One Night Elimination Tournament Series Kickoff

Mina Diaz was a lesser known face at AFW. It only made sense. She was a relatively recent addition to the wrestling promotion and she assumed one of the lesser regarded roles there as a manager. But tonight she aimed to change all that by revealing the start of something big. The Hispanic woman had already taken her place in the middle of the ring alone when the camera faded in to reveal the arena. It was early enough in the evening. Only about 5pm. Little did everyone there know that it was about to become one of the longest night anyone involved in the company had ever experienced. The audience in attendance clamored with discussion of who she was and why she was there.



With a stoic expression on her face, the woman raised the mic to her face and began to state her business.

"Fans of AFW. My name is Mina Diaz. I am a manager employed by the AFW, the wrestling promotion you've all come to know and love over the years. She'd pause for a short moment before resuming. "But please do keep that thought in the back of your mind because tonight isn't about me or who I am. No, tonight is about something that many, many, many people on the AFW roster have longed for. Something many of which have earned in their own right, but have yet to be given. Tonight is about opportunity.....Opportunity to prove oneself. Opportunity to get into the squared circle and challenge yourself against a decent chunk of the roster. Opportunity to put your name out there and cement as one that people remember for having risen to the occasion and delivering."

The atmosphere in the arena would change to one of expectation and excitement as the manager gave a vague explanation of what was to come. She paced around the ring as if to address each corner of the arena's fans with details of the news that she bore.

"You see, after haggling with management for a little while, I've been given permission to host a special event for all of you: a tournament! Yes, that's right, a contest that pits 8 up and coming wrestlers against each other to determine who amongst them deserves to stand out. Deserves to call themselves someone special amongst the talent that we see here day in and day out. It will all take place over the course of a single night. This night! Each wrestler had come and signed up of their own volition. Given their slot on a first come, first serve basis by signing up online. They've already seized an opportunity, and tonight we find out who can make the most of it."

The woman would point to the titantron for a couple seconds before the following image appeared.




"I give you, the One Night Elimination Tournament! Or the ONE tournament, for short. These promising young talents will endure several bouts over the course of tonight to claim prestige and a nifty trophy! Each of them have started out in their own interesting way. And you can find a version of this image on the AFW site where their images link to their profiles. But for those of your that are unfamiliar, I'll read off the round matches for you...."

Mina cleared her throat for a moment before announcing the matches,

"For round one! We have:

Tsunade Senju vs "Officer Snow", Elsa Karlsson

Paige "The Elite" Knight vs "The Korean Secret", Tara

Lindsay, the Knockout Queen vs Erin Quinn

and finally Makie Akamatsu vs......Melody Serperior..."



Mina seemed to have reservations with her last entrant. Despite this, the crowd seemed to be very excited about the event. They cheered at the name of each entrant and yelled praises of Mina and the tournament series taking place. It seemed like the beginning of something new and exciting ad AFW. Perhaps the beginning of a new era. And Mina, for one, was proud to help usher it in.

Tsunade was listening to what the manager behind the one night elimination tournament was saying and found herself even more excited about the upcoming tourney but only one thing bothered the blond woman. As Mina when over the first rounds and heard that one of her current rivals and pain in her ass was in another brackets and would have to wait until the finals to get the chance to beat the brat.

With that in mind Tsunade would walk onto the ramp as I need a doctor by dr Dre ft Eminem and Skylar Grey started to come out of the speakers. As the Japanese woman was making her way to the ring the AFW fan base was making their opinions heard as they were mostly booing loudly until Tsunade reached the steel steps and climbed into the ring.

After taking an microphone from a nearby crew member the Japanese woman would stare into Mina's eyes and say ''Well i got to admit i am glad you set up this tournament but let's get something straight here miss Diaz. As while i may look young i am not a promising new talent but an experienced wrestler that has only one thing in mind and that is to beat each and everyone of your so called promising upcoming talent and take home the trophy and become the first winner of the One Night Elimination Tournament''.

Taking a moment to breath and watch if anyone else is coming down to the ring Tsunade would just smirk at Mina and continue talking as she said ''Also let's go over the list shall we as out of the other seven wrestlers theirs only one who will be a real challenge and even then Lindsay is nothing more then a cheap knockoff from yours truly. So please go ahead and engrave my name into the trophy as i promise you miss Diaz that when this night is over i will once again stand in this ring as your winner'' which got a loud negative reaction from the fans by the time the former doctor was done talking.

Melody sat in the locker room on her own. She wasn't quite out of her slump yet, her recent loss against Alaina Sanders not helping the matters (despite the former champion praising her skills). So the moment she saw an ad for a tournament on the AFW site, she immidiately signed up for it, no questions asked. Winning this tournament would be yet another chance for her to try and showcase her skills, both to fans and higher ups.

Sitting backstage, getting ready for the first round of the One Night Elimination tournament, and at the same time getting ready for the broadcast of the tournaments announcement to be showcased on the monitor in the locker room...

And once it started, she saw Mina Diaz, the woman who said she was just a girl with temper looking for a hobby in wrestling, come out. Melody's mood turned sour in an instant:

"Did I get the date wrong? Why is she coming out there?"

Within a second, she got her answer. Mina was the tournament's organizer.

"Fucking hell...can anything go right for me? Without any tricks or catches?"

Soon after finishing her speech, Mina started announcing competitors for the tournament

"Tsunade Senju"

Melody kicked her locker in frustration: "Nope. Nope, it fucking can't", she thought outloud to the announcement of the insane doctor being in the tournament. Great, both her least favorite people in the company are in her way to winning this thing

Once Mina got to her and announcing her opponent, Melody did notice the slight pause before her name, as if in disgust.

"Better than nothing. She could've just announced that I am out of the tournament outright", Melody thought to what happened a few weeks ago in Navi's I Quit match...

She got her phone and checked out her opponent. Makie Akamatsu. Outside of being a veteran in AFW, she didn't see any catch in fighting the woman. Could there be something else that her profile didn't say?

Suddenly, Dr Dre's I need a doctor hit, and out came Melody's nemesis came out on stage, being as annoying as she always was. Melody hoped that the current image on her TV screen wasn't a visual analogy of how her night was going to go.

After thinking for a few seconds, Melody stood up and approached production crew: "Hit my music", she said, while Mina was still in the ring, likely ready to read another part of her promo. Getting one of the mics at the gorilla position, she entered to her theme song and, minus her usual entrance, entered the ring, looking Mina square in the eye with a cold glare, emotionless expression on her face: "To put the record straight. For tonight, the "I Quit" match didn't happen. You don't screw me over, and I don't screw your tournament over. Deal?"

After Mina's answer, she would look at Tsunade with the same gaze: "Last I recall, you are yet to beat me in a one-on-one match. So before you boast about there being "no real challange" actually prove it first", she said as she looked at the older woman, hoping to meet anyone else but her in the finals.

Tsunade's appearance alone was met with a negative reaction from the fans. Her subsequent speech only accentuated the boos and jeers flooding the arena. She asserted herself as being a step above all the other entrants. That the trophy was as good as hers. Mina had raised her mic to argue that point, but as she did, she was interrupted yet again, by another  theme song.

Mina knew this theme could only mean one thing. She didn't show any signs of displeasure or reluctance when Melody appeared. The two of them had their difference. Mina had a brief altercation with the woman in her own home to try to goad her friend Navi into a match. Still, despite Mina's overall opinion of Melody, that the woman could find herself being a liability to herself and those around her if she loses control of her emotions, Mina didn't harbor any genuine ill-will towards the green-haired wrestler. If she did, she would have scrolled right past Melody's tournament application without giving it a second thought.

"Wait, Tsunade, before you can respond to what Melody just said, let me cut in...." Mina chimed in after Melody finished.

"Look, you both raise good points. I didn't get my job or the chance to oversee this tournament by being aloof of what's happening in AFW. I realize that you two women have your issues with each other. And you both raise good points. Mina paused for a short moment before continuing, giving the crowd a chance to react.

"Melody, you're absolutely right. Tsunade did screw you over once. And I think that if you'd like to get even with her, it'd be in both your best interests for both of you to leave each other alone until the finals. The only way either of you even gets to face each other is if you both make it to the finals, anyways....Oh, and another thing! Melody, I know you and I have had our...qualms? Yeah, let's say qualms. But I want to assure you that I've got no bias against you, or for you in this tournament. You're in this tourney because you applied and because you deserve the distinction of competing in it. Any of the other 7 could have an agenda against you, I don't know. But for the record, I don't."

Mina would then turn her attention to Tsunade, pointing at her before continuing. "And you, miss Senju. You're right. I was a little hasty when I said that everyone in this tournament was a promising young talent. You're probably the most seasoned wrestler in the tournament with the most matches under your belt. And if we base the odds of winning off of experience, you probably have the best chance at winning the whole thing."

This statement was met with some jeers and yells fro the audience, but it wasn't too farfetched.

"That being said, that means you're probably the fighter with the highest expectations to live up to. And the fighter that faces the most pressure to perform well in this tournament. So if I were you, I'd spend less time arguing about resumes and more time getting ready to prove myself in the squared circle because your match starts pretty soon!"

"Hey, ladies. Do you wanna know what makes running the One Night Elimination Tournament much easier on me. It's actually pretty cool. Say I let you two get carried away with your little altercation. Anything you do to each other, you'll have to take with you all the way to the tournament finals. So if you wanna start throwing out Leaf Blades or Tree Planters on each other, that's cool. But recognize that you'll be feeling that headache/possible concussion for the rest of the night, throughout the entire night and the entire tournament. So unless one, or both of you wants to make the mistake of putting each other at a major disadvantage, I suggest you both leave and ready yourselves for your round one matches. Now.

Tsunade was annoyed when she heard the voice of Melody and wanted to turn around and slam her fist into the green haired girl's face when she heard Mina starting to speak and just focused on the woman who set up this whole tournament.

As she listen to the manager bringing up some recent memories both good and bad ones caused the former doctor to either smirk when she heard Mina praise or bring up a good memory or front when the opposite happened. Meanwhile the crowd would boo when Mina said something good about the blond and cheer for every negative thing and was about to ask if she was done when she mentioned that while they could brawl it out here and now that it would be better to save it when she reached the finals.

After it appeared the Manager was done Tsunade would just smirk and start to speak ''well it seems that you can admit when you make a mistake and i am glad to hear that you think i am the obvious winner for this tournament. With that said their were still some things that will clearly not happen as i doubt that weakling Melody will even make it pass the first round so i doubt i be getting the chance to ruining yet another thing personally for that green haired brat tonight'' as she would turn to face the other wrestler and smile.

After saying this Tsunade would climb out of the ring and looks at both woman still in the ring as she stands their as she continues talking ''But make no mistake Melody as the only reason i am not planting your ugly head into the concrete right now is because i don't want to give your opponent an easy victory but trust me when i say  that you will not walk out here tonight the winner of the first ever One Night Elimination Tournament so long as their still air in my lungs and blood in my veins newbie as that trophy is coming home with me''. After this Tsunade would turn around and walk away as she had her own match to get ready for like Mina said earlier even if she doubted that this woman called Elza could give her any challenge whatsoever

When Mina agreed with her on not having any bias for tonight, Melody's spirits were slightly lifted. However, worry was still in her heart. Words were one thing, actions were another.

"Oh, don't worry. Our good doctor here knows what headache I can cause when provoked", she smirked, remembering how she bashed Tsunade's head into steel steps with a chair.

Afterwards, the green-hair listened to the blonde talking about how she was going to win and not a weakling like her...

"Weakling who had quite a close call against one of the top wrestlers in the company", she wanted to say, but thought better of it. She would get cocky when she would actually beat Alaina...eventually.

"Yeah, quick spoiler alert? If you try and interfere in any of my matches tonight, it will end the same way as the last time. Maybe with a broken nose to boot", she would say to the doctor as she left.

With that, she listened to Mina and quickly exited the ring once Tsunade was out of sight. Since her match was on first according to the card, she would have to hurry and get final preparations before her match.