Gemma Faraday, 'the Air Raid Siren!'

Gender: Female
Age: 24
Date of Birth: August 10, 1991.
Height: 5'5"
Weight:  129 lbs.
Hair: Platinum blonde
Eyes: brown
Nationality: British
Home Town: Blackpool, England, UK
Alighnment: Face
Entrance Music: "This is Why We Fight" by The Decemberists
Role: High flyer (middle card)

APPEARANCE



((note:  For matches, Gemma tends to wear a white or grey tank top beneath her waistcoat and harness.))


WRESTLING INFORMATION

Gemma was trained in wrestling by workers at a sideshow act in her home city, with her own parents Mickey Faraday & Ella Windsor as her head trainers.  Enamored with the old school culture of 'wrassling,' she incorporates a lot of classical grappling, as well as tumbling, into her wrestling style.  However, she strongly favours showy, high-flying aerial moves as crowd-pleasers.  She's always looking to impress her audience (and opponent), a tendency that's gotten her into trouble more than a few times.

A slender and fit  young woman, her speed and endurance are highly impressive.  Her grappling is competent; though she's hardly a ring technician at this stage in her career, she knows enough to keep herself out of too much trouble.  Her weakest point is physical strength, so she avoids attempting power moves (and tries her best to avoid having to take them, as she can hardly withstand the heavy physical punishment).  She has roughly six years experience in the ring.


SKILLS

Slams and Throws- Gemma knows the basics of these maneuvers, but lacks the physical strength to rely on them.  Most of her opponents in the past have been a bit heavier than her, so she's learned to very careful about attempting them.

Technical Skill- Gemma has a solid foundation in wrestling fundamentals.  As long as she keeps her wits about her and remains confident (easier said than done, of course), Gemma is familiar with many conventional grapples, and how to keep herself out of them.

Strikes- Due to her natural speed, this happens to be Gemma's forte.  Gemma's legs are her greatest ally in the ring, strong enough to take down most foes and quick enough to be relied on for harsh, punishing strikes.  When she has the room to execute powerful kicks and knee strikes, Gemma is at her best.

Submissions- When applying submission holds, Gemma relies on the strength of her legs.  When applying moves such as the leg scissors or devil's triangle, she can be surprisingly forceful.  The flip side to that, however, is that she's unused to having submission moves applied to herself.  In such situations, Gemma has an unfortunate tendency to panic.

PREFERRED MATCH TYPES

The traditional, one-fall match.

FAVOURITE MOVES

Gemma's moveset emphasizes speed, and tends to rely on her strong legs to do most of the work in wearing down opponents.  Specific moves that she tends to favour include:
Shining wizards, hurricanranas, headscissor takedowns, standing and top-rope dropkicks, springboard cross-body splashes, springboard DDTs, enzuigiri kicks and the odd crucifix takedown here and there.

SIGNATURE MOVE
Springboard Underhook DDT:  With an opponent on the ropes, Gemma will hop onto the second rope and mount them.  From there, she snakes her arms under theirs, locking her fingers behind their back to trap them.  Once secured, Gemma jumps off the second rope, pulling the victim down into a sharp DDT.  The move can be difficult to set up, but Gemma has hit it enough times to figure it's a good addition to her arsenal.

FINISHING MOVE

The Bomber Run:  When Gemma's opponent is on the mat, face up, she will pat her knees as a signal to the audience, before rushing to mount the nearest turnbuckle.  There, she pulls her goggles over her eyes, lifts a finger up to the air to 'gauge wind factors,' and preps herself to leap from the turnbuckle.  The move itself is a shooting star press, after which Gemma immediately chokes back the pain of hitting the move and rolls up her suffering opponent.  If she lands the move, it can be devastating to any opponent.  If she biffs it for any reason, however, she can end up taking herself out of the match entirely.


PERSONALITY AND BACKGROUND

Raised in a family of entertainers, performers and carnies, Gemma got her start in wrestling as part of the carnival sideshow scene.  Daughter of legendary catch wrestler Mickey Faraday, Gemma had no shortage of exposure to "the business" and looked destined to get herself involved from a young age.  Enchanted with the blatant hucksterism, as well as the burlesque aspect of women's wrestling, Gemma began to throw herself into the role of an 'old-timey' grappler.  Partially, she affected this to entertain the crowds, but she also wanted to pay homage to (and, perhaps, slightly pick on) the old-school wrestlers who trained her.  She worked hard, enjoying every moment of the performance.  Finding herself gravitating to high-flying moves, Gemma adopted a 'aerialist' gimmick, making an old pair of flight goggles a signature element of her in-ring persona.

Gemma's manner of speaking in-ring and backstage is rather quirky; playing up her accent and freely utilizing "elevated" speech, Gemma plays up an upper-class, anachronistic character for the amusement of the audience.  Fun-loving and energetic, Gemma believes formost in giving the crowd a good show; she tries to resist getting caught up in personal feuds, and believes strongly in upholding the rules in order to put on the best possible match for the crowd.

After spending awhile in the sideshow circuit, Gemma felt something was missing.  Even though Gemma was still losing about as many matches as she was winning, she could feel the more experienced wrestlers holding back with her.  The youngest wrestler on the circuit, with family connections to boot, she realized that she was being 'protected' in matches.  Feeling a lack of real, serious competition, Gemma felt that her matches were becoming tedious and dry.  It wasn't until the passing of her father, however, that she fully realized the need to expand her horizons beyond the sideshow/burlesque circuit, and onto a broader stage.  Inspired by the memory of her father and his incredible work ethic, Gemma decided to try her hand at the AFW, hoping that working hard before a global audience in a major wrestling promotion would give her a chance to truly test her skills as a performer.  More importantly, however, it would give her a chance to test herself against the kinds of serious competition she'd never seen before.


QUIRKS AND FUN FACTS

- When frustrated or in pain, Gemma tends to get very creative in her use of profanity.

- Gemma loves steampunk outfits and designs, as well as 'classic' forms of entertainment, such as vaudeville, burlesque and mentalism.  She has a very DIY attitude, and puts together anything she's going to wear for ring gear herself.

- Growing up around the sideshow circuit, Gemma actually got good exposure to the technical side of things; ring maintenance, lighting cues, and even how to gimmick certain objects for use in a match.

- Gemma maintains a strict vegan diet.  The circuit she used to wrestle on had a much-loved 'wrasslin' cow' and ever since then, she hasn't been able to touch steak.


AFW RECORD

MATCH RECORD
Matches: 10
Wins-3/ Losses- 7/ Draws-0


Match History:

1. Gemma defeated Songbird via pinfall:  Gemma's debut match in the AFW saw her going over a veteran wrestler with a desperate rollup maneuver.  Gemma faced some rather humiliating setbacks in the match, including a rough spanking, but her devotion to making a strong debut in the "big leagues" helped her to secure a win.  Gemma was even fortunate enough to make an ally out of her first foe, giving her high hopes for her AFW career in the long-term.
2. Phoebe Oakley defeated Gemma via verbal submission:  Booked in a strange variation on a hardcore match, Gemma's second match put her into a ring littered with dog food, pet toys, cages and leashes, with the winner determined being whichever girl could force the other to shout "I'm your pet," in submission.  Over the course of the match, Gemma managed to earn the ire of her opponent, Phoebe Oakley, and after suffering numerous humiliations, she ended up forced into an agonizing submission, and uttering her submission.  Post-match, Phoebe tormented Gemma further, forcing the girl to crawl out of the ring, wondering if there was any way for her career to recover from such a setback ...
3.  Kira Malcolm defeated Gemma via pinfall:  Gemma comes off from her loss hoping to redeem herself in the eyes of the fans.  However, it turns out that her impetuousness and a few missed spots leave her open to the surly veteran Kira taking full advantage of the rookie, leaving her flat on the mat.
4.  Syd, w/ Allie Parker, defeated Gemma via verbal submission:  Immediately after her loss at Kira Malcolm's hands, Gemma made the mistake of letting newcomer Allie Parker goad her into an immediate match.  Hoping for a shot at redemption, what followed instead was less a match than a slaughter, at Syd's hands.  While Gemma held out for a bit longer than she had thought she could, Syd still dominated her decisively.  In the end, Gemma was left bleeding, humiliated, and nearly crippled in the ring.
5.  Valley Doll d. Gemma Faraday via submission: After some time off, Gemma makes her return to the ring.  Despite a valiant effort, making this the closest match of Gemma's AFW career, she ends up humiliatingly upset in the final stretch and left unconscious in the ring.
6.  Hardcore Match:  Teddy Cat Hori vs. Gemma Faraday: In a match that takes some incredibly unexpected turns, Gemma manages to pull out a victory over the adorable cat girl!  More surprisingly, post-match, the pair strike up a friendship.  With some apparent benefits.
7.  Peggy McIntryre d. Gemma Faraday via pinfall:  After a hotly contested match, a rake to the eyes gives Peggy the edge she needs to plant Gemma with a suplex, earning the win and the British girl's everlasting ire.
8.   The Hoots d. The British Bombshells:  The British Bombshells make their tag team debut, facing off against The Hoots.  The Brits make the mistake of underestimating their opponents, however, and their bit debut ends up more humiliating than they possibly could have guessed!
9.  Gemma Faraday d. Peggy MacIntyre: A hardcore match that becomes a backstage brawl, Gemma manages to fight through the pain to score a victory over the woman who may be her most intense rival in AFW!
10. Jessica Wright & River Styx d. The British Bombshells via pinfall:  Gemma and Holly have the "brilliant" idea to avenge their earlier tag team loss by issuing an open challenge to the locker room.  When the ones answering the call are WAR's Jessica Wright and River Styx, however, the British Bombshells find themselves woefully beneath the task.
11.   Steel Cage Match: Gemma Faraday vs Peggy MacIntyre:  After months of bad blood and brutal beat-downs, Peggy and Gemma settle their differences inside of a steel cage!  After both women give their all, only one can be left standing, with her hand raised in victory!  For the other, only brutal, heartbreaking defeat!
12.  Killer King. d. The British Bombshells via pinfall and submission:  Gemma decides to help her teammate Holly avenge an earlier loss by helping her face Killer King.  Instead of the sweet taste of revenge, however, the British Bombshells end up suffering a must more bitter fate ...

KEY MOMENTS:
Wild Animals:  Still nursing the wounds she suffered from Syd, Gemma runs into two veterans, who give her some advice on surviving in the often harsh world of women's wrestling in AFW.
Taking the Flight:  Self-medicating after her "triumphant" return to wrestling ended in a narrow loss to Valley Doll, the former Wrestle Angel actually joins Gemma to have a chat about her career.
Helvetica's Hotseat, ep. 3: Gemma Faraday:  Gemma's guest spot on an interview show goes poorly, and that's even before she's confronted by a fiery rival!
Smacktalk and Speedos:  Gemma takes some time to hang out with Teddy Cat Hori, but her big mouth ends up writing a check her ass will have to cash ...



ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND TITLES

Whole lotta nothin'

Friends:
-Songbird: After their first match, Gemma was surprised to find that she was able to bond with her opponent.
-Holly Matheson:  Gemma's partner in her new tag team, The British Bombshells.  A tenuous alliance, the pair are still learning how to properly coexist.
-Teddy Cat Hori:  Despite a fierce competition that developed in ways Gemma never saw coming, she found herself quite fond of the quirky cat girl.

Enemies:
-Phoebe Oakley:  Phoebe didn't just beat Gemma, in their match but humiliated the Brit in an over-the-top manner.  While part of Gemma hopes she never sees the cowgirl again, part of her longs for some measure of revenge.
-Syd, and her manager Allie Parker:  Syd and her snarky little manager put Gemma through hell, in the ring, and Gemma plans on getting some payback.  Once she's able to walk straight, at least ...

Approved ^ ^ you make matches and rp as you like!