🎪🎈Ronin Talent Show🎈🎭
The sparkling sounds of “New Eden” by Animals as Leaders trickles throughout the arena. The riff strikes, Jason Zurra and Roku Xete make their way to the stage.
Oda Niko: Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome, accompanied by Xete Roku, the commissioner of New Blood Wrestling, Jasoooon Zuuuuurraaaaa!
The crowd gives Jason a great reaction. He waits for them to settle before raising up the mic that he brought with him.
Jason: Welcome everyone to New Blood Wrestling’s grand Jubeilation!
The crowds pops big! Jason gives them a moment to gather.
Jason: I have this from here, Niko. I am very happy to have been such a big part of bringing back this federation. Now it is in better hands, and we’ll reach a potential that no one thought imaginable. All of that starts with our Ronin Division. For now, I have gathered some of the former bum fighters. They all have a chance to impress Master Jubei in a special talent show for him. Those that are worthy will be trained heavily to become, not a bum fighter, but a fighter worthy of the Ronin Championship. The person that impresses The Master the most will earn an opportunity at our new Ronin Championship on our first returning episode of Monday Bloody Monday!
Another big pop from the crowd!
St. Remi: I feel like this’ll turn into a big train wreck, bro.
Sarah Conway: I’m not sure. The new management seem much more organized than Pryde and his regime were.
Jason: So, without further ado, allow me to introduce… the Ronins!
AWOLNATION's remix of Blood // Water by grandson hits the PA system as all of the members of the Ronin Division, led by Duke Michaels, make their way to the stage and down the ramp, each of them wearing their own traditional Japanese Gi, with a yellow belt strapped around each waist. Although some have altered the attire a bit, to Jason's disdain. They all circle around the ring, leaving an open spot beside the ramp. Duke just sits in the corner, not really caring about what's going on around him.
Jason: Someone give Hugo a mic, please.
Hugo gets his own sparkly golden mic from his trousers, and turns it on. Some of the crowd let out a chuckle.
Jason: Okay… Hugo, my dear. Why did you turn your Gi into a monkey suit?
Brightside: I'm coming out of my cage, and I've been doing just fine.
The crowd oddly pops for Hugo.
Jason: Umm… that doesn't help me, Hugo. Why did you alter your attire?
Brightside: I gotta gotta be down, because I want it all.
The crowd pops once more. Jason and Roku trade confused looks before Jason sighs.
Jason: Black shirts. Please escort Hugo Brightside to the locker room and make sure he does not come back until he wears the proper attire.
The fans boo as the black shirts begin to take Mr. Brightside to the back. However, this doesn't stop him from talking a bit more on the mic.
Brightside: I started out with a kiss. How did it end up like this? It was only a kiss.
Roku takes the mic from Hugo, but the crowd finish the line for him.
Crowd: "IT WAS ONLY A KISS!"
Jason: To anyone else not their attire properly, if you do not fix your attire, you will be escorted out, and will be disqualified from the talent show. Is that clear?
Ralph Grosse and Captain Pelican reluctantly fix their Gi. Vincent politely helps Eagle Eye put his torso and belt the correct way. The crowd applauds his generosity.
Remi: For once, Conway, you just might be right. With the Masuda Corp, if you don't follow orders, you don't belong.
Conway: Indeed. This is definitely a more strict leadership.
Jason and Roku go over to ringside, near the announce table.
Jason: Black shirts. Bring in the chair!
A group of black shirts walk past the stage, carrying what looks to be a king's throne, making the crowd ooh with curiosity. The black shirts carefully set down the throne on the open spot at ringside.
Jason: Now… for the man of the day. The owner of New Blood Wrestling. “The Master” JUBEEEIII!
The arena fades to darkness as the opening rifts of "Der König Der Dunkelheit" play at low hum. Logos of the Masuda Corporation go across the big screen. As the guitar builds, fog floods the entrance ramp where a number of blackshirts, all baring The Master's name, bow before his entrance to the stage. Guitars pick up when at least a dozen of the Ikeda Clan flank him wearing secret service all black suits and glasses along with visible earpieces. Videos of his submissions go across the screen with waving war banners bearing his family name.
Conway: He's here! The owner of New Blood Wrestling!
Remi: He's going to take his rightful seat as the KING of New Blood!
The Master and his clan slowly make it to ringside. Half of the Ikeda keep the Ronins away from the Master, the other half helping up sit atop his throne, one of them giving him his earpiece after pushing a button on it. Jubei notices the red button on the end of his right arm rest. He pushes it, replacing his music with a loud alerting sound. The crowd groan after hearing such a disturbing noise.
Remi: I think my ears are bleeding, dude!
Jason: I see… and hear that you found the button, Master Jubei. That's your rejection button. The first press of the button warns the Ronin that they aren't impressing you. The second will disqualify the Ronin from receiving a title shot next week, and our esteemed black shirts will escort the Ronin out of the arena. Is that clear, everyone!
Crowd: YES!
Jason: Any thoughts before we begin, Master?
Jubei sits back with a smirk.
Jubei: We will see who… entertains.
The bell rings once.
Jason: Any volunteers to show their talent?
The Ronins look at each other, until Lucy Midnight struggles to get to the ring, her tight fitted Gi not helping matters. She stumbles into the ring, and Jubei immediately hits the buzzer.
Jubei: Slow. Clumsy. Unattractive.
Midnight mouths “come on,” at Jason Zurra, who gives her a shrug. She sighs and asks Oda Niko for the mic. Once Niko hands it to her, she turns toward the Master.
Midnight: Look, dude, I'll give you a blowjob if you give me this ti---
Jubei hits the buzzer again. A few black shirts come to the ring and begin to escort her out of the arena, the crowd having a laugh as she gets ejected.
Conway: There goes our first disqualification.
Remi: No surprise there. Damn, I could smell her all the way over here, dude!
Jubei: No infections for me.
Jason pinches at the bridge of his nose.
Jason: Who's next?
Ninja Bob makes his way to the ring. He goes to the top rope and jumps off, doing a quarter roll on his way down. The crowd giving him a slight applause. A black shirt with a big black bag goes into the ring with him. Ninja Bob seems to be telling the black shirt to do something. The black shirt gets a handkerchief, wipes the mic that Lucy Midnight held, and passes it to Ninja Bob.
Ninja Bob: Today, I will show you my karate expertise!
The black shirt takes out a wooden board, and positions it in front of Ninja Bob. Ninja starts “gathering his ki”.
Crowd: WOOOOOOOOOAH…
He chops the wood, and it breaks in half. The crowd pops big! Ninja Bob looks toward the Master for approval. Jubei just looks at him with his arms crossed.
Jubei: Fans are impressed. I am not.
Remi: I’m not either.
Conway: Of course you aren’t.
The crowd boos at Jubei. Ninja Bob tells the black shirt to get something else from the bag. It’s a big brick. The crowd oohs. The black shirt holds up the brick as Ninja Bob charges his ki again.
Crowd: WOOOOOAAAAAAAHHHH…
Ninja Bob chops the brick, but it doesn’t break. Jubei hits the buzzer, the crowd booing in annoyance. Jason looks on in disappointment.
Conway: One more hit from that buzzer, and Ninja Bob’s out of here!
Remi: If Jubei is anything like me, he’ll buzz that thing again real soon. Loser can’t even break a brick, bro!
Conway: Can you break a brick?
Remi: Yes…….. With the right strategy, and set of tools!
Ninja Bob looks to the crowd and raises his index finger, asking them if he should try and break the brick again. The crowd happily starts the “YES!” chant.
Remi: Kick him out, Master!
Conway: You’re being a cheerleader.
Ninja Bob charges up his ki…
Crowd: WOOOOAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH…
Ninja Bob chops, and just barely breaks the brick! The crowd pops HUGE! Jubei simply golf claps, still not impressed.
Conway: Looks like Ninja Bob is telling the black shirt to get something from under the ring.
Other black shirts get the Ronins out of the way while the one looks under the ring, and eventually pulls out a table, pumping up the crowd!
Remi: Oh no… this isn't gonna end well.
The black shirt slides the table into the ring, and sets it up on the turnbuckle. He bows before exiting the ring. Ninja Bob grabs the mic.
Ninja Bob: I will now break this table in half with a single chop!
Ninja Bob charges up his Ki once more. Jubei sits back, his hand nearing the buzzer.
Crowd: WOAAAAAAAAAAAH…
Conway: Will he chop the table!?
Remi: Pffft…
He goes for the chop, and…
*BUUUUUZZ*
The crowd boos after Ninja Bob fails to break the table. He looks flabbergasted, and chops the table again… and then again… and then again. The table absolutely refuses to be broken. Black shirts interrupt Ninja Bob's futile attempts to break the table, and escort him out of the arena.
Crowd: I AM THE TABLE!
Remi: Told you.
Conway: That was disappointing.
Jubei: Who's next?
Jason face palms and looks around until he sees his ASU trainee, Steve Welsh, who's wearing his mask. Jason throws something at Welsh to catch his attention, and mouths at him to get in the ring.
Conway: It looks like Jason wants his underling to take the spotlight.
Welsh mouths something along the lines of “but he's scary.” Jason gives him a stern look, Welsh sighs, and tugs at Vincent Walker. They both reluctantly go into the ring. Jubei hits the buzzer.
Jubei: No tag teams.
Welsh frantically finds and grabs the mic.
Stevo: Okay… I'll explain. I'm the Great Stevo. This is Vin- uhh.. Vincent Walker. Our performance is… a collaboration, and…
Jubei: Use a black shirt.
Stevo: Well, uhh.. I trust Vincent more…
Vincent grabs the mic.
Vincent: Master… if you'll allow this, I will bring the UCI Television Championship, and put it on the line against Steve, or whoever else, to go along with the Ronin Championship.
The crowd oohs, Jason being left perplexed. Jubei takes a moment before waving his hand.
Jubei: Go on. Show me.
Conway: Oh wow! He's allowing it!
Remi: I don't like it. It isn't fair to the rest of the Ronins, bro!
Stevo goes up to the top turnbuckle, Vincent staying near him. Stevo takes a moment to pump up the crowd, and they mildly go along with it. He jumps onto Vincent's shoulders, Vince shaking a bit, but holding Stevo up successfully. Vincent struggles, but takes Stevo to the middle of the rope. Stevo jumps, grabs Vincent's arm, and lands on the top rope, just barely balancing his feet. The crowd give them a nice applause.
Conway: Now I see why these two are working together. They have good chemistry!
Remi: It ain't over yet. One of them will mess up. Trust me, dude.
Conway: Okay, seriously. I'm not “bro” or dude.
Remi: Whatever, dude.
Conway: Ugh.
Vincent helps guide Stevo to the side with the announce table. After successfully rope walking, Stevo slowly let's go of Vincent's hand, and steadily stands on the top rope. Vincent slides out of the ring, and gathers a few black shirts to keep the other Ronins out of the way. He ends up on ringside, between Stevo and the announce table.
Remi: I don't like this, bro…
Stevo pumps up the crowd, this time with more cooperation from them.
Crowd: WOOOOOOOOOAH…
Stevo jumps off the top rope, his toes just barely landing on the apron before he backflips off of it, landing his hands on Vincent, jumping off of him as he stumbles, and clumsily landing his feet on the announce table. The crowd pops big!
Conway: Woah! That was impressive!
Remi: I bet I could've done that without a partner.
Stevo jumps back onto Vincent's shoulders, and they go to the other side of the ring, black shirts surrounding them. They stop, Stevo preparing himself, but Vincent is struggling a bit. The crowd start clapping to keep Vincent going.
Remi: He's gonna collapse!
Vincent lets out a warcry, and pushes himself and Stevo up. Stevo jumps off, grabs the top rope, and barely manages to flip over it, and hits the mat with his feet. He rolls and strikes a pose. Vincent rolls back into the ring as the crowd cheer them on. Jubei claps a bit, and gives Jason a nod of approval.
Jason: Vincent, Steve… o.., you are both still eligible for a shot at the Ronin Division title. Please exit the ring and wait for Jubei's final decision, so the other talents can attempt to qualify.
Vincent and Stevo exit the arena before Captain Pelican throws Ralph Grosse and Eagle Eye into the ring. Pelican grabs a mic.
Pelican: I got some partners too! Ya know that one guy from that video game? The blind one?
Pelican takes Eagle Eye's Gi belt and wraps it around his eyes like a blindfold.
Pelican: We got him right here! Eagle, give Ralph over there a piece of whatcha got.
Eagle: I FUCKING SEE YOU!
Eagle gives out a war cry, and runs after Ralph, but hits the turnbuckle instead. He stumbles back, actually hitting Ralph, but it's Eagle who falls backwards. Eagle kicks Ralph while he's on the ground, causing Ralph to vomit on Eagle, and then again outside of the ring at Grampa Mayhem. Suddenly, he screams “COMMIEEEES!” and attacks Jobber Dave and Alexander Kanuck. The Ronins begin to fight, except for Vincent, Stevo, Pelican, and Sphinx, the former three trying to sneak to the ramp.
Conway: All hell is breaking lose!
Remi: Some of them are being smart and avoiding the action.
Sphinx slides into the ring, throwing Ralph and Eagle out of the ring. The eliminated Ronins run in and start attacking the ones trying to stay away from the action. Sphinx, amidst all the chaos, grabs his pan flute, and begins to break dance. Jubei is paying him no mind, instead, he's watching the Ronins brawl.
Conway: Here come the black shirts.
Remi: Yeah, but they're being taken out by the Ronins!
Jason gets Roku to stop the Ronins. He slaps the absolute MESS out of Grampa Mayhem, and he snaps out of it. He takes Alexander's hockey stick and snaps it in half with ease. While he's taking care of them, Pelican manages to escape the action, and rolls into the ring, which catches Jubei's attention. He trips Sphinx in the middle of his break dance, and grabs the mic.
Pelican: I'm about to show guyliner up.
Sphinx gets pissed and goes after Pelican, who tosses the mic at him and awkwardly dodges him and pushes him to the turnbuckle, then goes down on all fours as Sphinx turns back around, tripping him again. Pelican runs around him like he won a match.
Conway: Is the Master… smiling?
Remi: I… I think he is, dude.
Sphinx tries to grab Pelican's leg, but he's too quick as he hits the rope. Sphinx drops down, and Pelican jumps over him, and hits the opposite ropes. Pelican throws his captain's hat at Sphinx, slides underneath him, and trips him up from behind. Sphinx gets pissed and rolls out of the ring. The crowd cheers for Captain Pelican!
Pelican: Can I take this outfit off now? It's kinda itchy… like a Christmas sweater.
Jubei begins to lightly chuckle, throwing everyone off, including all of the Ronins, who suddenly stop fighting. He calls over Jason while still chuckling, who wheels over to Jubei. Jubei takes his headset off before they converse.
Remi: What's going on? I'm confused.
Conway: I believe the Master's made his decision.
The two talk for a bit, the Ikeda Clan making sure their conversation doesn't get interrupted. Jason nods and grabs the mic.
Jason: Okay everyone. The Master has made his decision!
The crowd ooohs in anticipation.
Remi: I don't think any of them deserve it!
Conway: Oh shush.
Jason: The people that have impressed him the most, and that will go on to compete for the Ronin Division title, are… Captain Pelican…
The crowd cheers and laughs, Jubei snickering a bit himself.
Jason: As well as the Great Stevo!
The crowd pops for Stevo. He's stunned, awkwardly smiling at the crowd, but not daring to look at the Master.
Jason: But that's not all! Vincent Walker will also be eligible to compete, but… only if he brings the UCI Television Championship.
The crowd cheers for Vincent, but he looks nervous. Suddenly, some commotion is going on in the crowd, until someone is seen jumping the barricade, and attacks Vincent Walker!
Conway: It's Allen Walker! What the hell is he doing attacking his own blood.
Remi: Heh… blood… New Blood… that's funny.
The crowd boos massively at Allen. Black shirts try to stop him from attacking Vincent, but Allen cuts them all down. Allen tries to go after Stevo too, but Roku immediately runs after him. Jubei snaps his finger, and members of the Ikeda Clan instantly surround Allen, along with Roku, who has his hand around Allen's throat.
Jason: Congratulations, Allen! You just ruined your chances at obtaining a New Blood Wrestling contract. You have great timing, though! I need someone to wake up Duke. He's been snoozing over there the entire time.
An Ikeda Clan member goes up to Duke and smacks him in the face, waking him up immediately. He pops up, and is instantly confused.
Jason: Duke, the Master and I are very disappointed in how you've been training the Ronins. So… severe changes are going to be made. Everyone, this may very well be the last time you see a good amount of these talents, as we will be turning the Ronin Division into a division of order, competence, and consistency. If any of the people here are unable to make it to that level, they will be cut. As for you, Duke… you will be sticking around, but not as the head trainer. Instead, you will be working with two of my comrades, Nozomi and ZiiX, as well as a new head trainer that I just recently signed! Allen and Vincent know him well. He is a legend in the indie scene, and has also made an astounding career as a Michelin star chef. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome… Lance Waaalker!!
“Misirlou” by Dick Dale plays as Lance Walker makes it to the stage with a nice reaction from the fans! He makes it to ringside, beside Jason Zurra, and asks him for the mic. Jason happily obliges.
Lance: Vincent, come on big boy. I know your brother's a dickhead, but you can handle more than that.
Stevo helps Vincent to his feet.
Lance: This was quite the cluster, wasn't it?
The fans laugh in agreement.
Lance: Now that isn't the fault of the leadership, maybe aside from one.
Lance looks right towards Duke, who glares back at him.
Conway: Uh oh. This might get heated.
Remi: Some more action would be great, bro!
Lance: With New Blood Wrestling having a second chance, I think the Master and Jason can agree that we need to have higher standards for what the talent should have to offer. From here on out, the Ronin Division will be under my watchful eye. Jason has given me permission to let go of any talent that I feel doesn't have what it takes to reach the standards that we demand. I was watching everything from the back. For most of you, this was not an impressive showing, let me tell you. But I am willing to work with each and every one of you to make sure you all reach a level that no one has ever expected out of you. Next week won't be like tonight. I want Stevo at his best. I want Pelican at his best. Most importantly, I want you at your best, Vincent.
Vince sighs and nods at his father, who passes the mic back to Jason.
Jason: As for you, Allen. If I see you anywhere around the arena next week at Monday, Bloody Monday, you can kiss any chance of having an NBW contract goodbye, because you will be blacklisted, and I will make sure to let as many promoters as possible know that you are not a safe worker and should not step foot in their companies either. Is that clear?
Allen sneers and Jason, Roku still gripping at him.
Jason: Now, we still have the rest of Jubeilation to look forward to, everyone! Are you all ready for some action.
The crowd cheers in excitement!
Remi: I know I sure am!
Jason: Then let's get started! Black shirts, clear down.
Conway: So, next week, Captain Pelican and the Great Stevo will be competing for the Ronin Division title! If Vincent makes it with the UCI Television Championship, he will be added to the match, and that title will also be on the line!
Remi: Is that even legal? The title wasn't his in the first place!
Conway: I'm not sure, but we will find out next week. Until then, we have two title matches, as well as a very special contract signing for our World Champion, Corey Bull!
Roku and the Ikeda Clan force Allen out of the arena. The Ronin Division and staff clear down as the black shirts set up for the next part of the show.