[Mr. Dashbee]

A group of press gathered around a podium at the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC for any clue as to what ONE Wrestling would be. The press conference was scheduled to start at 1 PM, and at 1:08 a black Lincoln Navigator pulled up. The driver opened the rear door, and out walked retired professional wrestler and movie megastar Dave Bautista.



Dressed more for business than competition, Dave posed for a few quick pictures and then took to the podium.

Dave Bautista: Alright, I know you probably have a bunch of questions, and obviously we are here to talk about ONE Wrestling. But let's see what those questions are.

Random Reporter #1: Dave, what is ONE Wrestling?

Dave Bautista: [Laughs] Well, that's probably the best place to start, right? A few weeks before WrestleMania, I was having lunch with Paul, and he asked me--he said "Dave, after our match, what are you going to do?" It was a reasonable question, since even though I didn't tell him I was going to retire after Sunday, he knew that I always wanted this to be the last program I would work. I told him, quite simply, "Paul, I want to find The ONE."

Random Reporter #2: What do you mean...The ONE?

Dave Bautista: That one talent, who is truly head and shoulders above everyone else. The phrase "Then, Now, Forever" is kinda famous in this industry, but who is the one talent who transcends all that. The one talent that, much like me [more laughs] doesn't get the credit they deserve. I'm not talking about "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, John Cena, The Rock, Hulk Hogan, Roman Reigns, or Ric Flair. No, I mean that man--or woman--who doesn't get placed on "the Mount Rushmore of Pro Wrestling" but probably should. So I select a field, and let them decide it in the ring. Then we'll know...Who is The One?

Random Reporter #3: So you are picking the wrestlers?

Dave Bautista: I sure am. I mean I hired some little pissant named Greg to handle the paperwork and logistics that I am far too important to do, but those men...that woman...I hand picked every single one of them. Because they each have a reason to be here. Maybe it's the Excellence Of Execution, who always claimed to be the very best but was never given that due. Maybe it's his little brother, who stood behind a shadow with the biggest chip on his shoulder possible. Maybe it's the Swiss Superman, who can wrestle circles around the supposed best in the world but never gets a chance to shine because "something just isn't there." Maybe it's the undersized babyface who has movie star good looks but a demented alter ego. Maybe it's the Gold Standard, who was always positioned as a role player and never appreciated for the truly talented athlete he is. Maybe SHE is the one, who elevated an entire industry but had to sit on the sidelines while three others received all the spoils. I could go on, but at the end of the day we will have a field of 8 that enter, but in the end we will know for sure "Who Is The ONE?"

All the reporters quickly scramble for the next question, but Dave was having none of it.

Dave Bautista: Listen, I'm really busy today, but I want to make a few things clear. This isn't about me. I'm satisfied with my ending. I'm done. This is about a desire to see who The ONE truly is. I have no idea, but that ring will tell us. I am sure you have more questions, and we'll make Greg available to deal with that. Thank you.

[Mr. Dashbee]

THE FIELD OF EIGHT

Bret Hart	Cesaro	Finn Balor	Owen Hart
The Great Muta	Asuka	Shelton Benjamin	Chad Gable

The Man Behind The One

Dave Bautista

[Mr. Dashbee]

A familiar voice provides the narrative below...

With the selection of Chad Gable, the field of 8 is now set. Dave Bautista himself will be setting the first round matches, so the pairings remain to be seen. But there are a lot of interesting combinations on the table for Big Dave to pick from. Could we see Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart again? What about The Great Muta and Finn Balor (or The Demon)? Former tag team partners Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin could find themselves on opposite sides of the ring. Where else in the world could you see Asuka vs. Cesaro?

The possibilities are nearly endless, but you can rest assured that Dave Bautista will put out the best product imaginable when he gets the answer to his question: Who Is The One?

[RECORD SCRATCH]

WHAT THE HELL? WHERE AM I IN ALL THIS SHIT?

[Mr. Dashbee]

Greg comes to the podium, with the press surprised as they were expecting Dave Bautista.

Greg: Yeah, I know you're confused. Dave couldn't make it, but he sends his regards.

Actually, he doesn't. He doesn't care about you! [Laughs.]

Anyway, we do have some important announcements to give, and those should help you with your clicks. Trust me, I know how that works. You might remember that Scott Steiner took great exception to not being part of the Field Of Eight, which of course will be used to determine The ONE. Well he took that out on Chad Gable, and now Gable is out of the tournament. Not because of injury, but Gable demanded a match with Scott Steiner. Now we also have Rick Steiner and Shelton Benjamin, and Dave wanted to book Shelton and Chad vs. The Steiner Brothers, but Shelton and Chad apparently didn't end their partnership on [air quotes] "the best of terms," and I am not so sure they want to team up. We might get a singles encounter, we might not. But something is cooking there.

Dave doesn't like it when his plans don't come to fruition, and he wasn't pleased that Chad and Shelton didn't want to team up. So he's also removed Shelton from the tournament! I don't know what that means for Shelton at our first event, or if he'll compete at all. We should know more soon, assuming Dave gets a break from filming.

However, we do have some other news! Since Shelton Benjamin and Chad Gable are out of the tournament, we have two new entrants. Taking their places will be Yokozuna and Bad News Brown. I'm not gonna lie, I couldn't reach Dave when those picks came up, and he didn't leave a list [FOR SHAME!] with anyone, so I picked those two. Obviously Dave was okay with them, as they are now in the tournament!

That's literally everything I know, so you'll have to keep your questions to yourselves. I can't answer any!

THE FIELD OF EIGHT

Bret Hart	Cesaro	Finn Balor	Owen Hart
The Great Muta	Asuka	Yokozuna	Bad News Brown

The Man Behind The One

Dave Bautista

[Mr. Dashbee]

Card #1

• Kickoff Match – Doug Williams & Nick Aldis over Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable, Benjamin leaves without Gable afterwards, Mr. Hughes was out to watch Aldis & Williams, and handed them Shane McMahon's business card before leaving
• ONE Tournament Quarterfinal – Finn Balor over Owen Hart to advance
• The Revival (Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson) over The Von Erich Legacy (Ross & Marshall Von Erich) via nefarious means
• ONE Tournament Quarterfinal – Asuka pinned Bad News Brown clean to advance
• Death Match – Mil Muertes (w/Catrina) beat Batista - Big Dave was ceremoniously "killed" by Muertes, and carried off by King Cuerno
• ONE Tournament Quarterfinal – Cesaro pinned Yokozuna - Cesaro slammed Yoko, then hit the Gotch Piledriver to a monster pop to advance
• Rick & Scott Steiner beat Masato Tanaka & Mike Awesome - Doomsday Bulldog spelled the end to this brutal affair that saw all four men beat the crap out of each other
• ONE Tournament Quarterfinal – The Great Muta beat Bret Hart - the classic you'd expect, Bret ducked the mist, and the ref did too, but Muta pulls out the win in the end to advance

NOTES

• During a post-show locker room interview, Gable confronted Benjamin, and eventually challenged him to a match.
• The overall environment was chaotic with concern over Batista's well-being after the Death Match. Most of the talent isn't familiar with the Lucha Underground way of life and weren't sure what to think.
• Asuka's win over Bad News Brown was a huge one, and Bad News was in a bad mood, as you can imagine. He was seen talking to Mike Awesome and Masato Tanaka, and all three left together (still in their gear).
• During the press conference, Bret Hart and Owen Hart both were happy that the internet liked their matches so much, but said it doesn't matter if you don't win. The Steiner Brothers interrupted, pointing out that THEY won, which led to some bickering.
  
• Cesaro's Gotch Piledriver on Yokozuna was the talk of the wrestling world, but to Cesaro it was just another thing. He kept pestering Dashbee about his next round opponent, and with Batista out Dash just made the call.
• ONE Tournament Semifinal Matches: Cesaro vs. Asuka and The Great Muta vs. Finn Balor.
• Ross & Marshall Von Erich are finishing up a voicemail to their dad when Lana & Zelina Vega approach, we can't we what they're talking about, but they end up leaving arm in arm, followed by Val Venis who is ordering around the camera man who caught it all on film, before the feed cuts we hear Val say the next stop is "Catrina...and Mil."
• There hasn't been an update on the condition of Batista, and no one can find King Cuerno.