[Fire-Babe]

[[OOC: I put a lock on the last promo of Moose and Eco shaking hands. Seemed like that should be the last one. (I can take it off, or another mod can, if people disagree)

Another thing we talked about in chat was a thread for ending storylines if needed, or continuing them, if desired, and maybe a place to plan for either reunions shows or even a reboot (*fingers crossed*). So here this is.]]

[Fire-Babe]

[[OOC Sorry I did not see the OTHER one... Just now in FB chat, THIS ONE is for in character promos, and the OTHER one for out of character stuff, memories, planning comebacks and stuff....sorry!]]

[L!zz~]

(As Fire sorts her thoughts and her things, she begins to move things into a pile. Reaching for a satchel, she pauses. Lifting it, clearly confused)

Fire: (aloud, to herself obviously) How did Beverly's bag wind up in here?

(Shaking it, she can tell there is something inside. Sitting she opens it. Pulling out a pile of envelopes. One, in big bold print tells her to read that one first. Sighing, part of her just wants to toss it to the side. Tired of the games. Much on her mind from her report earlier but she hesitates. After a brief pause opens it and pulls out a sheet of paper, reading it aloud to herself.)

"Fire,

I truly wanted to say goodbye before we left, but time was running out. Literally. It has, believe it or not, truly been a pleasure working with you. Under different circumstances I believe you and I might have been a formidable team.

I know you've questioned some things and stumbled upon some answers. I wish, honestly I do, that I could show you how everything you believe in really exists. I know you know though. That's why I was asked to pass on the rest of these envelopes to you. Only you will understand. Please take them seriously.

If you ever need us, call my number. It will always work whenever I am.

Best of luck in everything..you really do deserve happiness and I hope you find.

With much fondness,
Bev

PS: The very last envelope is actually from Josie..she loves you. With all her heart."

(We fade as Fire stares at the envelopes before reaching for the one from Josie)

[snelson66]

FADE in on the harbor in Duluth, Minnesota (shown above). ~~STANDING!!! near the warehouses watching a ship unload are former tag team partners The Crusher Stan Fulton and Junichiro Muyo.

JM: “I appreciate this, Stan. I needed a place to keep all the OOWF equipment and didn’t want it walking off somewhere.”

Fulton shakes his head.

SF: “Don’t mention it. My warehouse can hold everything indefinitely. No charge. When you need it again, I’ll have it shipped to wherever you want.”

Both men stand silently watching the pallets being wheeled into the darkened warehouse.

SF: “It finally ended.”

JM: “Well, I don’t believe it’s really over. Just taking a breather.”

SF: “You always believed in the OOWF, Juni.”

JM: “We had good people.”

SF: “The best.”

A limo pulls up to the two men.

SF: “Looks like your ride is here.”

JM: “How do you know it’s not your ride?”

SF: “Because I have the Kia Telluride over there.”

JM: “HA! You always were on brand.”

Juni smiles and holds out his hand. Fulton gives him a look and pulls Juni in for a manly hug of manliness.

JM: “Take care of yourself, Stan.”

SF: “You as well, my friend.”

JM: “I’ll give your best to Mai.”

SF: “I’m not sure either of us will ever forgive the other.”

JM: “Oh, I don’t know. You forgave me.”

Fulton smiles.

SF: “Well, Hell may freeze over yet.”

Juni gives a short wave as he climbs in the limo; the driver closes his door, runs around and climbs in behind the wheel. Fulton stands there watching the limo drive away and head up to the airport. When it’s out of sight, he turns and walks into the warehouse.

Warehouse Worker: “All stored away, Mr. Fulton. The inventory has been entered into the system and Ms. Rodriguez has signed off on it.”

SF: “Thanks. I’ll lock up.”

WW: “Yes, sir.”

Fulton stands there looking at the plethora of OOWF equipment and sighs. Finally he turns the lights off, locks up the building and engages the alarm system.

SF: (to himself) “Just a breather, huh? We'll see.”

Fulton climbs into his Kia and drives off as we...

FADE

[Fire-Babe]

Firewoman is musing over the pictures and other trinkets in the envelope from Josie, occasionally glancing over to the other envelopes.

FW: I dunno why Bev has to dump all this on me....

Her phone rings a familar tune. She smirks and puts it on speaker phone.

FW: Yeeessss.......

Y2J: Just seeing how you're holding up.

FW: Eh, it's fine. I had a dark night of the soul, but then I gave the soul back and I got better.

Y2J: One day I'll pretend to know what you're ever talking about. But I called to see when we could be expecting you in Jacksonville?

FW: Yeah...um...about that....

Y2J: I know, I know, many people will think it's weird to have my ex-almost-wife there, but we can maybe make a good angle out of it.

FW: ...maybe, but--

Y2J: And hopefully lure your husband. That'd be GREAT.

FW: Um....exactly how soon would I start, like next year or something? I would guess you have bookings planned out pretty far in advance and --

Y2J: Two weeks.

FW: Two weeks?

Y2J: Why wait?

FW: Yeah....why....

Y2J: Is there a problem?

FW: Yeah...I mean,..... no, no problem. I just have something I gotta take care of first.....can we make it three weeks?

Y2J: For you? Sure......

FW: .....Chris.....after everything....why?

Y2J: Two reasons. One, you're good for business.

FW: And two?

Y2J: Life's too short to hold grudges, and we meant a lot to each other once. We should choose to remember the good and forgot all that other stuff.

FW: Oh... yeah...

Y2J: But mostly the business thing.

Fire chuckles and Jericho laughs.

FW: Okay....see you in three weeks.

Firewoman hangs up, and frowns a bit.

FW: I'm sure it's the right thing.

FADE

[DevSop]

*Some recording studio*

We see some Edge & Christian banners as we fade in and we notice Adam Copeland sitting in front of a microphone and across the table is one Alexander Darling. Alex takes a long sip of water as Edge taps the microphone and motions to Alex who just nods.

Edge: Welcome to a multi-part episode of The Edge & Christian Show as we will be bringing you an in depth career retrospective of two of the biggest superstar wrestlers over the last 15 to 20 years might be calling it a career. For now, I am sitting with Alexander Darling of OOWF fame and some may say both Pro-Wrestling NOAH & WWE infamy. Christian will be cutting together his interview with Alexander’s twin sister Alexis before we get both together for the final parts. So, with all that being said…Alex it took a lot to convince you to do this. Two questions: why the hesitation and what convinced you?

Alex: I’ll answer the second part first I guess. The last few years have been, I’m not sure difficult is the correct word, but they’ve been something. It wasn’t until recently that Lexie and I made what we were hoping would be a big return that was going to lead to some exciting things but since it feels almost like a half step, we weren’t sure what to do about that and as we weighed our options, we are still honestly a little undecided, so we thought talking it out publicly might give us some insight what to do next. That’s why we are here now and why we hesitated to do this.

Edge: Before we get into what’s next for the Darling twins, let’s go back and talk about your career up until this point. And there will be points where we have some comments from your fellow OOWF wrestlers about your journey, but let’s hear in your own words how you got started and what brought you to this point.

Alex: Well, my career has a pretty typical start in that I was a fan of the business since I was a kid having grown up in the northeast during the heights of the Monday Night Wars and the growth of ECW in Philadelphia. I traveled a lot due to family obligations but when I had the chance to go to college, I chose something in the northeast to stay close to the business though at the time I probably didn’t know that.

Edge: Was your sister with you at this point?

Alex: Lexie? No. She was actually going to school in Southern California. That was strange, but I did have my older sister Samantha nearby which was nice.

Edge: We’ll get deeper into your family dynamics later and the rumors that have surrounded you about the extent of your relationships but was the separation of your twin what led to some of the issues you had while attending NYU?

Alex: *laughing & sighing* Issues. You mean the rampant partying, frequent run-ins with law enforcement, and all around laissez-faire attitude towards my future?

Edge: If you want to be specific, sure.

Alex: Like I said, being away from Lexie was strange but we still talked constantly and like I said, Samantha was around. The issues I had in college were more about not being the ideal son my father expected and got from my two brothers and not knowing if I ever wanted to be a “Darling.”

Edge: What do you mean by being a Darling?

Alex: There are certain expectations that come with being part of a family like mine and going back as far as I can recall, I was never good with doing what was expected of me. I wouldn’t say I had a rebellious streak but I guess my fascination with the “outsider” ECW over the more mainstream WWF & WCW could be a sign of that nature. So, getting back on point…college wasn’t going great, Samantha had her own stuff going on most of the time, Lexie was across the country so I needed an outlet and I had heard about the new wrestling companies in Philadelphia that were filling the void left by ECW.

Edge: Ring of Honor?

Alex: Not just them, but mainly. We also had Combat Zone, XPW was finishing up. 3PW was there. Chikara was starting up. It was a hotbed of activity and I made my way down for a few shows.

Edge: But just going to shows isn’t going to give you any inside path to becoming a wrestler, so what happened?

Alex: While I’ve really loved being a Darling…I really had no issue using that name to my advantage when I wanted to. So that gave me some insider path since I had connections to both television and entertainment industries and well, I was a partier so that connected me to a few others outside the ring.

Edge: But you didn’t join by yourself. How did you convince Alexis to quit college, fly cross country, and train in the wrestling business? I’ll be honest, in our research for this, it doesn’t seem like something that would have ever crossed her radar.

Alex: *thinking for a long moment* Lexie’s decisions are hers to share. I know I was thinking about it, but I wasn’t sure I was ever going to take that final step and apply to the ROH school until Lexie showed up at Samantha’s apartment where I was staying and had the two accepted applications in her hand asking me what I was waiting for.

Edge: How surprised were you?

Alex: Speechless. She literally had to shake me out of the shock and dragged me down to my car to make the drive to Philly.

Edge: So you get to Philly, go to the Ring of Honor school which at that point was being overseen by who?

Alex: Lexie & I got there for the last few weeks of Byran Danielson’s run as head trainer. We also had CM Punk helping out a lot.

Edge: Okay, we can’t really talk about this part of your career without mentioning the third person who came out of that era of the ROH Academy and that is Firewoman.

Alex: *nods*

Edge: We’re doing a podcast Alex. People can’t see you nod. *laughing*

Alex: Fair enough. Firewoman…the 3rd Muskateer I guess.

Edge: Was it that quick?

Alex: Fire was…let’s go with an enigma wrapped in mystery surrounded by intrigue. But beyond all that and even with our entirely opposite backgrounds, we all connected. And I will say this at that point, seeing Lexie & Fire become the friends they were, you never would have guessed. You mentioned your research, but it’s not very public knowledge that the Lexie you see today with the dark hair, all business attitude, so-called “Ice Princess” routine…that wasn’t her at that point. She was probably already changing but she was still the prototypical all-American blonde Betty is the best way to put it. And given what you already know of Firewoman and her personality, you would think that would have been a major clash of personalities but they just worked together, ya know.

Edge: And what about you and Fire? We know what came later…both the good and bad, but were signs of that back then?

Alex: Honestly, to me…no. We were friends. Fast friends. Faster than anyone who I knew wasn’t using me because of who I was. Like I said, given our backgrounds we shouldn’t have even tolerated each other, but it wasn’t an issue. I think a lot of it may be that we were both escaping histories and futures we didn’t want. And I think it’s a great sign of the nature vs. nurture argument as Fire for everything she went through was able to not judge me based on anything other than getting to know me while her brother hated me on sight because of where I came from.

Edge: Oh, we will definitely be getting to Moosehead Jack Quinn and Alexander Darling, a feud only equaled by the greats in wrestling history. But for now, Philadelphia & Ring of Honor.

Alex: Right. There’s not much else to say. We got trained…Oh, by the time Fire got there, that was during Aries’s run as trainer and he was fantastic. I will say for as much as Bryan and Punk taught me about the business, it was Austin who taught me to be a wrestler.

Edge: Okay…so you’re a wrestler now…and your first match is with?

Alex: On the main show, my first match was…

Edge: No no no…your actual first match in front of a crowd was with who?

Alex: *grrrring* Firewoman.

Edge: And what happened?

Alex: Look, Fire even on her best days is tough to work with and I may have accidentally almost dropped her on her head and then she may have accidentally on purpose almost knocked me out with a right hand and she may have won a match she wasn’t supposed to. I mean that’s happened to me a lot in my career to be honest.

Edge: *laughing* Again, we’ll get to that later, but moving on. Most of your work after that is in tag matches with Shane Hagadorn against the Dempsey Brothers. A few solo matches as well, but in general it wasn’t going well, was it?

Alex: Not so much. I was getting the basics and still trying to find my character and as you know, the northeast wrestling scene is one of the toughest places in the world to do that. And adding to that is it was taking Lexie even longer to grasp some of the aspects of the work and was pulling more into herself as Fire got even more over as a fan favorite. I’ll let her tell most of that, but I know they were looking to doing a Fire/Ice Norse goddess type tag team and it was looking like that might not happen soon enough for Lexie.

Edge: So how did Japan come into the mix at that point?

Alex: Japanese companies as you know had always sent their young talent on overseas excursions to learn different styles. Ring of Honor was already working with Pro Wrestling NOAH to bring in guys like KENTA & Maufuji and then Morishima. So they asked NOAH if they’d be willing to take on some students and help them with different aspects that we were lacking in. I don’t know what they were asked to do with Fire, but for me it was all about character and knowing how to portray some of my inherent aspects to a large crowd, and for Lexie…there was some of that needed but her biggest weakness at that point was confidence.

Edge: So, off to Japan next. That seems like a good place to finish part 1 of this and we’ll cut in with Alexis Darling’s early career next.

*Fade*

[snelson66]

FADE in on a modest home overlooking the Duluth MN harbor. Sitting on the phone is The Crusher Stan Fulton.

SF: “Look, I’m sorry. There’s just nothing there.”

Caller: (can hear via Ninja-Cam 6000’s pick-up mic) “Surely there has to be something there.”

SF: “I get it. The OOWF is ending and you radio hosts...”

C: “Podcast.”

SF: “What?”

C: “I’m not on the radio. I do a podcast. You know. “Crazy Jim’s Wrestling Extravaganza?”

SF: “Never heard of it.”

CJ: “You’re shittin’ me.”

SF: “No, seriously. But I’ll tell you what I told Dave LaGreca of Busted Open. There’s no story here. Go talk to Fire or Folz or find LD Williams. But there’s nothing of interest here. I wrestled in Minnesota. I was very good. Juni hired me from tapes he saw of me then. That’s it. Never trained by Stu Hart in his dungeon, never spent years and years on the indie circuit or in Japan or Triple-A. Vern Gagne never once invited me to his barn. I’m just naturally that good; so Juni hired me. End of story.”

CJ: “Well that’s stupid.”

Fulton hangs up as we FADE.

[Fire-Babe]

Firewoman appears to be sneaking out of her ... well, I guess it's a hotel room now, since I assume we were all kicked out of the Destroyitarium. Anyway, she's got a bag, and her leather jacket and she's checking some stuff on her phone, when...

Lucky: Where are you going?

FW: Oh, hi...um....

L: Did you decide who to sign with?

FW: No...I mean, yeah, probably AEW, so--

L: Well, I'll get my bag and go with you.

FW: I don't really need you for this.

L: Don't be silly. You can't possibly think that you don't need me to look over the fine print.

FW: Hey, you know, I'm no slouch with contracts. Who negotiated with the union threat for full employment with benefits and got them?

L: *sigh* You did.

FW: See?

L: With my help though.

FW: Fine...regardless, I'm not going to sign anything I have to take care of something else, first, and no I'm not going to tell you, and no it's none of your business.

Firewoman tries to brush past him, and in doing so, drops her phone. Lucky picks it up to hand it to her and, because he's him, he looks at it.

L: Why are you going to California?

FW: .....

L: .....

FW: I just have to take care of something.

Fire reaches for the phone, but Lucky's not having any part of it.

L: How did you even get the plane ticket.

FW: Just because I let you do this stuff doesn't mean I can't do it. Now, gimme.

Fire snatches the phone away.

L: Umm.....Is Lucas meeting you?

FW: Don't think so.

L: .....does he know you're, um...flying to California?

FW: I can't possibly keep track of what Stank knows and what he doesn't.

L: ...."Stank?"

FW: I've gotta go, or else I'll miss my flight. I call you when I head to Florida to sign the contract.

Firewoman continues down the hallway, leaving Lucky to figure out his next move.

[Fire-Babe]

Firewoman is SITTING~! in the airport, drinking some water. She plays with her phone a bit, as if she's trying to distract herself. She scrolls through her contacts list, and finds what she's looking for. She places the call....

FW: .......hey, aunt Robin.....yeah...I know it's been a while.....anyway,......just wanting to talk to you I guess so...........when you get this message, give me a call back.

Firewoman hangs up, disappointed. She thinks for a moment then dials another number.

FW: ...... Information.....hi, um.... I need to know if you have a listing for someone....I mean, I don't know she might not even have a house phone anymore...or even live there.......oh, the name....um.....*deep breath*......Rose Quinn....................................no.....okay, no, thanks for checking.

Fire disconnects and then mumbles to herself.

FW: I dunno why I'm surprised....not like she was ever there for me any other time, why should now be any different..............

Fire looks at her watch and rolls her eyes.

FW: How did I manage to get here so damn early?

V: I don't know but I'm glad you did.

Fire looks up and sees Trevor "Ricochet" Mann.

R: Mind if I sit down?

FW: No....Ricochet, right?

R: Yes, but in real life it's Trevor. Nice to meet you, uh...

FW: Fire...well, I guess for now it's Lisa....but I hate that.

R: I know...I'll stick with Fire. I'm a HUGE fan.

FW: Well the feeling is very mutual. I've really been enjoying your work, since DragonGate.

R: *beaming* Really? Wow, .... That's...that's so cool.

FW: Yeah, Lucas and I make sure to watch as many of your matches as we can.

R: That's....amazing. Wow.

Ricochet can't stop smiling.

FW: So, um...are you going somewhere or did Paul send you to talk me into NXT?

R: What? Oh no...I mean, that'd be so very cool if you and Stank joined up and we could work together...but, no that's not why I'm here.

FW: Oh? Why?

R: It's....well, my mom sent me.

FW: She sent you to the airport? What, she want an autograph?

R: *laughing* NO, no no....that's ... that's really funny.

FW: Why?

R: I....well, I can't really explain it. But...my mom and dad were really really cool people...and I'm really glad I had them in my life.

FW: .....had?

R: Yeah....I mean...they were just the best. Gave me everything I could ever have wanted. So much love. They even trained me and everything.

FW: They're athletes?

R: Were, yeah.....

FW: ...

R: ...

FW: Well, I'm glad. I had shitty parents so...it's probably for the best I don't have kids. I didn't have the greatest role models.

R: hehe....mom used to say that too....in fact, she did tell me once that she almost didn't....well, but then she said she'd just think of what her parents would have done and did the opposite. And I turned out great.

FW: Yeah, I'll say.....

R: I mostly just really really wanted them to see me work, ya know?

FW: What....um, what happened to them?

R: Eh, It was a while ago, I don't like to dwell on it.

FW: Oh, sorry.....I didn't mean to pry.

R: It's all good.....I'm really glad you and Lucas enjoy my work. I really really can't tell you how much that means to me.

FW: .....

R: And don't worry....you guys are going to be great parents.

FW: How'd you--

R: Gotta go...it was GREAT talking to you....just ..... THANK YOU for everything.

FW: Any time, Trevor.

R: Patrick.

FW: .............what did you say?

R: Trevor's my middle name. My mom was the only one who called me Patrick.

Ricochet leans over and gives Fire a kiss on the cheek and whispers...

R: Be careful around water.

He gets up and walks away. Fire watches him, mouth open, not sure what to do or say. She sits there for a somewhat long time, and is like that when Lucky finds her.

L: Look, I know what you're going to say, that it's your decision and while I both disagree and agree with that, it doesn't mean you have to go alone, so I'm coming with you.....Fire.....Fire? You okay?

FW: Huh....uh....yeah.....I think.

L: So when do we board for California?

FW: Um....we don't....

L: We don't?

FW: Change of plans. Let's go to New Orleans. I'll call Lucas from the car and .... we'll just take it from there.

Fire gets up and starts to walk out of the airport. Lucky is confused but then shakes his head and follows her.

[Sportsguy]

We fade in and see Matt Folz and his lovely wife Jaime packing up their suite. Well, Jaime's packing..... Matt appears to be sending a text.

Jaime: Actually planning to help out? Or are you just planning on playing with your phone while I do everything?

Matt: Be right with you babe. Just sending this text real quick.

Jaime: To whom?

Matt: Stan. (Smiles) Today is the 30 Year Anniversary of the Walker Trade I just have to give him shit about it.

Jaime rolls her eyes.

Matt: He understands, he'd do the same thing to me if the roles were reversed.

Jaime: Uh huh.

Matt hits send and then puts the phone back in his pocket. He and Jaime proceed to pack up the suite, conversing as they do.

Jaime: Hard to believe this is the end.

Matt laughs.

Jaime: What?

Matt (Shaking his head): This company isn't ending like this. This is just a hiatus, not a funeral.

Jaime: You know something no one else knows?

Matt: No, just a gut feeling. Although I'm not going to complain about the break. You know between WWE, Canada, Japan, Mexico and 10 years in this company, I've been on the road for 20 years? I'm taking you to your first Packer game Monday night, we're going to Japan to see Mai, but other than that I just want to..... sit. Go to our home in Green Bay that we've been to only TWICE since we got married, Just catch my breath and do absolutely nothing for a little bit.

Jaime: Believe me, I'm a billion percent on board with that plan.

Matt and Jaime pack up the suite. Just as they finish putting the last of the boxes into the car, Matt sees Junichiro Muyo across the parking lot. Matt walks over.

Matt: Juni, hold on a second.

Juni: Matt. What can I do for you?

Matt: It's no secret that you've never really liked me and I've never really liked you...

Juni: That's not true at all.

Matt: We are men of action sir, lies do not become us.

Juni (Smirking): Always with the movie references huh?

Matt doesn't crack a smile.

Matt: I think you're manipulative, egomaniacal, arrogant, power hungry, and abusive.

Juni: Stop it, going to make me blush.

Matt: But I do give you credit for one thing.

Juni: And that is?

Matt: You created the best goddamn company in the entire HISTORY of this sport.Late 80's NWA- as much as I love it, Attitude Era WWF, Any era from Japan, Mexico, anywhere you want to name. Any era from any promotion you can think of, doesn't match up to what we did here. I met the love of my life and my two best friends here. I went out night after night and tore down the house with an un fucking believable roster of opposing talent. And you were the man who started all of this. So for that, I shake your hand.

Matt extends his hand and Juni shakes it. Matt with a quick silent nod and then he turns and walks back to his car as we........FADE.

[Leo]

DM: David Marquez here in studio on NWA Power. My guest coming to the podium at this time is former NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion Tim Storm. Two weeks ago on our debut episode Tim lost what was to be his last shot at the 10 pounds of gold to champion Nick Aldis. Since that time there has been a lot of conjecture as to what your future might be. Even possible retirement.

TS: I’m going to tell you one thing to start, retirement is a word not in my vocabulary. I might not be able to wrestle for the 10 pounds of gold ever again, but there is 20 pounds of gold I have my eye on.

DM: Are you referring to the NWA World’s Heavyweight Tag Team Titles?

TS: I am. I climbed to the top of that singles wrestler mountain. So the next challenge is to climb to the top of the tag team mountain.

DM: That’s going to require a partner.

TS: I certainly know that and I’ve found myself another man who’s been to the top of that single’s mountain and needed to reset himself just like me. I want to introduce everyone to my new tag team partner, “Silver Eagle” Jack Bullet.

DM: Jack Bullet, former OOWF World’s Champion. Am I to believe that you are Tim Storm’s new tag team partner.

JB: You can believe it. If there’s any wrestler working today I’m most like, it’s this man right here and that makes him the perfect tag team partner for me and that makes the NWA and Power the perfect new home for the Man of Action. And if you don’t believe that, then you don’t know Jack.

Storm and Bullet high five and head to the ring. A graphic reads “Tim Storm and Jack Bullet vs. Sal Rinauro and Danny White.” The bell rings and Storm locks up with White. Storm pushes White back to the corner and gives a clean break.

JG: Joe Galli back here with Jim Cornette and we have a new tag team on our hands here in the NWA.

JC: Well, Tim Storm was quite a journeyman before becoming the NWA Champion and the same could be said for Jack Bullet before he came out of retirement a few years ago and joined the OOWF.

White charges out of the corner into a straight arm clothesline by Storm. Storm drops an elbow. He picks White up, throws him across his shoulder and hits a running power slam. He tags to Bullet.

JG: For our fans that don’t know the Silver Eagle, tell them a bit about him.

JC: Well, he’s a U.S. Army veteran who was trained in the mid-1990’s in Lima, Ohio, but D-Lo Brown and Al Snow. Good all-rounder.

Bullet enter the ring with a knee drop. He works a few arm drags on White. He slides into his owner corner and tags and Rinauro. He runs in and Jack goes low for a drop toe hold. He drives a couple knees to Rinauro’s back and then pulls him up from behind with a hammerlock. A hammerlock slam puts him back down.

JG: What do you think of this tag team?

JC: It could be a damn good one. These are two veterans who have forgotten more about wrestling than most have ever known.

Bullet sets-up the Silver Bullet. White runs in. Storm cuts him off with the Perfect Storm. Jack hits the double arm DDT and pins Rinauro. The bell rings. The ref raises Storm and Bullet’s arms in victory and the scene fades.

[Leo]

TS: Tony Schiavone here for AEW Dark and with me is Dr. Brit Baker, DMD. We are coming from your hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. How proud are you to be in front of your family and friends this week.

BB: I’ll tell you Tony. I worked real hard to become a dentist and just as hard to become a pro wrestler. To be back home this week…
Baker is cutoff from a blow from behind. Baker is grabbed by the back of her head and her tights. She’s whipped around and thrown into the back wall of the interview set.

TS: “Black Magic” Stacy Kirkland, what are you doing here?

SK: I’m here to make a name for myself finally. I’m standing on my own as my own woman. I’m the sexiest bitch and baddest bitch AEW has ever seen. Everyone is one notice, especially that flat-assed Brandi Rhodes and that 12-year-old Riho. But, Brit Baker will be the example to all of them.

She walks off and a graphic appears with Schiavone speaking in voice over: “That was earlier today and already for next week a no-holds barred match has been booked for AEW Dark between Stacy Kirkland and Brit Baker. You won’t want to miss it.”

[L!zz~]

(Josie is sitting on her bed. It's a pretty room, fit for an imganantive and smart child. Josie glances at the door as she slides her hand under her pillow. Pulling out her phone she swipes it awake and taps at the screen and holds it to her face)

Voicemail: You've reach the voicemail of Jack Bullet...you know what to do.

Josie: (sighs) Uh Hi Uncle Jack. I just wanted to tell you that I saw you at your new job and you were awesome. I hope you like it there and make new friends..I miss you. We are traveling but Titi says when we get back I can come see you if it's ok with you. I hope it's ok with you. Well..ok I better go. Call me ok?? My phone will work wherever we go...ok
.love you. Bye Uncle Jack. "

(Disconnecting she slides her phone back under her pillow before slipping off her bed. Moving to her desk she pulls out a book and sits to look at it, if you could see it. You'd know it was a scrapbook of her and Jack)

[L!zz~]

(The scene fades in, slowing zooming in to Beverly standing at a grave. A wreath in her hand, she stands silently, her head bowed. A few steps behind, hands clasped in front of him, stands Zed watching her.)

(Beverly kneels, securing the wreath and running her fingers over the headstone)

Beverly: (as she cleans away debris) I'm sorry I haven't been here a lot lately. Things have been crazier than ever. I thought they would be quieter with the company going out of business but I was greatly mistaken. (sighing, she rises, stroking along the curved top of the marble) Oh Alejandro..I'm tired of running. At least I'm running with friends...family. I wish you could see Josie..you'd be so proud of her. 

(Leaves crunch behind her as Zed approaches. Beverly reaches back and takes his hand)

Beverly: This is my friend Zed. One of the ones whose family now. We're having some great adventures and fighting for justice wherever we land. 

(Zed pulls a beautiful rock out of his pocket and places it atop the headstone)

Zed: From Josie. She remembers everything you taught her about rocks...well, so she says. (offering a little grin at that)

(Beverly chuckles before pressing her fingers to her lips, than her fingers to the stone)

Beverly: I'll be back as soon as I can. No matter what, I'll always be back.


(Zed turns to give her a moment, than retakes her hand as they walk away. The wind whips up and leaves swirl. His arm slips around her waist as they walk)

Beverly: Thank you for coming with me.

Zed: It's what family does.


(fade)

[Zed]

Zed and Beverly are now at a much different location. They are sitting by a pond as the sun sets. The pond is surrounded by overgrown fields, presumably once used as farmland. Far in the distance, there is a barn, and a house, and beyond that a road, but nothing in the way of traffic.

B: I can’t imagine growing up here.

Z: It’s funny. Growing up here, all I wanted to do was get away. And I’m still not sure I’d ever want to, you know, live here again. But I’ve been running … hell, we’ve been running … for five years now? The longest we slowed down was when the OOWF was in a freeze right before everything closed down. And then it was right back to it with the next thing.

B: It’s so quiet.

Z: You know what’s wild, whenever I had the chance to come back when I was in college or whatever?

B: What’s that?

Z: Waiting for nighttime – especially this time of year when it comes at, like, 6:30 *laughs* - and looking up and seeing stars. Like, that sounds ridiculous but … how many starlit nights do you remember seeing back when you were on Staten Island?

B: *chuckles* Not many. Not many.

Z: Right. Even in Chapel Hill, you can’t see them. But here? How they shine. Damn. It would take your breath away. It almost … ALMOST … makes me want to move back. Then I remember being 20 miles away from civilization and change my mind.

B: But that’s kind of the charm, right?

Z: Definitely. Some people find it a lot more charming than others. You would have never caught my granny dead in New York City, for example.
And like you say ... sometimes we get tired of running.  There's not much running here.

B: If it’s always 66 degrees in December, maybe she was onto something.

Z: Oh, that is definitely not normal. But I’m not complaining. Just a couple of weeks ago it was in the 20s down here.

B: How do you know that?

Z: Oh, mom still feeds me regular weather updates. It’s a whole thing.

They laugh.

Z: So what do you say? I’m sure we’ll be running our asses off again tomorrow, but want to be still and enjoy this warm weather long enough to see what stars look like in the middle of nowhere?

A smile creeps across Bev’s face

B: I suppose I could be talked into that.

Z: Awesome. I’ll just go grab a blanket out of the trunk and be right back.

B: You have a blanket in the trunk of your car?

Z: I keep everything. An umbrella, a flashlight, jumper cables, tether straps, a pair of binoculars, 100 foot of extension cable…

B: But a blanket?

Z: Sure! Why not? I’ll be right back.
 
Zed then awkwardly doesn’t move for a few seconds before leaning in and giving Bev a small kiss on the cheek, then blushing before standing up and walking away. Bev smiles and shakes her head as we FADE.

[DrMcAwesome]

*the scene finds MAC FLASHER at home in Pennsylvania, posted up in a booth at a small restaurant. While MAC waits on his order, a college-aged STUDENT walks in and spots MAC. Reluctantly, the STUDENT seeks out a SERVER*

STUDENT: “Excuse me, is that guy over there …”

SERVER: “Yeah, the wrestling guy. Just going to tell you, though, he’s here three times a week and I ain’t ever seen him talk to anyone who recognized him for more than like a minute.”

ST: “Will he get angry?”

SE: “No, he just wants to be left alone. He’ll be polite about it unless you push the issue.”

*the STUDENT approaches MAC’s booth as MAC looks over his iPhone and sighs*

MAC: “Looking for an autograph? A selfie? Some intro hit for a podcast?”

ST: “No. Just a couple minutes of your time.”

MF: “Well, what’s on the brain.”

ST: “I just want to thank you. You clearly have no idea who I am, but I was a big fan of yours. Even if I couldn’t watch full episodes, I would always try to find your matches online after the show. To me, I always felt that you were the most … I don’t know … Real.”

MF: “Well, I can tell you that nobody was really playing a gimmick. Moosehead Jack was every bit himself in and out of the ring. Bullet? Ditto. The Darlings were as aristrobratic as they projected. BRICK~!, Kylie, Bridget, Beverly, Firewoman, Bill and Justin, Stacy, Sizzlechest, Sebastian, Folz … Even the guys and gals who left like Stank, Ghosthead, Texpress, Juni, … Yeah, I could spend all night vouching for that crew.”

ST: “You left out Zed …”

MF: “Probably the best guy in the bunch.”

ST: “OK. Well, I promised myself that if I ever met you, I’d give you this.”

*the STUDENT pulls a folded, yellowed sheet of paper from his wallet*

MF: “Is this your number? Sorry, I try to avoid personal contact with fans. Nothing personal.”

ST: “Oh no. It’s a note, dated February 28, 2018.”

MF: “Why does that date sound …”

ST: “You beat Stank that night. For the OOWF World Championship.”

MF: “But what’s on this paper?”

ST: “I don’t expect you to read it here, but it was a suicide note.”

*MAC straightens his posture and gives his full – and stunned – attention to the STUDENT*

ST: “See … In high school, I was basically reliving your backstory. The bullying. The feelings of worthlessness. Not being appreciated. It got to be too much. I had written that before your match, while I was at my lowest … Well, you reached the top. During the match, Russ went into detail about your life. The same stuff I was going through in my present, you overcame in your past. At that point, it hit me that I was better than what was holding me down. I’m not saying that you saved my life, but you opened my eyes.”

MF: “I’m not sure what to say …”

ST: “It’s OK. I just wanted to share that with you. Hopefully, I can see you back in a ring soon. You matter to a lot of people, even if you’re not feeling that you are. That was the impact you had on one fan, and I’ll guess that I’m not alone.”

MF: “Well … Thanks.”

*MAC’s food – a plate of Buffalo macaroni and cheese – arrives as the STUDENT stands up*

ST: “Well, I see my friends are here, so I’ll leave you be. Thank you again.”

*the STUDENT joins his friends while MAC looks at the folded paper and puts it in his wallet while wiping just under his eye as the scene fades*

[BTR]

Rain pours down onto the roof of a lonely trailer in an overgrown. We cut inside to see water dripping into an bucket, its contents spilling over. Scattered around are leftover crusts from salami and honey mustard sandwiches. Empty packets of pink lemonade mix litter the floor, with some of the pink powder on a small mirror next to a straw. Crushed cans of Milwaukee's Best--The Beast--pop out of couch cushions and shelves.

On the floor lies Hardbody Harris, bloated with his arms outstretched. He's in full wrestling gear, his white pleather shorts with a black thong. He's wearing headphones connected to an old walkman. He mutters something, getting louder.

HARDBODY: I should've asked you your name, Sexy Female Journalist. You deserved better than that. I never could tell you how I felt. But I loved you, and I wish I could have done better by you...IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!

Hardbody pushes a button on his Walkman. His theme music plays as he closes his eyes.

You've lost that loving feeling
Oh, that loving feeling
You've lost that loving feeling
Now it's gone
gone
gone

A tiny mouse hand starts slapping his face. Harder and harder. We back up to see the immigrant Russian mouse, Fievel.

FIEVEL: Mr. Hardbody, wake up! I'm sorry we haven't been together! But I looked at the stars every night hoping you were thinking of me too. Things aren't over forever!

Hardbody doesn't respond, but his eyes flutter a bit.

Fievel looks at the camera.

FIEVEL: If we all clap, maybe we can save him! Mr. Hardbody wuvved his fans more than anyfing! Clap!

Fievel starts clapping, like a wrestling crowd cheering the good guy to get up and kick some ass.

Clap

Clap

Clap

Clap

Clap

Clap

Clap

Clap
Clap
Clap
Clap

And, you had to be looking closely, but you could see the slightest of smiles forming on the #1 FACE IN THE OOWF

And, how does it end? Well, just like his finisher, it is TO BE EDITED IN LATER~!

[DrMcAwesome]

*the scene finds MAC FLASHER at ringside at an independent wrestling event close to his home in western Pennsylvania. MAC is seated at the announce table as Yinzer Pro Wrestling champion, and fan-favorite, CRISCO INFERNO is battling THE DIRTY O. As the match goes home when CRISCO INFERNO hits his finisher – The Fryerman’s Suplex – the champion grabs a microphone and motions toward MAC*

CRISCO INFERNO: “I know that a lot of folks here in this high school gym came here to see me beat The Dirty O tonight. But I’m also aware that a lot of you are here because Mac Flasher is here. So, I’d like to invite the man who twice was OOWF World and Intercontinental champion and left the company as its Onslaught title-holder. Mac … Get on up here!”

*MAC politely declines initially, but is eventually convinced by CRISCO INFERNO to enter the ring*

CI: “Mac. Is there anything you’d like to say to these fans of Yinzer Pro Wrestling?”

*MAC smiles, soaks in the cheers and takes the mic. He is about to speak when “Laser Cannon Deth Sentence” by DETHKLOK interrupts with THE SAINTS OF SINNERS rushing through the curtain and toward the ring. MOOSEHEAD JACK is the first to enter with FIREWOMAN, “BLACK MAGIC “STACY KIRKLAND and MATT FOLZ surround the ring by entering through the remaining three sides. MAC and CRISCO INFERNO look around before standing back to back. As THE SAINTS move closer to the outnumbered duo, CRISCO INFERNO spins around and drills MAC with the YPW championship, commencing a five-on-one beatdown that leaves MAC a bloodied mess as the timekeeper frantically rings the bell with no one in the locker room even silly enough to try THE SAINTS. The beatdown finishes with MAC stood up by MATT and FIREWOMAN while MOOSE and STACY hit stereo chairshots on the already unconscious MAC … As MAC is shown in a heap, the scene jumps to outside of the unnamed building during daylight hours as MAC and a promoter who looks like CRISCO INFERNO stand around with volunteers hauling in the ring for assembly*

PROMOTER: “So, yeah. Nobody will touch you. You’re just here to pop a walk-up crowd and help some local guys live the dream that you lived in OOWF …” *MAC is entranced in the daydream that played out in the previous scene* “… Mac. MAC! You with me buddy?”

*MAC snaps to* 

MAC: “Oh. Yeah … Ummmm … I’m sorry. I don’t think I can do this. I’m just not feeling this. I’d hate to overshadow you guys and … Well, I have a horrible track record when doing shows in or near my hometown. I’d hate to put that on this group.”

P: “Christ. We printed posters and did radio hits because you were coming. This … This is going to bone us. We're likely bankrupted if we have to refund tickets.”

MF: “Sorry. I have my reasons.”

*MAC walks away while reaching into his pocket to grab his phone. With the INVISIBLE NINJA CAMERA following MAC, it picks up at least MAC’s actions as he calls a person unknown to the CAMERA’s eye*

MF: “Hey. I know that we haven’t seen eye to eye in a while, but I need your help. I want one last battle with The Saints of Sinners and I can’t do this alone. What do you say?”

*the scene fades as MAC listens to the inaudible response*

[DrMcAwesome]

*the scene finds BRIDGET O’MALLEY standing outside of the OOWF Wrestling School and Spin Hansen Memorial Training Center while on the phone during a break in an introductory training session run by BRIDGET*

BRIDGET: “… So. After doing what you did to me in Johnstown to get out of a fight with The Saints of Sinners, you want me to join you in a fight against The Saints of Sinners when you likely haven’t seen the inside of anything but a sports bar for six months? I can’t say that I’m eager to join you in this suicide mission. But, I swore to always protect you from yourself, even when you’re being impossible …” *BRIDGET sighs* “I guess if we get a sanctioning body and a full team, I’m in. I won’t be too sad if you get beaten to a pulp once we get the job done, however. I might even join in the beating.”

*BRIDGET hangs up before getting a reply from who is assumed to be MAC FLASHER as she glances across the street to see JUSTIN SANE walking out of a wealth management center with a briefcase. BRIDGET, just thrilled to see any familiar face who isn’t a trainee, sprints across the street to greet JUSTIN*

BO’M: “Justin! Holy shit! What the hell are you doing in town?”

*BRIDGET looks JUSTIN over and sees that he’s still in the same dingy clothing as per usual, but holding a briefcase with a tag that has “BENEFACTOR, OOWF” on it in bold type*

BO’M: “So, you’re doing odd jobs for The Benefactor during the hiatus?”

JUSTIN: “Well …”

BO’M: “You were always eager to tackle a lot of stuff that nobody else would do. Like that one toilet clog at Nowhere Bar, Grill and PCPL Repository when Arctic McBearington had an issue with hairballs … All you asked for was $5.”

JS: “I …”

BO’M: “Or that time when you babysat Josie … Or that time when you helped Bing-Bong get her dispensary back in order after she ran out of Moosehead Jack’s preferred strain.”

JS: “Bridget, I …”

BO’M: “I’m just glad to see you keeping busy. I know at least Mac is just coasting on his paychecks and doing very little since we disbanded for a bit.”

JS: “As it turns …”

BO’M: “Well, tell Awesome Bill that I …”

JS: “Bridget! Shut up for one second! I’m The Benefactor! I’m just conducting business for myself! Christ! Do you ever listen?”

BO’M: “You? There’s no way that …”

JS: “That it could be me? I get it. I dress like my roots. I hardly spent anything on the road. I wear the same stuff for weeks at a time. Well, I was saving my money to one day make a difference in the lives of some, if not everyone.”

BO’M: “But how did you get enough …”

JS: “Allow me to interrupt you right there. You already touched on it. Those $5 jobs. Never spent a penny of those Lincolns. You know how much I was doing during the week to make that a worthwhile side hustle? Well, there was a reason that I wasn’t the best wrestler on the roster. I was saving whatever I could make and I was making whatever I could, all while eating what I could sneak from the kitchen at Nowhere Bar. It wasn't the best lifestyle for an athlete.”

BO’M: “Was the plan to always buy OOWF?”

JS: “Not at all. There was no plan for the money, then that stuff went down with Danny and OOWF was for sale. I didn’t want it to die, so I ponied up a small amount of what I saved and OOWF was mine.”

BO’M: “Why the mystery? We were thinking it was Jack Bullet because of that foundation of his or Reverend BRICK~! or possibly even Carl From Fresno. Why did you keep us in the dark?”

JS: “Look at me. Do you think that I could pull off ‘wealthy businessman?’”

BO’M: “You cleaned up Carl From Fresno pretty nicely.”

JS: “That was my greatest expense after buying the company.”

BO’M: “So … Is there a future for us?”

JS: “It’s all up to you. If you all show up and make a show of it again, I’ll sign the checks and Carl will hopefully do something useful to get venues to do it in.”

*BRIDGET looks at her watch*

BO’M: “Hey, I gotta go. Kylie and I are introducing basics in there and it’s already a mess. I'll think about what you said, though.”

*JUSTIN and BRIDGET smile, nod and part ways as the scene fades*

[Fire-Babe]

*Talk is Jericho* theme plays

Y2J: I’m here today with one of the … well, I think you would say you’re too young to be a legend, but definitely a pioneer in women’s wrestling at the first woman to ever compete in a major promotion in the same program as male wrestlers, and successfully so….Lisa “Firewoman” Quinn.

*canned applause*

FW: Thanks, Chris, it’s good to see you.

Y2J: It’s great to see you too….a few months after OOWF folded—

FW: Went on hiatus.

Y2J: I’m sorry, went on hiatus… you’ve been basically out of sight and out of the public eye since then.

FW: Yeah, I had to catch up on about ten years of sleep *laughs*

Y2: Well, you look great.

FW: Thanks…it’s amazing what sleeping in the same place every night will do for your health.

Y2J: Fortunately, I assume those ribs have healed finally?

FW: Yes, finally…hopefully they’ll stay that way.

Y2J: And gained a little weight too?

FW: Um….

Y2J: Sorry, we’ll get to that later.

FW: Uh huh…

Y2J: So I guess the FIRST thing we need to clarify is….our relationship.

FW: Yes, so I apologize to all the Jeri-Fire shippers out there, but ….that whole thing was…

Y2J/FW: A work! *they both laugh*

Y2J: You know, I STILL get hate mail about how I should be ashamed of myself for being almost a bigamist?

FW: YOU? There are people who still call me a homewrecker!

Y2J: By the way, Jessica says hi.

FW: She’s a SAINT to have put up with that angle….

Y2J: Yeah, but she loved it too!

FW: So to explain to the fans….Chris was my trainer—

Y2J: We’ll get to that, this is a retrospective, so we need to start at the beginning…so you started wrestling REALLY young….I know you said you didn’t want to get into early family stuff—

FW: Well, mostly because everyone generally KNOWS most of that stuff—

Y2J: Thanks to Junichiro Muyo.

FW: --Yep, thanks to him…anyway, after I was on my own, I needed to make some sort of legit money, so, I was watching wrestling at group home in Ohio…and I saw an advertisement for Chikara’s wrestling school, WrestleFactory. I packed my bags and hitchhiked to—

Y2J: All the way to Philadelphia?

FW: Yeah. Showed up and lied about being 18, I think I was only 16….anyway, I tried out and they thought I had potential, so I started training there. I got on some shows in the very-very-undercard, but one show some scouts from Ring of Honor were there, and they invited me to try outs.

Y2J: And then that led you to train there?

FW: Yeah, so they were bringing in a bunch of new talent, trying to beef up the Women of Honor, and my first real trainer was Austin Aries. He’s the one who got me into veganism, but then also into just working out in general as way to deal with…well, I always had a LOT of energy, not quite Tommy Wilder’s level of adrenaline junky, but close, and I was never going about that in the most productive, positive ways. I also had an anger problem, and so whenever I was getting too lippy or frustrated or whatever, Austin sent me to the gym or for a run. So that or in the ring was really the only place I found peace….

Y2J: Or in any of the ‘unproductive’ venues. Is that where you acquired your love of underground boxing and fighting clubs?

FW: Yeah probably, although I think I’ve been fighting as long as I can remember.

Y2J: So, anyway, ROH brings in new talent, and among them are the Darlings, Alexander and Alexis, and you’ve had quite the history with both of them. Alex talked about it on the Edge and Christian podcast, and—

FW: Yeah, and let me say that … well, as we’ve gotten older I can see it for what it was, at least at the beginning….At first at ROH we were all rivals, because we all wanted to be on the show—

Y2J: And you defeated him in the first official match for you both?

FW: I did. He was being a jerk, and so I got angry, which is a theme for me, and decided to not let him show me up no matter how the match was booked and pinned him. The referee went along with it, since the crowd was counting along and REALLY popped for it. He thought there’d been a change. Alex was REALLY pissed off, and REALLY? That should have been it for my wrestling career. But the crowd popped so loud at this little bit of nothing defeating the smarmy obnoxious heel that, they really couldn’t. Austin was laughing, and everyone else saw dollar signs. They immediately set to work for a program for us. Alexis and I also did some teaming at IWA shows, where we were also successful. So that delayed the program. Plus there was still sort of a … people weren’t ready for a male vs. female program yet. But then Pro Japan NOAH and ROH entered a contract together and they wanted some of the youngest talent to go to Japan. Austin told me it’d be a good experience, but … I mean, I’d never been out of the New York/Ohio/Pennsylvania area. I had never even been on a plane. Hell, I didn’t even have a passport or a driver’s license. Austin said they could help me get that stuff, but…. I initially said no, but…*sigh* but Alexis and Alex talked me into it.

Y2J: So Alex was over being mad about that first match?

FW: I think so…and… look, now that I’m older….I know that I had a huge crush on both of them. They were so … I dunno, they were flashy, but they were still nice to me. No one outside of the slums had ever been nice to me JUST to be nice. I think it was Alex, mostly, who talked me into it, and really…he could have talked me into just about anything. I may have confused his niceness for something else, but either way, pretty soon, I told Austin to add me to the list.

Y2J: And then you were off?

FW: Yeah *laughs* we were the Three Musketeers going on an adventure. I kind of watched them and took my cues about how to behave, what fork to use at fancy dinners, and stuff. At first it was just three of us. Older ROH members had their established groups, and we were just kind of there. So we were together a lot.

Y2J: As in…. “together?”

FW: I think that I’ll let the idea of what three young adults alone in a foreign place could be up to in their off hours if they’re lonely rest in everyone’s imagination.

Y2J: So the rumors about Alexis and Alex? Those true, or was that a work too?

FW: *smiles* Now, now, I think that’s their story to tell.

Y2J: Fair enough. So, let’s talk about your experience there….you weren’t popular.

FW: None of the gaijin were popular. I felt like we were basically there to help the Japanese talent get over, and while I NOW know how much that is an important part of the business, and it’s kind of an honor in a way….I really didn’t get that then, and I got pissed. I know where you’re going so let’s cut to the chase to Johnny Inagawa. Here was a guy who had managed to by-pass MOST of the training so that we don’t die in the ring doing this stuff. He knew just enough to be dangerous. That’s not teenage me talking, that’s me after years of experience talking, after re-watching his matches….he WAS dangerous. And there were many others that got in the ring with him who didn’t walk out. He was the son of an owner, and so he got a lot of free reign. They booked him as The Unbeatable One.

Y2J: Until he met you.

FW: Yeah, I had fallen lower and lower on the totem pole because of my ‘attitude,’ after I no-showed a match—

Y2J: Wait wait wait…was that the no-show because you got stabbed in an unsanctioned underground cage match?

FW: …..Yes, but I thought I said that was off limits—

Y2J: You said that, Lisa, but this is your opportunity to set the record straight on that. Your brother went on another show and said--

FW: *annoyed* Yeah, I heard what he said. …. Fine. So Poe was a big deal, and my brother was in his entourage and they basically ruled the promotion, on air and behind the scenes. There was an angle where they were recruiting people for their stable and the Darlings got in that, but I didn’t want to be a part of it. Creative said okay, but that’s when the attitude talk started. Alexis and I got into a fist-fight in the locker room, and then that added to it, and then I went to blow off some steam……working out, running…I was way past that, so I went to the match. I wore a mask because I knew I’d get fired if they found out. I was doing pretty good, too, until…. I don’t know, Ket—

Y2J: Ketsueki Seishin. Also known as your brother “Moosehead” Jack Quinn.

FW: Yeah…and others in Poe’s entourage….they must have followed me. And then….

Y2J: ….

FW: ….

Y2J: …. And then you get a knife in the side.

FW: Yeah….

Y2J: So your brother said, on that podcast….he said it was a work.

FW: Yeah, well, I lost a lot of blood and have quite a big scar for a work.

Y2J: He also said he didn’t do it.

FW: I’m aware of what he said. He was probably drunk and doesn’t remember.

Y2J: We’ll get to addiction later on….

FW: I didn’t know he was in Japan, we had lost contact, and of course, per tradition, he didn’t go anywhere without his mask so I didn’t recognize him. The last thing I remember before I lost my “fake” consciousness for this “work,” was Ket’s masked face looking down at me, and then it coming off and seeing my brother. I thought it was a hallucination from the blood loss I was allegedly not really having…..when I came to, later, Ket…Moose was gone.

Y2J: So……you must have been gone for a while then….

FW: Not as long as you’d think. The monks at a Shinto shrine took care of me and I healed up quickly enough that I was back by next week’s show, but by then, my fate had been sealed as far as my job there. Alexis was deeply inside Poe’s entourage by then, both in and out of the ring, and Alex was doing his program. He was relieved when I returned, but I don’t think I told him what happened. He may have heard through the grapevine. Anyway, I was called to the owner’s offices and released, but they wanted it to make sense in the Poe story line, so the story was I blew up the house and had to go on the lam.

Y2J: So there was no explosion?

FW: Not that way. They were going to remodel, so it was going to be demolished anyway. They used video to help support the angle.

Y2J: Oh….so you weren’t in trouble? Because when I met you on the plane—

FW: Oh, no, I still had to get out of Japan quickly. The Inagawa yakuza family was still VERY interested in me for injuring and dishonoring Johnny Inagawa. Alex gave me the last of their back up money for the plane ticket to leave, which didn’t please Alexis too much, and then I got on the plane and met you.

Y2J: And the rest is history ... we’ll be right back with that history after I talk to you a little bit about Blue Apron food delivery service….

*Jericho does the promo spot and then we come back*

FW: That was really cheesy.

Y2J: Pays the bills. So, when we last left, it was… oh yes, you plopped down next to me on the plane.

FW: Yep.

Y2J: I gotta cop to something…..I DID recognize you, and I had seen some of the tapes, and I knew you had potential, but you definitely had a look about you that said you’d been through some deep shit. I mean, I didn’t know at the time, so I just decided to pretend I didn’t recognize you—

FW: Oh great, and to think I trusted you….

Y2J: It’s not like you’ve always been incredibly forthcoming…so—

FW: So you and Jessica let me stay with you for a bit—

Y2J: I think you slept like twelve hours straight when we got to the house.

FW: Which is a miracle because one thing that is NOT a work is my insomnia.

Y2J: You were really talented, but I know why Austin Aries was frustrated with you too…Lance and I both had many long nights wondering if you were ever going to turn the corner.

FW: The problem was that I didn’t want to wrestle out-of-work pole dancers. Fitness models and shit….and that’s all there was in the business at that time, for female wrestling. Even then there were only like three or four other women on the roster, anyway, and that gets boring. I remember arguing until I was blue in the face that we could make an angle work with the plucky underdog female looking to bash through that glass ceiling.

Y2J: But still, there’s the whole violence against women thing, that …

FW: That professional wrestling and every OTHER entertainment genre uses as plot devices. I mean, how many movies have the female lead being rescued from some horrible kidnapping where she’s abused physically, if not sexually, or about to be? Or finally finds her spine after being abused by a spouse or boyfriend, or boss for months? It’s tiresome, and my only point that I made to you and Lance until I was blue in the face was that at some point…. It’s like the blonde chick in the horror movie who screams and runs away from the monster, usually twisting her ankle. Well, what happens if she stands up and turns to face him?

Y2J: You must be a “Buffy” fan.

FW: Hugely.

Y2J: And we tried that in a tag team with Tyson Kincaid and that was….

FW: That became ... difficult. And then the concussion….

Y2J: And then ... while you were recuperating, you got the call from OOWF.

FW: Yeah, and I still don’t know how. Someone sent them some video anonymously—

Y2J: It wasn’t us!

FW: I know, because you tried to talk me out of it. So, I went and—

Y2J: And the rest is history sort of. Now, we only have a limited amount of time so I wanted to just toss out some of the angles that were interesting, at least to me, and you can talk about them, and then talk about what the future holds.

FW: Sounds great…

Y2J: Need a break?

FW: No, I’m –

Y2J: Because if you do ... Thrive Market has a whole host of protein bars….

*Jericho continues the plug*

FW: That’s a talent I did not know you had.

Y2J: All pro wrestlers can do it. It’s just cutting a promo.

FW: On protein bars.

Y2J: Now OBVIOUSLY the first angle that we NEED to talk about is the Wedding.

FW: Yeah, I figured.

Y2J: I remember talking to Vince about this and he thought it was a great idea, mostly because he was looking to acquire the OOWF library…. And OOWF was really the inspiration for the WWE Network, reality shows and such—

FW: Yeah, we sort of piloted the cameras everywhere thing for backstage. Creative thought that to get eyes on the product, you had to have actual product, and so to fill out in-ring stories, they asked us to, well, accentuate our out-of-ring conversations with some reality type stuff. Which we really genius, unless you’re someone who has occasional trouble separating reality from fantasy—

Y2J: And that’s what led you to the mental hospital, but we’ll get to that. So back to the wedding.

FW: Yes, okay. So we had already done the “Fire fakes a pregnancy” angle with Alan “Attitude Adjuster” Capps, and that got some good results so the decision was that Jericho and Firewoman would get married. But with it being a wrestling marriage in the ring—

Y2J: And with me being already married—

FW: --That too. Obviously the actual wedding wasn’t going to happen, so the original plan was for Alan to disrupt things and there’d be a big brawl and then no wedding. But…

Y2J: But….

FW: You know, here’s the thing. People who don’t drink shouldn’t be in charge of bachelorette parties. Chad and Zane threw me one, that was OFF THE HOOK. They ended up using some of the footage too. We were ALL so drunk…..

Y2J: That part was real. I remember that ... barely.

FW: You remember more than I do. And probably more than Alex does. We had been working together again in the DEA stable, and gotten along really well, as friends.

Y2J: I could never tell if he really didn’t like me or if that was for the show.

FW: *shrugs* I don’t know. What I do know is we woke up the next morning and… well….

Y2J: You were married.

FW: Yep. So we had to do the walk of shame into production and when they found out what happened, in between laughing at us both with our hangovers, they decided to make it part of the show. They tracked down the video at the church, got Alan on board, and –

Y2J: Forgot to tell me….

FW: Yeah…sorry about that. We forgot to tell Moose too. Well, not really forgot….I knew he hated Alex in real life.

Y2J: I was REALLY pissed for a long time, because a swerve is fine, but you always want to kind of know it’s coming. I was confused when Alex came up to be, a groomsman or something? And then when they showed the video…I mean…that WAS the type of swerve that I think we discussed, although not Alex... but I really hated looking like the fool.

FW: I know. I was so hungover during the change of plans that I didn’t even think to tell you or Moose. I did know that to start the brawl it had to be between you and I so I whispered “take a swing at me,” and you knew immediately what to do. It looked really real because I knew you were pissed.

Y2J: For a while after that, too. Although I watched it again to prepare for this and…..wow that was a great swerve!

*They both laugh*

Y2J: I think the only one more pissed than I was, was Moose.

FW: Yeah…..I think he’s never forgiven me, really.

Y2J: And then…you stayed married.

FW: I’m not sure why…I mean, I had outgrown my crush….It just seemed…..I mean some of it was just figuring out how to legally get it annulled while being on the road, and I think some of it, at least on my end, was to spite Moose—

Y2J: Yeah, but that’s not all…I mean, as I watched, I mean…I know you pretty well, so after I got over being mad, I was like “Yeah…that makes sense.”

FW: Well, it took us a while to figure it out. I mean it probably wasn’t until Trinity that –

Y2J: Yes, that’s the second angle on my list, and I want to talk about that as soon as I get my fantasy sports picks in on DraftKings….. *continues with promo*

FW: Wow.

Y2J: So….Trinity. I have to say…this angle disturbed me. And not just because of the angle, but because I could see what it was doing to you.

FW: Juni had this idea….he wanted a messianic type of stable, and he wanted me and Tytan for it, so it was at first all about getting that together. He had to leave first, and then the idea was Tytan would “kill” me, and then that would get everyone up in arms and we’d come back and……..

Y2J: ….

FW: …. Sorry this is just still hard.

Y2J: *talking softly* Take your time.

FW: So….the plan was for Tytan to “hurt” me in the ring so that I’d be out for a while… and it just kind of went very, very wrong.

Y2J: So clear this up. Who’s fault was it? I’ve watched the DVD a thousand times I think, and it seems that Tytan’s got you lined up right, you’re where you’re supposed to be for your own safety and—

FW: I know…I have no idea what happened, I don’t think anyone does. I know it wasn’t intentional…

Y2J: So…the story is that you were resuscitated twice. Was that true?

FW: They tell me it was.

Y2J: And no one knew where you were?

FW: No, people knew. Moose and Alex definitely did, but the story was that I was just gone. I think their shock and emotions were real though.

Y2J: So….you come back….and now you’re an acolyte with Tytan and trying to help Juni “cleanse” the OOWF in some very, um…intriguing ways. Was it hard playing a person under the other person’s control.

FW: ….

Y2J: ….Let’s take a break—

FW: No…no it’s fine….*deep breath*….I wasn’t really acting that much. Juni is…. Well, he’s very convincing when he wants to be, and …. Look, I can’t right now…

Y2J: Okay, okay ... we’ll stop…

FW: See the part that made OOWF so great was the REALITY that was allowed to come through. Even when it was dark and disturbing. Which like I said, doesn’t help if your grasp on reality is tenuous at best. That actually makes it easier in some ways to be convinced that doing certain things is important for the story, even if it means you hurt people you care about it. And whether it’s real or pretend, for me it got hard to differentiate….I was feeling a tremendous amount of guilt over things I had done that were part of the shtick.

Y2J: It took a while for that to catch up to you though…

FW: It did, and to their credit, creative kept most of THAT part out of the story line, at least until it was time for me to ….well, we euphemistically said “take a break” but really….I was already taking a break in a lot of ways.

Y2J: Do you think your time at the mental hospital was okay? I mean—

FW: It might have been better without the cameras. And I mean… Alex and Fire the characters were booked into different story lines, so it on screen it seemed the wedding angle had run it’s course, but of course since I was in kind of dissociated state, then to me I thought the marriage had as well, so… They say you shouldn’t make life changing decisions while in intensive therapy, but I thought that Alex didn’t need to be saddled with all that.

Y2J: So the divorce was part the reality that was allowed to seep though.

FW: Yeah… I mean… it made sense. Alex was moving on with Royalty, while I was out. And the divorce was final in real life long before it was an angle---

Y2J: Which is the third angle, since it has a bearing on your future career….your relationship with Lucas Mann…..are you blushing?

FW: I don’t blush.

Y2J: I gotta say…this is another one I didn’t see coming but…I don’t know, it made sense somehow.

FW: Lucas and I had been in stables together and I think we may have had a short program as opponents together, but most of our work had been as colleagues, and he truly always had my back and I had his. We made a good team as GM and Commissioner, and a few other things, and… I don’t know it just happened. Not quite as dramatically as it finally did on screen—

Y2J: Again, with the blending of reality and the show.

FW: Yeah, and you think it would have been something creative would have steered clear of. But…here we are.

Y2J: So while on screen it looked like you were dating Stank BEFORE you divorced Alex, there was some time between the two.

FW: Yes.

Y2J: And you and Alex?

FW: I think….well, I hope we’ll always be….I haven’t really talked to him since the hiatus but…I think I will always love him in some way.

Y2J: You know, when I think of … I can’t think of a way to lead into this promo…. So…the BirkSun Solar Backpack blah blah blah

Jericho blah blahs the promo.

Y2J: So how are things these days? What is domestic bliss like for you?

FW: Pretty good.

Y2J: You’re in New Orleans now right, not in South America?

FW: No, no, we moved back to the States for a bit because…um…

Y2J: May as well spill the beans, Fire...

FW: *deep breath* Okay, well, Lucas and I felt the maternity care would be better in the States and—

Y2J: Yes, indeed you have heard it here first Wrestling Fans! The next generation of fantastic wrestlers, given their pedigree….so when are you due?

FW: Late March, early April. I’m thinking April 1.

Y2J: How do you know? Wait…let me guess…Irish shit.

FW: Yep. We do know it’s a boy and so his name will be Patrick, after my brother.

Y2J: What did Moose say?

FW: Well, I’m guessing I’ll find out, if he contacts me after hearing this. I’ve tried to contact him but the phone just went to voice mail at first, and now it says the mailbox is full… I hope he hears this, but I think he’s probably… well…

Y2J: Addiction definitely runs in your family. I mean, even though you’ve never been big on alcohol or drugs, really, but you have your own ... compulsions.

FW: Yeah and without the stability of OOWF—

Y2J: Stability?

FW: Well, yeah, the same routine….I mean different locales, but you know….anyway, without that….I’m just afraid I’ll never see him again, and his nephew will never know him.

Y2J: So…..let’s …..

FW: Sorry….the happier part if this is that Patrick is healthy and very active.

Y2J: Does he kick you in the ribs?

FW: Doesn’t everyone?

Y2J: Oh, and you out in podcast land can’t see this but here *sounds of rumbling around* is a gift from Jess and I.

FW: Oh wow! *sound of Fire opening it* It’s a tiny little wrestling mask!

Y2J: Isn’t that cute?

FW: Adorable!!

Y2J: Okay we only have a few minutes left, so….who is the one wrestler you wanted to work with but never did.

FW: Easy….L.D. Williams.

Y2J: Really? But you were in a stable?

FW: Yeah, but we were always on the same side, and so I would have really loved to see what could have happened if we had to face each other. He’d have wiped the floor with me, and it would have been an honor.

Y2J: So, next for you, pending your maternity leave and being medically cleared for that…A.E.W! Now, I know WWE was campaigning for you pretty hard to start with NXT. How did we win? I know it wasn’t just me.

FW: Not JUST you…. You know, WWE has the same kind of travel schedule I just came off of, and I don’t want to do that with a baby. I kind of like being grounded in one place for a little bit. Plus…you know, WWE had a really great thing with the women’s division on NXT—

Y2J: Inspired partly by your success and popularity at OOWF.

FW: --maybe…and the whole women’s PPV, and Rumbles, and whatever… but… I mean… when you follow all THAT up with SEVERAL supershows in a country not exactly know for treating women very well, and right after that same country chopped up a journalist….nah….no thanks.

Y2J: Makes sense to me, since I know you…

FW: And besides, look at what their women’s division has become….there’s some good ones, but…I feel like they’ve regressed a bit. AND….there’s no way a post-Benoit WWE is going to allow a man vs. woman match ever.

Y2J: What about Becky Lynch and James Ellsworth?

FW: I meant in a real program, not comic relief…although, an ill tempered red-headed Irish woman against a man…. Kinda close, eh?

Y2J: If you put Ellsworth and Carmella in the role of Alex and Alexis?

FW: Hey, you said it, I didn’t.

*Mutual laughing*

FW: Besides I can't see me fitting in the long run. While they may let me be me on NXT, no way do I want to stay there, and to make the main roster, you have to be willing to let them call the shots on your gimmick and ... I'm not a Bella, I don't want to be in their Hall of Fame that badly. If they change their mind about that, they know how to contact me.

Y2J: So when can we get the latest Mr. Firewoman on the show?

FW: Lucas is pretty happy rehabbing his knee and managing his club, but I will tell him you asked … again.

Y2J: And we’ll expect to see you at work—

FW: If all goes well, end of May?

Y2J: Book it! Okay folks that’s all for now on Talk is Jericho, my very special thanks to my protegee, my good friend, Lisa “Firewoman” Quinn…. *canned applause, and Jericho continues his sign off*

[Sportsguy]

We fade in and see the living room of a simple Green Bay home. Matt Folz waves from a recliner.

Matt: Hello there OOWF Universe. Contrary to rumors, I am still alive. I didn't suffer a heart attack or a rage stroke after my stupid stupid football team's historically fucking AWFUL goddamn draft. And I am practicing social distancing. Which is why I haven't- YET- driven to the frozen wasteland of Minnesota and strangled my former tag team partner every time he texts me and lets me know an embarrassing Packer loss is being broadcast. Anyway, the world's sexiest camerawoman and I would like to fill you in on some major announcements in our lives. But first two public service announcements:

1. To the doctors, nurses and other first responders who are helping us through this difficult time, Jaime and I sincerely thank all of you. And to everyone else: Please follow health guidelines. Stay 6 feet apart, wash and sanitize your hands frequently and WEAR...A.....GODDAMN....MASK in public. Thank you.

2. If the 2020-21 NFL season does occur- Sadly I don't think it will. But if it does, please take my advice. Take a second mortgage out on your home, empty your savings account, steal your kid's college fund, sell all the material possessions you have, get as much money as you possibly can and then fly to Vegas and put it all on Packers UNDER 9 wins. Trust me, it's a lock.

And I can see from the look my beloved wife is giving me that that's enough of the football references so we shall move on. Since we last were on camera in October before the whole world went to hell, we did indeed go to Japan and visit Mai. Jaime, Mai and myself had a great week catching up and talking about old times. Mai's doing great and it was awesome to see her again. Then from Japan we went to Australia for a very special occasion. Which leads us to major announcement number one:

My beautiful and talented sister in law Lindsay McAllister is now married.

Yes, it turns out her time in Royalty and more specifically her relationship with Alexis helped Lindsay realize who she really is. She and Jennifer are incredibly happy together and in fact coincidentally celebrating their 5 month anniversary today. And speaking of Royalty, Lindsay did invite Alex and Alexis to the wedding. It was awkward at first but I give them credit, they realized it was Lindsay's day and none of us caused a scene. Are we friends now? Of course not, but for that one night we got along fine. Alex and I even had a rather pleasant conversation based off our mutual love of some TV shows.

Now, there was some discussion about should we bring the OOWF back once fans are allowed back in the buildings. And good for us- EVEN Junichiro Muyo- a man who may be the most greedy, money hungry man I've ever met- hasn't pulled a Vince McMahon and put his talent in jeopardy. In fact there's still a poll active online. I haven't voted because I don't want to skew the results but I have made up my mind. When the OOWF comes back, I won't be a part of it. I am permanently and irrevocably retiring from all wrestling competition.

I'm serious. I'm not going to pull a Favre or a Sugar Ray Leonard. This layoff has made me realize that I like not getting a headache night after night. That I like not having to tie ice bags to my knees every night in the hotel room after a card. I will miss the 20-25 minutes a night I test my skills against the best competition in the world, but not any of the things that go with it. The 3rd and last major announcement isn't actually mine to make, so excuse us a second while Jaime and I switch positions.

Matt stands from his chair and moves to grab the camera. The lovely Jaime McAllister Folz sits looking a little different than OOWF fans have seen her.



Jaime smiles and waves to the camera.

Jaime: Hello OOWF fans around the world. I guess it's appropriate Matt and I are posting this video on Mother's Day huh? (Smiles) Matt won the coin flip so meet Kenneth LaVerne Folz- named after his grandfathers. When the OOWF does resume operations don't be surprised if Matt and I show up at a few shows across the Midwest and slip backstage to say hello. If it doesn't, and this is the last opportunity we have to talk to anyone, then we just wanted to say goodbye. We won't single out anyone individually because we're afraid we'll forget someone, but we just wanted to say whether you hated us or you loved us thank you everyone in the company for one hell of a ride. And to all the mothers watching this right now, have a safe and happy Mother's Day.

FADE (for the last time?)

[Attitude Adjuster]

A pair of familiar but long forgotten faces arrive at the OOWF Empty Arena (TM). For some reason, a remote camera is still recording, which is why we see the following conversation.

Familiar Face #1: Why the hell is the narrator calling us faces? Didn't we drop that angle years ago?

Familiar Face #2: Possibly decades. What are we doing here?

FF #1: What do you mean, "What are we doing here?" I got your text telling me to meet you here.

FF #2: Wait...I got your text telling ME to meet YOU here!

FF #1 and #2 look around, waiting to be attacked...or something. They spot a trash can. Something shiny catches their attention.

FF #1: Are you going to admit you're the one who was first distracted by the shiny thing?

FF #2: What shiny thing?

FF #1: That shiny thing!

FF #2: HA!

FF #1: Dammit. Okay, let's walk over to the trash can and get this over with. At least it's not a birthday cake. But it better not be a trophy. I finally got over my post-concussion syndrome a few years ago.

The duo cautiously walks over to the trash can. They see something they have not held since September 27, 2009.

FF #2: Is that what I think they are?

FF #1: Yes?

The Familiar Faces...

FF #1: Stop calling us faces! That angle was more than a decade ago!

FF #2: But isn't the "find a title in the trash" even older than that?

FF #1: Actually, yes. In a rare act of continuity from Vince Russo's first reign to Kevin Sullivan's brief booking stint in the winter of 2000, Hacksaw Jim Duggan stated that as a janitor he discovered the Television championship in the trash at the November 29, 1999 show in Denver, CO. Since it was discarded as a championship, and because Hacksaw recovered the belt, Hacksaw officially announced himself as WCW Television champion and would defend it against all comers.

FF #2: Did you just copy and paste that from a random wrestling Internet site?

FF #1: Yep.

FF #2: Let's get out of here before anyone notices.

The Familiar Faces scatter from the OOWF Empty Arena. As the screen fades to black, a scroll comes across the screen:

OOWF World Tag Team Championship
05/19/20: Random Empty Arena Promo - Title Found in a Trash Can by The Chickenshit Heels [5]

[DrMcAwesome]

*an INVISIBLE NINJA CAMERA finds THE REVEREND BRICK~! seated inside his office at THE GOD COMPLEX as a LARGE MAN wearing a hooded sweatshirt and aviator sunglasses enters without invitation*

REV. BRICK~!: “May I help you, my son? Daughter? Are you human?”

*the LARGE MAN takes off his sunglasses and pulls off his hood to reveal himself as JOHN LAW*

JOHN: “Reverend. I need you. I need … A different way.”

RB~!: “Mr. Law. I am surprised to see you. Well, really anyone coming into The God Complex since OOWF went on hiatus is cause for celebration. But … What do you mean by needing a different way?”

JL: “Well, Reverend. All of my life, I wanted to be a police officer. I got that chance years ago. I was going to help communities become stronger while being a beacon of light behind a badge that I still hold reverence toward. Then, as anyone who followed OOWF knows, I got a taste of corruption and my interactions with the community became violent. So much so that I was drummed from the precinct I was employed at. I turned to wrestling where I could satisfy my cravings for violence and taking what I want through nefarious means. It wasn’t exactly the same, but it was a good living and it led me to OOWF.”

RB~!: “Yes, I saw your vignettes on OOWF.tv, free for only $6.66 per month. But what do you want to change your way to?”

JL: “Well, once OOWF went on hiatus. I tried to join a police force somewhere. Turns out when you tell your story to the world on a wrestling broadcast and show no remorse, those in charge of hiring officers see you as a severe liability.”

RB~!: “Plus, what’s in the news …”

JL: “I was getting there. You see, I watched a lot of news. I saw the videos. I saw the protests. I saw police officers using race as a vindicator for their unnecessary aggression. It’s still an absolute mess and some departments aren’t even trying to bridge gaps, it seems. All of a sudden, a profession I looked up to since I was a child has lost the trust of almost everyone, and rightfully so. If I could talk to myself when I was 10, I’d have a lot to say about my younger version’s ambitions.”

RB~!: “Well, Mr. Law, the world is in great turmoil right now. With that turmoil, a lot of voices are …”

JL: “… Speaking the truth. And the thing is, I can’t guarantee that I’d slip into old habits. But I want to be a helper again. With or without a badge.”

RB~!: “So the world is going to see a John Law that is fighting for good and helping those who need it for the sake of good?”

JL: “Well, Reverend. I think I’d need a new identity as well. I think a lot of people would hear the name John Law and think the worst. I need a name that inspires trust.”

RB~!: “Oh. So I’m an idea board and not a path to salvation?”

JL: “I would be acting on behalf of The God Complex.”

RB~!: “Who is to say that your help is needed here?”

*JOHN turns around and points to a broken stained-glass window just in the view on an INVISIBLE NINJA CAMERA*

RB~!: “We caught those kids on camera. Nothing came about it because the kid who threw the brick(~!) was the son of a wealthy attorney.”

JL: “But, had I been here …”

RB~!: “Yes. Yes. You’d have ziptied them and beat them into submission.”

JL: “No. I’d use the Word to turn their actions into good.”

RB~!: “I’m not sure I fully believe you, but I saw your salary in OOWF and I know you’ll work cheap. Now to get you a title …”

JL: “I was thinking ‘Guardian Angel.’”

RB~!: “No. That’s been done before. It got messy.”

JL: “Well, I am fond of dogs. Maybe I could be the ‘Crime Dog.’”

RB~!: “No. Zed’s a Braves fan and he will not have the nickname of Fred McGriff linked to this idea, and I’m pretty sure McGruff’s people are quick to sue.”

JL: “‘The Mountie?’”

RB~!: “We may not be able to get away with that in Canada.”

JL: “‘Super Cop?’”

RB~!: “I will not permit the use of any firearms, real or finger, on God Complex property.”

JL: “…”

RB~!: “How about you let the ID work up to me while you fill out some paperwork out front with Suzie.”

*JOHN departs as REV. BRICK~! buzzes to the front desk before realizing that SUZIE has been working from home since March as the scene fades*

[Jack Quinn]

<We see a very sleepy Firewoman walking toward the door, someone is about to bang it off the hinges>

FW: I swear by all the Saints, you better be the ghost of Ed McMahon with a giant fucking check….

< the door opens and she reaches out and grabs Moose by the throat>

FW: If you wake this child up, I will literally remove your soul from your body

MHJ: <gasping and choking> hey sis

<Fire opens her sleepy eyes and sees Moose and 13 standing there, Moose is turning a lovely shade of blue, so Fire releases him, 13 looks a bit sheepish>

13: I told him to wait till later…..

FW: He’s never listened to anyone in his life, why would he start now?

<Lucas shows up, yawning>

Sta: Hey babe, who is…….of course it’s Jack. Hey 13!

FW: It’s six o’clock in the morning!

MHJ: <coming in> yeah, we made good time

FW: From WHERE?

MHJ: Detroit. Guess you haven’t been on the internet yet

FW: IT’S SIX AM!

MHJ: Let’s just say I won’t be welcome in Detroit anymore

FW: When WERE we welcome there?

MHJ: Fair point, so, how about some breakfast?

FW: IT’S SIX AM!

MHJ: Yeah, that’s breakfast time. Seriously, weren’t you usually up running by now and shit?

FW: I have a kid now, and, shut up Jackie.

<we see them sitting around the kitchen table, having just finished breakfast, Fire finally turns her phone on and it immediately blows up with messages>

FW: I suppose you have something to do with this? And, this will be why we are not welcome in Detroit anymore?

MHJ: Me? I mean……maybe?

FW: Spill it.

\<we cut to the gym of a local Detroit high school where we see Moosehead Jack in the ring with local worker and crowd favorite Thurston Wolvrerine. Wolverine and Moose have been at it in the main event for nearly twenty minutes, Moose hits a ripcord clothesline, then lifts Wolverine onto his shoulders for the GTSF, but Thurston slips off of Moose’s shoulders, Thurston spins Moose around and botches a clothesline, catching Moose right across the nose, drawing blood.

This isn’t the first botch of the night for Wolverine either, earlier he tried a top rope hurracarana and missed, knocking Moose off the turnbuckle to the floor while landing on the back if his head in the corner.

As Wolverine plays to the crowd, firing up his Thurs-ty Gurls in the crowd Moose rolls toward the ropes and says something to 13. She immediately leaves ringside and heads to the back. Moose gets to his feet, snarling, and goes after Wolverine. Thurston catches Moose with a kick to the gut and grabs him for a piledriver, but Moose stands up and reverses it into an ALABAMA SLAM, Jack pounces on Wolverine and locks in the ji-endo! Wolverine fights it, but Moose cinches it in and he quickly loses consciousness, the ref has no choice but to call for the bell!

As soon as Moose hears the bell, he releases the hold and rolls out of the ring. As he heads to the back, the promoter comes out and gets in his face.

Promoter: THAT’S NOT THE FINISH!

MHJ: That piece of shit shouldn’t be in the fucking ring!

Promoter: Motherfucker who do you think you are? This is MY show, JACK!

<the promoter then foolishly shoves Moose, Moose coldcocks him with a left dropping the promoter to the floor, some of the boys are starting to notice something is wrong, before he can get attacked, Moose heads out the back door right to the waiting Mustang. Jack jumps in and 13 floors it and they tear out of the parking lot into the Detroit night>

13: Where to?

MHJ: south

<Jack leans back in his seat and lights a cigar and pulls a flask from his bag and takes a long drink, 13 guns the motor and the mustang heads into the night>

*Commercial for a new Tommy Wilder energy drink, in which we are required to mention that one can is ten times the recommended daily allowance of AWESOME per day. Another commercial for Carl From Fresno’s Law Office of Cheze, Burgher & Phries, need an attorney? Carl From Fresno knows some!*

FW: <shaking her head> I don’t know about coming back, Jackie, we have a kid now, and thanks for showing up for THAT by the way…….and Lucas is writing a book……

MHJ: Lucas can write?

Sta: Who do you think wrote some of the best promos in the OOWF?

13: Wrote?

<they all pause for a moment as we hear screaming coming from another room, it gets louder and louder and soon enough, Kay bursts into the kitchen making a beeline for the four of them, Fire sidesteps, Lucas opens the French doors and Kay flies out of the kitchen and splashes into the pool>

MHJ: You really don’t miss that?

FW: Not anymore. Look Jackie, I would love to go back to Detroit with you and kick the ever loving shit out of that promoter but…..

MHJ: That isn’t what this is about. And sorry about missing the big day, I was……..off figuring some shit out…..

FW: What the hell does Moosehead Jack have to figure out?

<Moose notices a letter on the table from Vince McMahon and grabs it Fire notices the ring on his finger>

FW: Wait! This is a……..<she looks at 13> and you’ve got……..WHAT THE HELL JACKIE!

MHJ: It wasn’t a big deal, we just got it done, no one knows

FW: YOU GOT MARRIED AND DIDN’T TELL ME?

MHJ: YOU HAD A BABY AND DIDN’T TELL ME?

Sta: <sitting next to 13> Heeeeeeeere we go

FW: You should have done a big wedding!

MHJ: Have you SEEN the way wrestling weddings go? Oh, yes, you HAVE!

13: <to Lucas> So……this WASN’T them just living the gimmick?

Sta: Nope. They are the two single most stubborn people I have ever met in my entire life.

FW: HOW COULD YOU NOT TELL ME?

MHJ: I DIDN’T TELL ANYONE! AND WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME YOU WERE PREGNANT! I TOLD YOU THAT WAS VETOED!

FW: EXFUCKINGSCUSE ME?

MHJ: WHY DIDN’T YOU CALL?

FW: I TRIED! CLEAN OUT YOUR FUCKING VOICEMAILS!

MHJ: What? Oh, I lost that phone

FW: You………WHAT?

MHJ: Yeah, gone. I was gonna call you and tell you that…….

FW: But NOT that you got married

MHJ: …..but I couldn’t remember your number

FW: You couldn’t remember your own sister’s number?

MHJ: How many chair shots have I had to the head?

FW: Dark

MHJ: Come on, it’s a wonder any of us remember our names. Look, just, whatever, congratulations, when do I get to see my nephew?

FW: <softening> Thanks. Now, what the fuck was that veto shit……

Sta: <slapping Moose on the back and steering him from the table> Jack, let’s go have a victory cigar, outside, far……FAR away from Fire

<they leave and 13 and Fire sit there in awkward silence, 13 sipping her coffee and Fire sipping whatever frou frou drink she can drink in her condition>

FW: So, I guess this is the part where I tell you that if you hurt him, I will kill you

13: I don’t doubt that for a second

FW: So, how did it happen?

13: Well, you know I’ve been Jack’s business manager for awhile now, and when the OOWF closed, we just hit the road and things just……….happened. Jake married us while we were up in South Dakota

FW: Wait, JAKE Jake?

13: Yeah, Jake Walker, evidently during his last stint in prison he got ordained as a minister.

FW: And HE married you

13: Yep

FW: I don’t even know your name

13: Kali

FW: After the Hindu goddess of destruction?

13: <smiling> yep

FW: <trying not to smile as she sips her drink> interesting. Kali Quinn

<just then the baby cries and Fire leaves, 13 gets up and heads outside with Lucas and Moose, they are joined momentarily by Fire>

FW: Jackie, Kali, your nephew Patrick Trevor Mann

<Moose takes Patrick and looks him dead in the eyes, and you can almost see a lump in Moose’s throat. Kali makes cooing noises and fawns over the baby>

MHJ: The next generation of mayhem…….

<we cut to a short time later, everyone is sitting at a table near the pool, while Patrick sleeps quietly in…..whatever Fire puts him in. Moose’s phone rings and he answers it on speaker>

Voice: Jack……this is Tony Kahn, look, we were looking to bring you in, we would like you to work an angle with Brodie Lee. We may even get in touch with Alex and see if he wants to come in for a shot……

<there is a long pause while Fire, Lucas and 13 all look at Jack>

MHJ: ……..Tony……..I’ve got one match left in me, and it’s not against Brodie Lee. I appreciate the offer but………..I’m done.

TK: Done?

MHJ: I’m retired.

<everyone looks shocked>

TK: Well…….ok then, if you change your mind……

MHJ: Nah. I’m done. Thanks for the offer.

<Moose hangs up the phone and everyone stares at him>

MHJ: What?

FW: Just like that?

MHJ: What else is there to do?

FW: Well…..I mean…….

MHJ: that letter from Vince, was it an offer?

FW: Yeah

MHJ: And?

<Fire just nods, understanding what Moose is saying. The four of them sit in silence for a moment>

Sta: Ever think this is how it would end?

MHJ: <smirking> No. I still expect Alexander Darling to show up and ruin the moment.

<They all laugh and we fade>

[Road Warrior Shark]

~~~ We FADE!!~!~!! into the Alamodome, where Lone Star Championship Wrestling is having it's annual Parade of Champions Supershow. We are approaching the intermission, with one match to go before the break. LSW Southwest Six-Man Tag Team Champions, The Houston Brothers (Austin, Dallas and Antonio), parade to the ring for their Open Challenge Match. Familiar Music starts to play. The crowd, being mostly younger, is a bit slow to make the connection

That ends when wrestling legend Davin Moreland steps onto the stage, complete with his tattered Ty Law Jersey. The crowd pops, but as he spreads his arms and two men in red & silver masks & tights appear on either side of him... it's Phantos and Lucios! Their appearance causes the crowd to explode, and the PA announcer exclaims "Run DLP rides again!"

Run DLP Charge the ring, causing the Houston brothers to scatter. They all pose on a turnbuckle as the bell is sounded. Austin Houston tries to pearl harbor Moreland, and eats a REALLY GOOD DIAMOND CUTTER for his troubles! Antonio is next in, and he gets treated to a RGDC! Dallas is smarter and backs up.. right into Lucios, who hoists him up into the Electric Chair as Phantos scales the corner Dropkick Device! Moreland covers 1... 2... 3! ~~~

PA Guy: Your winners, and NEW! Southwest Six-Man Tag Team Champions.. RUUUUN D... L... P!

The crowd erupts. Run DLP celebrate in the ring, then Davin runs to ringside and we see Samantha Darling-Moreland sitting ringside with their daughter. David hugs the girl tightly, before collecting the belts and rolling back in the ring. Davin passes title belts around and grabs a mic.

Davin: Thank you. Thank you. I want to thank my brothers here for helping me make this happen. My baby girl, my daughter Mickie had never seen me wrestle live. I never had a formal retirement match, so it seemed like a great idea to kill two stones at once. But, I can't keep this up.

~~~ He lays his title at the feet of Phantos and Lucios, who embrace him. ~~~

Lucios: Well, in typical Moreland fashion, you've stolen some of our thunder. These great fans here all know we've put our heart and souls into LSW for a long time now. We want to continue to be dedicated to this company, but to do so, something had to give.

Phantos: So we had decided that tonight was going to be our last night inside the ring as well.

~~~ A voice rings out from the entrance stage. Lone Star Champion Sebastian Davis stands there, also mic in hand. ~~~

Sebastian: Of COURSE you're retiring. You've been fighting for months, trying to take MY title. You've brought in countless names, superstar after superstar, and no one has been able to get the job done. It's time you faced the facts. I RUN THIS COMPANY, and there isn't thing one you can do abuot it.

Lucios: Sebastian. You keep personalizing this. I assure you, I am only trying to make you a better champion, putting you in the ring with the best wrestlers in the world.

Sebastian: Bullshit! You're threatened by me, and so you want to run me off! But I'm better than you. I'm better than everyone in this building. And that includes the dinosaur in the ring over there.

~~~ Everyone turns to face Davin. ~~~

Davin: Who me? Don't go biting off more than you can chew. I might be a bit greyer than I used to be, but I feel pretty good right now. Don't think I won't kick your ass all over San Antonio!

Sebastian: You want a fight? That can be arranged.

~~~ Davin throws the mic down, but from behind he is blasted in the back by Ricky Soaring Eagle! Phantos turns to help, but gets submarined by Comrade Sharkoff! The Texas Tag Team Champions toss Davin to the floor before Dre Gaines runs in and helps Phantos and Lucios chase the attackers to the stage to cower behind Davis. The crowd is in a frenzy ~~~

PA Guy: Sharkoff! Eagle! Oh My God, DRE GAINES!

~~~ Phantos & Lucios pull their masks off. Chad picks the mic off the ground. ~~~

Chad: You want it! You GOT it! Tonight. Main event. Sebastian Davis defends the Lone Star Championship against Davin Moreland! And don't think we forgot about your two running buddies there. After the break, it's going to be Ricky Soaring Eagle and Comrade Sharkoff DEFENDING THOSE CHAMPIONSHIPS against... The Texpress!

Zane: And to keep things in check, I think we need a special referee for both these matches. Dre Gaines!

~~~ The crowd roars its approval ~~~

PA Guy: Two BIG matches after intermission! Fifteen minutes folks! Grab your popcorn and beverages at the concession stand now!

~~~ Fade ~~~