After Shock Preview for Future Shock 75

[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 a vivacious brunette who some may remember from her ring announcing audition.

Jake: I just realized we’re about to talk about the 75th edition of Future Shock since the relaunch.. SEVEN FIVE!  Oh sorry. Hi again, everyone, and welcome to After Shock. Today is a very special day because I have a new full time co-host for the show. Doesn’t mean we won’t have guests with us in the future though. She auditioned for the ring announcer job, and got squeezed out by Lexi. so Adam offered her this job! Welcome to the show, Gia Lynne… aspiring Disney princess!

Gia: Thank you Jake! I think Lexi did an amazing job in Sheffield and I was really impressed with her! And I’m excited to be here on my first After Shock. Let’s get started!

Jake: Sure. But just as a tease…

Jake reaches behind his seat, and produces a white box with a red bow on it with Gia’s name on a tag attached to it.

Jake: The crew and I chipped in on a welcoming gift for you, which we’ll get to before we’re done. I think you’ll like it.

He places the box between them before he begins.

Jake: March 10 was more than just Mario Day, because that was the night of the first major Future Shock event of 2020. I’m referring to the Sheffield Showdown, which is now available on FFW All Access streaming if you missed it or want to see it again. 3 titles were up for grabs, new champs were crowned, and a whole lot more. But since you’re the new co-host, Gia, why don’t you decide where you’d like us to begin our coverage of the show?

Gia reaches out to touch the box, a smile on her face.

Gia: That was really sweet of you all, thank you! As for the show… hm. Why don’t we start from the beginning, with River Campbell’s Future Shock debut against Jacqui Minogue?

Jake: Never hurts to start at the top of the show. River beat seven shades of hell out Jacqui for the majority of that match, and was hellbent on getting some payback for wrecking her expensive band equipment. But Jacqui is well known for being able to turn the tide, and that's what she ended up doing by defeating River in her Future Shock debut. Did either of them impress you at all?

Gia: Both of them did! River gave Jacqui a hell of a receipt for all the damage she did to River’s equipment, and Jacqui had to all but drop the kitchen sink on River in order to get past her! It was an incredible matchup, and even though River was on the losing end of things that night, I predict big things from her in Future Shock. As for Jacqui, she’s making a great case for why she’s in line for a shot at the Nova Championship once again.

Jake: Oh yeah, the new champion will be seeing her sooner than later. But we’ll get to that soon. Let’s mention one of the surprises from the show, and that’s the impending visit from Wales’ Lowri Moss. She was announced to be joining us on the next show.



Gia: Which is an incredible honor for Future Shock! Lowri Moss is an international superstar in both singles and tag team action. She’s a decorated champion - if I remember correctly, she’s Underground’s longest-reigning North American Champion, she’s the current FGA Pride Champion, and she and Neal Durden have competed all over the place as Pendragon. I’m glad that someone like her has been drawn here, and I’m looking forward to seeing what she’s going to accomplish.

Jake: Me too. Future Shock has a history of drawing in talent to come visit, including people like her obviously and Tiffany Tompkins, who is one of my favorites. So we’ll find out what’s on her mind next show. But back to the matter at hand, Gia, we’ve got NEW Future Shock Tag Team Champions! The Laurie Jane Experience won their rematch from January, and Laurie was so happy about it that she took both titles with her at the end of the match.

Gia: That was an amazing matchup, although I am a little curious about how Jane feels regarding Laurie taking both the belts for herself? But I suppose we’ll find out sooner rather than later. The Laurie Jane Experience were fantastic, and I look forward to seeing them as defending champions!

Jake: Next up is the triple threat with Lilly Arthur as the special guest referee. What did you make of this match? We saw fighting, baseball bats, and crowbars all in the same match.

Gia: Surprised we didn’t bring down a cage for them as well! There was a lot going on in this match, and Cassie Mason has a right to be angry with the way Sydney stole her win - but that’s the risk you have to take in a triple threat. And Lilly did a wonderful job as the special referee for the match. I know some in the match might argue otherwise, but I was watching and she called it straight down the middle. And now Sydney’s also placed herself in line for a shot at the Nova Championship, and given what happened in that championship match, I think we’re going to see some real fireworks when Sydney gets her shot!

Jake: I know Cassie said in her promo that she feels a little underwhelmed because I don’t talk about her as much as the other two women in that match. So here we go. I thought Cassie showed amazing heart and determination in the match, and had it won more than once, were it not for other factors. Same goes for Shelbi actually. I don’t think anything has been resolved between the three of them though. In any event, another surprise on the show besides Lowri is what happened when the Doomsday Sisters met Carys McFarlane and her cousin, Leighana.

Gia: I still can’t believe what we saw, Jake! I would have expected that from a stranger, but from someone in Carys’ own family? Leighana walking out on her during that match is going to have some long-lasting repercussions for both of them, I think. In the end, the Doomsday Sisters got the win, but I think Carys being abandoned by her cousin had a lot to do with that - not to take anything away from the Doomsday Sisters’ obvious talent and chemistry in the ring. It was good though to see another family come out to help protect Carys - the Stone Sisters! Melody and Madyson kept Carys from getting a patented Doomsday Sisters beatdown, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see some family versus family tag team action in the future after this.

Jake; Me either! And that brings us to the Nova Championship. It’s been vacant for weeks, but we resolved that when Katie Hanley and Arabella Townshend met one on one for the first time! A lot of emotion after the match too, but why don’t you tell them all about it?

Gia: Oh my gosh, this one… I had tears in my eyes by the end of it. Watching Katie and Arabella pull out all the stops against one another, fighting for the right to hold that title, was absolutely incredible. Katie’s veteran instincts up against Arabella’s rookie pluck, Arabella showing just how much she’s learned from Katie… those two women put on an incredible match from start to finish. Katie showed us why she was the first Nova Champion, and Arabella proved that she had everything it took to become the new one. Absolutely stellar from both of them, and they should both be proud of themselves - especially our new Nova Champion!

Jake: We really are living in the Age of Arabella, and I’m pretty sure Future Shock is selling a lot of those t-shirts too! But at the end, it was the main event, Gia. Vivi Traeger got to pick her first defense of the Future Shock Championship, and she chose Nora Harris. And there were times during that match I thought she might have made a mistake, because Nora is… whoo boy! But Vivi pulled out the win, retained her title, and showed Nora the most respect of any opponent she’s ever had in Future Shock. And when you consider the most recent lot of them have been Cassandra Steen or Tara Cortez, it’s not really a high bar to clear, is it?

Gia: No, it certainly isn’t. But that match was everything that I think both competitors wanted - it was clean, fair, and it tested the skills of both women in it. That was a hell of a main event, showing us not only why Vivi Traeger is a great Future Shock champion, but also what makes Nora Harris one of the most talented women on this roster. Vivi said that she didn’t want an easy match, and there were definitely times when I thought that her championship reign was in a lot of trouble! But that’s what makes a fighting champion - someone who doesn’t back down from anything that gets thrown in their way. And Vivi’s going to have quite a task in front of her, with both Mara Werth and Stacey Sky announcing their intentions to be next in line for a shot at the biggest prize in Future Shock.

Jake: That’s true, and no shortage of people have lined up to stake their shot at at it, like Mara Werth or Stacey Sky. Folks, you really should get FFW All Access if you don’t have it so you can see this show. It was something else, and the Future Shock roster did what they always do: over deliver on these big stages. But that said…. That brings us to our next show, the 75th one! And before we get to that, I think we should let Gia open her present, a little welcoming gift from the production crew and me!

Jake picks up the box, and places it on her lap.

Jake: It’s all yours. I’ve noticed you have been eyeing it from time to time while we were talking anyway. We all hope you like it.

Gia reaches for the gift box and undoes the ribbon carefully, gasping as she takes out a beautiful silver tiara with blue stones. With a grin, she places it on her head and arranges her hair.

Gia: Oh Jake, it’s gorgeous! You guys didn’t have to do this for me, I really appreciate it.

Jake: Just in case the whole Disney princess thing doesn’t work out, you can always be the After Shock Princess. And practice your royal wave if you want.

He holds up his cupped hand, and turns it back and forth.

Jake: I saw a duchess do this, so I think it still applies.

Gia raises her hand and gives her own royal wave, complete with a megawatt smile.

Gia: How am I doing?

Jake: Perfect, Princess Gia! Are you ready for us to look ahead at the next Future Shock when the girls head back to Boston on March 24th?

Gia: Let’s do it!

Jake: Boston is where the Future Shock roster calls home, and that’s where we’ll be on March 24th with a pretty stacked card, in my humble opinion. The main event will see Mikayla Stone meet Sydney Christensen in a Future Shock Cup qualifier, which was also announced on the Sheffield Showdown. Go look for that when you watch it if you haven’t. Who do you like here, Princess Gia?

Gia: My heart says Mikayla, because as we’ve seen, the youngest Stone sister is a phenomenal singles competitor and I’m excited to see her strike out on her own. But Sydney is a veteran with a chip on her shoulder and a bat in her hand, so my gut says Sydney may take it here, even though she’s the only one who’ll be happy about the result if that’s the case.

Jake: That won’t be the only Future Shock Cup qualifier though. As was announced by Miss Singer, Shelbi Lynn Carter will go one on one with Cait Flanagan of the Gold Standard. Cait’s pretty wily, but Shelbi’s a bruiser too. She might be the most experienced opponent Cait’s been in the ring with to this point. What’s your perspective?

Gia: I think if Cait isn’t careful, she might bite off more than she can chew with Shelbi Lynn. I think Shelbi’s veteran experience will end up giving her the edge here, but Cait’s smarter than a lot of people give her credit for, so she may very well end up with a win. And we can’t underestimate the guidance of Kyle Kilmeade. I’m going with Shelbi for this, but Cait may very well surprise us.

Jake: And finally, Ashley Slayton returns to action. She’s still searching for that elusive first win in Future Shock, but I guess you could say the same for her opponent. The only difference is her opponent hasn’t really tried. Ashley will be facing the debuting Leighana, who I’m sure will show more effort to win than she did in Sheffield.

Gia: Leighana showed us some cold, ruthless calculation in Sheffield. I don’t think Ashley Slayton will have an answer for that, truthfully. But we’ll see what happens when they meet in the ring.

Jake: Hopefully we’ll get some answers from her too somewhere along the line. I’m sure Carys will be eager to hear why she did what she did, along with the rest of the viewers. And that’ll be all to look forward to in the ring on the 24th. We’ll also hear from our new champions as well, as I’m sure Arabella and the Laurie Jane Experience have a lot to express about their night in Sheffield. And on the next After Shock, we’ll unveil the FULL card for Impact 3 on April 21st. Gia, the Impact shows are some of my favorites and the Future Shock roster keeps turning up and turning out.

Gia: It’s one of the biggest nights of the year for Future Shock, and the last two Impact specials have seen us win out over the main roster. Will the third time be the charm, you think?

Jake: Until the FFW roster shows me otherwise, I won’t bet against Future Shock. Especially since I kinda work for the brand, ya know? Before we wrap up, any thoughts on your first day on the job or anything else on your mind, your highness?

Gia: And neither will I. Jake, this was a fabulous first day and I look forward to a great partnership here on After Shock. Being part of Future Shock like this is a dream come true for me.

Jake: Happy to have you, plus it means I don’t have to deal with some of the less…. Pleasant guests I’ve had in the past. We’ll see you right back here on the next After Shock. For Princess Gia here and myself, we’ll see you in Boston on the 24th.

They both practice their royal waves as After Shock fades to black.