Induction Ceremony
"Alright. James, introduce yourself first."
"Hello, everyone. I'm James Holt, newly arrived. My registered name is James Holmes. Looking forward to working with you, seniors."
"I'm Alfred Gonzalez, who'll be forming the tag team Inquisitors with James. Call me Alf."
"I'm Selma Gonzalez, that idiot's older sister. Nice to meet you all."
"I'm Charina. Pleasure to work with you."
When the Inquisitors made their introductions, the reaction was lukewarm at best. But the moment Selma and then Charina spoke, thunderous cheers and applause erupted.
"Whoa. She's even prettier than the rumors."
"No joke. How can someone be that gorgeous?"
"What the.... She's fucking beautiful."
"Damn, she looks hot as hell."
"Charina. You an eye candy? How about being my sidekick?"
"Hey! I'm the champion. She should be my sidekick."
A voice cut through the chaos of the male wrestlers to calm them down.
"Fuck. All of you shut up. These are my prized students. Anyone who hits on them gets retired on the spot."
"Hmm. I'll offer a memorial prayer."
"Don't make me bring out my old personality."
Today was Monday. Not only the wrestlers who had returned from New York, but every wrestler except those injured had gathered at TPA.
It was a customary event after a major PPV to outline the overall story flow, but with four new faces joining, it also served as an introduction. Moreover, Bibi and The Bon were present today as well. They only wrestled two or three matches a month, but they were still officially part of TPA.
Besides being veterans, Bibi's notoriety was legendary. The guys who had been whistling fell silent.
"Bibi. We're cool, right?"
The ones speaking to Bibi were Mac Hardy and Jet Hardy.
"You two never show your faces usually. What brings you all out today?"
"Jane wouldn't stop bragging, so we came."
"She said she's doing a hardcore match later. So we came to get a look at her face first."
When Mac uttered the word hardcore, the other wrestlers' expressions changed.
"With that body, she's doing hardcore?"
"Nah. No way.... Just going through the motions, right? What if she scars her face?"
"Yeah, right? Just for show, yeah?"
There were those who were shocked, those who found it absurd, those who were dumbfounded—a whole variety of reactions.
"She'll do well. Rina..."
The Bon said briefly.
While they were talking, Producer Ben Hercules stepped up onto the platform.
"Those of you concerned already know, but the Inquisitors will have a dark match against the Thunder Boys on Thursday. That day, Selma faces Tyna Steels, and Charina faces Olivia."
At the mention of Olivia, both male and female wrestlers started murmuring. Her profile listed her at 175 cm and 100 kg, but in reality she was more like 110 kg? Or 115 kg.
"Even if it's a dark match, what kind of matchup is this?"
"They're putting her against Olivia? Dark match day will be her retirement day."
"If she's a rookie, they should match her with someone similar."
"Ben. If you're just going to use her like that, give her to me as a sidekick."
And some wrestlers even asked Olivia.
"Olivia. What's going on? Don't tell me you agreed to job for her?"
"If she collides with you, she might die."
"I've got nothing to say either. Don't ask anymore."
He also announced the dark matches and house show schedules for the other wrestlers.
"Alright. Let's give it our all until Emergency on August 15th."
Then Mac Hardy raised his hand and shouted.
"Ben."
"Yes, Mac."
"So who is she doing the hardcore match with? And is it at Emergency? Or at Road of Victory in September?"
Ben looked at Karl standing behind him at that question, and Karl nodded.
"We're thinking of Emergency. And the opponent is Anne Clements."
At the name Anne Clements, the room grew noisy again.
"A kid who's been signed for three days is getting a title match?"
"Don't tell me they're making her champion?"
"They're crazy."
"This is too blatant of a push."
Ben tried to quiet them, but when the commotion wouldn't die down, Karl took the mic himself.
"Everyone, please quiet down."
As CMO and director Karl grabbed the microphone, they quieted to hear what he had to say.
"In Charina's contract conditions, we agreed to book a hardcore match. Because of that condition, her salary was partially reduced. Cage match, TLC, barbed wire, thumbtacks, baseball bats will all appear. Now! Among the female wrestlers excluding Anne, raise your hand if you can do this kind of hardcore match. Then we'll book it as a Triple Threat Match for three."
When Karl specifically explained how it would proceed, everyone fell silent except for one person.
"Karl! What about men? I want to try it."
"Jet! Can you get that surgery done and return within a month? Then I'll put you in."
At Karl's words, the male and female wrestlers burst into loud laughter.
"Damn. I want to do a match like that after so long."
"First get permission from your wife and the princesses. Then I'll book it right away."
At the word princesses, Jet Hardy fell silent. Jet's family had said that if he did another dangerous match without consulting them, it would mean divorce and complete estrangement.
"Alright! First, let's exchange simple greetings. And after the day's work is done, the new wrestlers should come see me before heading home."
Once Karl, Ben, and the others all left, the Dudley Boys brought the Hardy Boys over to introduce them to Rina, Selma, and the others. Then they took them off to a corner. They stepped aside because if they stayed, the wrestlers would clearly be walking on eggshells.
Then the male wrestlers swarmed Rina and Selma like mad. Even though it was just simple greetings and handshakes, quite a bit of time passed. If Anthony and Sophia hadn't been watching, they probably would have been tormented all afternoon.
"Alright, first let's see the chemistry between Selma and Tyna?"
Selma and Tyna started with basic rope rebounds and exchanged each other's signatures. That day Tyna had only seen Selma do a chair shot, but she had seen Rina's performance, and had also watched a video of Rina and Selma's five-minute practice match in advance, so they could match up to some extent.
"She's good."
"Pretty clean."
"Hmm. But her selling when she's hurt is a bit lacking."
In another ring, James and Alf were matching up with the Thunder Storms, but both male and female wrestlers were all gathered on this side.
Tyna's finish move, a moonsault from the top rope, was caught by Selma, and Selma also did her finish move jumping elbow drop, wrapping up the chemistry check.
Their chemistry? You could tell right away from Tyna's expression. She took an elbow drop from quite a height, but just lightly stroked her neck and stood right up. It meant it barely hurt at all.
"You're good. I think we can have a fun match."
"Ms. Steels. Same here."
"Ms. Steels.... Just call me Tyna comfortably."
"Yes!"
They came down from the ring smiling, and Olivia and Charina went up. When the two went up, even the wrestlers who had been watching from a bit of a distance approached under the ring, and the Dudley Boys and Hardy Boys also came under the ring.
"I've seen the video, but honestly I'm 122 kg. Can you lift me?"
"Yes. I can lift you, senior."
"You know if you force it, we both get seriously hurt, right?"
"You won't get hurt. I even lift Coach Bibi Dudley. This is a secret, but Coach Bibi has put on weight and is over 140 kg."
"Pfft. Sounds like a lie, but since I've seen some things, I'll believe you."
Olivia was a veteran, but Sophia had said she wasn't picky and had an easygoing personality. Even after exchanging just a few words, that personality seemed to fit.
"Sorry, but I came back from New York last night and I'm a bit tired. So. Let's skip the small stuff and just exchange the big ones. How about it?"
"Yes. Sounds good."
"Then shall we start with the suplex? I have two kinds."
The suplexes Olivia used were the standard one where she lifts you vertically while facing you and flips you over, and the belly-to-belly suplex where she hugs the waist while facing you and flips backward. Two kinds. If you do a belly-to-belly from behind the opponent, it becomes a German suplex. Considering that it requires not just strength but a certain amount of waist flexibility, despite that mountain of a belly sticking out, her flexibility seemed pretty good.
"I'll give you a signal by putting more strength in my hands before flipping."
"Thank you."
She lifted me so easily and executed the suplex.
-BANG-
I executed the breakfall properly. But since Olivia herself was falling backward, the sound rang out quite loudly. When she released the hand holding my neck, I stood right up.
"Looks like you did the breakfall properly."
"It was comfortable because you held my neck tightly."
"I was comfortable too because you're light. How many kg?"
"50 kg."
"Haha. You're probably the lightest among the female wrestlers. Other wrestlers will love wrestling you. You'll be popular."
55 kg and 50 kg. Even just a 5 kg difference is a world of difference from the attacker's perspective. Probably any decent female wrestler would be able to use power moves and big techniques against me. And if Selma put her mind to it, she could even lift me for a powerbomb.
After that I took a belly-to-belly suplex as well. And now my turn.
When Olivia bent her waist forward, I grabbed her neck with my right arm and put it against my waist, and with the opposite hand grabbed the opposite side of her waist. I also gave the signal by slightly tightening the neck more. When I bent my knees and put power into it, Olivia gave a little jump. I pulled her up with all my strength. In an instant I held her vertically and immediately flipped her backward.
-THUD-
"Whoa. She lifted and flipped Olivia."
"Wow. How strong is she?"
"I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself."
When I immediately released my hands, Olivia stood up as if nothing had happened.
"Honestly I was scared you'd collapse while lifting me. But you lifted cleanly. Plus you held the neck well so it was really comfortable. Well done."
"Thank you."
"Shall we go to the next? What do you want to try?"
"Let's go with the choke slam. It's one of my finishes."
"Really? Oho. Nice. Finally there's a wrestler besides me who uses the choke slam."
After that I cleanly succeeded with the choke slam and powerbomb as well. When the watching colleagues thought there was nothing more to be surprised about, I even showed the Dark Fall and shooting star press.
Up to the Dark Fall they were a bit surprised, but the shooting star press amazed them more than when I first lifted Olivia. That feeling. I know it well too. I know how beautifully my shooting star press draws a curve as it falls.
With that, matching up was over. Olivia looked at me and grinned so wide her molars showed as she gave a thumbs up, and the Hardy Boys grabbed easygoing The Bon Dudley's collar and yelled at the top of their lungs asking how he taught her.
And from that day on, no one ever looked at me and spouted nonsense about being 'eye candy type' again.