Heather and Cody Hagen are seen walking down the hall leisurely backstage. Heather, looking stoic as ever, is heading towards the stage. Cody Hagen however is pumping his arms up and down looking pumped for Heather’s first match back on Riot.
Cody: I am JUICED BABY!
Heather suddenly stops and turns towards Hagen. Cody takes his shades off and looks confused by the way Heather is staring at him.
Cody: What?.
Heather smirks.
Heather: Don’t ever do that again.
Heather then decides to fix her attire. She looks down at her skirt and decides to take the skirt off and tosses it aside.
Cody: I never thought that looked good on you anyways. You’re not a girly girl kinda gal.
Cody: By the way, what did Emp mean by “attempted pregnancy”? Did I miss something?
Heather loses her focus for a brief period. But then frowns as she recognizes someone that walks behind Cody.
Cody turns.
Cody: LARIETTE!
LARIETTE places her hand on his shoulder and smiles.
LARIETTE: Hello! You are Cody, right?
Heather scowls at LARIETTE defiantly all while LARIETTE keeps her smile. Cody looks at the ladies back and forth.
Cody: LARIETTE, thank you so much for helping Heather out there last week. I wanted to jump in and hit Blaine and Empress so bad! But who do I look like? Elliot Parker?
Cody’s attempt to break the silence didn’t work. The women continue the stare down. LARIETTE’s smile grows bigger as she notices Heather Angelo staring daggers through her.
LARIETTE: You did not seem as enthusiastic about last week as your friend. Did I do something wrong?
Heather decides to walk in closer towards LARIETTE as Cody backs away from the heat that he’s feeling between them two.
Heather: Where I grew up, “Enemies are everywhere and friends are nowhere.” I trust no one.
LARIETTE: Aha, that does sound like something you would say.
Heather: Who in the hell do you think you are? Mida, you don’t know me.
LARIETTE: You are right, but I have admired your work since long before I joined OCW. You have always been one of my favorites.
LARIETTE: And part of the reason why is your kindness. You have proven it by making amends with so many of your former enemies-turned-friends, right?
LARIETTE: But with new friends, I see you have even harsher enemies these days. Ah, work to be done, right?
LARIETTE: Oh well, I just wanted to drop by and formally introduce myself to you.
LARIETTE reaches her hand out, with a familiar smile accompanying it. As Heather looks her offer up and down, she looks back up to the newcomer with a hesitant expression. LARIETTE quickly pulls her hand back and nods to each of them.
As quickly as she appeared, she disappears just as fast. Cody is left scratching the back of his head.
Heather: Hijo de puta! How dare she.
Cody: You’ve been distracted long enough, Heather. Let’s end this with Kameyo once and for all and quickly.
Cody: You are The Ending.
Cody takes Heather by the arm and pulls her towards the stage as her theme begins.
ROOKIE DEBUT LARIETTE vs.HIFUMI MAYOSHI
Record last week after the North American Championship match…
The scene opens backstage at the OCW arena. C-Note, the newly crowned OCW North American Champion, enters with a triumphant swagger, the championship belt draped over his shoulder.
We see his associate Claude, a former International champion in his own right, standing nearby, awaiting instructions.
C-N: Claude, take this...
He hands the championship belt to Claude, who accepts it silently.
C-N: And get it detailed.
C-N: I want every ounce of failure scrubbed away. Make sure there's no trace left of those who couldn't handle the responsibility.
He pauses, a hint of challenge in his eyes as he locks gazes with Claude, leaving the true meaning of his words open to interpretation.
Without waiting for a response, C-Note turns away, leaving Claude to contemplate his instructions, the air thick with tension and unspoken rivalry.
LEGENDARY RETURN! SHELDON TREMBLAY
vs.
CHRIS BAXTER
Outside of a familiar penthouse building in downtown New York City we see Dennis Dillinger’s limousine sitting in idle outside of the building.
Inside of the limo is the Manhattan Mogul, the most handsome non luchador man in NYC, Dennis Dillinger, scrolling on his phone. Dennis takes a look at his watch and looks out the window as the door to the penthouse building opens and closes.
The driver of the limousine gets out of the vehicle and walks around the car and opens the back door letting in sunlight as Dennis scoots down the row of seats. Entering the vehicle we notice familiar Air Force 1’s as the individual sits down on the opposite row of seating.
Dennis looks ecstatic, as he throws his arms up with joy embracing the individual in the limo as he taps the glass in front of them so the driver takes off.
Dennis: Ah! It has been far too long my boy! This vacation of your better have been relaxing, I’ve been driving myself nuts with no contact this whole time… But like I said, your wish is my command!
Dennis: You look good! Tell me have you been keeping up? At least have you been keeping an eye on this whole world?
The cameras finally reveal the individual that Dennis was hugging was former OCW World Champion, El Parca. While Dennis is full of joy and happiness to see his star client and pseudo-son, Parca’s demeanor is stoic, he looks out the window as he listens to Dennis but offers no response.
Dennis mirrors his energy and leans forward, with his hands clasped together and his elbows resting on the points of his knees.
Dennis: Miguel, you know that loss doesn’t define you. You are still one of THEE best competitors OCW has ever seen enter that ring. Still the Crown Jewel, my boy. The hardship your kingdom faces will only make it that much stronger.
As the limo is driving through the hectic afternoon NYC traffic, Parca turns to Dennis and yet again has a stone cold facial expression.
When Dennis goes to try and talk again Parca puts a hand up motioning for Dennis to not bother. He turns his head out toward the sunlight yet again as he finally responds to Dennis.
Parca: You have been with me for many things in my career Dennis. Hell lately? I’m starting to forget when I DIDN’T have you by my side on just how much we’ve been through.
Parca: But something you still haven’t learned, or adjusted to I should say, is I hate losing. I can’t stand the thought of losing yet ANOTHER huge moment when it should’ve been me who had my arm raised that night.
Parca tightens his fists as the thought still hurts his heart that he lost the OCW World Championship but he continues going on.
Parca: Maxx Edwards is many things Dennis. He can do no wrong, he is the golden boy to the people, management, even the guys in the back. He’s talented, he’s a good looking dude, but he isn’t a liar.
Parca: He did exactly what he said he was going to do. He said he’d make me vulnerable, and he achieved that very thing. That entire match I was on the back foot, I was trying to claw my way back but Maxx just had my number every time.
Parca: I lost Dennis. I lost Cat, I lost Aries, I had to pin my own goddamn best friend to become champion again and I couldn’t even hold onto it. I’ve been chasing and chasing and chasing this feeling of TRYING to be a good guy, trying to be a superhero… but I just keep failing.
Parca: I’m starting to think none of this is even worth it anymore. No one wants to give Miguel a second chance. How [i]dare[/i] someone admit their mistakes and try to change! The only person who I feel truly listens and sees I’m trying is you. Everyone else? They’re just waiting for the “inevitable” and that hurts… a lot.
Dillinger nods and leans back, still focused on El Parca.
Dennis: The only thing that was ever “inevitable” was you climbing back to the top, and doing it in a way YOU could be proud of.
Dennis: That’s the thing for me, hijo… I never saw this last 18 months as some kind of mission to regain the love and trust of the fans, or - or to somehow change garbage opinions the big wigs have about you.
Dennis: It’s always ONLY been about YOU being proud of you. To me, to our entire business, it’s my job to make sure El Parca finds success… But it’s my personal desire to see you find that success and be proud of yourself the way I’ve been proud of you from day 1.
Dennis: I don’t know, really. I don’t know if there is any way for us to change the way people see you… but I learned a long time ago that it’s not staff, it’s not your quote-unquote “fans”, it’s not even your friends who are going to do the work… So quite frankly their support has never really meant that much to me.
Dennis: …And it still isn’t.
Parca looks outside the window again listening to what Dennis has to say, taking it all in and realizing that Dennis could be right. He looks back at him with a smile as they continue driving on.
The two men continue talking, however, the cameras get pointed down and muted as they don’t want anyone to hear. Their travels continue to a private airstrip where finally the cameras turn off and cut to commercial as the show rolls on.
