We know who Corey Smith is, right? The pro wrestling wonderboy who, in just a few short years, became one of the most dominant competitors the XWF has ever known? After a year-long hiatus from XWF programming, Corey Smith made an appearance at March Madness V, to help induct The Engineer into the vaunted Hall of Legends… and that’s where this story picks up, backstage of the AT&T Stadium in Arlington:

A chipper, and refreshed looking Corey Smith is shown whistling his way down the locker room halls. Taking nearly a year off from wrestling seems to have done wonders for his physical and mental health. Though he doesn’t participate in pro wrestling anymore, he keeps an eye on the programming from time to time, and the programming as of late has led him back down these halls. In search of a particular dressing room. One belonging to a dear friend…

Corey slows his walk and quiets his whistling. His eyes finally spotting the dressing room placard he was in search of:

Dolly Waters

…a dear friend he’s worried about.

Corey can hardly mistake the sounds of live farm animals as he opens the dressing room door, nor can he mistake the smell of burnt incense and oils. Living in a hippie commune for the addicted, the homeless and the hopeless for a couple of years now has made him… uniquely qualified in identifying these sounds and smells. Given that he and Dolly used to live on, and operate said hippie commune together, didn’t make these sensations coming from her locker room all that unpredictable. The sight, however, when he opens the door was not at all what he expected.

After a grueling fifteen minute time limit match against Dionysus for the Television Championship, Corey expected to see Dolly nursing a number of injuries. Perhaps seeing her gassed and slumped over in her locker. Or, given her new found bend toward megalomania and narcissism, maybe there’d be some type of champagne celebration, a new promotional video being filmed of her flaunting the March Madness victory for the world to groan through.

But that’s not what he sees.

Instead, the locker room is completely dark, except for the circle shape of red candles lining the floor, and circling around-

How did that get in here?

Corey asks aloud to… well… no one. The locker room appears empty… except for a pair of horses, one black, one white, that are hitched to Dolly’s gypsy wagon.

The Romanian style Vardo, which is pretty much a small house on wheels, is dead center of the locker room, and dead center of the creepy circle of red candles. The former XWF star, and more recently, XWF Hall of Legends inductor, looks around for any sign of life besides the horses, and then carefully scans the locker room for any alternative entrance large enough to move the wagon through.

He steps around the front of the wagon, examining one of the horses. The white one. It blows and knickers. Corey is stunned, he turns over his shoulder, looking at the framed door of the wagon. DOLLY? he raises his voice, You in there?

SHHHH!!!! Corey’s attention is pulled to a dark corner of the locker room, where a previously unspotted pair of legs are seen sticking out of the shadows. Ms. Waters is meditating. We CANNOT bother her while she’s meditating. Leaning up now from the shadows is the torso of Patel Gagendeep, Dolly’s trusted assistant and confidant, his face is etched with a wary sleeplessness that would indicate he’s been overworked as of late.

Oh- Corey brings his voice down to a whisper, -sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb. I just haven’t seen Dolly for a while. Thought I’d congratulate her on the match.

...it’s fine. Patel pulls himself up from his wobbly arms and stands on his feet. She knew you were coming anyway. A confused look slides onto Corey’s features as Patel approaches him, She did?

Ehem, yes. Patel pulls a notebook from his waist line, and begins reading. In fact she said exactly this after seeing your Hall of Legends segment tonight: Corey on XWF TV? Fuck me runnin’. I guess it’s only a matter of time before he ends up in some of my recorded material now. Matter of fact, I’m sure he’ll stop by to congratulate me tonight. Let’s get it good and weird in here, Gag. Corey likes weird shit.

I mean, the Vardo is pretty cool and all, but it seems a little extreme-

-oh she was talking about these candles, not the wagon- Patel interrupts, -that’s been in here since this morning…

Yeah but how? …WHY?

We disassembled it piece by piece, packed it into the locker room, and then reassembled it… then we led the horses in… the black ones name is Corey by the way.

Wait, who’s ‘we’?

Oh, me and jeNNy.

jeNNy?

Patel motions his head to another corner of the locker room where Corey now spots the blow up sex doll. The one who’s harboring the essence of Jenny Myst’s soul after Dolly performed a weird black magic ritual prior to winning the Television Championship several weeks ago. The doll, jeNNy, waves her latex arm at Corey. His eyes widened. DOLLY?! he stomps toward the door of the gypsy wagon, what in the name of- but before he can knock, the door swings open.

Dude! and there she stands, in her new trademark black robes, with a black eye and busted nose, the Television Championship lining her waist. Could you quit yelling? I’m tryin’ film a promo here against Isaiah King.

Corey looks like he’s about to explode. An Indian-American assistant who keeps notes of everything Dolly says. An inanimate latex sex doll named jeNNy that’s apparently alive. A horse drawn gypsy wagon in the middle of the locker room. What happened to his best friend, Dolly Waters? And who is this soulless little witch standing in her place, spouting off random names like-

Who in the hell is Isaiah King?

Dolly smiles, and stands aside of the wagon’s door frame,

A lot’s changed since you were here, Corey. Come on in and have some tea.

Look, I… I’m running short of time. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.

It’s funny you’d mention time, because I haven’t spoken to you in…

...months.

Right. And now here you are, just in time fer’ me to make you proposition. C’mon now, Corey. You owe me.

Dolly turns and disappears back into the darkness of the wagon’s door. Corey peaks back at Patel, and then at jeNNy. He sighs and slides his hand down his face, massaging a more credulous look onto his features as he follows Dolly into the wagon.

-to be continued-

promo

The promo begins inside of Dolly’s gypsy wagon, not too long after her March Madness contest against Dionysus. She’s done next to nothing in terms of makeup, or wardrobe, as she’s still sporting the scrapes, blood and bruises from her grueling Television Championship defense.

Pardon my appearance, folks. I guess I just didn’t deem it necessary to get all dolled up for this shoot, especially since my next opponent does me the pleasure of shooting himself in the face every time he speaks.

It was the same thing prior to us wrestling on Warfare a few weeks ago, and this next encounter will be no different…

because Isaiah King STILL ain’t got what it takes to bang with Dolly Waters between those ropes.

Now, I know what yer’ all thinking: “bUt dOlLy, iSaIaH iZ oN a hOt sTrEaK! hE’s bEaT uP bArNeY gReEn aNd tHe bUcK rOgErS gUy”

Yes, yes.

I know, I know… and he’s even taken time to film opening credits to Weekend Warfare like the good little corporate shill SUCK-ASS that he is- but none of that means a goddamn thing.

Because if Isaiah King is honest, he knows this re-match against me is already a waste of his time. He can’t do it, he can’t beat me, and matter of fact, I don’t think he even wants to try. His focus seems to be on… Dolly visibly bites back a chuckle, ...well let’s talk about his focus, shall we?

I just watched his match against Jay Omega. It was just a little while ago, and only moments before I went out to the ring and took care of business against Dionysus like I KNEW I would. Just like my tea leaves, The Divine Timing (coming soon to Madame Maluna’s Metaphysical MEGAstore!) said I would. Now, did anyone else notice anything interesting about the ending of Isaiah King’s match?

One might think a truly dedicated corporate suck-ass like himself would be THRILLED that he now has the opportunity to win back the championship he FAILED to carry into the new era of XWF programming. Ya know, after losing it during one of the most convoluted and embarrassing ladder matches the world has ever seen. Because, afterall, in both of his promos against Jay Omega, Isaiah was certain that if won a shot for THIS Television Championship, that he would be facing Dolly Waters.

Good call, rookie! I'm glad I helped claw some truth into yer’ visions a few weeks ago.

But at the end of his match tonight, he didn’t seem thrilled to me, he was clawing through his own hair! Babbling off into the camera like some attention seeking little spaz. He was downright dismayed, and downright doused in the glow befitting of an absolute dimwit. But don’t get me wrong, folks, Isaiah’s intentions are very clear, he knows exactly what, or better yet exactly who, he’s focused on moving forward… and it ain’t the Television Championship… and damn sure ain’t Dolly Waters.

It’s the “redemptive one”, the one he says “started all of this”.

LOL, woooow.

What a melodramatic little shit you are Isaiah. You think anyone gives a fuck about yer’ feelings, you dope? While you were on yer’ little beginners luck hot streak in the XWF, you did nothing but whine and complain about how the level of competition didn’t match your expectations. What happened? XWF management heard yer’ cries, and finally started booking you against decent competition, where you proceeded to take loss after loss.

Ned Kaye, you LOST. Jenny Myst, you LOST. Dolly Waters, you nearly got yer’ fuckin’ eyes clawed out of yer’ skull.

RUH ROH!

Our dollar-store Kido clone is faltering! We better book em’ against Barney Green, guys!

And now what? You beat Jay Omega, and suddenly yer’ back on that path to ascension? To prove yer’ the heir to the crown? The King of the Ring tournament is over Isaiah, and you fell flat in round one. BETTER LUCK NEXT YEAR, KID!

You claim to have the humility to take lessons of the ways in which you lost, and use those lessons to improve.

To mold.

Taking bits of the people who bested you and put them to the test…

Only I haven’t seen it…

Sure, yer’ running the basic Ned Kaye redemption arc now, fighting to constantly measure up, and all of that cliche nonsense, but there’s a problem with that logic, and I think it can best be reflected by the broken human measuring stick himself, Ned Kaye…

Being stuck in the past, leaves you in the past Isaiah, it leaves you getting lapped over in a track meet by those of us who are focused on what's right in front of us. What have you taken from Jenny’s game? Her bloated, delusional sense of ego? Good! Because that’s exactly what cost her against me, understand?

You said you were going to take what you learned from me in the ring and use it as well, but my dear Isaiah, you ain’t got the guts to do what I do in that ring.

Just like I told you before we faced in round one of the tournament, the difference between you and me is that I’ll do whatever it takes to win. I’ll bend, break, piece back together, and break the fucking rules again, and again.

That’s who I am.

I don’t have time to sit around and figure out what works best and what doesn’t. I don’t get booked against Barney Green to rebuild my confidence when I’m on a losing streak. I’ve been getting fed to the lions since I was a little kid, so of course I’ve learned to carry a knife to that ring. And I showed you first hand, didn’t I?

Knowing what you know about me now, you think you can step through those ropes on Weekend Warfare with anything less than laser focus against Dolly Waters? WITH THE TELEVISION CHAMPIONSHIP ON THE LINE?

Yer’ fucked five ways to back to the bottom of the card buddy. Because again, yer’ logic, yer’ sense of what it takes to win, to be of royalty, to be on top in this business, it’s not just lacking, it’s not just flawed, it’s utterly non-existent.

According to yer’ promos against Jay Omega, your plan is-

Step 1: Get your win back against me, circumstantially for the TV Title

Step 2: Get your win back against Jenny, only you’ll have to dig her up out of that grave I left her in back in El Paso

Step 3: and then…. THEN you get the “one who started this all”. The one who left your ego so sore you just couldn’t see straight. You get… A March Madness semifinalist. LOL! That’s yer’ big angle! Ned fucking Kaye.

Let’s forget that you just beat Jay Omega, a man who just beat the former King and former Universal Champion Bobby Bourbon. I mean what in the  self-obsessed, sore-losing, Kido-cloned nonsense is this? You could be making a legitimate claim to a shot at the Universal Champion, Sidney Grey. And yet, you’d rather focus on the man she unceremoniously bounced from March Madness on HER WAY to the Mountain Top. Fuck a heir, Isaiah. Ned lost to THE Lady King, and that’s yer’ hang up?

You want to climb to the top while walking backwards?

Be my guest.

Yer’ free to look as stupid as you want to the XWF audiences. They usually eat that stuff up anyhow. Just listen to how they cheer on members of SAGA.

But if yer’ going to be foolish against me in the ring, it’s going to be on my terms, and more importantly on MY time. Because when it comes to you, Isaiah, it’s perfectly clear that you have no idea what it takes to get the job done in the ring.

Afterall, you said my moral ambiguity would cost me against you. You painted up in some stupid poem to make it seem like I was the lesser out of the two of us because of the different turns my career has taken these past seven years.

And yet, who’s the person throwing temper tantrums and having soft mental breakdowns in the ring after winning the opportunity to fight for gold? Making morally ambiguous threats against a March Madness semifinals LOSER. It sure as fuck ain’t Dolly Waters. Nope. I’m the one carrying this championship to new heights. Carrying it to the top of the mountain where the TRUE victory of my Divine Timing awaits.

Yer’ not special Isaiah. Hell, if you ask me, at this point, you ain’t even a threat.

Just like Dionysus, I gain absolutely nothing from beating you. Hell, after I beat you, everyone, you included, will just say: “Oh well, King was more focused on Ned Kaye anyway.”

So what's in it for Dolly Waters? What’s the point in dressing up for a pretty promo and playing mind games with you Isaiah? Yer’ already up in yer’ head enough for the both of us. What’s the point in trying to go out to that ring to beat you, when the name of the game is clear: Champion’s Advantage.

Once again, Dolly Waters will defend her Television Championship on her terms… in a simple match befitting the simple little scrub she’s facing:

A Classic Television Title Defense.

Only this time, in the spirit of fairness, I’ll be a little more giving than I was with Dionysus. Afterall, he was clearly more talented, threatening and WAY more focused than you are.

So 16 minutes for his majesty, Isaiah “King”.

Because if yer’ actually going to stand a chance in taking this championship from me on Warfare, yer’ gonna’ need all the time in the world.

As for me? I don’t mind taking that extra minute to remind the world about the power of Dolly’s Divine Timing (Coming Soon To a Metaphysical Shop Near You!)… and reminding you exactly where you measure up in the annals of time…

Under my boot.

3x XTreme Champion
2x Tag Team Champion (w/ Vita Valenteen, w/ Charlie Nickles)
2x Hart Champion
2x Television Champion

3x Star Of The Month
August ‘21, May ‘17, October ‘16

3x RP Of The Month
What light through sonder... my perception breaks.
Tranquility: For Old Times Sake
Manifest Victory

my loves:
[spoiler]