The Friction Spotlight featuring Taylor Parker!

Hilde nodded along with Taylor. When she finished, she glanced at her index cards. "Let's shift back to the ring. Dark Angel. You and Cassie Elliot have been friends since your New York days. She was the focal point of the rivalry, but it seemed your match with Chigusa was the catalyst. Wlak us through it, from your perspective."

"Okay," Taylor said, and pushed her sleeves back up over her elbows. "So first, Chigusa and me were pretty cool. She was an alright girl and everything, but she was just so. Fucking. Stupid. Just... nobody home upstairs. The wheel is turning, but the hamster is dead.

"So that match was my triumphant return from my bathroom floor. I was finally back in the game, and at one point, I was climbing the cage, about to take the win, and fuckin' 'Dark Angel'," she said sarcastically, with air-quotes around the word, "showed up and kicked my off. Chigusa was just like 'hey, that's cool' and beat the shit out of me and tried to kick my ribs in. Then... like, I still don't know what the fuck was going on in that match, but at the end fuckin' 'Dark Angel' shows up, knocks Chigusa out with a chair, lays me out and goes to work on me." She shook her head with a scowl. "I don't really need to go into why, but Cassie saw, and she came bombing down the ramp like a champ and yanked her off, arm locked her, and was like 'APOLOGIZE!' That knotted up 'Dark Angel's' panties bad enough that I guess she just went nuts. Nuts-er." She shrugged.

"But Cassie's a beast, for real."

"Aside from being nuts? I think so, yeah." Taylor nodded. "She met Johnny during the couple weeks when we had split up, after my injury. I guess she had it pretty bad for him, but when Johnny and me got back together she was the odd man out. I think she was just super jealous in general, but Johnny was probably the biggest thing. She flipped the fuck out on me back then, too, tried to pound in my broken ribs like everyone else did. She's a total pussy."

Mai beamed and looked at Taylor. "Speaking of, it's gossip time! Your husband is a talented Tension wrestler, who enjoys similar success on his roster. He's got quite the fan club, especially with the ladies. What's it like to be married to a wrestler, especially when he's no stranger to controversy himself? More importantly, what's it like in the bedroom!" Mai said, winking at the camera, and flashing a vee to Taylor.

"Awesome, and awesome!" Taylor grinned brightly. "Well, his fan club sometimes has got to remember their boundaries, but I'm happy to remind them." She said with a predatory flash in her deep blue eyes.

"But I love Johnny soooo much! I am never gonna let him go. As far as him being a wrestler, I guess that like it's cool that we both kinda understand the job, ya know? The lifestyle, the training, all that. I think a normal guy would probably get real sick of me real quick." Light, airy laughter cooled into a dreamy, contented look. "But Johnny can handle me, just like I can handle him."

She looked at Mai with an expression that approached smug. "And it's physical. It's competitive. And it's fun!" She beamed. "We both love a challenge, and we're both in really, really good shape. Johnny is solid, and that's about all you really need to know." She winked.

Mai giggled, Hilde had a placid smile but kept her focus. Once Taylor was finished, Hilde cleared her throat. "We're just about done with this portion of the interview. After a two more questions, we're going to take a small commercial break and then open questions up to the audience. Let's take a look back now that you've had a chance to lay your life and career out on the table. You've enjoyed a lot of success since your return but if we can reflect back for a moment, what was your biggest match? Your biggest victory? Your most despairing defeat? What matches have defined your career so far?"

"I..." Taylor hesitated. She stared off into space, and then dropped her gaze to her hands in her lap. She breathed a little laugh, with a hint of a smile.

"I think my biggest victories were with Akashi and Adrian. Beating Iron Maiden was really cool, too, but the other two were..." She thought about it. "They helped me figure out who I am. I've had a lot of losses that really hurt, against... sorry, I've been calling them Raging Hard-On for so long that I can't remember their real name! Against Heather and Cecelia, against Chigusa, against Brittany. Gatt, too. But that's okay, they're all in the past.

"I think really that what's defined my career hasn't even been my matches. Doing this stuff, though, fighting in the ring, under the lights and in front of the crowd and the cameras... It's not about hurting people or beating people down and it's not even really about winning. It's about fighting with your heart, ya know? It's about finding out that things are possible that you were too scared to dream of before. It's about not holding back. I really hope my biggest victories are still ahead of me, but when they come I don't think they'll be mine."

She looked at Hilde as if she had more to say, but then only closed her mouth and smiled.

Hilde smiled at Taylor but Mai spoke up. "That's a good way to lead us to this final question of the two on one interview portion of our program. I think you know where it's heading." Mai said slyly. 'What do you hope to achieve in the future!?"

Taylor had that answer in the bag. "I'm gonna be the best," she said immediately. "Simple as that. Outside of Friction, I've got plans I'm not really talking about yet, so right now we're just kicking ass and taking names. No one's gonna stop me, man."