The Quarterfinals
The match that went down in Portland once again set WWO fans' tongues wagging.
I skimmed a few more posts before closing the window.
Sara Bankis, huh…
Originally, Sara Bankis never would have come to WWO.
Then again, neither would Jayco.
Originally he was supposed to stay at EAW and become the head of the creative team.
Looks like the butterfly effect I set off hit TPA and even rippled over to EAW.
Anyway, I should start by digging up Sara Bankis's recent match videos.
With the final house show in Portland about to begin, the general manager gathered the wrestlers.
"We should start putting tag teams together soon. Existing tag teams are fine, or individuals pairing up is fine too. Form them with people you get along with. This goes for the women's division as well."
"Does this have nothing to do with the storylines?"
Diane asked quickly.
"That's right. This time I'm prioritizing the wrestlers' chemistry over the storylines. We haven't decided on heels or faces yet, have we? The full rivalry structures will only solidify once the tournament ends. So completely forget any rivalries you had in your previous brands."
Murmurs rose immediately from the wrestlers.
Even Diane Sweeney was close with Mina Kearns, but under NEXT's booking they had been rivals.
"Once your tag team is formed, let me know. Then we'll test it out in dark matches or house shows in Sacramento. Ah! Mizuki, Meguri, Selma, and Charina — you four don't form tag teams. I want the four of you to gain a little more experience in singles matches first before doing tags."
She also put stable formations on hold for the time being.
"She's giving the wrestlers a lot of autonomy."
"From our perspective this is good. Better than forced tag teams, right?"
After talking things over to a certain extent, Casey told us that once we got to Sacramento she would set up dark matches with Mizuki versus Selma and me versus Meguri.
"Alright! That's all for now. And Charina, come with me for a moment."
I followed Casey into the temporary GM office.
"It's about the ads."
"Ah!"
Casey held out several files.
"Pomonai and FOLO said they'd really like it if you could do them. They've been waiting a long time."
"Of course."
There was the casual brand FOLO, beverage companies, cosmetics companies, and even a power tool company that I had no idea why they'd picked me as their model.
"I don't have to do all of them, right?"
"Just the ones you want. We won't force you."
Pomonai was a bit low at a million dollars a year, and FOLO was three million total over two years.
"I'll just do Pomonai and FOLO."
"Not the others?"
"Nope."
"If you took all of these, it would add up to a pretty nice sum."
"It's fine. It's not like I'm desperate for money. I only picked the clothes ones because buying them myself is worse than getting them free…"
Money?
If I succeed in the mission, I'll go back to normal and it'll all disappear. If I fail, I'll die, so it doesn't matter either way.
If I had more money… if I had become a man like this, I might not even want to go back.
Of course, to become an Icon, lots of media exposure is important, but aside from HK Motors, all of these were domestic US ads.
If it was a global ad that would expose me worldwide, I'd pay to shoot it myself, but otherwise three brands should be enough.
"If the person involved doesn't want to, there's nothing we can do. I'll proceed with that."
"Yes. Thank you."
"Is there anything uncomfortable, or any other issues?"
"No. I don't know about the men's side, but the women's side has a good atmosphere."
"That's a relief. You can go now."
I grabbed the doorknob to leave, then turned back around.
"Is Number 16 really Sara Bankis?"
"Does that matter?"
"If it really is Sara, I feel like we could have an even better match. And I'm also curious what happens to that mask going forward."
Casey spun her pen without answering.
"That mask will stay with Rebellion. Charina might use it again, or Selma or Vianna or someone else might. We'll use it whenever we need an anonymous run-in. And your meeting with Number 16 is already booked for Sacramento, so ask her yourself."
"Got it."
The show in Sacramento was a little different from the ones so far.
Today focused mainly on matches between the eliminated wrestlers and tag team matches.
And in the latter half of the show, they built it around introducing the men's and women's quarterfinalists.
Instead of theme music, Christmas carols played as they made their entrances.
It was a matchup between two wrestlers who both tipped the scales past 120 kilograms.
Nadia had seven or eight centimeters on Olivia in height, but Olivia carried a little more weight. In terms of age, though — early forties versus early thirties — Olivia had a clear edge in stamina.
Just the two of them climbing into the ring made it look packed.
Here it was friends who had been tag partners until recently going head-to-head. That one was interesting too.
This pairing probably had the biggest skill gap of the bunch.
Sara Bankis never showed, so I walked out onto the stage alone.
The crowd's boos mixed with chants of "Charina sucks!"
They were probably booing the no-show Sara more than me.
Nadia went first, talking about her resolve heading into the quarterfinals.
"I'm not like ordinary women. Olivia? You can't beat me with size alone! I'm going to completely destroy you!"
"Looks like Nadia forgot how I beat her senseless in that triple-threat last time. Ah! I must've hit her so hard she can't remember. My bad."
At Olivia's line, Nadia charged like she was ready to fight right there. Casey, caught in the middle, got crushed between their chests and let out a scream.
"Aaaagh!"
At that monstrous shriek the two of them backed off.
Whether the GM was popular or hated, the GM's suffering was the fans' joy.
Laughter erupted from the crowd as Casey, still slumped from the impact, shouted,
"Both of you! Get out of the ring! Save the fighting for next week! Ah! No, wait — that won't do! Just for you two, it's a No DQ match."
"GM! That's not fair."
"Yeah! Why only us for No DQ?"
Olivia and Nadia protested the absurd ruling, but nothing changed.
"If you keep trying to intimidate me with size, I'll change it to Hell in a Cell."
Only then did Olivia and Nadia climb down from the ring, looking like they had no choice.
Once she had the wrestlers reined in like that, everything after went smoothly.
Matches two and three were introduced the same way, and then it was my turn.
"Charina's all alone, I see."
"Yeah. I wanted to get a close look at Number 16."
"Hmm. Looks like Unknown needs some discipline. Skipping an important event like this!"
A voice-modulated voice cut in.
The lights swept around before locking onto a walkway in the second-level seating.
Number 16 was standing there.
"Number 16! Why are you up there? Get down here right now."
"Hmm. That would be a problem. Fine. Do it from there. Tell us your resolve heading into the quarterfinals."
"And if you fail to win the briefcase?"
Number 16's bold declaration turned the boos into cheers.
"I like that confidence. But first try beating Charina."
With that, Number 16 backed away and disappeared.
"Charina! What do you think? Can you win?"
"After I win, I'll give her a whipped-cream bubble bath."
— Ooh! Ooh! —
"Heh. Excellent. Looking forward to it."
After the women's segment wrapped, the men made their entrances.
Sandy Orton and Jayco, Brooks Reed and Obama Femi, Camus versus Hank Ledger. And finally Troy McIntyre and Brook Breaker.
Every matchup looked solid.
Setting aside fan bias and name value, Brooks Reed versus Obama Femi and Troy versus Brook Breaker looked like the most entertaining ones.
And during their interview, Troy and Brook Breaker got into it too, turning their match into a No DQ.
After thoroughly injecting the WWO fans with anticipation for the quarterfinals, we headed to San Francisco.