Kabuki Girls, Part 2
Originally, TPA's Thursday matches were broadcast only in Florida—and even then only as a paid channel. They were never a national broadcast.
So Stacey McMahon made a quick decision.
She bought off the pay-TV network with money, negotiated with Jetflix, and launched TPA for the month at least.
What was truly fortunate was that Jetflix welcomed them with open arms.
"Charina! Things have been incredibly loud over here. The viral buzz is insane. For us, being able to broadcast is fantastic."
"Hmm. Would it be possible to meet in person sometime? I'd just like to take a photo together."
"Has WWO acquired TPA, by any chance? If so, would you let us film a documentary on Charina? People are so curious about her that the response would explode."
Considering how hard they had struggled when launching Law and Smash Down on Jetflix in the past, this time it came together far too easily. It was almost anticlimactic how readily the other side accepted.
At Paul's words, Stacey nodded and replied.
"They understand Charina's commercial value better than we do—and rate it higher. She's a complete gold mine. She's so beautiful I could die."
"Heh. You're really taken with her."
At Paul's remark, Stacey wagged her index finger left and right.
"Is that all you think it is? I hear ad inquiries are flooding into TPA right now too. We've already put three on hold, and more keep coming in. If we run Rina for just two years, we'll pull enough to acquire TPA and still have money left over."
Hearing Stacey's words, Paul thought of the general manager who had been fighting tooth and nail to keep TPA alive.
"Karl Overdia's eyes must be streaming tears of blood right about now."
If it had been TPA's smaller scale rather than WWO's, and if they had held on just two or three more months, they could have paid down some debt—maybe even turned a profit. So Overdia's insides must have been in absolute turmoil.
"Hmm. That's why Karl supposedly hired private detectives to track down Bruce Stevenson, the CEO. He says he was trying to hold back, but now he wants to slap him across the face at least once?"
"Heh. You're really wicked yourself. Why didn't you just tell him he fled to Liverpool?"
At Paul's question, Stacey smiled, lifting the corner of her mouth.
"Why should I? Why would I give that away for free? Hmph."
Whenever his wife got like this, Paul thought she was exactly like his father-in-law, and he operated the monitor.
"TPA's broadcast time."
"Rina said she was the third match, right? She'll be out soon."
And so the first match began.
It was a bout between Lorenzo Barrera and Jasper McQueen, six-month seniors to Charina and Selma at the academy. Both had already been confirmed for release after the merger.
While watching their match, Stacey let out a sigh. They must have practiced a lot—there were no botches—but the clumsy selling jumped right out at her.
"They learned from the same coach, so how can the gap be this wide? Even granting that Rina's a genius, the difference with Alf is way too severe. They're terrible! A hammering and a DDT have completely different impact, so why the same face and the same scream?! That's why the crowd's reaction is lukewarm. How can their heads not work at all? Are they chicken-brained?"
At Stacey's scathing criticism, Paul shielded them from a wrestler's perspective.
"They weren't originally this bad. Both of them have completely lost their confidence."
"Hmm?"
"They already know from the atmosphere around them—that they're going to be cut. Besides, it doesn't look like they put any real thought into the match structure either. It's fair to say those guys are in a state of resignation."
From WWO's side, they had only set the win-loss and the time for this one, and told the wrestlers to put the match together themselves. They wanted to see the wrestlers' capabilities beyond just moves and showmanship. But from the very first match, it was a complete disappointment. Sighs came naturally, but since the first match was between wrestlers already confirmed for elimination, they decided to understand for now.
Then came the second match.
The second match was a matchup between Donna Hercules of the tag team Donna & Share—already confirmed to join, with only brand placement left—and Tyna Steeles.
"Tyna looked decent to you too, right?"
"It was watchable enough. Donna wasn't bad either."
The time given to them was eight minutes, with the result being Tyna's victory. From the start, the two launched into a frantic exchange of moves. As flashy techniques flew, the crowd loved it. Then Tyna hit a surprise neckbreaker and finished with a moonsault.
It was a fast-paced match that barely gave the viewer time to breathe, but it didn't satisfy Paul's eyes—or Stacey's. When the match ended, Stacey shot up from her chair.
"A close match ending with just two moves?! These idiots! Why are these kids so stupid too? Are they the type who can't do anything if you don't hand them a script?"
"These ones will have to go to NEXT. We'll have to teach them from the basics how to structure a match."
If there had been about two more minutes, or if Tyna had dominated from around the six-minute mark, it would have looked far better. And if both of them had cut one or two moves each to leave some breathing room, the impact when they hit the big moves would have been much stronger. In conclusion, both of them had been far too greedy in trying to look good.
The fierce guitar riff of her theme song kicked in—zing, zzzing, zzzing—and Charina appeared with a bright smile. She was wearing her usual black long spandex pants and a black tank-top bra.
"That girl… we should probably touch up her wrestling gear a bit."
"Into a bikini?"
"No, not that far. It's just too plain right now. It needs a little more bling."
Paul immediately opposed his wife's suggestion.
"No. Better leave it as is."
"Why?"
"When every other female wrestler wears flashy outfits, something understated like that stands out more to a man's eye. It's also the kind of clothes you can see anywhere in real life…. It can even feel sexier. And for big matches she wears something different, so it's fine to leave it."
Stacey touched her lips with her hand and nodded.
"Now that you mention it, you're right. Just put a hooded zip-up on her for entrances. With her name printed on it…. It'll sell like crazy."
"Yeah. And while we're at it, expand the color options a bit."
"Of course."
Then Sayuri Sane appeared and made her way up to the stage.
"You deliberately only gave them six minutes?"
"That's right."
"You're wicked too. You put the kid through the wringer."
"Not the wringer—a test. Six minutes is really short. For a squash match, Sayuri's name value makes it awkward."
"A surprise roll-up win would be ideal, then."
"Exactly. That level would be a B. A full squash for six minutes is a C. Running it like Tyna's match is a D."
At Paul's words, Stacey asked with a smile.
"No F or A?"
"There are. Going over the match time by a minute or more is an F. If it progresses in a way that surprises both you and me, that's an A."
"Your grading criteria are really simple."
"Simple is best."
The first two minutes of the match progressed with Sayuri in control.
"What's she planning? Did Jane evaluate her?"
"Jane reported 'no issues.'"
Then Charina took over and dominated the match.
"Looks like it's ending this way. Not bad. Somewhere between a B and a C?"
"Yeah. A C+."
But then Sayuri attempted a surprise roll-up, followed by a crossface.
"Hmm?"
"Huh? What's she going for?"
It had planted the impression in the viewers that Sayuri was still full of energy. Charina barely escaped with a rope break. As she struggled to her feet, Sayuri hit a crossbody.
Catching her like a ball and holding her up with pure strength, Charina slammed Sayuri straight into the ring and followed up with a stomp. Then, winking, Charina worked the crowd for a reaction.
"About a minute left? She'll finish with a Shooting Star Press. Not bad."
At Stacey's words, Paul nodded as well. At this level, it felt like they had sufficiently protected the honor of a veteran like Sayuri.
But what Charina chose was not a Shooting Star Press. A completely different move from what they had expected came out.
"Walls of Jericho?"
Paul's voice rose a little.
"Wow! Our little cutie made an excellent choice. Aww. She's so adorable. How am I supposed to not love her?"
"It's a match that took good care of Sayuri's name value. Even a champion can lose if they get caught in a submission."
Sayuri screamed and thrashed violently, but was eventually dragged back to the center of the ring and tapped out immediately.
It was only a six-minute match. But the crowd must have found it truly entertaining, because cheers poured out. And on the judges' panel being shown, Mick Foley and Jack Cena were smiling brightly and applauding.
Mick Foley's reaction was easy enough to understand. Charina and Mick hadn't met many times, but a strange bond of sorts had formed between them. But Jack's reaction was truly surprising. Paul knew how to distinguish between that guy's genuine smiles and his showmanship ones. The smile Jack was showing now was 100% sincere.
"Hahaha!"
Paul laughed so hard the windows of the CCO office rattled.
"Why are you laughing so hard?"
Stacey expressed her curiosity at Paul's big laugh.
"Charlotte and Vicky Lynch had been begging me to send her to their brands, so I'd been mulling it over a bit."
"Not sending her to Rebellion, but to Law?"
At Stacey's question, Paul spoke with a firm expression.
"No—I've made up my mind. Rina absolutely has to go to Rebellion. Instead, we'll grow Rebellion's pie, and make her the face of Rebellion. And Karl won't work as the general manager either. We'll drop that guy and use someone more solid."
"Karl can stay or go, it doesn't matter—but no matter how great Rina is, can she do it alone?"
"We'll send male wrestlers with high name value too. And on the women's side, there's a really good one. We'll grind Rina on the bottom for just one year and then make her the IC Champion."
"That much…. But who for the female wrestler?"
Stacey and Paul pulled up a list on the monitor of who would be good to send and discussed it, and also narrowed down several candidates usable as general manager.
But the plans they laid were completely overturned a few days later by phone calls from Orlando and Korea.