The Fab Four?

"Revenge on Gwen huh? Doesn't that sound familiar..."

Haley replied, crossing her arms as the question came to her.

"That's...tough...Akashi absolutely crushed me, and killed off all my momentum at that point...that tag match at Summer Splash was bad, and cost me Valley for a while too, so that's a bad one..."

Haley rubbed her chin, thinking for a bit, before having her answer.

"Honestly though...Avalanche 2014. That ladder match with Gwen. The match itself, honestly, should be one of my favorites, and it was the best match of the night in my opinion, but not only did getting cheated out of the title suck, but the after effects made it worse."

Haley shot a quick apologetic glance at Alaina and Julia before continuing.

"I mean, no offense to these two, but while they were off yelling for revenge and demanding triple threat, two on one assault matches, and making everything about them and The Dojo, everybody seemed to forget that I was the one Gwen screwed over to get the title in the first place.

Do you have any idea what its like to be forgotten? To be considered a complete afterthought, left out completely while other people take your spot? Everything I had earned and fought for, from before the other three had even arrived in the league, was gone. Gwen was never going to give me a rematch, and "Taylor's Girls", no offense, were just given shot after shot and all of them, even Cassie, were acting like they were the only one's with a claim to the belt Then when they won it, everyone acted like all was right with the world, while I'm just standing on the sidelines wondering what the hell happened.

Not gonna lie...I kinda resented them for that. I mean, I'm over it now, and I AM proud of them...but there was a while there where I was pretty pissed about being left in the cold while the Dojo seemed to take over all of Friction...Now though, the only one I'm still mad at is Gwen. So as far as I'm concerned, the "Revenge on Gwen" line starts behind me, not them."

She sighed, finally finishing, while her words settled, hoping Alaina and Julia weren't too pissed off at her, and Madison blinked a bit before continuing.

"Well, that was certainly long winded, though I think we get the point. Sounds like nobody has had a time full of peaches and wine eh? Moving on. 29 year old Saburo Chen, from China, asks all 4 of you: Before joining AFW, who were your biggest wrestling influences?"


Haley rubbed the back of her head, as Madison kept staring at her.

"Well uh, I'll try to keep this short, but my biggest influences...the first would have to be Silver King. About a year into my training, I went to Mexico to get more experience and see if I could learn some high flying. I was young, only about 16 at the time, and there were a lot of people wanting to take advantage of my money, my youth...other things I'd rather not mention...Silver King was the one who agreed to train me. He was from the old guard, a lucha libre veteran and former major star back in the "entertainment" days of wrestling, who had real legitimate skills he used once the entertainment style died out.

He was too old and beat up by that point to really teach me high flying stuff, so he focused on using my speed and submission skills. Great man. He taught me, gave me a place to stay for the year I was there, made me his tag partner so I could get in ring experience, and kept me safe from the less scrupulous wrestlers that wanted to hurt or abuse or otherwise take advantage of me. He even gave me my name, calling me his "Silver Ace" when I became his tag partner, and had me start doing his old Superkick as a finisher, which I still do today. I learned so much from him, and I appreciate every bit of it. I haven't seen him in years, but we still exchange letters from time to time. I've tried to pass on what he taught me to Gallium too.

The other big influence in my career has to be Angel. I first got into AFW when I was in Mexico, where Silver King and others ordered the Summer Splash PPV that year to see if Angel could beat Akashi to become champ. She lost, but that was the first time I saw her, and I was just fascinated. Her look, her skill, her drive. I became a fan of hers and whenever I was down after that, the thought of joining AFW, of meeting and even facing her in the ring, became my ultimate motivation. She's been a big motivation and inspiration to me, and seeing her win the title and beat Taylor was a big treat. Now I've actually met her and she's like the big sister I never had...so...yeah. I'll shut up now. Sorry for the rant!"

Alaina's expression went from happy go lucky to neutral at best in a hurry. She had heard this all before, so it was nothing new. However, every time she heard it she cringed just a little. In her mind it was nonsense, nothing more but it was also getting to be a broken record.

When Madison turned to look at her, she did her best to smile. "All right, I don't see myself being that...... ah, comprehensive with my answer." Alaina said, doing her best not to mouth off. Ace and Valley were her friends, and she liked them. She could understand why Ace was upset about being pushed off to the sideline. Still, having her own accomplishments minimized by her peers got old fast. Alaina let out a sigh and shrug as she looked over at Ace. "Just let me know when you want your title shot. I guess since I had a dozen chances to get this you should get a shot at me right?" Alaina sat back, turning her attention back to Madison.

Now for the benign question at hand...."I guess, being a dojo girl and all that I could say Taylor or Akashi but if it weren't for my dorky Tension buddy Charlie I would never have gotten into wrestling. Back in San Diego he helped me get a tryout against that little promotion's champ. I ended up being able to beat that big, blubbery brawler and from that point on wrestling was just something I liked. Other than Charlie, I think Julia is right up there. We work together every day and words can't even begin to describe how much I have learned from her."

Julia wasn’t any more flattered by what she was hearing than Alaina. Her eyebrow raised, and the increasingly irritated expression forming on her face was practically saying everything Julia would’ve loved to herself. All the “no offenses” Ace threw out didn’t stop her from being offended. Fortunately for everyone, a new question and two full answers were run through before it came back to Julia. It gave her time to remind herself that Ace hadn't seemed to intentionally offend anyone, and was just sharing her honest opinion. Had to respect that much, at least. And she was finally able to smile a bit again when she heard the end of Alaina’s answer.

“Aww. Thanks, girl.” she said, nudging the Amazon with an elbow. “Biggest influences? Well I may never’ve even thought about becomin’ a wrestler if it weren’t for my parents. They run a promotion back home in New Mexico, New Frontier Pro-Wrestling...” had to get that quick plug in. “...and they pretty much started grooming me, my brother and sister for that life as soon as we could walk.” Julia smiled at the camera and waved, then gave a quick little shout out to her family. “Hey guys! How’s it goin?”

Then it was right back to answering the question at hand. “And o’course, gotta think all the luchadors who helped me hone my style. Ultimo Tigre, Mascara Barbaro, Tormenta, Panther Dorado, and El Rayo Jr. Those five all took me under my wing when I was training in Mexico, and I learned so much from them I never would’ve anywhere else.” Again she addressed the camera, winking and giving a thumbs up. “Viva Mexico!”

Julia then thought again for a moment, then continued. “Y’know, I know the question said ‘before AFW,’ but I don’t think I could not mention Taylor here. In the year I spent trainin’ under her, it’s crazy how much I’ve been able to learn. And it ain’t like she had to do it either. I was a nobody when I showed up here, y’know? And she had just won the championship then. For someone at her level to take such a big chance on me after I’d only had a couple matches here... It meant the world to me. I just wish I coulda been a better student to her, especially over the last few months, after that triple threat...” Her thoughts once again returned to the controversial title situation, and the blonde’s bright smile started to die down a bit. In Julia’s mind, that match was where things had really gone bad with her and Alaina’s efforts to chase the Entropy Championship. Everything before she felt they’d handled as well as they could. But after, the way they’d acted had hurt their relationship with Taylor, something they never really had a chance to fix before she retired and left. Just thinking about it was painful...

The cowgirl abruptly shook her head and forced a little smile and chuckle, then glanced over Valley’s way. “Sorry, started ramblin’ for a sec there. Think you were next, right?”

Wow. That got awkward in a hurry.

Valley didn’t answer Julia right away. She wasn’t ignoring her, at least not intentionally, but she was having a little trouble focusing after the emotional bombshell her girlfriend had just dropped.

She knew the Entropy Title scene had really drained her over the past year or so, ever since Gwen ran away with it. It was a sore spot for Ace, and she knew it was going to spill over one day, she just didn’t think today would be it. The last thing she wanted was to be between her girlfriend and Alaina, one of the nicest people she’d met in the AFW. She knew which side she’d take if it all came down, but that was a result she desperately hoped to avoid.

Fortunately, the mood lifted enough for smiles to return, albeit a bit diminished. They could always hammer things out another, when their words weren’t being transported across the entire planet Earth.

”Yup, my turn.” Valley nodded and straightened up, making sure her body was on full display for the camera. She bought this bikini just for the interview, and the whole world was going to see it. Damn it. ”I guess the obvious answer is my mother, Valley Doll Sr. She definitely played a big part, but maybe not as big as people think. There was a time when I didn’t want to become a wrestler. At all.” She rolled her eyes. ”Well, that’s what I told myself, anyway. Had a rebellious streak for a good, long while. My parents wanted me to go in the business, which meant I didn’t want to by default.”

Valley sat back with a nostalgia-flavored sigh. ”But I gave in, eventually. I’d spent years growing up with my Mom and all her opponents. The Falling Stars, Princess Shine, the Heartbreakers, Bubbles Burste, Vein, Titania...I had to be a part of that.”

”And that lead you here.”

”And that lead me here.”

”One of our viewers knows a little bit about your history, and I’ll extend his question to everyone here: Your finisher. You changed it when you came over to the AFW. What was your thought process? What do you all, as wrestlers, consider when you’re picking your finisher?”

Valley uncrossed her legs and hunched forward, putting some real thought into this answer. It wasn’t a decision she made lightly - both as an entertainer and a performer, her finishing move was one of the most important things. ”Well, I rolled with the Superkick in Slamazons. That was fine for back then, but when I came here, a lot of ladies were using it already - Angel comes to mind, and my girl, of course.” She gave a quick wink Haley’s way, before focusing back on the camera.

”I like to show off.” She shrugged. ”The Valley Bomb was a unique sort of move that I hadn’t seen anyone really use before, so it was a great way to take people off guard. And the double moonsault was just crazy impressive. One of the Falling Stars used it as a finisher for a while, before she got injured and retired. I just had to bring it back, give the AFW the best high-flying finisher in all of wrestling.”

Valley looked Julia’s way with the subtlest of smirks, as she sat back up and folded her arms. ”Though the corkscrew moonsault is up there, too. Not quite all the way, but closer than most.”

Just a little friendly teasing between potential rivals. Couldn't hurt.

A blush stayed on Haley's face until her turn came up again. She honestly hadn't intended to bring up that mess with Gwen, at least, not in public, but it had been eating at her for a while, and while this was nowhere near the appropriate time for it, having that question asked just opened up the floodgates.

Still, they seemed to get over it soon enough...though Haley was willing to bet she'd get an earful from everyone once they were all in private.

Soon enough, it was her turn again, an interesting question involving finishing moves.

"Um...well...uh...The uh, superkick I use, the Flash Kick, is kind of a two-fold thing. I first saw it being used by Angel when I became a fan of hers, and it became my favorite move, then it turned out Silver King used a slightly different superkick of his own, one that was faster than Angels but had less overall power to it, and he gifted it too me as part of my training, which was an honor really.

The Ace Crusher, I started using once in AFW. The Flash Kick hadn't been working as a finisher, and was getting more difficult to hit. So I wanted something equally as fast, but more powerful, and could be done to anybody, even bigger opponents. I was watching old tapes of wrestling matches from Japan back in the 80's, way before AFW ever existed, when I saw a match that ended with some move called a Diamond Cutter.

I did some research into it, and turns out, the move was originally made in Japan and called the Ace Crusher. So there I had it. A move that was popular with the crowd, was versatile and could be done quickly and on anyone, and had my own name in the move, so it was perfect. I can strike it from anywhere, at any time, and it hasn't failed me yet...and I'm talking too much again...sorry!"

Alaina was glad that things seemed to have lightened up a bit, and that her words didn't fan the flames as much as she thought they would. Once they were left alone she might see what Ace's deal was. Alaina did recall the first time they met was at an autograph signing, when Ace told Alaina that the only reason the amazon had any fans wasn't because of her wrestling but because she showed skin when she wrestled.

That was another matter for another day. "I was new to wrestling when I picked the amabomb, and I am working on a new finisher but will wait to unveil that one in a match sometime." Alaina began with a shrug. "I picked my finisher because I can put all I have into it and hammer people with it. The crowd likes it, I know it does a number on anyone I wrestle, the ring shakes when it hits, and there's something satisfying about the loud echo it makes. I know its not as fast or fancy as anyone elses finisher here but I'd say its just as effective which is what matters at the end of the day."

“Well, I learned the Stardust Press from El Rayo Jr. in Mexico. He suggested it as a good way to combine my speed and acrobatics. It worked wonders for me there, and I’ve been usin’ it since.” Julia answered when it was her turn to speak. “Didn’t start usin’ the Axe Kick til’ I went back to the States. Had a match where the opportunity was wide open and just went for it, and it did the trick. Been pretty reliable since then too. Aaand not to completely spill the beans, but I’ve got a few more tricks in the bag y’a’int seen just yet. But stay tuned and don’t blink, and maybe you’ll see ‘em soon enough.” She said with a wink at the camera.

Madison nodded, and smiled as the camera was put back on her. “Very interesting indeed! There you have it, we’ve had a chance to get to know these four rising starlets a little better, but now we’re going to take a little break. But don’t go anywhere! We’ll start the bikini contest when we come back!” Seconds later the camera man gave a thumbs up and Madison took a relaxing breath before smiling at the four girls again. “Great job! You guys can relax for a few minutes now, and I’ll come let you know when it’s time start the contest.” she said before walking off.

Julia breathed a sigh of relief and stretched her arms and legs out, then briefly glanced around at the other three. The luchadora wasn’t sure what to say, so for the moment she just stood there in the awkward silence, hoping someone else had a conversation starter up their sleeve. Preferably a fun one. There was an obvious elephant in the room - or, on the beach. And while part of Julia did want to address it, the mood had improved as the interview had moved on, and she was perfectly content with leaving it that way.

Alaina sat back, smiling as Julia hinted at having more up her sleeve. This was something, as Alaina hadn't even seen what Julia was referring to in all their training. That meant it was some sort of top secret, need to know basis type stuff.

Alaina stretched her arms out and rotated her torso to limber up a bit before looking at everyone else in silence. Someone had to say something, so it might as well have been the champ. "So.... should we put down some bets on who wins the bikini contest?" Alaina asked with a shrug. "Or, well, just bet among yourselves on who will come in second to me." She added with a playful chuckle.

The mood of the interview had lightened things up a bit and Alaina didn't want to create any undue drama. At least, not unless the issue was pressed. Ace did say it was behind her, and she did support Alaina after Alaina won the title. She would wait until later to inform Ace of the idea she had for the two of them anyhow, imagining the look on the young wrestlers face when she mentioned it.

Here it came. The awkwardness was back in full force.

Valley coughed, as the four of them sat in silence for one of the longest moments in recorded history. While they were all good wrestlers and nice people, it was pretty clear they had some things that needed to be talked about, issues that had to be resolved.

Valley wasn't sure the best time to talk about that was while they were half naked, though.

She was glad, exceeding glad, when Alaina broke the ice. ”I won't make any bets, but I predict the winner will be...blonde. Bold, I know.”

She bounced her eyebrows, then turned to her side and gave Julia a tap on the shoulder. ”So, uh, you said you wanted to talk to me about something?”

Ace looked around, feeling awkward as Alaina broke the weird silence that developed, the towel clad, from the waist down, girl soon walking over to Alaina.

In hindsight, it was REALLY stupid for her to bring up her Entropy issues in front of the current and former champion, but frankly that was what happened when one spent most of their most important social formative years fighting and learning to fight everyone around them, instead of learning more proper ways to interact and deal with emotional issues. It wouldn't have been the first time her social ineptitude had caused an issue with a friend.

"So...Alaina...umm...hug?"