The FFW logo appears on the screen before “Focus” by Ariana Grande begins to play. Then we see the studio being set up, the glass table sat in the center being cleaned, two cups sat on opposite sides of the table. Next we see Zack Hudson tying his shoes and checking himself in the mirror before he heads out to the set as a producer puts a microphone on his shirt before sitting down. When he looks across, we next see the various women who make up FFW and Future Shock flash by in images from their career until it finally stops on Arabella Townshend.
Then the show goes inside the studio as we see Zack sitting down at the glass table across from Future Shock’s Nova Champion with her title sat to her right. He shakes hands with her as he opens his water bottle and greets the viewers.
Zack: Hi, everyone! And welcome to the second season of Focus, where I help you learn more about your favorite stars here in FFW and Future Shock beyond just what you see in the ring. The response to the show encouraged FFW to order more episodes and here we are! Today, I welcome none other than the reigning Future Shock Nova Champion twice over Arabella Townshend. I’ve now completed the set of Shaolin Belles with you being on the show.
Arabella: It’s great to be here, Zack. I’ve really enjoyed watching the previous episodes of Focus so I’m excited to find out what you have in store for me.
Zack: So far I haven’t thrown too many bombshell questions, right? What did your tag partner tell you about her experience being on Focus?
Arabella: She said it was like chatting with a new friend - someone who wants to learn more about you. Very easy and painless, she promised me that.
Zack: Remind me to thank her next time we’re at the show. As always, every story starts with the beginning. And I’m pretty sure you will have the most unique upbringing of anyone I’ve chatted with so far because your experience is so different. Start us off with your parents and growing up Townshend.
Arabella: It was… interesting, to say the least. My father is related to the current Marquess of Townshend in England, and he met my mother when they were at university together. My mother’s family is from New Zealand, but she decided to stay in England after marrying my father. We were happy, mostly. And everything was normal, except that sometimes we’d go to visit my great-uncle at Raynham Hall, which is a massive estate house in Norfolk. But around the time I turned sixteen, things started to go south in my parents’ marriage.
Zack: I can relate to that growing up as well. What was it that started to cause the unraveling of their marriage?
Arabella: My father always wanted a son, and unfortunately my mother wasn’t able to have more children after I was born. They kept a lot of it from me, but I knew something wasn’t right. And it just kept getting worse, until the summer that I was twenty-two. I was down in New Zealand, where I met Katie Hanley, and I was training and planning to possibly move there, and I found out that everything went to shit so I had to return to England.
Zack: We’re gonna circle back around to Katie soon enough. A lot of children in that situation tend to be forced into taking sides. Was that the case for you or did both parents support you and try not to put you against the other?
Arabella: They didn’t make me pick sides - my father made it very easy to choose my mother. She was experiencing some health issues, and before she got an official diagnosis, my father was trying to force her into signing a divorce decree that would have left her with nothing. As it turned out, my mother was diagnosed with early-onset dementia, so when I came back from England I became responsible for coordinating her care and making sure that bills got paid. Everything got put on hold - university, wrestling training, an internship, basically my entire life, so that I could take care of my mother and fight my father in court.
Zack: That is proof enough there of what an outstanding daughter you are, and probably made you a mental health advocate as a result. How did the case go?
Arabella: We won, thankfully. My father had to give my mother a fair settlement, and that money is used for her care. Shortly before I came to the United States full time, I brought my mother back to New Zealand. My aunts and uncles and cousins are able to go and visit her, and she lives in a wonderful memory care home there. She knows where I am and she watches my matches when she can, and we FaceTime at least once a week.
Zack: That’s fantastic. I can’t even get my mom to use Zoom. While you were dealing with all of that, where did you find the time to get interested in the wrestling business? What caught your attention to make you decide that was for you?
Arabella: It started long before all of the family drama did. When I was in university, I studied fashion design, and we had a project where we had to design based on different sports. I drew professional wrestling, so I looked up some matches and I got hooked. Then, when I would go to New Zealand to visit my family, I found North Harbour, where Katie worked as a trainer. I was planning to move to New Zealand after I finished my internship at Alexander McQueen, to pursue wrestling, but life took a very different turn. While I was working and caring for my mother, I did find time to train, and it turned into me coming to Future Shock.
Zack: And look at how that decision has defined so much of your career. I’m curious though. From watching those matches for the first time to starting your training with the woman who many fans knew you as her protege when you arrived in Future Shock…was there anything about it all that surprised you when you started? One I hear often is hitting the ropes for the first time, because those hurt too.
Arabella: I was surprised by how hard it was. From hitting the ropes, to taking my first back bump on the mat, to learning how to work with an opponent during a match. There were so many days when I would get home and I’d be sore and tired and I would feel like I wasn’t getting anywhere, but I kept at it because I wanted to be a wrestler.
Zack took a sip of water as he listened to her.
Zack: I’d say mission accomplished. Was Katie the reason you decided to join Future Shock? You wanted to follow her and make her proud? Or was that more of a happy coincidence?
Arabella: More of a coincidence. Adam offered to meet with me when I came out to see one of Katie’s matches. I’d had some experience in smaller companies in England by then, and I didn’t expect to get offered a job here in the States, but it happened. And since Katie was already here, it was a no-brainer. Once I got my mother settled back in New Zealand, I was on my way to the US.
Zack: What were your initial impressions of Future Shock and Adam? That’s another question I get different answers on in conversations with some of the other girls.
Arabella: Adam came across as a big brother, almost. With the way he looks out for all of us, he has that kind of energy to him. He was someone I felt comfortable dealing with, very open and honest. And watching that first show, I was struck by the level of talent that was here and knowing that there was a training center attached sealed the deal for me. This was where I needed to be if I wanted to get better as a wrestler.
Zack: I think when most fans think about you, three things tend to be at the forefront of their minds. The longer term fans remember you well for your initial issues with Sydney, only for you to be teaming with her years later. The other is your time as Nova Champion, with this second reign being more successful so far. And then, of course, the Shaolin Belles. What about your career here so far stands the tallest in your mind? One of those or something else?
Arabella: I think it’s the match where I won the Nova championship for the first time. I was up against Katie, and I felt like okay, this is it. This is the moment that makes me or breaks me, because I have to show Katie and the world that I can really do this. The triple threat in Sydney was one thing, but facing the person who’d taught me everything I knew, who was one of my best friends on top of my trainer? That was intimidating as hell. And the moment I won that match, I knew that I had arrived. Even if it hadn’t been for a title, beating Katie was how I knew that taking this leap of faith had been the right thing to do.
Zack: Wins over Katie were always difficult to attain, her record proves that. There are two people in this company today that are most associated with you, for different reasons. So let’s bring them up. I’ll start with Angelina. I asked her about this when she was here. Tell me what you thought of her before you ended up teaming with her out of the blue and what you’ve learned about her since then that sparked one of the most beloved tag teams in Future Shock history.
Arabella: When Angelina first came back, I was a little wary of her. But she proved in short order that she was here to be the heart of Future Shock again. And when we got put together, I thought that we would work well together, but we meshed better than I think either of us could have imagined. We’ve spent a lot of time bonding outside the ring as well as inside it, so that helped too. She’s so much fun to be around and she’s also one of the smartest people I’ve ever met. It’s like we were both looking for a sister, and we found that in each other.
Zack: You’ve both enjoyed tremendous success both personally and professionally. And financially too because I know we’ve sold a lot of Shaolin Belles t-shirts and action figures since that team came to be a thing. All well deserved too, by the way.
Arabella: It’s been an incredible experience so far. And I got a spot in the inaugural Future Shock Hall of Fame as one of the Shaolin Belles, so clearly we’ve done something right.
Zack: No question about that. The other person you’re most associated with is this character sitting just off set here that you’ve been a couple with for….
Voice: A year and a half!
Zack: Yes, thank you. Tell everyone about Jake…for those that didn’t recognize that voice.
Arabella: So, Jake and I were friends for a while before we started dating. And then one day we were doing media together before one of the Future Shock shows, I don’t remember which one - but he asked if I wanted to go get dinner with him afterward, and I said yes. And from there on out, we’ve been an item.
Zack: That sounds about right. I assume he’s been as big of a supporter of everything that you do, just like Angelina. The only difference is you live together with him. And I don’t know if you noticed but he’s always been very happy to talk about you…with anyone. Gia comes to mind.
Arabella: I’m usually at the After Shock tapings with him, so yes, I’ve noticed. And it means a lot to me, to have someone who supports me unconditionally. He’s my biggest fan and even though he’s not typically at ringside with me, I know he’s always in my corner.
Voice: I’m always at the curtain when she comes back too.
Zack looks off camera towards that direction for a moment.
Zack: Thank you again.
He shakes his head and looks back to Arabella.
Zack: Let’s talk about something I also covered with Angelina, so in the interest of parity here… You call yourself the soul of Future Shock, and I’m curious what that means to you to call yourself that. After all, I don’t think it’s just some catchphrase for you.
Arabella: It’s not. When I call myself the soul of Future Shock, I think about my journey to get to where I am. The soul of this company is women who work hard and who’ll stop at nothing when it comes to pursuing their dreams. When I arrived here, I had less than ten matches under my belt. I had so much that I still needed to learn, but I learned it. I started from where women like Constance McCullough and Delilah Cameron are now, and I’ve made it to a Hall of Fame career. That’s what it means to me, to be the soul of this place.
Zack: Is that also why you’ve never taken up the offer to move to the FFW roster? I know you’ve been invited more than once. Even in an interview last year with the owner, she said you’d been made several nice offers to do so, but you remain here. Is it because of what you were saying? Is Future Shock home?
Arabella: What Ms. Star said was correct - she had made several generous offers to me if I chose to move to the FFW roster, but I politely declined. Future Shock is where I belong. I’ve made my name here. There’s a constant flow of new competition coming in, even some from the FFW roster. I am exactly where I want to be. I have the level of competition that I want, and I’m able to face some of the best in the world. Like you said, this is home.
Zack: Speaking of that constant flow, are there dream opponents for you on either roster? Some you’d jump at the chance to meet if it were made possible?
Arabella: I want a rematch with Shaw O’Neill. I know Angelina has the monopoly on that one at the moment, but one day? I want to take her on again. I would love to face Missy, too. As for the main roster, Clover Thomas would be a lot of fun to go up against, get some strong girl things happening. And Savannah Star, to round out my dream opponent list.
Zack: Of all your matches here which I’ve pretty much called the whole set, my two favorite singles matches of yours happened in the last year. One was when you became Nova Champion for the second time. The other was much more recent against Rebecka Hate back at FFW vs. Future Shock. I think those two matches defined you so well. The Nova title because it obviously means so much to you that you felt you needed to do better by it. And Rebecka…because you weren’t just defending that title against her. It felt like you were standing up for the whole roster in saying you’re not letting an outsider come in here and just take what she wants.
Arabella: The way Christian phrased it rubbed me the wrong way - that Rebecka could have an Evolution title shot anytime she wanted, so she’d choose the Nova title as her prize for winning the Fatale Royale. Like she could just pick up the Nova title, play with it for a bit, and then toss it when she was done so she could go get the Evolution championship. And I wasn’t going to let anyone treat my title like that.
Zack: Not gonna lie. Watching Allison bounce off you at Unstoppable was fun too.
Arabella: I’m glad we all saw the answer when I asked myself the question of ‘what’ll happen if I don’t catch her?’ Turns out, she bounces.
Zack: It currently holds the most views on our TikTok at the moment. Arabella, I want to thank you for joining me today. I think we’ve all learned a lot more about you, and hopefully what Angelina told you about being on here came true for you.
Arabella: It was just as easy as she said it would be. Thanks so much for having me, Zack. I really enjoyed this and I look forward to seeing who you have on next.
Zack: That would be a dream match of mine to see, I’ll be honest with you. On the next edition of Focus, I’ll be joined by our reigning Phoenix Champion Mara Werth. Thanks for watching, I’ll see you all next time.
As the show plays out, Zack shakes Arabella’s hand and thanks her again before Focus fades to black.
