Champion Conference 2015 (no Kellys)

It had been a quiet time for Adrian Kytes ever since she got back to Japan from her successful tour of Mexico, flying out of the country with a brand new title belt around her waist. It wasn't the title she had wanted at the start of the year, but the Hardcore Title was her first title and she was going to wear it proudly dammit! The champion made the title, not the other way around and while she hadn't had any opportunities to prove it in the ring since returning, she had the opportunity to show up her peers in the Entropy Champion Gwendolin DuPont Battencourt and the Hentai Champion Natasha Loclear.

It was as though management wanted to have this end in a brawl, one of the 3 champion's egos would be enough to fill the arena. Squeezing them all on one bench asking them to sit together and play nice? It was like an insurance scam.

The cosplayer sat down in the middle of the two, championship belt on display in front of her as she was dressed in a simple T-shirt and shorts. Nothing fancy, no doubt in contrast to the blonde and the blue haired champs. "Thanks for coming everyone." She said to the reasonably sized audience, mostly press members and fans, no-one Adrian regocnized yet.

Since first attaining the Entropy Championship at last year's Avalanche, numerous press junkets and promotional appearances were a bothersome though contractually obligated responsibility of having a title belt. The sheer number of them of course picking up tremendously around Summer Splash, to the point where they were starting to blend together in a whirling haze of flashing lights and softball questions. The heiress nevertheless found herself completely in her element at these events, already well-known for being a practiced expert at promoting herself and the company name.

Though even she was going into this one specific press conference expecting a more heated affair, not just from having to share the same table alongside her fellow AFW champions Adrian Kytes and Natasha Loclear. But from walking away from yet another championship match embroiled with controversy. A distinctly common trend in her wrestling career by now, but one that made Gwen a major source of contention in the league, and made the heiress the "it" story of the league. Questions were abounding as to how an aristocratic socialite and still relative newcomer is competing on par with the best the league has to offer and is somehow continuously walking away with championship gold around her waist.

Dressed in her traditional cobalt blue and white sleeveless dress suit, the heiress would emerge from behind the curtains a few steps behind Adrian, the sights and sounds of flashing cameras picking up tremendously upon her arrival. Striding behind the hardcore champion and taking the seat to the right of her, Gwen used her cotton handkerchief to carefully wipe a smudge off of the center plate of her customized Entropy Championship before placing it on the table in front of her in the same manner as Adrian. She took her seat and daintily adjusted her nameplate before taping her mike to make sure it was still on before leaning in to speak.

"Bonjour, I hope everyone has had as eventful a summer as us~..." Gwen spared a quick glimpse Adrians way, eyeing her homely outfit before looking back towards the mass of paparazzi. "Well...I'm glad to see we all dressed up for the occasion~..." The light hearted jab earned a genuine chuckle from the audience, relieving some tension in the air...or elevating it.

Upon first hearing about the press conference management had arranged for Natasha's first question had been why Kelly Conway's name wasn't listed as one of the participants, the world champion's absence seeming odd to the Frenchwoman considering the other major belts were all represented. Further thinking upon the matter brought her to the conclusion that this was meant to end just as most conferences seemed to end, in violence, the three champion's meant to come to blows as their egos clashed. It was an outcome Natasha certainly wouldn't mind considering Adrian was attending as the hardcore champion, Natasha still remembering their last match together quite vividly, but if bloodshed could be avoided then all the better.

The second women, the new entroy champion, was an unknown factor for Natasha. Unlike Adrian with whom she had a history she knew next to nothing about this Gwendolyn except that she came from a wealthy family in England. She had probably seen her around at some of parties she had attended alongside her family but she could not remember ever being properly introduced. It would be interesting to meet another heiress or so Natasha thought, hopefully she didn't carry the ego so many from the wealthier class seemed to as Natasha had partly come to the AFW to get away from all that.

Natasha arrived at the press room a few minutes early but held back, allowing the other two to enter first while she studied the room in search of faces she recognized. She knew a good many of them as they were regulars at these events and fortunately she didn't see anyone who held much of a bias towards any of the three champions. For the evening the bluenette wore her hair down, the blue locks looking like a waterfall cascading around her shoulders. She had decided to wear a deep blue dress with gold accents and a white trim along the top to the event, revealing just enough of her breasts to draw the eye but not so much that she would seem out of place at a high class party. The dress went to just above her knees with black boots taking it from there, a blue coat finished the outfit along with the Hentai title belt draped over her shoulder.

Once Adrian and Gwen had sat down, with Gwendolyn firing the first shot of the evening, Natasha stepped out onto the small stage and took the remaining chair, sparing Gwendolwn a wide smile in greeting while Adrian got one that was, well more of a smirk than anything. Once seated she opened her coat and pushed it back off of her shoulders, letting it drape backwards over the chair while she placed her belt in front of her.

"Adrian is Adrian, for her to wear anything more would be out of character." Natasha said with a warm smile as she glanced over in the other two women's direction, leaning a bit forward to get a better look at Gwendolyn before sitting back. "Adrian I know well but you Gwendolyn I have yet to have the pleasure, seems you have done well though, both of you have in fact. Congratulations are in order yes?" Natasha's native french accent flavored her words by design, Natasha letting it out as she knew the press ate it up.

If Adrian's eyes could roll any further back, she'd have been looking at her own brain with how things were starting off. Yes, Natasha and Adrian had a particularly violent history and the cosplayer had said some uncharitable things about the hentai division... a lot of uncharitable things about the hentai division with a lot more to come, but still! It was years ago, they should be able to move on with their lives, but that knowing smirk from the bluenette told Adrian all she really needed to know, especially when Gwendolyn got an actual smile. The only time people smile at her is when their either paid for it or pushing her off a cliff. the cosplayer thought viciously. She hadn't met Gwen before but her reputation preceded her. Controversial was putting it nicely.

"You know it~" She said, resisting the urge to put her trainers on the table and look more scruffy than she already did, she didn't have to dress up fancy for this, nor did she need 10 minutes in the make-up truck before hand or whatever Natasha and Gwen had. "Yeah Gwen, you've only been in this place for how long before winning that? A year? Only took a whole team of maids and chloroform too, really impressive." Adrian said, wasting little time before diving into the trash talk.

Her subtle prodding of Adrian's...outfit?...if you could call it that...elicited just the response she was aiming towards, endearing her to the audience and getting enough of a reaction to get a feel for the situation. While it was not always the wisest decision to judge people you have just met on first impressions, it was hard not to walk away from this subtle verbal exchange without getting a firm grasp onto the caliber of associates she would be sharing the press conference with. Though it was hardly a shock to her system that the hardcore champion was your prototypical, boorish delinquent who shirks societal conventions simply for the attention...

...Gwen was pleasantly taken aback by Natasha's graceful mannerisms and cadence to her speech, the heiress brightening up considerably from her offering of congratulations. Perhaps the first genuine acknowledgment of her accomplishments from a fellow colleague that wasn't dripping with sarcasm or followed up with a challenge. An aura of dignified sophistication to her that the heiress wasn't exactly expecting form the Hentai Champion, a division that Gwendolyn wouldn't dare touch with a 10 foot pole. It was an odd juxtaposition...to say the least. The "Loclear" name was one that certainly sounded familiar, giving credibility to the idea that perhaps she was indeed a lady of refined elegance if she's a fixture at the types of soiree's Gwen attends.

Delighted at the prospect of finally having a dignified conversation, Gwen opened her mouth to respond but was quickly shut down by Adrian's backhanded compliment. Their was a hush in the audience from the reference of her most notorious win. "GloveGate", as the tabloids unimaginatively coined it. Gwens smile never wavered though, a quick glare towards Adrian before retorting.

"Ahem...8 months, 2 days and seven hours...to be more precise, and far exceeding my own timetable I'm afraid. However I remain humbly privileged to be representing such a cherished title. Journeying up the ranks of this league has been quite the arduous venture and has taken an exorbitant amount of time...Though...who am I to complain? Why you, dear Adrian, deserve the most kudos out of all of us sitting at this table. Could you be a dear and remind us all...How long has it taken you to attain championship gold?" Gwen exaggeratedly looked skyward and tapped her finger on her chin in mock contemplation before pointing her finger at Adrian with each of her guesses, smiling innocently throughout. "4 years?...5 years!...Well, in any case, I salute your tenacity and penchant for not allowing consecutive defeats to embitter your stalwart spirit. Well done~..." Gwen would offer Adrian an actual salute with her gloved hand from her forehead before reaching for her bottle of water. "And...chastising others for purported illegal actions in matches...may not be the direction you, of all people, should take this conversation, Adrian..."

Well that didn't last long whatsoever. Barely finished with the introductions and already the barbs were cutting deep enough to draw blood. Adrian's lack of official titles and honors in AFW despite being a presence since her debut was a sore spot to be sure, but fortunately for the Hardcore champion: her baggy costume was concealing a secret armour against any and all record related backhanded comments. Reaching behind herself, under her shirt as she unbuttoned something quite elaborate. "Au contraire, Gwenny cakes." the brunette smirked as she pulled out her secret weapon. The seemingly forgotten, "prestigious" ICW/ICWA Tri-State Television Championship belt, placing it side by side with her Hardcore Championship. "Defended it since day one, never lost it!" She joked, playing the whole thing off.

Natasha was well aware of the circumstances around Gwendolyn's ascension to being the entropy champion, she made it her business to know not only who the other champions were but also the up and comers. She understood how difficult it was to become a champion in this league but even so she wasn't a fan of the woman' methods, Natasha believed in earning a title the right way and had put off her own title match for a year to ensure it was a fair one, but while it didn't cast Gwen in a favorable light Natasha would reserve final judgement until she had gotten to know her better. Adrian though Natasha already had an opinion on and while it might surprise Adrian to hear it the Frenchwoman had a sort of grudging respect for her, she had once been more of a trickster than anything else but Adrian had beat her fair and square and being the hardcore champion was not a small accomplishment by any standard.

Leaning back in her chair Natasha laughed softly when she saw Adrian prop her feet up on the table and the reaction it got from Gwendolyn, it seemed the two women were getting along famously already. Natasha for the moment was content to watch the show unfolding before her eyes, glancing between to the two women as they began trading digs at one another before the first question was even asked. Natasha's eyes lit up as Adrian went for a direct approach from the start in bringing up the how of Gwen's title victory, the blunette curious to see how Gwen would respond and not disappointed by the entertaining, if not a little long reply the woman gave.

"I can see you two are the best of friends." Natasha remarked with a sideways look at the small crowd of media personel who chuckled at the jest, though before she could say more Adrian pulled out a little surprise. Where this new belt came from Natasha hadn't the faintest idea except that it wasn't anything from the AFW or other leagues she recognized. "Well well Adrian, what else are you hiding underneath those clothes I wonder? You always were good at that, pulling out some hidden weapon when it was needed, not me though, nowhere to hide anything in this dress."

Having her staff perform a background check on Adrian before coming on stage was already paying off in dividends, Gwendolyn arming herself with clips of verbal ammunition should the hardcore champion choose to confront her on that battlefield. Adrians closet was rife with skeletons that the heiress would happily enjoy bringing to light in terms should Adrian dare attempt to confront her on any of Gwen's controversial matches. Masterfully counter striking the hardcore champions arguments point for point did make her particularly parched though, the heiress taking a refreshing sip of water from her Aquafina bottle while Adrian presented another gaudy monstrosity of a belt from beneath her tattered white t-shirt.

"Mmm...may I see~...?" Whether given permission or not, Gwen would daintily pick up the ICW...something or other belt to take a closer gander at it's front plate, a starry-eyed smile on her face as if she were cradling a newborn baby. "Aww~...that's simply adorable~...It even has a little television on it and everything~...*giggle*...Carrying around a children's toy belt is an admirable way of reminding yourself of your humble beginnings. Perhaps I should purchase one myself from a local thrift store on my way home~..." A hardy chuckle came from the audience as Gwen put the belt back on the table, the hidden snipes and exchanged barbs between the two clearly showing that they were not on friendly terms, despite the pleasantry of how Gwen spoke.

"Why I agree wholeheartedly, Natasha. I'd say we're all getting along quite swimmingly~... And a hearty congratulations to yourself on your own well-deserved championship reign. Oh...and I simply love your dress~..." Several reporters started scribbling notes down from Gwendolyn's sharply contrasting approach to Natasha. Due to the constraints of her scheduling, Gwendolyn was simply incapable of researching Natasha's history in as thorough a manner as Adrian, instead judging her on face value and first impressions. The elegance of her speech and dignified mannerisms were all traits that Gwendolyn could obviously relate to, taking a liking to the fellow aristocrat rather quickly...perhaps due in part to Gwendolyn's blissful ignorance in regards to what exactly goes on in Hentai matches or the decidedly lewd things this elegant individual is capable of.

"But let's not delay the proceedings any longer, shall we?" Gwen's smiling face would turn back to the sea of paparazzi as she readjusted her posture and folded her gloved hands. "I'm ever so certain you didn't wake up this early to hear us prattle on about woman's fashion and toy belts. I believe we're all ready to start fielding questions from you fine, upstanding journalists." With that permission given, a few over-eager reporters would stand in place and eagerly raise their hands to try and get their questions answered before anyone else.

The AFW security force (a few of the Kawaii wrestlers who'd been roped in to attempt to pull apart the inevitable brawl between the three champions) made a tactical step in closer to the three when Gwendolyn took the ICW/ICWA title from Adrian's little area of table, the Hardcore champion staring daggers at the heiress as she fondled her prized memento of her early days wrestling in the North East United States, with a smile of course, there were at least still some pretenses to civility here: the actual Q&A part hadn't even started yet.

Well not until a very brave soul raised his voice finally in among the sea of raised hands, speaking in Japanese. "{How do you feel your divisions compare to those not represented here, the kawaii title, world title or the tag team division?}" He asked, almost cutting to the biggest fight-starter among the three, but maybe they could all unite under the banner of verbally attacking someone who wasn't even here. 

"I'll handle this first," Adrian said holding her arm out to pre-empt Natasha. "{The Kawaii division suffers from a lot of the problems women divisions suffer elsewhere combined with it being more of a weight-class defined division. It lacks credibility compared to us three}." She answered in near-perfect Japanese, she'd been living in Tokyo for 5 years now and started off with a basic understanding of the language. "{No-one is going to take anyone who self-identifies as a Kawaii seriously in any other division. I'm not saying that size is everything,}" she added making damn sure she wasn't holding her chest at that moment in time "{but you're saying that you like it in the shallow end in the pool. Makes it hard to believe you can swim with the sharks}." She concluded.

Natasha was quite certain a fight was about to break out between the other two women at the table when Gwen took the belt from in front of Adrian without waiting for any sort of response from its owner. She turned in her chair to better face the two, expecting that at any moment she would have to leap out of her chair to avoid getting drawn into the conflict, but somehow Adrian took it all in stride and kept smiling away. It wasn't how Natasha remembered Adrian, instead of being brash and taking the bait she was being...more mature perhaps? Or was she simply biding her time until a better opportunity to get at Gwen presented herself, such as when the woman's back was turned and her guard dropped.

"Oh yes, thank you Gwendolyn. It was certainly not an easy thing to obtain, this title, but oh so very worth it." Natasha replied courteously with a nod of her head acknowledging the compliment before a single reporter spoke up to begin the conference in earnest. Adrian need not have bothered holding out her arm though Natasha did bow her head and give the woman a slight wave of her hand, bidding her to handle the question first if thats what she wanted, Natasha certainly didn't mind.

What Adrian said Natasha found herself agreeing to for the most part, the kawaii division was a strange one in that only certain girls who looked the part could compete, mostly light weights with no intense wrestling training and so didn't get much in the way of respect from the other divisions. She did laugh though when she heard Adrian mention their size, casting a quick sideways glance at the woman who was often smaller than her opponents, in more ways than one.

Once Adrian had said her piece Natasha pulled the microphone closer and added her own thoughts to the matter. "Its not so much their size that leads to this lack of general acknowledgment by the rest of the divisions though but the type of matches themselves." She said, knowing full well what some people thought of the matches in the hentai division. "They are promoted as soft matches where much of the action takes place on a bed or other such places, with the rules forbidding any true violence. Unlike the other divisions where the matches tend to have little in the way of true rules, we've all seen sensual acts in hardcore matches and vice versa, Kawaii matches just come off as tame, like a junior division if you will."