The door to the arena swings open and as the plus sized princess and OCW’s women champion EMP comes storming through the door with her phone placed up against her ear.
Emp: Pick up ...Pick up...F**k! Answer your damn phone!
Emp starts typing up a text on her phone as she rushes down the hall blindly she goes around the corner where she blasts into Jim Black knocking him over causing him to drop his meal on the floor.
Jim Black: Geez, Emp what’s the Hurry?
Emp: Have you seen Ashley? We were supposed to meet up hours ago.
Jim Black: No, can’t say that I have. But, I’m sure she’s around her somewhere. This place is huge! With everyone on the roster I find it funny how I only ever see a handful of you at any given time.
Jim Black looks around halls to see they are bare.
Emp: Yeah, yeah I don't care about your weird black hole theory and weird conspiracies about how you don’t exist until someone is talking to you right now, Jim. If you see Ashley can you let me know?
Jim Black: Of course. But before you go. Can I ask a quick question? What is with the oven mitts?
Both Jim Black and Emp look down at her hands which still seem to have oven mitts on them designed to look like Jake Allen and Mr. Sensation.
Emp:I have a bun in the oven for Ashley.
Jim Black: OMG! Congrats! I’m so happy for you two.
Emp: ugh..Thanks?
Jim Black stands up *He’s been having this entire conversation while sitting on the floor mind you* and rubs Emp’s belly and whispers baby gibberish to her stomach as she just stares at him confused. He grabs the remaining parts of his meal that haven’t been tainted by the grim covered floor.
Jim Black: Anyway, I’ll keep an eye out. Otherwise check with catering a lot you guys seem to meet up there. She might be talking with Benji Moore again.
Jim Black starts to walk away down the hall before stopping and just staring off into the distance as if he is waiting for some sort of interaction. Emp stares at him for a bit before shaking her head in confusion and walking off toward catering.
Emp: What a weird guy.
A COMING OF AGE BATTLE! THE LAST BLACKSMITH vs. DANNY WATTS
THE CLARK EFFECT
Stacy Clark and OWEN sit backstage opposing each other. Behind them a scene advertising the Clark Effect. OWEN cuts a contrasting figure compared to Stacy, as she is dressed in an outfit becoming of a reporter and OWEN is wearing his tracksuit and sneakers.
CLARK: Welcome, Owen. Let’s get straight to it, shall we? Last week on Riot, Just Derek from the Wolves of Vanguard came out to the ring after your match with Matias Duplooy, attacked Matias and a brawl ensued between you and him. Can you give us your side of events?
OWEN: Thank you for having me, Stacy. I normally wouldn’t do interviews like this but I feel that it is important for the OCW audience to hear the answers to the questions I know you’re going to ask.
OWEN: Stacy, I know you and the OCW audience don’t know me very well but let me teach you one thing about me if nothing else. Respect. Respect is important to me. As an athlete, as a professional wrestler, as a man. We are nothing if we don’t have respect for one another.
OWEN: The reason I come out to the ring and shake my opponent’s hand is to show respect. The reason I shake my opponent’s hand after the match is to show respect.
OWEN:
Respect for them as an opponent, respect for their skill inside the ring, respect for the pain and suffering that they put their body through to earn a living for their family. Respect for the squared circle that we compete in. Everyone is deserving of respect... until they demonstrate they are not.
OWEN settles into the chair, taking a moment to pause and gather himself.
OWEN: When Just Derek came down that aisle, slid into the ring and attacked Matias from behind, he didn’t just attack my opponent. He disrespected Matias, he disrespected me and he disrespected this squared circle. He tarnished our pursuits in this ring and made it into a soap opera segment of sports entertainment. And why?
OWEN: His whole argument... we saw earlier in the show... Just Derek said that I was an innocent bystander. It’s just friendly fire. He was aiming to get to James and I was just the example. No harm, no foul.
OWEN: It wasn’t friendly to me. You spat in my face, Derek. You spat on this ring. And I will not tolerate that. You made the decision to come to the ring. You made the decision to attack Matias. You made the decision to attack me. Take some responsibility for your actions. Act like a man.
OWEN: Don’t worry, Derek, all your obfuscation and equivocation as to why you did what you did… Ultimately it doesn’t matter… You disrespected me. Now I’m going to disrespect you... with violence.
OWEN pauses, looking down the lens of the camera.
OWEN: I hope you’re ready. You are going to see why they call me the Mat Enforcer. I hope your cowardly chest can take the punishment it’s about to receive.
Stacy leans forward, asking her next question about the role James Fraser played in the incident.
CLARK: It seemed like James Fraser was coming to your aid after he attacked Derek on the entranceway, but then you punched Fraser, can you tell us why you did that?
OWEN: Stacy, tensions were high and I made a mistake. In the heat of the moment, I saw Fraser and I was still focused on the disrespect Derek perpetrated in the ring. I made a mistake, so for that, I apologise. I apologise to you, James Fraser.
CLARK: Speaking of James Fraser, I’d like to bring him into our conversation…
Entering into frame comes James Fraser, Fraser takes a seat near Stacy as he looks toward OWEN.
Fraser: Stacy, thanks for having me.
CLARK: James, you and OWEN have had an odd relationship to say the least. What was going through your head last week when you made the save? But when you also got punched by OWEN?
Fraser: A real man doesn’t attack someone from behind. It’s exactly like OWEN said, it’s about the respect, respect for your opponent, yourself, and the squared circle. That stunt Derek pulled last week? Unacceptable.
Fraser cracks his neck as he keeps going on.
Fraser: Fuck that felt good, but ya see Stacy. I understood why OWEN may have struck me because it was heat of the moment. No harm, no foul on my end. Whereas for Derek? He and I still have unfinished business.
OWEN: What do you say you and I meet in the squared circle next week and put the matter to bed?
Fraser: Aye, I can get down with that as my kids say. Keep an eye out for that wolf puppy ya never know when and where he’s lurking.
Fraser extends a hand to OWEN for a handshake, which OWEN accepts and the scene fades to black.
Nate Ortiz appears on the Xtron, hair slicked back and angry-looking.
Nate: Danny! What has all this training been for Danny? I’ve been working and training like it was 05 again, not for myself. For you! And you let that happen to you tonight. You let a walking embarrassment get the upper hand on you.
Nate lets out a deep sigh.
Nate: I could hang up my boots today, this second, and I’ll be straight. My legacy is secure.
Nate: Danny I’m helping you build yours. When Dominion was formed you were the afterthought. The butt of the jokes, our “cabana boy” to the normies. But Rust, Tony, and I saw it different. You’ve proven yourself to be competent. But we need more!
Nate: I need more! You need to live up to my legacy, I am who I am not only for what I did in that ring, but for the other legends that I brought along the way.
Nate: You can sit at that table someday Danny if you just think!
Nate shakes his head.
Nate: Rest up Mr. Watts, but your head on straight, and prepare for your final lesson at Consequence.
Nate grabs a remote and hits a button sending the screen black before cutting to ringside.
ODD COUPLE TAG TEAM SERIES! COLIN LOCKE & K'DANGELO
vs.
IJITU QUARTZ* & TRE GOLDEN*
We join the scene somewhere outside the Turmoil venue, a bunch of abandoned, and pretty beaten down looking lockups give away exactly who we’re going to be seeing. Somewhere within one, banging around in the grime is Jordan Trance, who is still wearing his bailiff hat from last week and pool shorts from the earlier party.
Jordan: Damn it, I was hoping for guitars.. Wait a damn minute…
Jordan deep dives, pulling out some pretty old boxing and wrestling training equipment.
Jordan: Guys, guys! I Found something.
Colin: Yeah?
Colin peeks around the corner, his head entering the frame, and he carefully steps over the mess and grime.
Colin: Gotta say, there’s a very good reason why we didn’t make these Locke & Key lots. Urgh.
He looks over to what Jordan has found, very careful not to touch anything.
Colin: Gym equipment? Bloody score, how much do you reckon we’ll get for these?
Jordan and Judge look Colin up and down before giving each other a look of ‘will I say it or will you.’ Judge cracks first.
Judge: Maybe you should consider using it.
There is a pause and Colin gives Judge the side eye.
Colin: u wot m8
Judge: Well, I mean-
Colin:: People are always saying ‘ooh, Colin, why do you always wear that old Louis Vuitton shirt in the ring’, this is why. You know, it’s not your place to judge, Judge.
Colin and the Judge look at each other blankly.
Colin: … Oh wait, yeah.
After a short silence, Colin cracks a smile, pats Judge on the back and heads towards the equipment.
Colin: Nah, you’re great, yeah, it’s Quartz and that, and they’ve got about, what, fifty pounds or so on me? Big guys, they need a proper scooping, could not hurt to do some heavy lifting. Judge: Hey, I used to do a little football in high school and college. Haven’t hit the weights that hard in years, but I might remember a few things.
Judge slowly reaches over and grabs a 100 lbs. dumbbell with ease and goes to hand it to Jordan.
Jordan: No thank you, that’ll drag me to the depths of hell.
Colin: Nah, only The Storage Demon can do that.
Jordan: The what?!
Colin: Don’t worry about it. Hey Judge, I reckon I’ve got this.
The Judge does the best shrug he can while holding the weight, before offering it to Colin. Colin steps forward and takes the weight from Judge in the most scoop-slam-like manner possible before holding it over his shoulder.
Colin: Ah, that’s the stuff.
Colin does a set of what can only be described as scoop reps while Jordan and Judge look on, their faces a mixture of horror and amusement.
Judge: What’re you doing, Colin?
Colin: Scoop reps, it’s the only way to pick things up.
Jordan: Hey, no, there’s a bench just over there, Judge, help me move some of the stuff off it, we’ll do this properly.
The scene begins to fade out as Judge and Jordan remove the trash from the bench and slowly attempt to show Colin how to use it properly, unfortunately we go to black before we see his attempt, but you can bet he tried to scoop slam it.
Previously Recorded.
It’s a sunny day at the Dominion Penthouse. The camera pans down from a clear blue sky and slowly turns to reveal the CCW Champion Antonio Everrett, sitting poolside. Shirtless and Shoeless as always, he is donning nothing but a pair of swimming shorts and some pristine aviator sunglasses. His title is placed down on a table next to the deck chair he is straddling.
Antonio: … John Carter, I gotta give it to ya. What you did last week on Riot was straight out of my book from a couple of months ago. Of course, that wouldn’t be the first thing you’ve shamelessly borrowed from me, I distinctly remember making you tap like a little bitch just a few weeks before you just about ended my best friend’s career - but I digress. I’m a different man now, far less bitter and angry than I was after that fateful Night 2 of Summercide.
Antonio: But I’m not here to talk about you, John, rather, I’m here to talk about the entirety of your faction. You’ve all made quite the names for yourselves, a tag team title opportunity tonight, a blockbuster triple threat opening the show at Consequence, and Elliott… well you’ve gone and earned yourself a dance with the top dog, eh?
Antonio: Unfortunately for you all, your cowardly assault on me after last week's match didn’t last very long, mostly because I’m not the only one who you’ve all managed to piss off in your time here. You all saw a great opportunity to try and kick Dominion while it was down, while our legendary mentor and young upstart were squabbling and you tried to make a statement at my expense.
Antonio: I must give it to you, you had it all planned out perfectly on paper, but unfortunately, wrestling doesn’t happen on paper. Outside of what happens between those four ropes, it’s all hypotheticals and speculation. Dominion has had their fair share of embracing hypotheticals, and it never ends well.
Antonio: Elliott Parker what you failed to account for after all of your attempts to put me down is that no matter how divided we may seem, Dominion is well and truly alive and kicking. Which is why for our match at Consequence, I’m going to have an insurance policy at ringside to ensure that whatever antics you and your Wrestling Club have planned, well, they just aren’t going to work.
The camera pans to the right and reveals sat on another deck chair, the OCW Pride Title displayed on a table beside him, Rust Cohle, staring intently at the camera.
Rust:Boys. Let’s try and see if your tactics work now. Dominion is Consequence. And the Pride Champion will make sure you never forget it. I’ll be at ringside to witness and hear those famous words: And still your CCW Heavyweight Champion of the World, Tony Everett.
Rust: Idiots.
Antonio: Bring whoever you want, Elliot. Bring the whole squad for all I care. I’ll take one Rust Cohle over those other three bozos combined any day of the week. And come Consequence, you will rue the day you stuck your nose in Dominion’s business.
Tony takes a look at Rust and looks back at the camera, removing his sunglasses.
