Post by Tatiana on Nov 30, 2021 2:56:16 GMT -5
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Holden Ross
The two of them could not be more opposite.
He was a giant, a man over 300lbs
She was tiny, only a third of his size
He was a brawler, a sadist, a killer
She was a technical pride fighter of the old school
He takes big risks in order to punish an opponent
Every move she makes is carefully measured for effectiveness
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But she would never intentionally injure somebody in the ring.
Especially somebody she considers a friend
To Tatiana, this is just a match. A BIG match, yes. But a match nevertheless. And she was just as responsible for Holden’s welfare as he was for hers. They were friends, and he even voiced concerns over accidentally injuring her in the match, something that gave her both relief and a bit of an advantage. Yes, I said advantage. See, this worry will likely cause him to hold back, to be uncertain, possibly even make a few mistakes. And that is ultimately what TJ will need in order to level this fight. She knew the key was to keep him swiping at air. To evade and evade all while striking quickly and looking for that one mistake which would allow her to make a move.
Easier said than done.
Her last match vs Psycho Vindel should have been a walkover as the man cares little for the business, or even learning how to work. Yet she allowed herself to get caught up in the notion that she’d steamroll him as quickly as she did Jayson Price, that bit of hubris that led to a humiliating defeat against a sub-par opponent. Something that still digs at her even a week later. Tatiana was set on keeping herself sharp and focused this time out. She respected Holden too much to take him lightly, and she respected the business too much to take another opponent for granted like she did Vindel.
But these things aren’t fought on paper, and she was going to have to dig deep in order to overcome the odds if she wanted to notch a win in her first ACTION WRESTLING Supershow.
You’re not in Canada anymore, sweetheart…
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“Welcome back to 670, the SCORE. Dan McNeil here along with one of the stars of Action Wrestling, Tatiana Jolee”
Her attention was quickly diverted from her train of thought and across the booth to the host of Chicago’s most popular sports talk radio station. Dressed simply in a pair of blue jeans and an AW logo shirt, she wears her trademark leather jacket and her hair was slicked back with a wet look as it would be easier to equip the necessary headset for the live on-air interview.
“Thanks Dan, it’s a real pleasure to be here this morning”
She responds in a confident tone with a smile on her pretty face. This wasn’t her first radio promo spot, as she’d done many of them up north to promote the federations she worked for in the past. Though this one felt special to her as it was her first on American airwaves, and it was in the lead up to her first ever AW PPV event.
“It’s a pleasure to have you here to talk about Action Wrestling’s Turmoil event, which is taking place at the United Center on Sunday Night.” He shuffles some papers on his desk “Now unfortunately the show is sold out, so if you haven’t gotten a ticket, you’ll have to do the next best thing and purchase it on Pay Per View”
Sold out to say the least… And in about an hour after tickets went on sale.
The arena was going to be PACKED to the rafters, and she was looking forward to working in front of a crowd that was approaching 30,000 fans.
“Fortunately, we here at the Score have two front row tickets available that we will be giving away to one of our lucky listeners. All you have to do is be the 670th caller after you hear the sounds of the ring bells to qualify for the drawing, which will be held on Friday Night during the drive home”
This guy was pretty savvy
Though, it was his job
“So TJ… Can I call you TJ?”
“Of course”
“This is your first supershow since coming here from Canada. And I know you’re probably still working on finding your feet in Action Wrestling, but before we talk about your match against Holden Ross. I was wondering who your pick was to win the World Championship match?”
Oh boy… That’s a tough one out of the gate. There’s a LOT of potential in that fatal-4-way from DiVito to the champion, Kemp. And the fact that it was a 4-way only made predicting the outcome even harder.
“Well, it’s a 4-way-dance so there’s no DQ or count out, which takes the Champion’s advantage away from Kyle Kemp. I know DiVito, Shaw and Park are all top level athletes, and all are a real threat to Kemp and the World Championship”
But… There’s always a but…
“However… My intuition says that Kyle Kemp will do what he does best and he’ll find a way out of this match with his reign intact”
“He is the champion for a reason”
“That he is”
“Okay, so let’s talk about your match. You go on second in a huge match against a huge opponent. We all saw you take a loss in a match against Psycho Vindel that would have put you in the TV Title picture. Do you see the booking against Holden Ross as a step back for you?”
Oh man… He’s coming out of the gates swinging
“Last week was a huge disappointment to me. I lost a match against a guy who has no business in the ring, let alone challenging for a championship in a federation like Action. But that loss is on me, and me alone. I let myself underestimate him and he made me pay for it.” She begins with that much, lest she be accused of pandering to the lowest common denominator. “Would I like to be in the TV Title match? Absolutely. But I’m not, and my match against Holden is hardly second best. This guy is a world class athlete, and we’re going to put on a clinic”
“A lot has been made of the size difference… I mean if this were boxing, no commission would ever allow this fight to happen. How do you prepare to face a guy like that?”
“Very carefully” She says with a little laugh and grin “Holden is a giant who has a reputation for being a monster in the ring. But as a technician, I have a few tricks up my sleeve that can help to level the playing field.” Even still, this would not be an easy match by any measure of the word “He and I are friends, and we have a lot of respect for one another, so I won’t make the same mistakes that I did with Vindel”
“Have you two talked about the match at all in private? Or is it taboo to talk about a match with an opponent beforehand?”
“We’ve had some conversation about it, yeah. But obviously, we aren’t a simulation federation and all matches are won and lost on the merit of your skills rather than decided by a booking committee.” Which is what made ACTION WRESTLING such a tough place to succeed “Most of our conversations have been about certain spots we’d like to try out to get a pop from the fans”
“But no handshake agreement on who will win?”
“No, we both respect the business and the fans too much to go out there and simulate a match. I’m going to try and beat him, and he will do the same to me. Whoever is in better form will come out on top.”
“David vs Goliath”
“Pretty much”
“Well folks, we have to step away for a word from our sponsors. Stick around for more TJ Grey and Action Wrestling. We have predictions and fan Q&A still to come!”
And with that… We fade to commercial break