Welcome to the latest edition of After Shock, just a few days after what turned out to be a pretty eventful night, to say the least. For those new, I’m Jake Chandler. That’s Gary and Patrick in the bowl, and I’m joined by a woman who may be the first ever two time two time Nova Champion very soon, Katie Hanley. Oh, and Adam let me bring the Nova title too.

Katie’s showmanship plays up a little bit, as she briefly gestures toward the goldfish bowl as they’re introduced, then gives the Nova Championship a pat once it’s brought up as well. Then herself, she makes an exaggerated wave to the camera before settling back in her seat, crossing one leg under the other.

Katie: I can only hope, huh? But hey guys, welcome, welcome, and thanks for having me!

Jake: My pleasure! Like I said, there’s plenty to cover from the last show. Let’s start with what got the majority of the chatter on social media and get your thoughts on the fact Future Shock is developmental no more! What did you think about what Adam had to say?

Katie: I’ll admit, I wasn’t that familiar with the format of Future Shock before what it is now--I knew it was a seasonal thing, but I wasn’t that familiar with what it was, or what that meant. So, for me as a fan as much as anything, it was interesting to take that little trip down memory lane there. And to hear that breakdown of going from season to season, to the developmental program like we know it, and now to just being...another roster? Like, I can’t act surprised--even just in the time I’ve been here, anyone with eyes outta be able to see the kind of talent we have here, now. And after the Impact events, I think you’ve seen that the girls in Future Shock are nothing to take lightly. But to actually get recognized as a full blown roster, rather than prospective roster members? That’s no small thing. It looks like it’s gonna lead to some changes too, if promotion, so to speak, isn’t necessarily a thing anymore. The Aspire Championship, for instance? Does the 5 defense goal go out the window, maybe?

Jake: Not to my understanding. Everyone in Future Shock is still aiming to make it to FFW. And it’s a mutual decision between Adam and the owner when that happens. So I think the Aspire title is your direct pass whether one or both agree that the person is ready or not. Kinda like when you play checkers and get to the other side of the board. I do think it’s a bit of a disservice anyway to say women like Vivi or Carys are in developmental. Future Shock has a few veterans, who probably don’t really need that much seasoning after all.

Katie: I mean, not to pat myself on the back, but I’ve been doing this for about 6 years now. I think it’s a stretch to still be “developing” after that long. But to your point, there’s a lot of girls on the roster that are just...not rookies anymore, so to see them get that recognition was a really neat thing.

Jake: One of those women who fall into that category we’ve talked about is the subject of our next topic. And you have firsthand experience with her. Look at the transformation we’ve seen out of Sydney Christensen. She came to Future Shock with promise and a smile on her face, and now…. Well she’s definitely abandoned that, as Cassie Mason found out most recently.

Katie: Ah yes, let’s talk about my FAVORITE person...

Katie pauses and rolls her eyes a little.

Katie: But, again, you make a good point. Nobody’s ever doubted Sydney’s talent. She’s definitely one of those I’d say is beyond “developing” at this point, and whatever my personal opinion of her, you can’t pretend like she’s not somebody with talent in the ring. But that...whatever changed, I don’t know her well enough to know it, I’d like to think there’s more to it than just not getting a title shot right away, but whatever it is, it’s definitely made her more dangerous. The thing is, I think it’s also made her less focused--certainly she sends a message, as Cassie had to find out, but it’s wins and losses that are really going to make that statement, and it seems like Sydney’s more content with making enemies than getting the wins she needs to get where she thinks she outta be.

Jake: That brings me to some news on the situation. Number one, Sydney was fined five thousand dollars for hitting the referee with that bat. And at the request of Cassie Mason, a rematch has been ordered for the Sheffield Showdown on March 10th only on FFW All Access. Cassie took great exception, understandably so, to what she tried to do to her. And well, Sheffield is payback time for her.

Katie: I mean, I don’t blame her. I’d probably take exception to a baseball bat being swung at me too, frankly. Credit to her for immediately wanting that payback, though. There’s no small amount of people that would take a baseball bat to the head and think “yea, I can do that again.” Not that she’ll listen, but maybe a piece of advice for Sydney before we get to Sheffield--get the match done first, so you don’t get surprise DQed next time?

Jake nodded in agreement with that.

Jake: All of it seemingly… over this.

He looked down to the shining Nova Championship on the table.

Jake: This title has drawn plenty of attention since its inception, and in her case, it hasn’t all been the best kind of attention, you know?

Katie nods, with the faintest smirk on her face.

Katie: Oh, I know. Believe me, I know. It seems like every other person chasing this thing wants to fight 3 on 1, or swing a bowling ball at someone’s head, or...whatever else. It’s one of those things that makes me feel lucky that I get just a straight up, one-on-one match for it in Sheffield--and, hey, if I can take care of business that night, maybe try to keep it from becoming more of...all that nonsense? But that’s looking ahead, and--I’m gonna take a detour here for just a second--I know better, at least, than to look past Bella.

Jake: No one should do that. Another person on the roster who I don’t think people need to be looking past is Shelbi Lynn Carter. After over a half decade out of the ring, she debuted in Future Shock with a win. And according to her promo, she wants to be buried between all her enemies so they can stop her from coming back. What did you make of the “Colossal” newcomer?

Katie: Mate, if there’s a way to debut, this was it. She started off strong, and even when Ashley got the upperhand in the match, it was one of those nights where you just kinda felt like things were going to fall into place for Shelbi. End of the night, sure enough, that wicked Lights Out certainly did what it says on the tin. If she’s looking to climb up the rungs, I expect to be running into her sooner rather than later, and...if she keeps rolling with this kinda momentum, it’s gonna be a tough night for anyone that gets in the ring with her.

Jake: No argument from me on that. The main event saw the Doomsday Sisters, whom I know you know well, facing the first time pairing of Nora Harris and Vivi Robichaud. They worked really well together, and clearly Vivi was impressed by the time it was over.

Katie: Yea, impressed enough to get named as a challenger, which...if the champion nominates you, that pretty much seals the deal for you. But, before we get to that, let’s focus on the match--as you say, for two people who’ve never teamed before, Nora and Vivi worked very well together. I’ve dealt with all three of the Matriarchy in the past, I know how tough Victoria is in particular, so I know this wasn’t an easy night for them, and...I won’t lie and say I didn’t get a certain satisfaction out of seeing Vivi and Nora get their hands raised, but even going into the match and knowing it wasn’t going to be easy, this was still a rough night at the office, especially for a first time team. Nora, in particular, looked impressive throughout, though, and...as I say, you help the champion get a win, that’s bound to catch her eye.

Jake: That match has been set for March 10th as well at the Sheffield Showdown on FFW All Access streaming. Who do you like in thi sone? Nora showed she can take one hell of a thumping in that match, and that’s exactly what she’ll have to do again if she wants to be Future Shock Champion.

Katie shifts in her seat a little, bobbing her head side to side as she considers the question.

Katie: This one’s tough. I don’t think I can really make a prediction, because I think it depends on which version of both women we see that night. We’ve seen Vivi, in Future Shock, in SVW, and in other companies, get baited into the wrong kind of fight for her, especially with a recurring knee injury, but we’ve also seen her overcome that exact injury, and anything else in her way, to get where she wants to go. Nora, similarly, she took a thumping against the Doomsday Sisters, she took a thumping against Gemma when she had a shot at the Aspire Championship, but take it from someone else who does that--you don’t just want to take a thumping all the time. She’s been impressive, even in losses, though, so...might depend on if she shows up with that killer instinct or not, y’know?

Jake: What do you make of this growing issue between River Campbell of SVW and Jacqui Minogue? Jacqui destroyed her band equipment at the last Impact event, because she seems to think anything that takes the spotlight off her or competition is the worst. River’s signed to meet her in Sheffield. Where do you fall in Jacqui’s rather hardline stance?

Katie: So...

Katie screws her nose up as she starts to speak.

Katie: I don’t like that I’m about to, but I can kinda see her point. We come to wrestling shows to see wrestling, yea? But she and I go about this mentality very differently--if something I don’t wanna see comes around? I just...don’t watch it. I feel like that’s just common sense. But there are people that want more than just wrestling matches, maybe a musical performance during an intermission is exactly the break people need, and if River wants to be in a band that gives that to them, great! I’m not gonna sit here and tell her she can’t, or go destroy her equipment to keep her from doing it. It’s just such a strange...I don’t even know, like, entitlement thing, I guess? Destroy everything that isn’t 100% focused on me and mine. I just...yea, I kinda see her point, but like usual, I don’t agree with the way she’s handling it.

Jake: I think her point might have had a bit more strength to it if she hadn’t won that night. But she did, she defeated the then-reigning Fast Track Champion at Impact. And I’m not sure a musical performance between the matches would have caused her not to. See what I’m saying?

Katie: Oh, for sure. It’s...a ridiculous reason to go and destroy someone’s personal property.

Jake: Future Shock is no stranger to people from other promotions dropping by to get in the ring. It happens pretty often, and they also tend to enjoy our pool parties. I’m not sure this is the fight Jacqui wants to pick, because even if she wins, does defeating someone from another promotion move you any closer to your goal? And as the theme here today seems to be, the goal is sitting between us for Jacqui.

Once more, Jake looks back to the Nova Championship seated on the table between them. Katie takes a second to gesture toward the title like a gameshow host, grinning toward the camera as she does.

Jake: I’ll tell you, that thing is turning into the ring from the Tolkien trilogy.

Katie: I don’t really get it, yea. I mean, let’s not play make believe and think beating River will be easy for Jacqui, so maybe a win in Sheffield does help her to some extent, if for no other reason than she beat an impressive competitor, but...yea, if your goal is the Nova Championship, wouldn’t you want to focus your efforts on...someone else in line for the belt? Like, I could go drag Serena Maxwell out of whatever hole she disappeared into in Australia and rekindle that feud from In Your House, here...but what does it do for me, if my goal is right there?

Katie gestures to the belt again, shrugging her shoulders as she does.

Katie: At best, it’s giving attention to another company’s wrestlers; at worst, it’s dividing your attention. But, I’m not the one picking the fight over someone being in a band, so maybe I’m not the right person to be speaking here.

Jake: You’re really good at gesturing. I think if Vanna ever retires, you got a sideline you can do maybe. But the last thing we’ll cover from the last show is the search for our new ring announcer. How did you like Gia and getting to know her a little?

Katie: Not that she’ll believe me, but this honestly isn’t to rub this in...but I thought she did really well, particularly with the Sydney and Cassie thing. Most people might hesitate, especially in that kind of circumstance, with Sydney swinging weapons like she was, to make the call, but she didn’t. She just...did what she had to do. My opinion may not be worth much in the hunt for a ring announcer, but I think it’s good that she’s a fan, that wants to gets involved, not just someone with a voice that can carry a little, y’know? Do something your passionate about, and she seems to be, at least.

Jake: I agree with that! Now let’s turn our attention to the next edition of Future Shock back in Boston on February 11th. Now that the year of January is over, we’re getting closer to the Sheffield Showdown on March 10th. And two of the women we’ve been talking about are gonna meet up that night. We’ll see Cassie Mason going toe to toe with the newly arrived Shelbi Lynn Carter in what she hopes to be another “Colossal” performance.

Katie whistles at the first match mentioned, shaking her head enough to bob her hair buns a little.

Katie: So, you’ve got two girls that made impressive debuts facing off--obviously, Cassie will want a more convincing win than a disqualification, and if she can manage to beat Shelbi, I think she’ll get it--I don’t know too much more than what I saw last show about Shelbi, but I don’t think she’ll be swinging bats around in this match. That’s a heck of a change from last match, tho, for Cassie--from someone like Sydney, who’s aiming to break you, to someone like Shelbi, who seems like she could run circles around you for an hour and then wonder why YOU’RE dizzy. Like earlier, I’m not gonna pick a winner, but if this is the first match of the night, we’ve got a great night ahead of us.

Jake: I’m not a trainer by any stretch. But watching her debut, I get the feeling Shelbi is kind of a stamina monster. Like she can go long distances if she has to. But in Cassie’s case, I think she’s happy to have an opponent who isn’t trying to embarrass her like Cait did months ago or cripple her like Sydney attempted.

Katie: Yea, definitely. This is a good test of what Cassie’s about in a head’s up match, with no nonsense surrounding it. That’s gonna be really fun to see.

Jake: While the Doomsday Sisters didn’t have the night they had hoped for on the last show, Sienna Danger has a chance to make up for it. She’ll be going head to head against Carys McFarlane, who is also trying to build up a reputation for herself around these parts. You’ve teamed with Carys AGAINST the Sisters before. Any advice you want to share as she tries to go it alone this time?

Katie: Keep eyes in the back of your head.

It’s said somewhat deadpan, and Katie even offers a little shrug as she says it.

Katie: Carys knows this, after being in the ring with them, but nothing these girls do is soft. Nothing they do is easy to withstand. And I’ll go out on a limb and guess nothing they’ll do will be by themselves. Victoria’s likely to be hanging out, and if things start to go sideways, I mean...Sienna had no problem getting involved in my match against Victoria, I can’t see why it’d be any different this time. But like I said, that’s nothing Carys doesn’t already know. I mean, she’s like a lightning bolt, so just do what she does best, and try to stay out of Sienna’s grip.

Jake: We’ll also be getting a new audition in our ring announcer search. FFW fans of Caitlyn Storm will know the next woman to give it a shot. Because it’s her mouthpiece, Lexi. I know Lexi very well, and she doesn’t have much of a filter. So we may earn a TV-14 rating, at the least, next time.

Katie: I don’t know her that well, but an unfiltered ring announcer...isn’t something I’ve heard of before. If nothing else, that makes things interesting. The fact that she’s already around FFW and knows about Future Shock, I’d imagine, is a big boost for her, but it’s like anything else in theory--see how it plays out in practice, yea?

Jake: It should be interesting, for sure. Also scheduled to compete is Cait Flanagan. She’s been refining and training and tweeting and all that good stuff over the break, and the “Million Dollar Baby” gets to meet one third of my favorite trio of sisters. Not that that’s saying much when the only other one was the Cortezes, but she’s got Mikayla Stone of Trinity to handle next show. I really like those girls, and plus ya know… the whole witch thing is a bonus.

Katie: So, I don’t think it’ll be a big shock here that I’m not a big fan of all the antics Cait gets up to. But, for the most part, it’s been effective--she’s carved herself a decent little niche into Future Shock, and if she’s really been training and refining as much as she says she has, that, on top of all the...should we call it extracurricular stuff? That makes her a dangerous competitor. But all 3 Trinity girls have been impressive in their own right, and even though it’s easy to see a member of a team going solo for a match and think they’re out of their wheelhouse, it’s important to remember we’re all wrestlers at the end of the day--none of us are just completely inexperienced going head to head. This is one of those classic “styles make fights” sorta matchups, tho; Mikayla’s probably got to rely on being faster than Cait, cuz if I’ve learned anything about anyone from the Lion’s Den gyms, it’s that they hit hard--and then do it again, harder.

Jake: We’re also scheduled to hear from the Laurie Jane Experience, who came within a whisker of becoming Future Shock Tag Champions last month. What do you make of Laurie and Jane?

Katie taps hin chin a little, lulling her tongue around her mouth, even briefly toying with the ring in her lip.

Katie: They came so very, very close to knocking the Dragons off at the first hurdle. It’s become a familiar refrain, though; it’s almost like Laurie...I don’t know, doesn’t want to team with Jane? So she doesn’t do anything to help her, and I think that cost them. They’re an impressive team, nonetheless, and I think they’re maybe one, two little refinements from winning the Tag Team Titles, but coming off a loss in their first chance...it’ll be interesting to hear what they have to say.

Jake: They’ll be there to talk about the fact that Adam will be putting together a tag match between them and Target Acquired to determine the next challengers for the Dragons. If you follow SVW at all, Target Acquired had a HELLUVA 2019 over there and are on a huge streak as a result. What do you think of Nadia and Alessandra?

Katie: I try to catch SVW when I can, and yea, Target Acquired are an ultra-impressive team. It just goes back to what we were talking about earlier, I don’t think you can call them rookies or prospects or whatever else when they’ve been on that kind of run. But this also gives Laurie and Jane an interesting opportunity--maybe they just need that second bite of the cherry, y’know? They were close in their first shot, if they can earn a second, it may just be their night the next time they run into the Dragons.

Jake: That’s a lot coming up on February 11 on the second to last Future Shock before the Sheffield Showdown. Let’s quickly review that card on March 10th. You’ll see Vivi Robichaud defend the Future Shock title against Nora Harris. Cassie Mason and Sydney Christensen meet again, and there’s a rumor that there may be a special referee assigned to that one. Katie here will look to become the Nova Champion again when she meets Arabella Townshend. And Jacqui Minogue will have to face the music…. See what I did there?... when she meets River Campbell from SVW. And I understand there may be more to come beyond that.

Katie: Already a stacked night, and with a month left to go...be honest, anyone who watches knows a lot changes in a month. But that’s the future--the stacked night you should be paying attention to first is the next stop on our way to Sheffield, on the 11th! I’m looking forward to it.

Jake: Big thanks to Katie for joining me today. You’re always welcome on the show, and you can now add professional hypeman to your resume, along gesturer and professional wrestler. Your LinkedIn page is gonna be buzzing after this!

Katie: It’s important to keep your options open!

She grins and makes one last gesture, as if to prove the point, toward the Nova Championship, then to the fishbowl once again, before she can’t stop herself from laughing.

Katie: But really, thanks for having me, and we’ll catch you guys next week for Future Shock!

After Shock fades to black on that.