Post by Tatiana on Jan 2, 2022 2:37:29 GMT -5
August 2nd, 2021
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The roar of the crowd, the fans, the cheers, the anticipation. Everyone loved a World Championship match, and the intrigue for this one was at its peak. Tatiana Jolee, the incumbent champion, with an expiring contract at her last PPV event. She had turned down two offers to sign a new deal after a falling out with management. The dirt sheets knew what was up, they knew this was her final PPV appearance, and as champion she was to drop the belt.
But nothing was ever so black and white in this business.
-CRASH!-
The sounds of the unforgiving steel cage rattled violently as her small frame was sent flying sideways into it. Her opponents were cooperating with each other to dismantle the champion… But why?... She couldn’t understand it. Jolee agreed to drop the title before the show. She wouldn’t attempt to pin or make either opponent submit. She wouldn’t try to exit the cage or get sneaky, but rather give her fans one last amazing match on her way out with a dignified defeat.
-CRASH!-
The two men tore into her like vicious animals. It was clear that her boss didn’t trust her to do the right thing, and this was insurance so she wouldn’t show up in the United States with his championship on her shoulder.
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“Pain… Regret… Condemnation… We’ve all felt it before, haven’t we? Our Champion, Odin Balfore preaches like he’s some kind of prophet. But his words are centric and focused on another while the dogs of war nip at his heels”
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Everything hurt, her bones ached, her muscles pulsated with edema as they put the boots to her. This was supposed to be her swan song. Her last hurrah. The goodbye match where she could exit the company with her head held high. She’d worked for over a decade and gave everything for this place… It took eight long years to finally win her first World Championship, a title which she would go on to hold three times.
With tonight being the last…
Would there be anything left of her after this?
Would she make it out of Canada with her body in one piece?
At this rate, it felt unlikely…
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“And then there’s Kyrie King… A fellow shooter. I’m looking forward to picking your brain and then picking your knee apart. Or perhaps I’ll go after an elbow, a shoulder, or maybe just your ego? Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate your enthusiasm. In fact, it’s good to have a fellow worker in a match when the champion is an oak tree with a beard”
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The last thing she remembered was being thrown into the cage wall like a dart by both opponents. The impact (even with her arms up in an effort to protect herself) was massive. Her next memory was waking up under the wafting aroma of smelling salts backstage. Her head ached, her body ached worse. And the show was over… Quite literally, too.
She had been led like a lamb to the slaughter and used as an example of what happens when you cross a megalomaniac with a soft ego.
That was the last time she held a championship.
And the experience spurned her to start over in the U.S.A
She HAD to, for her own pride
It is what ultimately led her to ACTION Wrestling
And a chance at another championship….
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“I’m afraid you can’t win championships on ego alone. We both know Balfore is the elephant in the room. He’s big, he’s strong, and he’s experienced. But the old lion can see the young wolves on the perimeter pacing quietly as they wait for the right moment of weakness. His occupation is with John, and clinging onto the Television Title while you and I prepare to match wits and holds like two animals fighting over the remains of a fresh kill”
Anyone who thinks the champ was a withering old man was an idiot. In fact, many say that Balfore has come somewhat unhinged a little since winning the belt. That there’s some darkness deep down, biding its time before it comes out like some sadistic beast.
But sadism and rage aren’t tenable
She’s faced off against a giant recently and if she could survive one of the most brutal matches of 2022 against Holden Ross, then she can hang with Balfore and King.
“Odin Balfore is seven feet tall. Kyrie King is six-foot-four. Both outweigh me by over a hundred pounds. In fact, the champion has me by two hundred pounds. On paper, there’s no way TJ Grey can possibly win this match… Right?”
She grins, sitting back against the wall before slowly crossing her arms over her chest as she stares into the camera.
“You both talk like I’m some lamb. The words ‘plucky’ and ‘resilient’ come up a lot. But if you think for a second that I’ve made a twenty-two year career out of good fortune and opportunistic wins, then you’re sorely mistaken. I’m a prolific technician who thrives on making big guys like yourselves shrink down to the level of damsel in distress. And despite a slow start while I was working the ring rust off… I intend on coming up gold on Monday Night Clash”
She knew that her peers thought her least likely to win this match.
Some even feel that she'd be better suited to the Cruiserweight roster…
But not TJ. No, she was a fighter, a survivor, a Champion.
- END-
